Page 1 of Omega's Pretend Mate
Chapter 1 - Gabe
~December~
Iwrung my hands as the black sedan approached the small airport. I wanted to tell the driver to turn around and take me home, but I knew it wouldn’t happen.
He was under orders. So was I.
He’d been hired to take me from my home in Harris Cove to the airport an hour away, where I was expected to board the family jet and travel across the country to the family home outside of Boston.
My parent’s house manager, William, had even arranged tarmac service, probably because he anticipated my desire to run. It wouldn't be the first time I would have been summoned home, only to cancel at the last minute.
I loved my family, but I hated going home, or even being near the majority of them for any length of time. Their obsession with me finding a mate and pumping out babies was infuriating at best. My only solution had been to put distance between us.
It had been the reason I’d chosen a house on the opposite coast when grandfather had purchased a house for me after I’d graduated law school—it was the only way to get away from the constant nagging.
The tarmac gates opened, the sedan slipped through, and I saw the family jet waiting for me. It was only a minute later that the car stopped and the driver stepped out to open the door for me.
I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself.
It was only a few days. I just had to make an appearance, reassure everybody that I was ok and promise them that I was looking for an alpha.
I wasn’t, of course. I was perfectly fine without an alpha. I had my own ambitions, and being a house omega—like the rest of my family thought I should be—wasn’t it. But I couldn’t say that, not to my parents, and definitely not to my grandparents.
It was better to placate them with a little white lie than have the rest of my family minding my business.
I got out and a flight attendant escorted me to the plane while the driver passed my luggage to another member of the flight crew.
“Is there anything I can get you before take off Mr. Everest?” the flight attendant asked.
“Water…” I mumbled, “and… a glass of white wine.”
“Have a seat and I’ll be right there with it.”
“Thank you.”
I climbed the steps into the plane and sank onto one of the plush leather seats, then clasped my hands in my lap in a futile attempt to hide my nerves.
“Hate flying?” the attendant asked as she set the water and wine on the table next to me.
I shook my head. “I’m fine flying. Just have a lot on my mind.”
She blushed lightly. “Apologies for my assumption.”
“It’s ok.”
She smiled. “They’re finishing their checks in the cockpit, then we’ll be underway.”
That was actually the last thing I wanted to hear, and I wondered if I could get out of going home if there was a last-minute problem with the plane. But I forced a smile anyway. “Thank you.”
“Let me know if there’s anything else you need.” She straightened and cleared her throat. “The first leg of the flight will be two hours. We’ll pick up several more members of the family in Denver, then nonstop to Boston.”
“Thank you,” I said. Two hours. That was all the freedom I had until I had to put on the facade of a proper single rich omega for however long I was in Boston.
The plane hadn’t taken off yet, and I was already looking forward to returning home to Harris Cove.
∞∞∞
I looked around at the collection of aunts, uncles and cousins—some of whom I hadn’t seen since I was a child—sitting around my grandparents’ parlor. This wasn’t just my parents and grandparents wanting me home for the holidays because I hadn’t been in a couple years. No, this was an all-hands-on-deck meeting.
