Page 3 of Carmichael's Omega

"C'mon! I made your favorites!" Mina bustles back into the room, her hair mussed and her lips swollen a little. Teague swaggers in after her, his sharp green eyes roving the room, making sure everyone in his family is happy and safe. He and Blu share a swift kiss before ushering everyone into the dining room.

"Table still work?" Mattie immediately teases Mina as we walk arm-in-arm into the dining room.

She huffs and glares at him. "Yes. It does, actually. For now."

Years ago, Teague and Blu made the sawn-oak table and chairs themselves. Teague works construction for the pack when his Beta duties allow it, so it should have been an easy job, but Mina allegedly kept changing her mind on how large it needed to be.

She was preggers with Braxton, their second son, at the time. Mina wanted to be able to easily reach the center of the table to set down large dishes. To complicate things more, as her baby-belly grew, her reach got shorter. Finally, Teague and Blu devised a new design. They put removable leaves running lengthwise instead of the usual direction. So our custom-made dining room table expands to become thinner, instead of shorter.

"Do you think we made the inserts too big?" Blu asks Teague, faux worry in his voice. "She's carrying twins this time." I definitely heard some bragging there.

Teague laughs as Mina smacks Blu lightly on the arm. "We can make a new one," he winks at Blu while gently rubbing Mina's belly. Blu blushes lightly but smirks back.

I blush, too. The table took a long time to make. When I innocently asked Mina why she told me that Teague and Blu had to test its sturdiness. Repeatedly. When I told Uncle Abel what she said, he told me he would never eat at that table until it was soaked in bleach.

"Cassie, how is school, Bumblebee?" Mina asks me as she sits down, nestled between her two mates.

"Good," I blurt out automatically. "I moved into the Lambda Nu House OK. The sisters seem nice."

"Tell me if anyone is mean to you, Bee," Teague orders.

I smile. I try for a brilliant, no-cares-in-the-world smile, but I think it falls a bit flat. My omega-wolf lays down, her head on her paws. I feel a trickle of sweat run down my back. A dead give-a-way for nervousness while sitting at a table filled with alphas and gammas. My eyes dart to Uncle Gerald and Uncle Lyall. Our two pack investigators and some of the sharpest knives in the drawer. Neither male is looking at me, and I breathe a sigh of relief. My wolf thumps her tail once, triumphant.

"Cassie gets along with everyone," Matt chimes in. He shakes his head, "now, I, however, have to room with a dude who smells like cheese all the time."

We all laugh as Mina solemnly removes the cheese platter from in front of Matt. "Sorry, Mattie," she says.

I let my Omega-wolf bask in the love of her family. She and I will soak it up, preparing ourselves for going back to school.

---

"So, now that the very uncool duo is preoccupied, how is college going?" Blu sits down next to Matt and me with a smile.

I laugh from my perch on my brother's lap. "No fair calling Teague and my sister uncool. We can't all go to college." Teague was at college, technically. It's where he met Alpha Alexander, but I don't think Teague actuallywentto college. Mina never wanted to. She loves being a mother and mate. Blu went, and he is why I wanted to go. So many classes and different people. It's scary and exciting all at once.

"Well, don't tell them I said so," Blu winks.

I smile as I look out into the forest. I can't see them, but I know Teague arranged extra patrol wolves around his house. It's for me because omegas are weaker and more vulnerable, but he's never acted like I was a burden.

"Something's on your mind," Mattie says. He lightly rubs my back, his concern leaching into me. Goddess, I missed my twin. It's like having a severed limb. It was hard when he left to go off to college for the Fall semester, but at least then I was home in ClearHowl. I didn't think it would be this bad, but here I am, clinging to him like lichen.

I take a deep breath. "Did it hurt to reject Mina?" Mattie's hand stops rubbing. He stiffens under me.

Blu inhales sharply but doesn't hesitate. "Yes. Hurt doesn't even describe it, Cassie. It's an empty, hollow pain."

"But it all worked out, right?" I ask, a little too desperately if the sharp, knowing look in his eyes tells me anything.

"It did, sort of."

I look at Blu, surprised. "Don't get me wrong," he's quick to add. "I love Teague and Mina, of course, but it wasn't easy. There were times, still are, when I'm looked on as less than a male because I'm in a relationship with a dominant alpha-male. It was also a little hard before Conner was born. I adore that little hellion now, but there was this worry, this doubt, that I wouldn't love him."

"Because he's Teague's?" Mattie asks quietly.

"Yup. My firstborn isn't mine. Then he was born and," Blu lets out his breath, "it was amazing, a miracle."

"You're happy, though?" Mattie asks.

"Without a doubt."

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