Page 8 of Lavender and Lightning

“Ted called in his one big favor to get us in this quickly, and the judge didn’t take kindly to us blowing him off. So we’ve been moved down the priority list. To November,” Lex says, voice a low monotone.

Rhett snarls, and Lucas lets out a colorful string of curse words. But my stomach drops. My brother is getting married in early September, and I have already committed to going. But if I don’t have the protection of being an official member of the pack…

Being an unbonded omega limits my freedoms in a lot of ways, but none has been more of a thorn in my side than the laws regarding prime alphas. When an omega is born to an alpha parent, they become the omega’s prime alpha. My father has the authority, in the eyes of the law, to make decisions on my behalf, regardless of my say so. Until I bond and my mate assumes that authority, my father can, at any time, decide that he wants me back under his thumb.

The only thing stopping my father from “pulling rank” before now has been his ignorance to my location. He can’t call the cops and have them drag me home kicking and screaming if he didn’t know which department to call. Joining Pack St. Clair would have made Alexandra my prime alpha, at least until I decide to bond, which would have removed that particular threat from the chessboard.

But now… I could walk into that wedding and never leave. My father, with a simple command, could force me to my knees and break my will. He could force me to go through with the marriage to Darren, or worse, a bond. He could trap me in my worst nightmare, cut me off from the people who’ve come to mean more than I can adequately put into words.

My eyes fly around the room, looking but not seeing. My heart jumps and skips, rattling around in my rib cage like a trapped animal.

“Breathe, baby. You’re okay,” Mateo breathes in my ear, hands sliding around my waist to hold me tighter to his chest.

“Ted is going to try to get it moved up, but he called in a huge favor to convince the judge to agree to cut his vacation short and come back to oversee the proceedings. He’s not pleased, so I don’t want to push it too hard. If something opens up, then he’ll try to get us squeezed in, but we should try to figure out alternatives,” Alexandra continues.

The coolness of her fingers on my good forearm makes me jump, and I look down. Her touch is gentle and brief, and my heart lurches for an entirely different reason.

“What about a bond?” Lucas suggests, almost flippantly.

I look up at him, and my momentary flash of panic eases slightly at the true concern pulling his brow down low. I swallow and shake my head.

“It’d still be too late. My next heat isn’t until mid-October, and with my implant, there’s no guarantee a bond would take. Even taking it out today, one of you would have to…”

I trail off, looking down at the countertop, throat tight. The idea of one of these alphas using their bark to force my body to obey and trigger my heat makes my heart race. Darren tried to do that exact thing on the night I escaped, which is enough for me to reject the idea. And while I know my alphas would take care of me and never do anything to hurt me, the idea of being that vulnerable with them still makes my skin crawl.

“I know it’s not ideal, but if we can’t get a new court date—"

“She said no, Luc. Drop it.”

Rhett’s snap makes me jump, but warmth spreads through my chest. I look up again to find Rhett giving his beta a hard, unyielding glare that makes me flinch back, even though it’s not directed at me. Luc raises his hands in surrender, his face apologetic.

“Alright, alright. I just wanted to consider all options,” he says.

“Option considered. So what’s Plan B?” Rhett returns, putting his bowl in the sink.

I give Luc a little smile, and he gives me a little tilt of his head. I’m not mad at him for bringing it up, despite rejecting the idea. His heart is in the right place. Extreme circumstances sometimes require extreme solutions. But reliving my greatest trauma is still a bridge too far.

“We have to just keep our ear to the ground and wait to see if we can get in before the wedding,” Alexandra replies with a resigned exhale.

“What are we going to do about this intruder situation?” Mateo adds.

“We let the police do their jobs, and see if they can catch him, I guess. Not much else we can do,” I say, leaning back into Mateo.

Rhett snorts, and I shoot him a half-hearted scowl.

“If you’ve got an opinion, by all means, share with the class,” Alexandra says with a wave of her hand.

“Just because we can’t go out and hunt the bastard down doesn’t mean there isn’t anything we can do to protect ourselves,” Rhett says darkly.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask harshly, eyes narrowing.

Rhett looks me in the face, and there’s a flash of that protective anger in his eyes that makes my heart lurch.

“You move into the pack house.”

There’s a moment of silence, and then a shocked, humorless laugh bubbles up through my lips. Rhett’s eyebrows shoot up and he blinks, which only makes me chuckle more.

“You’re joking, right? I can’t move in,” I sputter through my chuckles.

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