Page 191 of Claim Me
They immediately notice Damien and call out to him, waving happily.
Storm leans toward me and says quietly,
"Sorry, I can’t talk now, I need to greet my in-laws," he winks. "If something’s wrong, call me, we’ll talk. And keep your head up. I can see you having some little…crisis. But if Fatechoseyou, Gabriel, there’s no mistake here. Even if you think the match is strange, nothing happens without a reason."
He winks again and walks off with Damien toward his mate’s parents, who greet them warmly, hugging both of them, including Storm.
Interesting.
They accepted him into the family… despite his criminal past, despite his dire financial situation at the time? That gives me a small pause.
I get back into the limousine, feeling stupid. I didn’t need to bother Storm or dump my inner struggles on him, but all of this is ripping me apart.
What I want… is to be close to Blue. I desperately want him, but am I even capable of allowing myself to truly be his alpha?
Claim him in front of his family?
Am I the main problem here? My low self-esteem? Do I need to grow into this relationship?
Earlier, I thought Blue was the one who had the hardest work ahead of him, that he’d spent years trapped inside his fortress while I had easy mode and could just throw myself into the rush of love. Now I’m realizing there’ssomething holding me back too. Years of feeling… like I’m not enough, like I’m lesser than other people. In truth, everyone has their own battle to fight.
As the time for dinner approaches, Axel arrives as one of the last guests.
Walking beside him is a tall omega with red hair, and although I assume he’s Axel’s boyfriend, they don’t look particularly close. They’re not holding hands, and Axel has a slightly sour expression, just like the omega beside him. A tiny spat?
I watch as Axel disappears into the house, his boyfriend following slowly, almost reluctantly, like he doesn’t want to be there. I can relate for sure.
I try to calm the chaos in my head, my thoughts racing in every possible direction. I tap my fingers against my knee, bounce my foot, my nerves drawing tight like pulled cords.
Eventually I can’t sit still anymore. I get out of the limousine.
"I’m going to take a walk. I hope that’s not a problem," I say to Gerard.
"Alright, but I need to call the security team on the grounds," he replies, slightly displeased.
"Uh, sure…"
A moment later he calls someone and informs them that I’ll be entering the garden area around the estate.
I sigh, listening to the exchange, because this is what the Lowen lifestyle looks like. Security everywhere, controlled access, everything is monitored and protected.
Eventually I get the green light.
The garden is elegant, every blade of grass perfectly placed, the plants carefully arranged into geometric shapes, illuminated ponds, white pathways, marble, all of it creating an impression of luxury. But my eyes drift toward the house.
It’s a massive mansion in an old style, with columns, wide double wings, and a separate section for staff.
So this is where Blue grew up… This is where he spent his teenage years, a lost boy struggling through the aftermath of his accident. Was it in this garden that he met the butler’s two sons, the ones who brought him alcohol and drugs?
The thought that Blue went through days like that, when he wasn’t at the top, when he was nobody, a teen stripped of the ability to go through sexual maturation, to form an identity as an omega, makes something in my chest contract.
For years afterward, he lived searching for ways to regenerate what he had lost, fighting for it until that hope slowly faded over time when he kept hitting an insurmountable barrier.
And in the meantime, he denied himself relationships with men. He didn’t have what others did. All his brothers found partners, and he alone did not, even though he once wanted that, dreamed of having a family. The kind of pain he must have carried, the way he had to rebuild himself to eliminate that longing…
So much self-denial, even to the point of lying to himself?
Eventually I make my way to the back of the house, where through wide glass panels I can see a massive living room witha huge dining table stretching from one end of the space all the way to the glass doors leading out onto the terrace.
