Page 62 of The Omega Switch: Part 2

"I've been looking for months," Elias admitted with a sheepish smile. "I know a collector who owed me several favors." She squealed with excitement.

“These are awesome! I can’t wait to read these,” She said excitedly, flipping through the pages as gently as she could despite her enthusiasm.

Now, it was my turn. I suddenly felt my breathing speed up. No matter what I’d faced in the past, for some reason handing one omega a birthday present seemed like the most important and nerve-wracking thing in the world. If she didn’t like it, I’d feel like the world’s biggest failure.

"I got you something," I said, swallowing. “It’s not too extravagant, but I thought, you know,” I said as I handed it to her.

“Ronan, you didn’t have to get me anything,” She said.

“Yes, I did,” I murmured, and she opened the box, her face looking down in confusion before lighting up with excitement.

“Is this-” she started, gently pulling out each glass piece.

“Yes, the same vintage pieces,” I responded. Last year, we’d searched for some vintage lab equipment that Ivy had mentioned she liked. It was a small gift, back when we first met her, before the whole mess with Arabella. I knew she fled from her family home and left pretty much everything behind. But I wanted her to have this, even if I had to track down a whole different set.

Ivy looked up at me, surprised. “Ronan!” She squealed, set the box down, and quickly stood to reach for me. Her hug hit me like a drug. Her arms around me made me feel like I was the luckiest alpha in the world. I closed my eyes for the briefest moment, carefully returning the embrace. Before I could stop myself, I heard the sound of my own purr rumbling through the room. Ivy shivered against me, looking up with large pupils.

Quickly, I pulled back the noise and cleared my throat. “Sorry. It was an accident.” I said, hoping I hadn’t embarrassed her.

“It’s alright,” Ivy said, her gaze still dreamy as she looked up at me. “These gifts!” She said as she turned and released me, “They’re perfect. More than I could ever have asked for.” I felt my pack beam with pride, the fact that we made this omega happy striking a chord down our bond.

Hunter cleared his throat. "There’s just a little bit more,” he said as he opened the door to the storage room. We had several more gifts stacked in there. Well, several dozen. Ivy’s eyes went wide as she blinked, looking at the mound of gifts.

"We can't give you the birthdays we missed. But we thought maybe we could spoil you a little anyway." He said, and Ivy took a few steps toward the room before looking back at us, her mouth open.

"There are too many." She said.

"There probably are," Elias admitted. “But you’re starting over. You probably need quite a few things, not just your vintage lab set. If any of it is too much, let us know, and we’ll have it returned.” He added quickly. Ivy shook her head. Hunter spoke before she could answer.

"Ivy, this isn't meant to pressure you." His voice had become almost painfully vulnerable. "You don't owe us anything because of today. But we do feel responsible for why you had to leave your home, and we will do everything in our power to make it right. And again, this is just our way of saying we care. Let us know if it’s too much.”

"This is still just one date," Elias added gently. "If tomorrow you decide you'd rather remain friends, we will respect that.” He said. But I could feel the ache in our bond at the thought of it. "We wanted to celebrate you because you deserved to be celebrated."

I watched emotion wash over her face, a mixture of relief and hope. “Thank you. All of you.” She said. She opened her mouth to say more, but a noise caught our attention. We all turned to see that Puff had somehow climbed onto a chair and was dragging a large sausage across the dessert table.

"Oh, absolutely not," I laughed, immediately scooping the little criminal into my arms before he could escape. Ivy started to laugh, wiping a tear from her eyes.

“Well. Since you brought up our friendship, or what we have of it, I’d like to have a talk. With all of you.” She said. I felt my body go rigid as my pack looked at each other, wide-eyed. This would probably be either the best talk ever, or the worst of my life.

Chapter 31

Ivy

My heart was racing. I’d just gone on my first date ever, and the pack was pulling out everything they had to win me over. And right now, looking at all of them - smelling all of them, here, in my space - it was having an effect on me. But I needed them to understand that I wasn’t the same Ivy anymore.

“I appreciate all you’ve done for me. I know you’re sorry about what happened, and I know that you were lied to, just as I was.” I said, sitting down on the large, comfortable chair next to all the sweets they’d laid out for me. The three of them watched me, their eyes hopeful. “But you can never understand the pain I went through,” I said, my heart aching as I remembered every tragedy I had to go through to get here. “You know I went through an unbearable heat alone, but you can’t understand that every moment I spent in pain, my body was also aching with the feeling of betrayal. I knew you should have recognized me as your match, and the whole time I was suffering, you were with the ones who tormented me the most.” I said.

Ronan flinched, and Elias’s face looked pained, too. Hunter just looked broken. But I went on. “And it’s hard for me to look at you the way I did before. I never can, really. Because I used to look at you three like you were the world, the answer to my prayers. I thought you were perfect.” I admitted, my voice going soft. “But I realized you aren’t perfect. And I can’t see you the same. And also, I changed, too.” I said, looking down at the gifts they had given me. The gifts were amazing. They were everything I could have asked for. I knew Pack Vale had the potential to make things right, but they needed to understand the part they played.

“I want to trust you again. I really do,” I said, looking around at them. These three men had become so important to me in the past months. “I want to move forward with you, but at the same time, I can’t forget that each of you turned away from me. Even when I was screaming the truth to you, all it took was some perfume replica from Araballa to make all of you turn toward her.” I said, the memory bitter.

“Ivy, we-” Ronan started to speak, but I held my hand up.

“No. I’m not finished.” I said, and he shut his mouth. I stood up, walking toward them. Three pairs of eyes followed me, and for the first time, I didn't shrink beneath their attention. Months ago, I would have. Before, I would have apologized for speaking too loudly. Now, I was different.

"I've spent my entire life feeling like I didn’t have power, or a choice," I said quietly. "My family decided everything for me. They decided whether I could present my ideas, whether I could speak, whether I was allowed to have a heat, whether I deserved to be seen." I swallowed, my voice growing steadier with every word. "Then all of you decided I wasn’t your mate." The silence became almost painful as they looked down.

"I don't blame you for every part of what happened," I continued. "But I do blame you for not listening. Not feeling what I knew inside to be true.” I looked at each of them and walked closer. "So if we're going to do this, if we are to have any type of relationship, it has to be different."