Page 24 of Packing for Vacation

“Getting back to the topic of heading up north,” I interject. “I was wondering if you wanted to come up to the bach with me today, and Matiu could follow in his car tomorrow… what do you say?”

I ignore Matiu’s smirk and shake of his head, and keep my eyes trained on Lizzie.

“No pressure,” I add, seeing her hesitate. “You can say no, it’s totally fine.”

“It’s because he fucked up last night,” Matiu murmurs between mouthfuls of his own breakfast. He gestures to a third plate, surprising me when he says, “This is yours.”

“I fucked up,” she reiterates, insisting, “Yes I did!” even as I shake my head at her.

“If you want Matiu to come up tonight as well that’s fine.”

“No, I’m happy with just you, it would be nice to… you know… have our schedules align a little more than just the starter course.”

I grin. “Is that what we’re calling it these days?”

She shrugs, then laughs, quick and nervous, covering her face with her hands for a moment. “It's silly but it's just, my sister is going to say I told you so when I eventually tell her about all of this. She's a beta,” she explains. “They all are, my whole family, for generations. I'm the only omega freak, no one knows where I came from, and no I'm not some secret lovechild of an alpha. I look more like my dad than my mom.”

She looks between us. “Katie told me not to be an idiot while travelling. Don't go letting your omega lizard brain fool you,” she continues, putting on her sister's voice, the cadence of her speech changing. “Don't you dare go smelling some alpha and following your pussy all the way to his bed in the middle of nowhere and ending up murdered. I bet you will though.”

She clears her throat. “I told her she was being stupid and yes I'm an omega but I'm not an idiot, I don't just jump into bed with alphas or put myself in situations where I'm isolated and alone with men I barely know but—” She lets out a giggle, hand covering her mouth for a moment. “I guess maybe my survival instincts are not as great as I'd hoped? Because I scented both of you and really did not think twice about getting in a stranger’s car, in a stranger’s bed, in bed with another stranger…” she grins, ticking off her fingers with self-deprecating humour.

“Or,” I counter, “maybe they're fine instincts, because you know you're safe with us, because you are.” I look at Matiu, and he nods.

“You're safe. But if you want to tell other people about us and where you're going, go ahead. You don’t need to, though, and that’s the whole point. Betas like to make fun of our instincts because they don’t understand how we can smell when someone is lying, when they’re stressed, when they’re happy…”

“Oh, I remember. I didn’t reveal until I was twenty-seven. There’s definitely pros and cons to being an omega. So I know I’m safe. It's just funny I've ended up doing exactly what Katie said. But,” she shrugs, “I don’t know, I'm an optimist, I guess? And I like adventure. Getting to see real life in New Zealand and getting shown around by locals is better than anything I had planned. And I really like you both.”

“We like you too,” I tell her. I know Matiu will happily agree with me on this one.

Chapter Nine

Lizzie

Scott—and Barry—are easy travel companions. Barry spends a good half hour with his head out the window as we travel north before settling down for a nap, the distance between towns increasing the further we go. Everything in between is either farmland, the rolling green hills under bright blue sky breathtaking in their picturesque beauty, or native bush. Scott points out things along the way—a harrier hawk gliding high above, looking for a roadkill meal, the ‘old motorway’ we now bypass—“I worry about the businesses along that stretch, eh. There’s not many, but they must’ve lost a lot with the redirection,”—and the various turnoffs for small beach towns that we pass along the way. I tell him more about myself, answering his many questions, his quiet “What a bunch of fucking cunts,” gratifying when he hears why I was made redundant. Kiwis, I’ve come to realise, are just as kind and polite as the reputation that proceeds them, but that that politeness includes swearing like sailors, creatively injecting fuck into sentences where I’d never have thought to fit the word. “Do you swear this much at work?” I dare to ask after one particularly colourful sentence, and Scott grins, shaking his head.

“Nah. This is me on holiday. I’m a professional during work hours, I promise.”

“I believe you.”

We make a stop just as my ass is starting to ache from sitting too long in one place, stretching our legs in a large town called Whangārei, parking in a cutesy tourist area between a clock museum and a strip of eateries and small stores. We choose an outdoor table and a cafe, eating a quick lunch as Barry sits patiently at our feet, ever the good boy and entirely unbothered by the other dogs that walk past with their owners.

“We better get a move on, eh,” Scott says after I finish my last bite of food. His chair scrapes along the tiled ground as he stands. “We’ll get some supplies from the shop that’s near the bach; they’re good about dogs.”

“What about paying?” I ask as he gestures for us to walk back to the car.

“What about it? Lunch was my shout. I already paid when I went to the loo.”

“You didn’t have to, but thank you.”

“It’s all good.”

Back on the road we pass through an area Scott says is Matiu’s homeland—“His marae is down that way, and there’s a lot of sacred caves up in those hills”—before we turn off, driving towards the eastern coastline. We leave the tar-sealed roads behind us, the truck rumbling over gravel roads, kicking up a cloud of dust, lush bushland of native palms, ferns, and towering trees on either side.

“When you said remote, I didn’t realise you really meant in the middle of nowhere.”

He grins. “What would your sister say if she saw you here?”

“Oh my god, she’ll kill me.” I take a photo out the windshield of the dusty road ahead, cutting through the native palms and ferns. “I’ll send her this when we next have reception.”