Page 6 of Scheme
“Course you are.” Jimmy flicked his hand dismissively, and I felt my eye twitch. “Like I said, I had an omega once. You don’t need to play coy with me, I know how all the mechanics work. Mighty uncomfortable time for you, during heat, if you don’t have a decent alpha there, making you feel better.”
Ew, ew, ew.My eye twitch grew into a full-blown spasm.
“Ew,” Asher said loudly, coming to a stop behind me, reading my mind. “Jimmy, you’re well old. You can’t mate my sister.”
To his credit, Jimmy laughed rather than responding like an alpha with wounded pride and a point to prove like I’d braced myself for.
“I can see why you’d think that, young Asher, but things are different when you’re an omega Margot’s age. Can’t be choosey about little things anymore.” Jimmy winked at me, setting off another round of general nausea. “Kids, eh? I’ve got grown ones of my own, so I know the drill. We won’t let ours be as lippy as your brother, that’s for certain.”
“I’m not lippy,” Asher shot back, genuinely affronted.
“And I’m not choosey, I don’twanta mate,” I said, articulating each word clearly in case he’d misheard me the first time.
That my parents had a problem with my dedication to staying single forever wasn’t surprising. That they’d sent my dad’s sixty-something-year-old golf buddy after mewas.
I shouldn’t be surprised.
Jules’ heat was approaching soon, and she already had an alpha lined up to invite into her nest. If they managed to pair me off too, that would be a great distraction from The Calum Problem.
Jimmy gave me an indulgent smile like I’d just said the cutest thing he’d ever heard, and it immediately set my teeth on edge.
I wasn’t acutelittle omega. I was a grown-ass woman. I was accomplished. I had at least eighteen different knot-simulation dildos that would get me off with more success than this obnoxious alpha.
“I appreciate you coming to collect them, but I’d be more comfortable keeping Chelsea and Asher here for the night. They’ve just gone through a tremendous shock, and I’m sure my parents would appreciate the break,” I said stiffly. Who the fuck was this guy? I wasn’t sending my baby siblings off with him, that was for sure.
“Oh yes,” Asher added solemnly, valiantly attempting to look mournful. “I’mverysad on the inside. That’s why I’m being so lippy. To cover up the pain.”
I shot Asher my bestbe quietlook out of the corner of my eye, and he wrapped his arms around my waist with a dramatic sigh, leaning his head on my shoulder.
Jimmy grunted in acknowledgement, annoyance written all over his face. “Well, I suppose that makes sense. It’s a credit to your maternal instincts that you take such good care of your siblings, Margot. I’ll be seeing you soon.”
And just like that, Calum dying suddenly wasn’t the worst part of my day.
Chapter 2
“Youreallyaremyfavourite sister,” Asher said around a mouthful of pancake. It was as though he hadn’t demolished an entire pizza on his own last night. Teenagers were bottomless pits. “These are so good. I didn’t know you could cook.”
“I can feed myself,” I corrected, becausecookseemed like a bit of a stretch. I didn’t make anything that didn’t come with instructions—pancakes included.
The buzzer went off five times in quick succession, startling all of us.
“That’s definitely Dad,” Chelsea sighed, glaring at Asher until he started chewing with his mouth closed. “This will be fun.”
“I’ve got this,” I assured her, pushing away from the table as the buzzer went off again. “Get your things together, though. He’s clearly not in a patient mood.”
He was never in a patient mood, I added mentally, jogging down the stairs to meet him at the front door.
Dad usually looked perfectly put together at all times—built like a superhero with the overly polished aesthetic of a supervillain—he was a larger-than-life figure that loomed over me, both physically and metaphorically.
He didn’t look like that today.
While Calum had acted mostly as a tormentor in mine and Asher’s life—and Chelsea’s to a lesser extent—he’d been my parents’ most beloved son.
“They’re just coming now,” I said, breaking the tense silence when it looked as though Dad wasn’t going to. “Are you, um, okay?”
We weren’t a family who talked about feelings. I felt as uncomfortable asking as Dad looked at being asked. At least it had startled him out of his weird funk, and he was back to wearing the usual you-are-my-worst-daughter face he usually had around me.
“The situation with Calum has come at an unfortunate time. Your mother is very busy with the PTA at the kids’ school, there are a lot of end-of-term activities she’s involved in. And I’m up for a promotion, and you know my boss lives down the road. He’ll hear about this.”
