Chapter Seventeen

Lexa hung back as Delun was greeted by his relatives. The offspring of the omega were easy to spot; they were the Asians in the bunch. The three men of European descent were the alphas, and the two amused Asian alphas looked at the incoming group with welcome.

Delun took Hailey’s hand and led her to a lovely woman with a wave of dark hair and almond eyes. “Hailey, this is my mother, now your grandmother. Fen.”

The woman leaned forward and caressed Hailey’s face. “Hello, Hailey. I am your grandmother from this day forward. You can call me Zumu Fen. You are a beautiful little girl. We will take good care of you.”

Hailey bowed, and Lexa watched the short tutorial from the car spring into action.

“Hello, Zumu Fen. My dad gave me this to give to you.” She held up a box with both hands.

The older woman took the box and opened it. A delicate bracelet was nestled against the velvet. “Now, child. Why didn’t your mother give me the gift?”

Delun stiffened, and Lexa breathed deeply. “Mom. I told you about the circumstance.”

Fen waved that away. “You bring me this treasure, and she brings me nothing. It is insulting.”

Hailey frowned. “You are not a nice lady. Mom, can we go home?”

All eyes turned toward Lexa, and she stepped forward against protocol. She eased her hood back, and Arthur took her cloak. There were a few gasps. Her roses were strong from some very subtle toying in the car under the folds of her cloak.

Lexa walked up to Fen, and she inclined her head. “Greetings, Lady Fen. My daughter does not like all the stress and change. As I am not approved by you, we shall remove ourselves from your sight.”

Fen grabbed her chin and lifted it. “You are an omega.”

“So I have heard.”

“Your scent is strong.”

She gave the woman a wry look. “I only have three mates, but it gets a workout.”

“What does your scent do with my son’s?”

She grinned. “We are nearly baklava. We just need someone to smell like butter and walnuts. Seriously. I have nothing to offer you. We’ll go until I work something out.”

“You have given me a granddaughter. A strong one who defends you.”

Lexa took Hailey’s hand. “I did not want that for her, but it is where we are. No one should have to defend a parent.”

Delun put his hand on her shoulder. “Mother, are we invited to dine or shall we hit takeout on the way home?”

Hailey brightened. “Woohoo! Burgers!”

Fen looked at Lexa. “Who is your favourite?”

She paused and beckoned the older woman forward. She whispered, “In my heat where faces and bodies blur and hands are on me, I don’t give a fuck.”

Fen pulled back, and then, she laughed. “I know what you mean. Welcome, daughter.”

The entire gathering exhaled in relief, and the party started.

Hailey met a few cousins, and they took her to play as best she could with the formal dress. Rya left and returned with a small garment bag over her arm.

Photos were taken with Fen and her new granddaughter; Lexa and Fen with Hailey; and then Fen’s mates, Delun, Lexa, Fen, and Hailey. Hailey was then given a change of clothing, and for her, the party started when she could run around.

Fen and Lexa were set at a table on their own, and Fen leaned over. “I am not used to other omegas.”

“That’s fine. I know two, so I am used to the moods and stuff.”

“Really?”

“Sure. They live next door to the new house.”

“Ah, we will see it on the weekend. The party sounds fun.”

“So, what was that about me not bringing a present?”

“I wanted to see what you would do if Hailey was uncomfortable. You did well. How old is she?”

“Seven.”

“She was not born to you.”

“No. My sister’s child. My sister died. So, her mother was an omega and her father was an alpha. She is giving the signs of being an omega. An early waker.”

“Ah, they need care and protection.”

A tray was brought out to them with food before the same item was brought to the gathering. Fen took the food and put it in Lexa’s bowl before she filled her own. They ate, and Delun was grinning as he helped Hailey with her serving spoon.

“He has just jumped into the dad role.” Fen smiled. “What are the chances of more grandchildren in the future?”

“Oh, pretty good. I like kids, but there won’t be any more surprise seven-year-olds.”

Fen chuckled. “Good. What do you think the odds are of the firstborn being Delun’s line?”

“Pretty good odds.”

“How can you be sure, golden pearl.”

Lexa grimaced and ate her noodles, mumbling, “I ran.”

Fen paused, and huge peals of laughter ran through the restaurant. All faces turned toward them with beaming expressions of joy on their faces. They didn’t know what the joke was, but their omega was happy, and that was good enough.

Fen gripped Lexa’s hand and squeezed. “It is good that you are here, and I am glad that you are with Delun. The other two look to be nice and stable, but that Grigory hangs around with sketchy folk.”

“They are called relatives.” Lexa smiled.

Fen snorted. “Our family has focused on advanced education. Theirs is focused on...”

“Having fun? That would be my guess, but every one of them that I have met is excellent at what they do and enjoy it. Even Hailey’s nanny is just as deadly as Rya but has got her doing her homework days in advance, so if the opportunity for fun arises, we are ready.”

“She will be going to Aya’s school?”

“Apparently. She had her interview or test or something today.”

“Yes, Aya was very impressed. She is very self-possessed for one so young.”

Lexa sighed and kept eating because her bowl didn’t seem to empty. “What is happening to my food?”

Fen chuckled. “They normally stuff me until I can’t move, so I am trying the whole feeding thing. You are too skinny, Lexa. Eat.”

Lexa covered her face. “Oh, for fuck’s sake.”

Fen laughed again and touched her hand. “You are very soft, but if you are going to carry children, you need a little extra weight. Delun was a big baby, the other one is huge, and that other mate of yours looks like he ate his twin in the womb.”

“That is an image. I know I have been getting lectures from Grigory and Delun both. They make sure that I clean my plate and take in dessert. I have just been eating for survival for a while now, so I don’t have much capacity. I do try and take it all.”

“Does that extend off the table as well?” Fen raised her brows.

Lexa blinked, flicked a glance to the table where her family sat. “Oh, no, I can take them all. They were so upset after my heat. No one warned them how tiring it would be.”

Fen slowly smiled. “I knew I would like you. So, you will know in a few weeks?”

“I will take an early test.”

“Good, though, Delun and his honey tongue might know before you do.”

Lexa covered her mouth. “Oh. Damn.”

Fen grinned and leaned forward again, her wrists wore two of her mates’ marks, and the other three were on her neck and shoulders. She had one at the base of her neck and then one on each shoulder. She put more food into Lexa’s bowl.

“Did you take on all your mates at once?” Lexa asked.

“No, I had my first two when I was in China, and then when we travelled here, we collected the other three. It was the span of about five years.”

“Oh. Kay.” She nodded.

“I hear you met your first five years ago.”

Lexa nibbled at the food. “Uh, yes. We were estranged after that... until a few weeks ago.”

“A fight?” Fen glared at Arthur.

“No, it’s...” She sighed and explained it to an astonished Fen as they sat. Fen covered her mark on her neck with one hand, and then, Lexa squeaked as she was hugged by the most elegant and lovely woman she had ever met in her life.

“Delun fixed it. Once the scar tissue was off, he made it pretty again, see?” Lexa was trying to soothe the upset omega as her alphas started frowning and stirring.

Fen looked at the mark and ran her fingers along it. “It is pretty now. Which one is Delun’s?” Lexa exhaled softly and wondered if she was that much work. She pointed.

Fen looked it over and nodded with a smile. “Very neat and nicely healed. They are all nicely healed.”

“Delun’s tongue at work.”

Fen was proud. “He was always good at healing.”

“He is... very good at it.”

Fen chuckled. “He treats you well?”

“Very well. They all do. They treat me like I am made of something precious.” She shrugged and sighed when there was no food waiting for her.

“You are precious. You are an omega. You don’t consider that to be an item of value?”

“I... don’t think of my own value. It hasn’t come up.” She swallowed. “I know I have value to others.”

“Hmm. So, we have our work cut out for us.” Fen nodded, and she snapped her fingers.

“Aw, come on.” Another range of platters came out.

Fen chuckled. “First, we stuff you until you can’t get away, and then, we start to convince you of your worth. It is a time-honoured tradition that I haven’t been able to administer to someone else. This will be interesting.”

“I don’t need to be a project.”

Bits of sliced vegetables were set in her bowl along with rice and some strips of marinated meat. Fen handed it to her. “And yet, here we are. I have been looking for a new hobby.”

Lexa ate quietly, and she started yawning after another four bowls. She swayed, and Fen guided her down until she was lying on her mother-in-law’s lap, delicate fingers stroked her hair. “You fight dirty, Lady Fen.”

Fen laughed brightly and continued to play with her new gilded daughter. “You know, my son is in trouble for bringing you here with no jewellery.”

“Yirra gave me a necklace and earrings, but it didn’t match the formalwear.” She breathed deeply.

“And what about your other mate. Oh, you haven’t met his family properly yet.”

“The aunties send cookies and chocolates.” She sighed, and Fen’s hands kept stroking her hair and relaxing her. The scent that surrounded her was lemongrass.

Lexa heard the digital click of cell phones and knew that this moment would pop up again and again.

A small hand touched her face. She struggled to open her eyes. “Hailey?”

“Are you sleepy, Mom?”

“A little bit, baby. I ate a lot.”

“Dad and Grigory thought it was funny. Arthur is worried.”

Hailey tilted her head. “Zumu Fen, can I curl up with Mom?”

Fen’s fingers kept stroking Lexa’s hair. “Of course, Hailey.”

Lexa cuddled Hailey to her on the dais, and Fen’s hands moved between them.

Music started up, and people started dancing. Fen’s hands kept moving, and that is when Lexa started to fight it. She murmured, “Hailey, go and ask Delun if his mother’s hands have a sedative effect.”

Her daughter slithered out of her grip, and she struggled to get her eyes to focus as Delun got to his feet.

She pushed away from Fen and dug her nails into her palm. “Why did you do that?”

Fen smiled brightly. “Do what?”

“You were pushing me to sleep.”

“You looked tired, Lexa. You needed rest. Don’t you feel better now?”

Delun spoke quietly. “Mother, what were you doing?”

Fen chuckled. “Just seeing what kind of a will she has. She’s surprisingly strong but needs a bit of care. There is a lot of damage there.”

Lexa sat stunned as she was analyzed by the woman whose mind had just been pressing hers into mush. Fen seemed so coolly intelligent as she spoke to her son. Hailey went to play with the younger cousins again, and Lexa looked at Delun. “You could have warned me.”

“She hasn’t done that to anyone in years. Do you want to leave, Lexa?”

Lexa frowned and looked at the other omega. “No. But if she keeps this up, you are getting gelded.”

Fen blinked and laughed. “That is an interesting threat. Do you think you could carry it out?”

“No, but I have a friend who grew up on a farm. She could manage it, or so she tells me.”

Delun looked at Lexa with raised brows. “Please. I would have a vasectomy in that case. I would still be able to please you that way, even if my mother’s line dies out.”

Fen blinked and looked between the two of them. “I won’t do it again. I just needed to know how you react under threat.”

“What is your assessment?” Lexa reached for her water glass and sipped at it.

“You wait until you are sure the danger isn’t changing before you act.”

Lexa turned and nodded politely to Fen before she said, “Wrong. I am working on building trust, and here, with Delun’s family, I was supposed to be able to trust. I now know that it isn’t the case. I will be on my guard in the future.”

Delun sighed. “I warned you, Mother, no games.”

Fen frowned. “I needed to know.”

Delun held his hand out to Lexa. “And now you know. Lexa, would you care to meet my mother’s mates?”

“Sure. How long do we have to stay at Hailey’s party? I don’t want to cut it short, but... I feel conspicuous. Like... I shouldn’t be wearing this.” She looked at her robe.

Arthur and Grigory came to her, and they surrounded her. Grigory murmured, “What is wrong, treasure?”

“I am fairly sure that I am just a route to grandkids for Fen. She tested me, and I don’t feel good about being here now.”

Lexa focused on keeping herself calm, but she noticed a woman to her left starting to cry, then her right, and then a wave of it leaked through the crowd. She looked at Delun. “Oops.”

Delun watched all his female relatives, betas and alphas, burst into tears. “Lexa, what is happening?”

“Overflow? I normally can keep it under control, but my control has been a little worn lately. It only happens when I am really upset.”

Arthur frowned. “You don’t look really upset.”

“Of course not. They have taken it all.” She noted that Fen was getting suspicious looks from the weeping women. “Uh-oh. Grigory, can you kiss me, please?”

“Of course, treasure. Why?”

“Because this is about to become daytime TV if I am not distracted.”

He picked her up and kissed her, and her focus and irritation were broken at his cinnamon and mint scent.

His tongue duelled with hers, and they soon were clinging to each other, and the scent of roses filled the room.

He lowered her, and she heard shouting from the dais. Delun wasn’t there. He was next to her. A very large and angry alpha was shouting at Fen while holding onto what seemed to be his daughter.

Lexa blinked. “Uh-oh. Not fast enough. Put me down, Grigory. I have to go and stop something.”

He set her down, and she grabbed Delun’s hand. “Do you bark?”

“Roar.”

“Right. I am going to need that, please. Come with me. When I elbow you, roar stop.”

He frowned, but she hauled them right in front of the cowering Fen. The sobbing woman was a beta, and Lexa elbowed Delun. He roared and yelled, and the spell was broken. She quaked, and he cuddled her to soothe her. She looked back at Fen, and she crouched, face to face. “We are going now. The rest of the family is always invited to visit. You need to fucking apologize.”

Delun took Lexa’s hand, and Hailey ran over. Fen’s alphas gathered around her, but they looked more confused at what she was giving them more than anything else. She grabbed a mate and whispered urgently.

He looked to Delun. “Son, wait.”

They paused. Lexa nodded, and he went back to his father. Delun listened to Fen speak, nodded, and then, he came back and smiled. “You are about to get your apology.”

Lexa was settled on her knees with her hands on her thighs. Fen faced her, and then, the room came to a halt and stared as Fen bowed low, face against the floor. “Lexa Adders, mate to my son Delun, omega of the Rose Sloth, I apologize for forcing my will on you, manipulating you, and making light of your trauma. Please, forgive me for my actions, and do not make my family suffer because I acted badly. You offered me a granddaughter with tremendous potential, and I abused your trust and your offered acceptance.”

Fen murmured, “Will you forgive me and allow this evening to continue?”

“There is one condition.” Lexa folded her arms.

Fen peeped up. “What?”

“Stop feeding me. I get enough from these guys without you playing the damned game. The last thing I need is another omega shoving food at me. I can eventually get the alphas to stop, but that doesn’t work on you.” Lexa’s lips twitched. “If you can agree to that, I will accept your apology.”

Fen’s eyes gleamed. “I will just have to find other ways to get some meat on your bones.”

She straightened, and they hugged. The gathering was relieved, the guys were relieved, and the two parties of alphas with insane omegas got together and compared notes.

Fen grinned. “Did you know you could do that?”

“Yes. I just dump my emotions into other women so I can stay clearheaded. It is why I have issues around being vulnerable when in public. If my control slips... crying baristas.”

“I didn’t feel it.”

“You were the person who made me angry. If we didn’t stop it, your alphas would have had to step in. The women here would have started attacking you.”

Fen blinked. “You have seen this? Done this?”

“Uh, yeah. After the attack, that scarred me up. The police were suddenly less than helpful and accusatory, so I got angry and had to keep calm, but the nurses and female patients attacked the officers. It was the first incident, but there have been others.”

Hailey was sitting on Arthur’s lap and taking one of her power naps. Grigory was talking to two other alphas, and Delun was speaking with three of his mother’s alphas, including his father.

Fen smiled. “Did you warn them of this?”

“About as much as Delun warned me about his honey tongue.”

Fen chuckled. “I do like you. You have a lot of spirit. I did not expect you to have a broadcast ability.”

“I am pretty sure that it also repels alphas. That is the only thing I can think of that kept them off me over the last five years.”

“Maybe it was that hidden mark?” Fen smiled.

Lexa looked to Arthur speaking to some of the female alphas who were admiring Hailey. “Maybe someone was watching over me after all.”