Celine agreed, muttering to herself about needing something stronger than tea as her footsteps faded.
“I didn’t know you mom was coming,” was all Jake could think to say.
“She wasn’t. I didn’t invite her. Thought she was off in the Caribbean with mate number three.”
Will stood and went to his dresser, pulling out a pair of jeans and a button-down shirt and dressing quickly. Jake followed his lead, slipping into a pair of pants before reaching for a t-shirt and pulling it over his head. Will stopped him with a hand to his shoulder, eyeing him with a critical eye. He pulled a second shirt from the wardrobe, a deep burgundy. “Put this on over your t-shirt. On the off-chance she doesn’t know that you’re expecting, I’d like to keep it that way. For now, at least.”
Jake tried to hide the hurt from his eyes, turning his back as he shrugged on the shirt, but knew he’d failed when Will pressed against him and slipped hands around his waist, interlocking his fingers over Jake’s stomach.
“This isn’t about you and me, about us. My mom is a difficult woman, I don’t want you getting hurt in the cross fire.” He pressed a kiss just behind Jake’s ear, drawing a shudder from him.
“Come on, the sooner we face the music, the sooner I’ll be able to breathe again.”
Taking Jake by the hand, Will led him from the room. Other people’s families had always seemed strange to him, but he wasn’t sure he knew any that were quite as messed up as Will’s. Even his own family, though they’d certainly had their moments, had never seemed quite so chaotic.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Hi, Mom.”
Will didn’t expound the pleasantries where his mother was concerned. She always had her own timetable, her own agenda, and damn anyone else.
“Will, darling. It’s been too long.” She sat at a table in the dining room, a cup of tea sitting in front of her. Celine had even managed to unearth a saucer from somewhere.
He leaned over to give his mother a hug, wrinkling his nose at the heavy waft of her perfume overlaying her scent.
“We weren’t expecting you.”
“Well, your sister let slip about this family get-together. Naturally, I had to wonder why I wasn’t included.”
“It’s city stuff, Mom. Since Stephen passed, things have really gone to the dogs.”
His mother made a sound like she was trying to swallow a laugh. “Only since? Eden hasn’t been the same since your father died. Your brother wasn’t fit to take over. I always told Thomas that, but did he listen—”
Once his mother started criticizing his late father, she was liable never to stop.
As he took a seat at the table, he gestured for Jake to sit too.
“So, what brings you here, Mom?”
“Can’t a mother visit her son? Does there have to be a reason?”
He forced down his irritation, ensuring his voice was nothing but pleasant as he replied. “There’s always a reason, Mom, always.”
“I heard a rumor, from a friend of mine here in Eden. You remember Clarissa, don’t you darling? Aden’s mother.”
“I remember.”
“She heard from her sister, who heard from her hairdresser, who heard from her boyfriend, that you were involved with an Omega.”
Her eyes strayed to Jake for the first time. “Naturally, I wanted to know if it was true and, if it was, I had to wonder why I was hearing it from Clarissa and not from you. Is it so difficult to pick up a phone?”
“Sorry, Mom. Things have been pretty busy around here.”
“That’s the same excuse you’ve always had. Well, are you going to introduce me?”
Will pushed back his chair, holding back a sigh.
“Mom, this is Jake. Jake, this is my mother, Lorraine.”
Neither his mother nor his mate spoke, both eyeing each other uncertainly.
His mom broke the silence. “Well, aren’t you the beauty? Where has Will been hiding you?”
Jake blushed, the red reaching right to the tips of his ears, only serving to show up the perfection of his pale skin.
“What do you do, Jake?” she asked, before he could answer what Will hoped was a rhetorical question. With his mother, you never did know.
“I work here, at Snakes and Ladders.”
His mother’s eyes narrowed, and Will knew they were in trouble, mentally readying himself to shield them both from the volleys.
“As a musician?” she asked, sounding hopeful. “Will has always had a liking for musicians.”
“No, I…” Jake hesitated, looking to Will.
“Jake is in the process of updating our accounts and inventory system. He has qualifications in business and technology.”
She laughed. “You, hiring someone to bring the business into the digital age? How did that miracle come about?”
Jake’s eyes did nothing to hide his panic and Will couldn’t come up with a reasonable excuse that his mother would believe.
“Jake was having trouble getting work in the city, so I hired him to work here.”
His mother hummed at that, pouncing on their hesitation. “Hired him as what?”
“Cleaning, waiting tables,” Jake said before Will could answer, his gaze on his hands, twisted together in his lap.
“I see. And what Pack do you come from Jake?”
“Mother, that’s hardly important now.”
“Family is important, as much as you’ve always tried to deny it, Will. Your parents, Jake, what do they do?”
“They’re dead. My father ran a small business. My mother raised me and my sister.”
“And is this your first relationship with an Alpha?”
“Mom, that’s enough.” Will stood, pushing back his seat. His mother didn’t rise to the challenge in his voice, speaking instead to Jake.
“Would you mind giving us a minute please, Jake. My son and I have some things to talk about. Private, family matters.”
It was a cutting dismissal but Jake almost stumbled in his haste to leave the room. Will caught his arm as he passed, holding Jake’s gaze for a moment, Jake giving him the tiniest of smiles.
Jake couldn’t get out of the dining room fast enough, his ears burning. He got halfway down the corridor before he stopped to catch his breath. Behind him, he could hear Will and his mother talking. He hadn’t planned to eavesdrop but he couldn’t tear himself away.
“There’s no denying he’s attractive, Will. Avery was beautiful, too. But Avery had class, pedigree. His family produced world-renowned artists and musicians. Are you telling me that my grandchildren are to be the sons and daughters of a cleaner, from a Pack no one among our friends has heard of?”
“Mom—”
“No, Will. I left you alone after Avery, like you asked. I gave you time. I was waiting for you to be ready for another relationship. Yolanda Gray’s grandson is an Omega. He’s a talented dancer; ballet. Eminently suitable for the Alpha of a city.”
Will’s reply was quiet but his voice was steely.
“Jake is my mate, mother. It doesn’t matter to me where he comes from, or what his profession is. I care about who he is, the kind of person he is.”
“Which is very admirable, Will. You were always kindhearted, always the kind of person to take in strays—”
“He’s not a stray, Mom,” Will said hotly.
“—but even you can’t argue that he’s a suitable mate for an Alpha in your position.”
Jake leaned against the wall, the words digging at him, making him feel small.
“I can Mom, and I will. Besides, none of that matters. I won’t be Alpha for much longer. I’ve accepted a position on Chris’ team. I’ll be a cop again in a matter of weeks.”
Jake didn’t wait to hear the rest of the conversation, as a door opened further down the corridor. He stopped by the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea and took it back to Will’s room.
At length, he heard Will’s heavy footsteps trudge down the corridor, through his office, and to the be
droom door. There was a pause then, and Jake could imagine Will on the other side, hesitating. What had he come to say? Had he seen the light with his mother’s words, was he going to break things off? And if he wasn’t, there was still Avery and the things Jake didn’t know. Though no one had said it outright, he knew Avery was dead. But he didn’t know how, or why it had left Will with so much guilt.
There was a knock on the door. Will asking permission to enter his own bedroom. Jake might have laughed except nothing about this was funny.
“Will?”
The Alpha stepped inside, closing the door behind him and leaning against it. He ran a hand down his face. “My mom is gone, thank God. I wasn’t sure she’d ever leave. How are you holding up?”
He wasn’t expecting the question and didn’t know quite how to answer it.
“I… I’m okay, I guess. What did… how did you leave things, with your mom, I mean?”
Will pushed away from the door, stretching his neck and shoulders. “She’s fuming, not unexpectedly.”
“Because of me.”
He felt small again, tiny, insignificant, and worthless. What good was he to Will?
“I’m quite sure it’s because of me. You just happen to be the Omega I’m in love with, her wrath against you is an unfortunate by-product.”
“She doesn’t think I’m good enough for you.”
“Oh, she had a myriad of objections against Avery when we first got together. I don’t think there’s anyone on earth who she wouldn’t find fault with.”
Jake sat forward, setting his feet on the floor.
“Maybe she’s right, though. I’m not exactly ideal mating material. I mean, I’m carrying another Alpha’s baby for heaven’s sake. I’m nothing like Avery.”
Will took a seat next to him on the bed. “You’re right. In a lot of ways, you and Avery are nothing alike. Just like Chris and I are nothing alike, in many ways. But we have our similarities. It’s not a bad thing, Jake. I don’t want a constant reminder of my past. I don’t want to replace Avery with an Avery look-alike. I want you, for you.”
Jake took a deep breath, steeling himself for the backlash he thought his question might bring.
“What happened to Avery?”
At first, he thought Will wasn’t going to answer but as he watched, the Alpha started kicking off his shoes.
“I guess it's past time for us to discuss it. If we’re going to have this talk, let’s do it more comfortably than both of us hunched over at the end of the bed.”
They wound up sitting up against the headboard, Jake’s head resting against Will’s chest, their legs and feet tangled together.
“Avery and I probably shouldn’t have ended up together. It was one of those accidental encounters, a function my mother insisted I attend that he happened to be at. We dated, it got serious, but we both had careers we wanted to pursue and neither of us wanted to be tied down with kids at twenty-one. Avery’s career went from strength to strength but I guess I wasn’t keeping pace enough for him. There aren’t a lot of places to go as a shifter once you become a cop and I was happy doing what I was doing. Dad died and Stephen took over running the city. He offered me a position, official-sounding with a title and more money than was sensible. I turned him down. I think that was the final straw for Avery. He saw the position as a chance for us to be level. Him with his music, me with the power of the city’s Alpha behind me. It would have been to his advantage in a way my being a cop wasn’t.”
Will shifted, getting comfortable, resting one hand over Jake’s.
“One day he came home and told me he’d had a better offer. Said an Alpha with connections in the classical music world had offered him everything he’d ever dreamed of. He packed his bags, and just like that, walked out of my life. And you know what, I let him go. I didn’t even try to argue, to ask questions. I think I might have wished him well as he stepped out the door. I guess, in a way, I was relieved. The weight of his expectations was off my shoulders.”
Jake knew there was more to the story, there had to be. Avery wasn’t off somewhere living the high life.
“Three weeks later, we’re called to this crime scene, a murder. It’s a real mess, the stuff of nightmares. And the victim is an Omega. I was the first of our team on the scene, Chris four steps behind me. I got Avery’s scent the second I stepped through the door, and I saw everything. For weeks, hell, months, I saw those images every time I closed my eyes. I did everything I could to block them out. Alcohol, exercise, staying awake until I was literally dropping to the floor. Left the force, because I didn’t believe I could protect another person, after failing Avery so spectacularly.”
“But it wasn’t your fault. How could you have known?”
Will’s hand tightened over his. “I know that now, but back then, I was drowning in guilt. I should have checked who this Alpha was, should have made sure Avery was okay. I should have asked him to stay. But I didn’t, and he died.”
“Did they catch him, the Alpha?”
“No. Whoever it was, was careful, covered their trail well, obliterated their scent with chemicals. It probably wasn’t their first time.”
Jake shuddered at the thought, considering his own brush with a dangerous Alpha.
“I’m sorry that you had to go through that, lose someone like that.”
“It’s easier now, to talk about it. Back then I just couldn’t. The pain was too great. Because I had loved him, right to the end, I just felt I was holding him back.”
They lay there for a while, holding each other, the silence filled with their heartbeats and soft breaths. Jake knew it wasn't words Will needed, meaningless platitudes he'd heard a million times before. It was this, the closeness and comfort they were sharing.
"At least Mom turned up today and not tomorrow," Will said at length, breaking the silence.
“How did you convince her to leave?”
“Oh, that was easy. I told her I loved you, you were my mate, and you were carrying my child. I’ve never seen her speechless before. I suspect it won’t last. Once she gets over the initial shock, she’ll be back.”
“Is that a promise or a threat?” Jake mused.
“A bit of both, I suspect,” Will replied.
Jake’s stomach growled, loud in the quiet room.
“I think that’s our cue to join the others for brunch.” Will stood, reaching to help Jake to his feet then resting his hands on Jake’s shoulders.
“I’m sorry for how my mother behaved this morning and for what she said. She has a way of making even the strongest people feel small. I know you’re feeling vulnerable and uncertain right now, so I need you to trust me. We’re in this together, you and I. I promise.”
The knot in the pit of his stomach started to unravel at Will’s heartfelt words.
They walked side by side to the dining room following the sound of laughter from the others gathered there.
Chapter Thirty
“Will, are you awake?”
Jake’s voice was pitched soft, so as not to wake him if he was still asleep. But Will had been awake since before dawn, running through their plans for the day ahead.
“Yeah, you too?”
“I’ve just been thinking.” Jake rolled over, so they were face to face.
“About what?” he asked, stroking a hand down Jake’s back.
“Are you sure you want me to sit in while you talk with your family? I mean, they don’t even know me.”
“You’ve met Fred. And now my Mom.”
“Who hated me.” Jake’s mouth turned down as he spoke and Will could see his mother’s words had cut deep. He mentally cursed himself, knowing he hadn’t prepared either of them well enough for that encounter.
“Mom doesn’t hate you, she doesn’t know you. She’s a difficult woman, Jake. She has always been that way. People are black and white to her; either you’re her favorite person or you’re nothing. I think the only exceptions to that are her kids.” He smiled at Jake, trying to
lighten the mood. “At least, that’s the only explanation I have for why she hasn’t disowned me yet.”
Jake didn’t smile back, but he stopped looking so sad. “I think she and my sister might have a lot in common.”
The Omega sat up, stretching his arms in a way that tugged up the shirt he wore, revealing just a glimpse of his stomach. The sight was distracting and Will reached out, fingers ghosting across the soft skin. Jake arched his back, moving away from the tickling touch.
“It’s hard to understand, given what you’ve told me about your parents, how your sister could be the way she is.”
Will had always felt he was very obviously the product of his parents and their troubled relationship. He’d grown up as someone used to dealing with conflict in every aspect of his life. Things between him and Jake seemed so easy in comparison, it made him nervous
“Kelly wasn’t always like that.” Jake sat back against the headboard, tilting his head to the side as he spoke, his eyes distant. “Things changed when she was a teenager. She met Rick when she was fifteen. He was seventeen. Our parents wouldn’t let them date, not until she was sixteen. Our mom died that year and things just spiraled. She was getting into fights with my Dad all the time. He thought Rick was a bad influence on her and wouldn’t let him on Pack land so she’d sneak off to see him. They ran off together and mated as soon as she turned eighteen. They came back and made peace with my Dad a year later. She and Rick were looking for somewhere to settle down and I guess Rick had his eye on leadership.”
“And there weren’t any other contenders in the Pack?”
“My cousin, Justin, but Rick got pally with most of the other guys and muscled Justin out. When my Dad died, no one else put themselves forward. It was a done deal.” Shifter politics in a small pack could turn more easily on who knew who or a single, dominant personality than it did in larger packs.
“And it’s not that Rick’s a terrible Alpha or anything. It’s just that when he wants something, there's not a lot he wouldn’t do to get it.”
“Like forcibly impregnate you?”
Jake shuddered at the words, drawing his knees up to his chest, his arms encircling his stomach protectively.
Falling Together (The Omega Haven Book 1) Page 16
