The Abduction (Omegas of Hunter's Point Book 2)

Chapter 3

Von stared out the passenger window at the imposing façade of her parents' four-story row house.

"It's not too late to call this off, you know," Damian said, putting the vehicle in park. "We could still tell them you're sick. Or I'm sick."

"Or I'm sick," Michael chimed in with an unconvincing cough.

As tempting as going home and crawling back into her nest sounded, Von had been looking forward to this all week, and Liam would probably be there. She knew how much Michael enjoyed seeing his cousins. There were only so many opportunities left to visit with her parents before they had to return to the capital for the start of the new legislative session.

"I thought you liked my parents."

She watched a muscle tick in Damian's jaw. "Your mom. I like your mom. She is destined for canonization. No one will ever convince me otherwise." But your dad is a dick. It went unsaid, but he may as well have taken out a digital billboard and announced it to all of Hunter's Point.

Von was inclined to agree sometimes. At his core, Daddy was an alpha first. That made him a complicated man, not easily understood, even by his own daughter. His motivations were his own. How Mom managed him all these years Von wasn't sure. Damian's greatest virtue was that he was a straight-forward. Direct. What he wanted, he pursued. What he thought, he said. Everything about him was explicit. Clear. He required no deciphering or interpretation. Lucky thing, too, as their pair-bond hadn't gotten any stronger. Well, her end of it hadn't anyway. Four years mated and Damian's feelings, thoughts, and desires were still ill-defined misty impressions. Like seeing the silhouette of a city skyline through fog.

She reached a hand to Damian's and clasped it. He responded by bringing her fingers to his lips and offering her a mischievous wink.

"Come on. We're already late. Michael, honey, can you grab Grandma's serving dish and bring it inside, please? And be careful of the lid. Make sure it doesn't fall off."

"Sure thing, Auntie."

Noting the bright red utility vehicle in the driveway, Von remarked, "Looks like Liam, Sari, and the kids are already here."

"I don't see Aunt Aily and Uncle Erik's vehicle," Michael observed, clinging to the serving dish with both hands.

He was right. Their distinctive silver two-seater was absent. Von couldn't decide whether or not to be happy about that. She'd been under the impression that since she, Damian, and Michael had begun attending these family dinners at the beginning of the summer, detectable cracks had formed in the permafrost of her relationship with Aily. However, she did find Erik Savage to be something of a prick in spite of her efforts to like the alpha, if only for Aily's sake. The male sure as hells didn't make it easy. He was a walking stereotype: brash, overbearing, authoritative, demanding, entitled - all of an alpha's least admirable qualities rolled up and mashed into a corporeal form. He also had a habit of talking to Aily in what Von considered to be a condescending manner. The previous month, dessert on the table, he'd said something low-key cutting about Aily's choice of dress for the evening, and the only thing that had kept Von from directing her brother-in-law precisely how best to jump up his own asshole had been Damian's hand squeezing hers in caution. Well, solidarity and caution. If she started shit with Erik, it would Damian finishing it outside. So, she'd held her tongue for Damian's sake. She wasn't sure she had the self-control necessary to keep it together if Erik pulled that crap again, so it was just as well that the Savages hadn't attended since.

"They must not be coming tonight," Damian replied, controlling the joy in his voice at that revelation. He shot Von a small smile as he guided Michael up the walk to the front door.