I sniffle as I wash off my makeup, the silence in the room staggering, and I wonder when I became such a needy Omega? I put on more of the nausea patches, take a pill, and put the hideous motion sick bands back on. With a groan I lie on the bed—that smells nothing like Forrest—and grab my phone.
For a quick moment I think about messaging him, telling him I need him to come up here and roll around on my bed before he goes to sleep. That would be absolutely unhinged, right?
Instead, I look at my call log and call the one person I know who can help me make sense of this. I just hope she doesn’t absolutely freak out on me.
The phone rings twice.
“Claire, sweetie, are you okay?” my mom says over the line and I just cry. “Oh, honey. Are you safe?”
“Yeah, mom, I’m safe. It’s just...”
“Give me a second,” she says and I hear her shuffling, probably getting out of bed and hiding away from one or more of my dads. “You’re sure you’re safe? That’s what matters to me more than anything.”
“I’m safe. There are a lot of precautions on the boat. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
She snorts on the other side of the phone. “You think I didn’t know?”
“You knew?”
“Of course I knew. You’re an adult, Claire. If this is where you think you’ll find your pack, I support you. I wish you would have told us instead of me snooping around. I know all about the safety precautions in place. If I didn’t think it was safe, you wouldn’t be on that boat.”
I sigh. It’s not a surprise she knows. I swear the woman could have been a secret agent if she wanted to.
“You didn’t tell them?” I ask, referring to my over-protective fathers.
“No. They don’t understand what it means to be an Omega. You’re still their little girl, you always will be. Now, what’s wrong, honey?”
“It’s so silly,” I say with a sigh, and I tell her everything. How Forrest carried me to the doctor’s office and stayed in my bed. How well the date went, how deranged some Alphas are on board. “They changed the sheets, and it doesn’t smell like him anymore and I feel sick.”
“Oh honey, if they’re a pack worth having, they would be more than happy to take care of your needs.”
“I only just met him and I’m craving his scent like this. What’s wrong with me?”
“Nothing is wrong with you. You’re my daughter. We fall fast. You know I knew the moment I met River I loved him, and then Grayson.” She makes some dreamy sound on the other side of the phone. “No one in my life ever made me feel as safe as him. I yearned for him. You know I had him sleep under a weiner dog blanket on the floor with me the first night I stayed at their apartment?”
“That sounds like him,” I say. My dad, Grayson, is very protective and attentive to my mom. Some of those traits ring true in Forrest too.
“You said the one was a Beta with two Omega moms?”
“Yes, Wells Torrin, mom, the Olympic skier,” I bring up.
She must be typing on her phone. “Very cute,” she says, and I laugh. “What’s the other one’s name?” I tell her, and I assume she Googles him too. “Having good taste must be hereditary.”
“Mom,” I chide her. “What do I do?”
“You message the Beta, and you tell him you’re feeling sick and to bring you something of Forrest's."
“Shouldn’t I just message Forrest directly?”
My mom laughs. “Oh, sweet Claire. The best part of having a Beta in your pack? They’re the best at keeping secrets.”
“Thanks, Mom, I love you.”
“Love you too, and please call me every day. I’m proud of you for being so brave and going on that ship, but you’re still my baby.”
I smile against the phone. “I will.”
“Livy, who are you talking to?” I hear over the line, grimace, promptly hanging up so I don’t need to deal with my dads scolding right now.