[Austin]Gemma hadn’t badgered me into coming to the baby shower. She asked if I wanted to and left it up to me. I liked that. She was letting me know what she wanted and accepting my answers. I tried to be more confident in order to grow properly. It was what Carmen’s seer friend told me on one of her visits. She told me I had a strong sense of self-preservation and that I needed to trust myself and not second guess it. Even though the idea of joining a pack was still a ways off for me, I wasn’t scared of being around Carmen and Gemma’s pack. I’d met several members and none of them seemed like bad people. None of them made me feel like I was in danger. It only seemed right that I give this to Gemma. She wanted to have me there for an event with people she saw as family. I would do it for her. When we arrived at the party, there were only a few people there. She took me to say hi to Mike and Beth, who both insisted that I call them by their names while at the party, then she took me to meet her aunt and uncle. They seemed like nice people and were very polite to me. Neither one made a comment about Gemma being with a lowly omega. In fact, her aunt said she was excited about the wedding and her uncle shook my hand and pulled me into a hug. I didn’t like being touched, but I allowed it because he was Gemma’s family and had been like a father to her. Gemma pulled me over to a taller man with dark hair and eyes, who was talking to another large and powerful looking man. The power coming off them told me they were Alphas. Nothing in me told me to run, so I let her take me to them. “Trent, this is my mate, Austin Lewis,” Gemma said. The dark haired Alpha turned to me and smiled, sticking out his hand. “I’m Trent Padua. It’s nice to meet you, Austin.” I accepted his hand and he shook it firmly. There was nothing menacing about him. My Alpha always exuded something, like an aura of disgust, when he was around omegas. There was nothing like that coming from Alpha Trent. “This is Beth’s uncle, Alpha Zack Pullman,” she told me. This one smiled and stuck out his hand, too. I knew Alpha Trent knew about my past, but this one probably didn’t. He was being friendly without any reason to be. I accepted his hand as well. “Austin Lewis, it’s nice to meet you Alpha.” “It’s nice to meet you as well. I wasn’t expecting a polite rogue when Beth told me there might be one here today. Alpha Trent, why haven’t you accepted him into your pack yet? He’s marked by your Gamma’s cousin, that should give him automatic admittance,” Alpha Zack said. “Austin hasn’t made up his mind about joining a pack. We’re patient, though. If he decides to stay a rogue, we will see what sort of arrangement we can make with Queen Bellamy for Gemma. This is all part of being in this alliance,” Alpha Trent explained. “Yeah, I still don’t know the feasibility of allying with a rogue collective, but I’ll be very interested to see how it goes for you.” “Just look at Lune Rouge, Daylight Moon, and Hunter’s Moon. All three have allied with Queen Bellamy and all three of those packs have stronger warriors, happier members, and are experiencing exponential growth.” “And you have to let rogues into your pack lands whenever they want?” Alpha Trent shook his head. “No. They contact the lieutenant here for the collective and arrange a visiting time. If they are prospective pack members, then they will have their first tour with a guide. After that, they just have to request time and wear their guest pass like Austin is.” I pointed to the sticker tag that was on my shirt. It had my name and the date on it. They had given it to me when we arrived at the pack lands and Gemma explained that it was so no one would be scared of a rogue in the pack lands. I didn’t think they had any reason to be scared of a rogue omega, but if it helped, then I was more than happy to do it. He nodded. “What do you think of the pack so far, Austin?” “It seems nice, but we basically drove straight to the packhouse because of the party. It’s early enough in the day, though, that we could walk around after the party if Gemma wants. I know she’s been eager to show me her home,” I replied. “Sounds like you’re open-minded, at least. It will be good for you to be in a pack again. Losing yours must have been hard on you,” Alpha Zack said. “I didn’t lose my pack. I left.” Alpha Zack froze, then looked from me to Alpha Trent, who nodded at him. Omegas never left their packs unless they were destroyed. We all knew it and leaving my pack had been one of the hardest things I’d ever done. Gemma told me we were the heart of the pack, its backbone, and omegas were the mark of a pack’s health. Happy omegas meant a happy pack. Though, my pack seemed plenty happy while the omegas there suffered. I wouldn’t upset her world view, though. As time went on, the party grew more crowded. There were a lot of people. It was suffocating after having so many months with very few to no people around me. Gemma grabbed my hand and started pulling me toward the door. People parted, but didn’t try to stop us. When we were in the hallway, she turned to me and gave me a brief hug, then rested a hand on my cheek and looked up into my eyes. I felt instantly calmer. She was soothing me with her touch and her eyes. “It got a little overwhelming in there, didn’t it?” she asked. I nodded. “Come on, I want to introduce you to some of my friends while we’re here. They won’t miss us much here. There are too many people for them to even notice we’re gone,” Gemma said with a wink. We left the packhouse and got in her car. Gemma drove us through the pack lands slowly, pointing out places she liked to spend her time in the past and places she had told me about in her stories. It added a lot to know where these places were. She pulled up in front of a nice house in a quiet neighborhood and turned off the car. Gemma smiled at me and took my hand. There was some excitement coming through our bond. “I told you about my friend Abby, right?” “Yes.” “She’s back from college and I wanted you to meet her. Come on.” Getting out of the car, I looked around. There was a layer of snow covering the grass. It was enough that a couple of houses had some small snowmen built in the yard. They were obviously the efforts of the children to make the most of the snow. Gemma took my hand and guided me up to the front door of the house. She knocked on the door and stepped back. After a few moments, the door opened and the occupant squealed before hugging Gemma. They started chattering over each other almost immediately. Gemma told me that she was very social, for the most part, but when she wanted to be away from everyone else, there were only five people, who weren’t family, who she would be happy to see. Carmen was one of them and Ashley didn’t count because she was family. Abby was on the list, though. “It’s so good to see you! How’s school?” Gemma asked as they pulled apart. “Going great. You know, it’s a lot of work, but I want that teaching position that’s opening up in the high school, so I have to stick to it. I should be done in another year or two. I heard you took over Ashley’s position after I left to go back to school this summer. How has that been going?” “Pretty great. I went to the national conference and everything. But Carmen is the one who found my mate,” Gemma said and reached for my hand. “Abby, this is Austin, my mate.” Abby looked at me, then down at the visitor badge and sniffed. She stiffened as she registered that I was a rogue. I bowed slightly, not reaching for a handshake as not to scare her more. “Austin is an omega who left his pack. They were really terrible to him and he is only just starting to consider joining Hallowed Moon. I would never bring a dangerous person here, you know that,” Gemma told her. “It’s just hard after having to be afraid of rogues for so long. It’s nice to meet you, Austin,” Abby replied and stuck out her hand to me. I shook it politely and released her. I didn’t want to hold on to her for too long. That wasn’t something that would make another omega comfortable. I knew she was an omega as soon as I touched her. “Please come in. I linked my parents. They’re at the store. They want to meet you as well. Did Gemma tell you that my mother was our fifth grade teacher?” Abby asked as she showed us into the house. “She mentioned that one of her friends was the daughter of two of her favorite teachers,” I replied. “That would be me. My dad teaches the history of the pack and the rogue classes along with US history in the pack high school. I’m going to school to be a teacher as well. The art teacher in the high school is retiring and I’m on track to replace her. What do you do for work, Austin?” “Right now, I’m healing, but I’ll be working for Rock once I’m better. After spring comes, I don’t know what I’ll do, but I like photography.” “They have a photography degree path at the community college here. You should totally sign up and do that. It will teach you about all of the little things you need to know. I bet you’ll love it,” Abby said. Gemma was sitting next to me on the couch and squeezed my hand. It would be nice to go to classes, but I would need my high school transcripts and I didn’t have access to those. I doubted they would send something saying I passed high school. Maybe photography was out of reach for me. ‘We’ll figure it out,’ Gemma linked me. ‘Don’t worry.’“Maybe,” I told Abby. She went on to tell me about her older sister who completed nursing school and was working in the pack hospital. The more I sat in the living room of this house, the more I realized how different this pack was in regard to their omegas. This was a nice house in a nice neighborhood. Abby’s parents saved enough money to send her to college and the pack was helping too. Abby’s college fund would cover living expenses and the pack would cover tuition for an in-state school along with book costs. Because her degree was benefiting the pack, she had a lot of help, but Gemma explained to me that the pack had scholarships for the best performing students in each class that graduated the high school. Even if their degree didn’t benefit the pack, they would pay for four years of schooling. Rank didn’t matter, either, it would go to the top five students who were planning on continuing their education. My pack had a program for scholarships, too, but an omega could never qualify because most of them were made to quit school in the sixth grade. Those of us who were allowed to finish all of our schooling were not permitted to leave the pack to go to school. We were given jobs in the pack that didn’t require specialized knowledge. Gemma and Carmen had told me about this difference, but actually speaking to another omega about it made it more real somehow. It wasn’t that I doubted Carmen and Gemma, but hearing about something and meeting someone who was proof of it were two different things. While we were talking, Abby’s parents came home. They greeted me politely and went to put the groceries away, then joined us in the living room. Both of them were very nice and her father, Paul, was friendly. Abby gave me a tour of their house while Gemma talked to Abby’s parents. It was a nicer house than any omega in my old pack ever owned or lived in, unless they were selected to work for the retired ranked members. When we returned to the living room, Gemma was standing. She put her hand out for me and I went to her, taking her hand. Gemma leaned against me and gripped my arm with her other hand, hugging my arm to her while she held my hand. “Thank you all for taking the time for us. I just got a link that they’re going to open presents at the baby shower. We appreciate you giving a place to have some space and talking to Austin today,” Gemma said. “It’s no problem at all, Gem. I hope you decide to join the pack, Austin. It really is a good one and they care about everyone here,” Abby replied. “Even if you decide to take your time deciding, please come back and visit us. We’re more than happy to have you over. You may be a rogue, but you’re one of us, as well. An omega always has a home with other omegas,” Paul told me. His wife nodded and smiled. I shook hands with all of them and we headed back to the car. I’d heard that saying before, but it was always said in a derogatory way. This time, it felt like it was comforting. Gemma kissed me before we got into the car and took my hand as soon as we were buckled into our seats. Her touch always comforted and encouraged me. This was starting to look like a pack I could accept. They were exactly like Carmen and Gemma told me. Maybe this could be my pack and home. With my mate.