Page 76 of Daughter of Garnet

The Alpha has decorated in cool greys and dark blue, and the place is surprisingly tidy for someone who didn't wake up this morning expecting us to come over tonight.

"You can put your shoes by the door," he instructs. This is more of a suite than a room, with a living area, a bedroom, and, I think, a bathroom behind a closed door. He has a dry bar against the living room wall. "What's your poison?"

I toe my shoes off and pad across the carpeted floor to stand beside him. "Wine sounds good."

The cork makes a soft popping sound as he opens the bottle. "Cliff?"

"Wine works for me."

We settle in, Cliff beside me on the couch, and Ray in an armchair across from us.

"Do they expect you to entertain much?" I gesture toward all the seating and the room's overall size. "You've got a lot of space."

"Pack bonds can form from the first interaction, but mostly it requires spending a good amount of time together. They encourage us to spend time with one another to see if something sparks." He crosses one long leg over the other and shrugs. "Not that I've been looking too hard."

"Why haven't you?" Cliff's question skips the one I want to ask, but I don't interrupt.

"I figured I'd form my pack around my Omega."

I haven't told anyone what I overheard when Cameron met with the Archon, but he said that he was going to start some rumors. Nothing has gotten back to me yet.

It's on the tip of my tongue to mention it, but instead I ask what I really want to know. "How do pack bonds form?"

Ray smiles indulgently. "Didn't they teach you that at school?"

"I wasn't paying attention if they did."

He laughs, and it's so bright that I nearly forget to breathe for a moment. "Fair enough. In the same way that we don't know what causes a scent match, we don't know how a pack bond forms. After two Alphas spend time together, there is a feeling that some of the packed up ones I've met have described as unlocking a door."

"How do you feel like an unlocked door?"

Cliff snorts into his wine at my ignorance, but Ray just smiles. "No idea. I haven't met any packmates yet. I'll let you know when I do." He gestures for me to take a sip of the wine that I've been clutching like a lifeline. "What about Betas? Do you feel anything when an Omega claims you?"

I look out of the corner of my eye at Cliff and find him stiff. He looks like he's about to spill everything to Ray. I don't think he would, not really, but I can tell he's having to hold himself back.

"No idea. Never met an Omega," I decide to answer. It's not a lie.

Ray takes a sip of his wine and hums to himself. "They're pretty incredible."

"Viv said the same. That you're drawn to them in a way you can't describe."

"Yeah, that's true. It was bad before I was Blessed, but now it's nearly overwhelming."

That makes my spine straighten. "Have you met one of the Omegas here, then?"

For a moment, his eyes widen, and he shifts in his seat as if the question makes him uncomfortable. "Uh, yeah. One."

"Really? How? I thought they never left their building."

Cliff crosses his arms over his broad chest, the wine glass discarded onto the table in front of us. "Yeah, Ray. How'd you meet an Omega?"

Ray drains his glass before getting up and making his way to the bar. He doesn't turn around when he answers our questions. "It was by chance. Just random happenstance." When he sits back down, he's replaced his wine glass with a tumbler of clear liquor. "So, Cliff. Has it been weird rooming with Warren since he and Zoe had that fight?"

I, of course, told Cliff all about the fight and how Ray showed up at the end. He was not happy about the way Warren spoke to me, but I told him not to confront Warren about it. No need to make it more uncomfortable than it already is.

"We don't speak. He's hardly there anymore."

My heart aches for my friend. Despite the way he treated me, the history between us is so storied that I am struggling to adjust to no longer seeing and speaking to him daily. I've cooled off enough to talk with him about what happened, but I don't think he has. Otherwise, I'd have seen him by now, right?