Let Me Find Your Omega - Ashe Moon Page 0,33

at Moonstar Dating Agency.”

“Shit.”

I placed his hands back into his lap. “Come on. We’d better go.”

“Yeah,” he said, blinking like he’d forgotten where he was and what he was doing here. “The meeting. Right.”

We got out of the car and walked together to the school.

10 Markos

I stared at the spread of sticker name tags on the folding table, each one written in red marker in neat, cursive handwriting. I found mine and stuck it to my shirt, and then filled out a blank one for Kole.

“Markos,” I heard a stiff voice say. “Excuse me, do you mind?”

I looked over and saw Dani and Leeroy Gussy standing there, impatiently waiting for me to move out of the way. I stepped aside.

“Thank you very much,” Dani said, and they took their nametags. Leeroy turned to me and flashed a wide smile. He stuck out his hand, making sure to show off the very expensive watch on his wrist. He reeked of cologne, and it wasn’t just my nose.

“How’s it going, Markos?” he said. I knew he really didn’t give a damn.

“New cologne, Leeroy?” I asked, giving his hand a brisk shake.

“You sniffing me, Plaintail?” He laughed. “I’m glad you noticed. Modern Man. New scent. You should try it. Oh, wait.” He crinkled his nose. “Can you wear cologne if you’re a cook?”

“I don’t know how you do it, Markos,” said Dani. “Working a restaurant when that’s your only source of income. I’ve said it before, it seems like a rather poor choice, especially if you want to get your daughter into a good school. What clan did your family come from, again? Most have services that can help you find good work, you know.”

“Thanks for the advice, Dani,” I said flatly. “We’re doing fine, though.”

“Oh, who’s this?” she asked, turning to Kole, who was staring at the both of them with the most fascinated look on his face like they were specimens at the zoo. “I don’t believe we’ve met. Are you a parent?”

“No,” said Kole. “I’m a friend of Markos and Elise.”

“I’m Dani, and this is Leeroy. We’re Maddox’s parents.” Her lips curled into an unauthentic smile. “Pleased to meet you, Kole. Leeroy, let’s get seats before the good ones are all gone.”

“Catch up after the meetings?” he said, pointing to me. “I’m sure the other parents will be glad to meet Kole.”

I smiled but didn’t reply. They walked off, whispering to each other, and Kole turned to me when they were gone.

“I see what you mean,” he said. “They are thoroughly miserable people. I thought myself quite knowledgeable about clan customs, but I see there are many things I don’t know. They’re really like this because you’re single?”

“That’s how it is here, I guess,” I said. “Very traditional people at this school. They think following the old clan customs makes them better people, or something. But it came with the territory. I wanted to make sure I got Elise the best education I could afford. Or barely afford.”

“Fascinating,” Kole said, touching his glasses. “This is nothing like the school I went to.”

Parents milled about the room chatting with each other, avoiding me. Dani and Leeroy were the unofficial “pack leaders” of this little group of parents; they were the wealthiest and most successful, so everyone naturally submitted to them. I’d never bought into their hierarchy, so that combined with my relationship status was what had written my social death certificate—not that I cared about that, but it made me hate life whenever I had to be around them. Having Kole with me did make me feel a hell of a lot better, though. Not to mention the thing he’d done in the car.

I’d never experienced anything like it before; the closest was probably when I’d sniffed out a batch of weird mushrooms when I was younger and blissed out for hours in my wolf form in the middle of a forest. Whatever Kole had done had wiped away the stress. It’d felt like a gentle hand had reached into my body and scooped out all of the shitty feelings and left me wrapped in a warm hug.

We found a pair of seats near the back and sat down as Elise’s teacher, Mr. Pan McCloud, gave a presentation about the class and school. I immediately zoned out. My thoughts took me back to Kole’s balcony, where we’d shared tea and dinner. I snuck a glance at him and felt my heart speed up. I was really happy to have him with