Loving Parents (Cole's Point of View)

I was halfway in my bathroom when my phone rang. I already knew who it was going to be, so I wasn't surprised when the Caller ID confirmed it to be my parents. Sighing, I sat back on the bed and accepted the video call.

"Darling!" my mother gushed immediately the call connected. "How is my beautiful baby boy doing?"

I rolled my eyes. "Mom, I'm 23, not 5. And I'm doing great."

"I don't even know why you bother to correct her, Son. She won't stop calling you that. I'm happy you're doing well though. Is Declan back yet?"

This time my eye roll was directed at my Dad. "Yes, Dad. Declan is back. Sometimes I wonder if he works for you or for me."

I couldn't help smiling when Dad gave me one of his belly-deep laughs. "Only one of us knows his full job description. That should answer your question."

"What's it with everyone talking about job descriptions?" I muttered under my breath.

"All you need to know is that Declan always has your best interests at heart and you should trust him," Dad assured me, and Mom nodded vigorously.

"Your father is right, Darling. How is everything at home? Are you really okay? I miss you so much, baby."

"Mom, I'm fine, I'm happy, I miss you too. We just spoke like five hours ago before I went to bed. Nothing much has changed since then," I answered in exasperation. Perhaps the Goddess should have blessed my parents with another child to dote on. Being the sole receiver of all the parental love from Alec and Reinna Greene was a lot.

"We bought you some new outfits we found in a quaint Paris shop for your social media New Finds videos. I think you would love them. They've been shipped already and should arrive latest in three days."

Maybe all this parental love wasn't so bad after all.

"Really? What kind of style? Can't wait! Is it an indie wolf brand or one of the human ones?"

Mom laughed, and Dad smiled fondly at me. "I knew that would get your attention. Probably thinking we're not so bad now, huh?"

I laughed because Dad knew me so well. One of the traits that made him such a good alpha was his perceptiveness. He could easily use body language as well to easily read a person's mind. Having lived with the man all my life, I had learned that the best way to avoid being caught in a lie was to shroud the lie in as much truth as possible.

"When are you returning from France?" I enquired, although I was almost certain they had already told me. I had a terrible habit of not paying a lot of attention sometimes.

My parents shared a suspicious glance, and my mother answered. "The original plan is to return by tonight or tomorrow morning latest. However, there is some business we need to conclude here, something new that has sprung up that we have to deal with so we're not sure."

"What new business?" I asked, glancing from one to the other. It wasn't like them to act so vaguely. They would usually share all information, even if I wasn't particularly interested.

"Maybe we should just tell him," Mom suggested, sharing a look with Dad.

"To what end? We don't know for sure yet, and it won't help if we just start pointing fingers without first confirming. This will change everything." Dad replied, and I frowned in confusion.

What was going on?

"Tell me what?" I demanded, willing for them to just tell me whatever it was.

They both sighed in unison, and I would have laughed if not for the serious looks they were sporting.

"When we return a lot of things are going to change, Cole. We should have protected your interests better but we just never thought-" Dad paused and rubbed a large hand over his face. Mom gave me a sad smile and leaned against her mate.

"We have been a little naive and too trusting, and we almost paid a huge price for our negligence. We need to contact the Matching Council directly to see if there has been an issue with your match. I was certain you would have found your mate by now. Omegas in my family usually find theirs by their twenty-first birthday without delay."

"What, what? What has this go to do with anything? Where did this mate topic come from?"

The conversation I had with Declan yesterday flitted through my mind, and I considered that maybe it was time to tell my parents the truth about my mate.

"We knew it was strange, and we could have contacted the Match Council before now but we were selfish in wanting to have you to ourselves for a while so we didn't make the effort to help you with it, and we're so sorry for that," Mom added with a sad smile.

I felt the cold claws of guilt gripping my chest hard.

I didn't want to talk to my parents about my mate now. I had a few hours to think about how to break the news to them in a way that won't make them angry with me for keeping something so important.

"Don't worry about that, we can talk about it when you return," I suggest quickly.

"Sure, Dear. We need to talk about the future of the pack and give you more responsibilities as well."

My expression automatically turned into one of someone who had bitten a sour lemon. "Responsibilities?"

They both laughed. "Don't look so disgusted. It won't be so bad, and you're all grown now. You need to pick up more duties in the pack. We were just waiting for you to be mated, but we've realized that we should have eased you into it even before you mate."

Our pack was one of the biggest and most flourishing packs in the world, and my parents have done a great job as alpha and luna. My mate will be the next alpha of our pack because I was an omega and an omega could only be a luna. I honestly had no interest in leading and being responsible for the well-being of thousands of people. I would gladly hand over the reins to whomever I mate with and go about my life, just chipping in here and there when necessary.

"If that is what being an adult is like, then Mom I much prefer being your Beautiful Baby Boy," I assured her, and they laughed again, clearly amused when I was being a hundred percent serious. I am lazy, and I prefer being that way without any shame. I did a blog on fashion, but that was fun and not considered work in my books. Besides, it was at my own pace, and even when I had influencing gigs it was still at my own pace.

Responsibilities meant that someone was expecting you to do certain things at particular times whether you were in the mood or not, and that concept gave me anxiety.

We chatted for a while longer and hang up after lots of assurances of love, and I got them to promise not to call me again today unless it was to apprise me of their return plans.