We reach the small restaurant, which is basically a diner. All they really have are sandwiches, salads, and soups. We place our orders at the front counter before sliding into a booth in the back.

"Bitch, it's good to have you home!" I squeal. "How long are you in town for?"

"A few weeks," Frankie tells me while brushing their dark blonde hair back. Their crystal blue eyes focus on me as they smile. "Dad says we haven't been spending enough time with his parents, so we're crashing with them for some 'quality time'. Frankly, I couldn't care less about seeing them. They haven't tried to contact me once since we moved."

"That long?" My eyebrows shoot up. What kind of grandparents don't try to see their own grandkid?

Frankie shifts uncomfortably. "Actually, it started before that. They stopped talking to me after I came out seven years ago."

"What the hell? Why would they do that?"

"It's dumb," they grumble. "My grandpa said it's impossible to not be male or female. He said you are one or the other, not both or neither. And of course, my grandma is super old-fashioned and goes along with whatever my grandpa says. So, when my grandpa decided to stop talking to me, she went along with it."

"That's fucked up," I shake my head. "So, what changed? Why did they decided to start talking to you again?"

"They didn't," Frankie sighs. "My dad is the one who decided to drop me and my brothers off with his parents for the next few weeks while he takes a trip with my mom. I think he's tired of the animosity and thinks this will somehow magically fix everything."

"Do you think it will?"

"Probably not. My grandparents only agreed to it because they miss my younger brothers. I've only been with them for a few days and it already sucks. They constantly misgender me and use my dead name. Honestly, I would rather they just ignore me. It would hurt less."

"I'm sorry, Frankie," I grimace, reaching across the table to hold their hand.

"I mean, I'm their grandchild," Frankie stresses as their blue eyes grow watery. "You would think that they would want me to be happy. But no, they'd rather I be miserable while pretending to be someone I'm not. I can't change who I am, and I'm tired of my own family not understanding that. A family is supposed to love each other, not knock each other down."

"Sometimes, family isn't blood," I tell them softly. "Sometimes, we have to choose our family. You do have your parents and your brothers, but you also have me and Ryland. We're your family too."

"Thanks, Kai," they smile faintly, pulling their hand back to wipe their eyes. "That means a lot to me."

"And if you get fed up with their wrinkly, old, judgmental asses, you can come stay with me and Ryland."

"Seriously?" Frankie's eyes widen at my offer.

"Of course!" I eagerly assure them. "You can stay in Ryland's old room."

"His old room? Where's he staying?"

"Oh, he moved into our parents' room. His mate, Landon, lives with us now and his room was too small for both of them."

"Ryland has a mate??" Frankie grins excitedly. "That's great! How'd they meet?"

"That's a long story," I chuckle. There's no way I'm going to unpack all of that right now. "I'll let you ask him about it later."

"Okay," Frankie agrees, nodding their head. "Hey, what about you? Have you found your mate yet?"

My cheeks heat up. Damn it, I should've seen that question coming.

"Er... kind of?" I answer vaguely. Frankie raises an eyebrow at me and I sigh. "His name is Lucca. He's absolutely gorgeous and perfect and I can't believe the Moon made him my mate. But... he doesn't exactly want me."

"He rejected you?" They gasp, and I shake my head.

"No, but he asked for space for a bit."

"Space for what? If he's not going to reject you, what's he doing?"

I think about that for a moment before shrugging. "I don't know. Maybe he has some issues to work through before we can start a relationship. Can we not talk about it? It's stressing me out."

"Sure," Frankie nods reluctantly. "What have you been up to? Are you in school or working in the pack yet?"

"Neither," I grumble, slinking down into my seat. "Ryland's kept me locked up since I turned eighteen. He thinks I'm going to get jumped or something."

They hum in understanding. "My parents were like that for a while. It can't be easy being the parents of an Omega."

"You say that like we're not the one who actually have to be Omegas," I scoff. Before either of us can say anything else, the waitress comes by and sets our food down. As we eat, I glance over at Frankie curiously. They have to be the toughest wolf I know. First, they're judged for being an Omega. And to add to that, they're judged for being non-binary. But Frankie learned to kick ass a long time ago and doesn't take shit from anybody. Well, except their grandparents. But hopefully they'll take my suggestion and crash at our house for a while.