I don’t trust her, but biology is a fucking bitch. It has tied us together, and even if we threw her out, Dad would have paid her good money to stay. Too much money to walk away. She’s going nowhere.
“Choose, or I will choose for you.”
His threat drove us to the Haven Academy end-of-year ball, a place none of us had wanted to go. We didn’t choose fast enough, so he did what he threatened he would.
He chose for us, and we were all too blind to see it until after we’d tied ourselves to her.
Our scent match is a threat I can’t get rid of because I’d die rather than see my father have her.
“She’s the enemy,” I say, catching Torin’s eye and then Archer's. “None of us can ever forget that.”
Chapter 8
June
It’s been two weeks since I became Pack Wells’ omega.
I wish I had mated with Sinclair Parrish. That life would have been dull and empty, the society mating I hoped to avoid, but it wouldn’t have hurt this much.
I sleep alone.
I wander the Pack Wells mansion on an aimless mission to nowhere.
And my scent matches disappear into rooms where they immediately close the door behind them, as if wanting to make it clear that it’s no room they want me in. I hear them talking sometimes behind those closed doors, and no matter what time I go to the dining room or the kitchen to eat my meals, I never see them.
The library has becomemydomain. It’s a masculine space with golden-brown paneling, a large mahogany desk in the center with deep burgundy leather chairs, two walled bookcases packed with leather-bound books, and a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the landscaped backyard.
When I don’t want to pick through the books on the shelves to find a new world I can escape into, I takeThe Secret Gardenfrom my room, the book that River gave me to remember herby. I flip through the pages, missing my sister and wishing I was with her, and not here.
After I’ve eaten breakfast in the dining room, I walk into the library, as usual, and freeze in the doorway to frown at the empty table.
It shouldn’t be empty.
Closing the door as I enter, I spend the next thirty minutes searching every corner of the room for my book. It’s not one of theirs. It’s mine.
If I’d known someone would move it or take it, I wouldn’t have left it in the library. But I’ve left it on the table before and come in to read after breakfast, and it’s been where I left it.
So where is it this time?
Uneasy about losing something that means so much to me, I walk out of the library and go looking for Veronica, the only person who will talk to me in this house.
As usual, I find her in the kitchen, cleaning the dishes from breakfast. There are more plates than I expected to find piled up on the counter beside her. My scent matches must have eaten breakfast, just nowhere near me.
“Veronica?”
She looks up, pulling her wet hands from the sink and wiping them on her white half-apron. “Yes, Miss.”
I’ve told her numerous times to call me June, but she always reverts to calling me Miss every couple of days. It must be her training kicking in.
“I was reading a book last night, and I left it on the table in the library, but now I can’t find it. Have you seen it?”
She smiles apologetically at me. “No, Miss. I’m sure it’ll turn up soon. Probably one of the alphas put it away.”
My heart sinks. I was desperately hoping it wasn’t one of them.
They keep their distance, content to pretend I don’t exist. Which, after the cruel things Torin said to me, is a situation I’m not looking to change. They can live their lives. I will live mine, and maybe I can avoid more cruel words I don’t deserve.
“Oh, thanks, Veronica.”
