So why does it hurt so fucking much?
Without a word, Archer drops the piece of paper and walks out of the library.
I glance at Torin, whose eye is swelling shut, and we both follow him out of the room and up the stairs. I don’t know where Veronica is. Probably busy reporting to my dad.
Archer’s steps slow outside Juniper’s bedroom, and he pushes the door open. None of us has entered it since the first night we brought her here.
It smells like her.
Blueberry pie and brown sugar. Sweet, and so damn delicious that no matter how much I told myself I hated her, a part of me still wanted her.
She took nothing with her. Just the clothes she was wearing. But it’s perfectly organized. A book from our library is on the window seat. She must have been reading it before Garrison damn near forced his way inside and turned our world upside down.
I’d been expecting mind games and tricks. Yet there were no games and no tricks. Just cold indifference.
Archer walks through the adjoining room, pushes the double doors open, and my brain switches off.
An omega’s nest isn’t just her safe haven, it’s a reflection of her state of mind. A place she goes to heal and find comfort.
We’d wanted it to be perfect for her before we discovered we couldn’t trust her. We’d spent hours shopping, setting down the cushions, making it a space she would find peace and comfort.
She destroyed it.
Utterly. Destroyed.Everything.
Silk has been torn to shreds. Cashmere torn. Blankets ripped.
Nothinghas survived. What she couldn’t rip, she used a pair of scissors and maybe even a knife from the kitchen to eviscerate.
This wasn’t a single attack.
Juniper destroyed this nest repeatedly.
If this nest was a reflection of her state of mind, something was badly wrong.
My stomach churns, and I feel dizzy and off-balance. I put my hand out on the nearest wall to steady myself, but the lightheadedness gets worse. Torin is calling my name. I ignore him.
In the back of my head, a tiny voice whispers,what if?
What if Juniper wasn’t the spy we thought she was?
What if she was innocent of everything we accused her of and we made her hate us?
What if we destroyed our scent match’s life for no reason?
I walk away from Torin and Archer when they call after me, feeling sicker the longer I look at Juniper’s nest. Out in the hallway, away from Juniper’s distracting scent, I stop. The tiny voice in my head is growing louder. It’s no longer a whisper; it’s a roar.
And I do something I should have done long before now.
I fish out my cell phone and dial a number from memory.
“Ah, son.” My dad answers on the fifth ring as Archer and Torin gather around me, watching me closely. “Have you finally decided to?—”
“Why Juniper?” I demand.
My question briefly stuns him.
“Excuse me?”
