Tommy doesn’t say another word until he pulls up across from Omega’s Haven.
“You’re really okay here?” he asks, watching as I unsnap my seat belt and open the truck door.
“I am. I’m going to sleep during the day more now that I’m on nights. Please don’t have a cow if I don’t answer the phone.”
“Moo,” he deadpans, making my lips twitch. “I promise to lighten up. I’ve been an asshole. I’m really sorry I made you feel like you couldn’t call me.”
I open my mouth, inhaling to say something, but he holds up his hand.
“I mean it, Marie. You had every right to stand up for what you believed in. However it shook out will just lead to better opportunities,” Tommy adds. “You’re so independent it blows my mind. You don’t really need me.”
Wincing, I say, “I don’t have toneedyou for things. You’re still my brother.”
“I’m very aware of this,” he says. “I’m not your boss, and I need to stop acting like I am. You don’t answer to me.”
“No, I don’t,” I say, knowing how hard this must be for him to admit. “Good night, Tommy.”
“It’s morning, Marie,” he chuckles, watching as I get out and close the door.
I can feel his gaze as I cross the street and dart down the alley to the back door of the shelter. It feels as if we may be turning a page.
I hope we are.
Chapter
Eight
WILDER
“Did you fuck this up?”I ask, glaring out at the yard while I speak to Storm.
We are leaving for Minneapolis today, and I am pissed off. Devon is having internal issues with his club, and I’m itching to get on the road. Lore refuses to let the kid drown because they shared a womb at different times in their lives. Some people just need to learn the hard way that the old guard needs to die so they can lead.
“I fixed one thing and broke another,” Storm says. “Marie acts like someone who's been beaten down by life. She’s super independent, and doesn’t want anyone to help her. She seems to think it’ll mean she owes people things she won’t be able to afford to pay back.”
“You offered to fix her car, huh?” I guess. I heard Ace tell us before we all left about the current state of it.
“I offered to buy her a new one,”he mumbles. “She’s living in some type of shelter for omegas because she is tight on money.Marie has a brother I went out to see. She said some things I was concerned about.”
“Like what?” I ask, confused.
“He hurts her when he’s pissed off,”Storm explains. “I don’t think it really clicked until she talked with her brother that she’s hiding from him… because she’s afraid of him. He’s also part of the mafia in Minneapolis.”
“Shit,” I curse. We try our best to stay out of their hair whenever possible. If Marie decides to stay in Minneapolis, we’re going to have a talk with the old farts. “Did anything else happen?”
“I’m stalking her and I can’t seem to stop,”he admits. “Her brother and I also beat the shit out of each other before we went after Marie. She can’t walk home from work at the odd hours she gets out.”
“What time is she leaving work now?” I ask.
“Five in the morning,” he sighs. “A lot has happened since you’ve been gone. I had to alpha bark her. She was going to reject me.”
“Dammit,” I breathe. “We need to fix this, Storm. She can’t reject us.”
“It’s messy,”he says. “She said that she’s on heat blockers now. Marie is trying to cut us out of her life in every way possible. She thinks we threw her away by leaving her.”
“We couldn’t stay,” I remind him. “We’re going to have to convince her that she belongs with us.”
“Why does she belong with us?” Lore asks me, coming up beside me as he crosses his thick arms over his chest. “I’ve been really thinking about it. Do I want her? Yes. Should I though?”
