“We’ll do whatever it takes to work this out.” His voice cracked with emotion, and I didn’t dare look at his face. If I did, I was a goner. “Everything will be all right. We’ll talk it through, spend lots of time making up, and if you let us, we want to claim you. Fuck, I’ve wanted to mark you as mine for days now.” He let loose a low growl and my knees nearly gave out. “In my heart, you’re already mine. I want a life with you. Living here in Fond du Lac, Christmases as big as you want, and all our kids runningaround like maniacs on the holiday sugar high. You’ll be an incredible mom. It’ll be the best life.”
Mom. That’s the future he was seeing for me.
He almost had me. I was so close to saying yes.
Fuck this. I’m not becoming my mother.
I wrapped my arms around myself, too hurt to even cry, and walked to the backdoor. “Get your stuff and leave. I don’t want to see you or Ozzi again.”
Jason straightened and blinked, shaking his head. “Baby, you don’t mean that. What’s going on?”
Him calling me baby ripped something open in me and I exploded. “You see me as the future mother to your babies? Is that all I am as an Omega? Do you and Ozzi think that Omegas don’t get a say in their futures because really deep down all we want to do is breed more Alpha sons for you?”
My shouts brought Artemis back to the door. She clawed at it, barking like she’d gone feral. “Get out before I open this door.”
“Lyla,” Jason stepped toward me, but I put a hand on the doorknob. “I’m not giving up on you.”
His face at once determined and heartbroken. I didn’t say anything more as he left the kitchen and went into the living room. I gave him a few minutes to get dressed and gather his stuff. Artemis tried to break inside the whole time.
I finally heard the front door open and close. Only then did I let Artemis inside.
She burst in, snarling and barking. Running around the kitchen and then looking into the living room, she was satisfied there was no threat and trotted back to my side.
I had closed the backdoor and collapsed to my knees, crying.
A mom. Was that all Alphas really thought Omegas were good for?
I was so stupid. It was my fault that I let myself fall for two Alphas I barely knew. Even if I did let them knot me, I should have protected my heart better.
Artemis licked my cheeks and I hugged her. She was cold and wet, but I didn’t let go. I needed her support as I bawled.
Nothing would ever be the same again. Miss Eloise would have a long recovery and Mariska was going away. I haven’t heard from Emberlee. Maybe she decided to stay with her family. Ozzi and Jason had messed me up in a way I’d promised myself to never let any Alpha do.
To top it off, it was Christmas Eve and I was alone.
Well, I had Artemis with me, and I could go to the hospital to see Miss Eloise and Mariska, but fuck. The thought of being without Jason and Ozzi left me cold and deflated like an empty stocking.
Santa had given me coal this year, and I deserved it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE - Jason
I texted Ozzi to pick me up, and I’d walked half the way to the hospital before he got to me. My fury was fueling me. Not that I was mad with Lyla. I was angry with myself for letting the situation go the way it did.
Once in the truck, I spilled the whole thing to Ozzi. “I don’t know what I said, but she lost it.”
“What exactly did she say?” Ozzi gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were white.
“Something like is that all Alphas see Omegas for? For breeding more Alphas?” Of course it wasn’t true. She was immensely more than that, but she wouldn’t let me talk after I said she’d be a great mom. “I was sure she was going to give in just before that. She knows you really aren’t like your parents. But I guess motherhood is a sensitive issue with her?”
“She’s very much into Omega rights and wants to be treated equally.” Ozzi turned down the street toward the hospital. “Do you think us raising her up on a pedestal is too much for her? Not that I can help it.”
“I don’t know. Fuck, I want to worship her as a goddess every second of the day. It’s us who aren’t equal to her.” I sighed and my hot breath misted on the window. “We need to make this right.”
“I need to make myself right,” Ozzi muttered.
I studied him with tired eyes. What did that mean? He was one of the best people I knew. I was the one who got into trouble, and he was always there to help me out. This fight with Lyla had really fucked him up.
We pulled into the employee parking lot near the garage for the ambulances and Ozzi shut off the engine. Sitting therestaring out at the city framed by the darkness and snow, my whole soul felt cold. A life without Lyla in it was no life.
