The words repeat in my mind a hundred times, a mantra. A reminder. A promise.
An escape.
“Shhh. Sweetheart, it’s okay, he won’t hurt you again. No one will ever hurt you again.”
He means the words to be comforting. And in some ways, they are. But in others, they are a reminder. A rug being pulled out from my very being.
My alpha wouldn’t hurt me. My alpha loved me.
The panic hits first.
The embrace Luck has me in, which once felt so loving, so wanted, now reminds me of shackles. My entire body vibrates as I attempt to escape him, and he lets me.
“Get out,” I screech.
Part of me wants him to fight me, to run back to me. To tell me he isn’t going anywhere. But I feel him retreat. As if he is physically taking a part of my soul with him. It is one of the most terrifying experiences I have gone through, and I desperately want to reach for him.
But I don’t.
I am a broken omega.
One who wants more than anything for the ability to change my designation.
I don’t know how long I am alone in my nest crying, screaming, pleading with the world. I haven’t removed the blindfold. I haven’t put on clothes. Cleaned myself up.
Anything.
But it is in that darkest place that I hear him again.
“Nia. I wanted to respect your wishes. I wanted to leave you. But I can’t. It’s breaking my heart.”
I hear the door to the nest opening.
And then his scent fills the room.
The spearmint and lime nearly suffocating me.
He is a scent match. He is a scent match. He is a scent match.
The warning bells go off in my head and they are what propel my hand up, smashing the button above me.
“I’m sorry,” I croak out.
I recognize my mistake that was made in fear, and I reach up to tear off my blindfold.
But I am too late.
He is already gone.
fourteen
Luther
Luther stares blankly out the window as the snow continues to fall. He can see the ink blob that is one of his pack mates in the distance.
He has been in a near catatonic state for over a month now. He can’t change it.
Wren and Pierce guessed everything that happened was taking its toll. And it was.
