“I’msosorry.” Even though Devon’s voice was low, he could hear every word. “I’m so sorry I left you guys.”
Oliver shook his head. “I don’t blame you. No one blames you. We’re just so grateful you’re alive.”
Even though the omegas were meeting for the first time, they had an experience that bonded them.
They parted from the hug, and Devon turned to Ronin while still holding on to Oliver. “Thank you for finding them and going after Anton.” Devon’s voice caught. “Thank you.”
Ronin smiled. “Trust me, I am very happy to have done it.” His eyes met his mate’s, and he couldn’t help the smile that appeared on his face. He’d found his mate, and for that, Ro would always be grateful to Devon.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Roman was watching him. The doorbell rang again, and everyone else piled into the house. Tears and hugs were flowing as everyone reunited with Devon, grateful that he was alive.
As the reunion continued, Roman wandered over to Ronin.
“Hey,” Roman said.
Ronin arched an eyebrow and laughed. “Hey?”
“So, Ollie seems pretty special.” His brother’s eyes wandered over to where the omegas were talking to each other, landing on Ro’s mate, but he didn’t miss how Rome’s eyes went to Devon’s almost immediately.
Ronin chuckled and looked away, hoping his face didn’t reveal too much. “Yeah, I guess so.” Roman jabbed Ronin in his side and he turned to his brother. “What?”
“I can see it all over your face, and I can see it when Ollie looks at you. He’s your mate, right? You don’t even have to answer. I guessed from your voice over the phone when you spoke about him.”
Ronin rolled his eyes and looked away from his brother, and his gaze landed on Oliver. He couldn’t hide the smile that crept onto his face. “Yeah, yeah he is.”
“Told you so,” Roman snickered.
“What?” Ro asked his brother.
“Told you when you met your mate, it would be game over.” Roman had a knowing smile. “I’m happy for you. Bro, you deserve this. Don’t mess this up.”
* * *
After everyone atetheir fill of the snacks and food laid out, all the omegas found their way to the living room at some point. There was a mini celebration, and the vibe in the room was better than Ronin had ever seen with each omega grateful Anton was gone from their lives. They now knew that if he attempted to come back, especially if he stepped foot in Wildwood, he would get what was coming to him.
Ronin, Roman, Zander, Nix, and Maddox stayed in the kitchen to tidy up after shooing the others away from helping, but they still heard when Devon began speaking. Once the cleanup was finished, they went and joined the others.
“Anton came into the picture and things were supposed to get better in the pack. He was supposed to make things better.” Devon sought his brother out and they smiled at one another. Devon walked over and grabbed Roman’s hand while he rested his other hand on his stomach. Any day now, Devon would give birth to Roman’s and his pup.
Watching them at that moment, Ronin realized he was feeling content, maybe for the first time since he returned from the war. His eyes immediately sought Ollie’s, and they both smiled.
He could totally see his mate swollen with their child.
Devon continued, “Instead of things getting better, they got worse—way worse. A lot of people left, sneaking out at night, but I had nowhere to go.” Ronin watched his brother as he rubbed soothing circles on the top of Devon’s hand. “That was when things got more terrifying. At first, Anton was nice, you know? For the first time, someone paid attention to me… I guess I was too stupid to know what that meant. Then the abuse started, and he had me injected with drugs that stopped my heat… until I couldn’t take it anymore. I guess he figured I would never run because he’d had too much to drink—and took some other stuff—and passed out one night. I had to run since he’d made it clear he would be handing me over soon... to someone who would ‘teach me to behave…’ His words, not mine.”
Ronin saw as the other omegas nodded in agreement, and that feeling of wishing he’d killed the bastard when he had a chance returned.
“I think all of our stories are pretty much the same.” Jax’s voice was low and filled with sadness. “I was homeless, living in a shelter, and sometimes I didn’t even have a bed. He came around for a couple of weeks, bought me meals. I thought he was there to help…” the omega’s voice caught. “I was just naïve enough to think that it was possible. Then I, well, I guess you know the rest of the story…”
“Yeah, we do.” It was Marco this time who spoke up. “Getting sold to alphas so that they could do whatever they wanted.” His tone was bitter, but Ronin couldn’t blame him.
Shawn chimed in. “Scars that will probably never fade because we weren’t allowed to shift.”
“Yeah.” Sophie’s voice was barely above a whisper. “Sometimes he watched.”
Fuck, Ronin regretted not strangling Anton with his bare hands.
“I think he was shocked when you ran, Dev. I think he hoped we would believe that was the life we deserved and never try to leave.” Cybil’s eyes were on her hands, not looking anyone in the eye. “I was stupid. I should have known better after leaving an abusive situation. Somehow I got out of that and found worse.” She took a deep breath. “What Anton was offering sounded like a saving grace. But it turned into something much worse than what I was running from. I’m done. Enough is enough.” Her voice cracked and tears streamed down her face. “I deserve better.”
