I need to get to my boy more than anything.
Chapter Thirty-One
Julius
Nixie’s scent is more than just sour. It’s as if raspberries decayed and are now stuffed in a toxic trash bin. I’m infatuated with the woman sitting beside me in the car, but her fear has me sitting on the edge of a full-on Alpha-rage. Our relationship is always one step forward and two steps back, and this moment is do-or-die. My omega needs me, and I must get it right for once. My inner Alpha demands I fix what’s wrong, but she’s shutting down beside me.
“Little firebrand, if you tell me what’s going on, I promise to take care of it.” And I will, though I play hockey as a career; my stick-handling skills are more useful than one might think. It would be easy to bash someone’s head in if it makes my omega feel better.
She doesn’t even glance my way, instead tucking her knees to her chest. We continue our journey, and she stares out the window.This just won’t do.
“The school said Asher is fine, right?” Vonn reminds her from the back seat, and Nixie takes a deep, gasping breath. It’s shaky, but her sourness in her scent lightens a touch. Her fingers pressagainst the cool glass, tracing a slim line. With one hand on her leg, I give it a steady squeeze, hoping some of my strength will calm her battered omega.
“Yeah, the office said that he’s absolutely fine. There were people there asking about him.” We only heard her side of the conversation, but from what I understand, there was a potential security breach at Asher’s school. It’s unclear who wanted to get to our boy.
Reporters? Someone from her past?
Our omega’s a puzzle I’m dying to solve, and her life before us is a black hole of information that needs to be filled in. She’s been resistant so far, but I hope she’ll tell me so I can take care of her and our son to the best of my abilities.
“Did they say who it was?” She lets out a deep sigh, chewing on her bottom lip as though unsure whether she should tell me or not. “I promise, whatever you say, I’m here for you.”
My omega’s eyes finally turn to meet mine, and although I keep my eyes on the road, they flick to hers, and I squeeze her knee encouragingly. There’s a strong hesitation, but I can sense that she wants to tell us. Nixie’s hunched-over posture screams fear, and her sour scent is pungent, but she needs to trust us—and I won’t push, bark, or force her into it.
Finally, with a reluctant sigh, she starts to speak. “There’s not much to tell. It was my mom, her husband and an Alpha.” She takes a deep breath, and a single tear tracks down her cheek. Worry swirls in my gut. Any idiot could tell Nixie didn’t have the easiest upbringing, but her tears make my heart thump. This is more significant than grandparents popping in to visit their grandson. Her words swirl in my brain, fixating on the way she called the man ‘her mother’s husband,’ not her dad or even stepfather. Alarm bells blare, making my pulse run wild.
Nixie is quiet now, and my eyes find Vonn’s in the rearview mirror. He looks just as worried as I am.
“And you don’t like them?” Vonn asks, trying to draw more of the story from her. I’m grateful to him for speaking up and asking the same question I have. Nixie and I are still very much figuring one another out, and I still have a lot to make amends for. Pushing her isn’t a way into her good graces. But at the same time, she needs our support, and we need to understand more about the woman we’re both falling for.
“I’m sorry. I know this is getting serious, and I should have told you about all of this before the game.” She runs her hands through her unruly red hair, wincing when it gets tangled. “My mother and her husband, my stepfather, I guess, well, they aren’t good people. Both are heavily narcissistic and believe the world revolves around them.” I wait, sensing there’s more to this story, but my packmate doesn’t feel the same hesitation.
“Did they hurt you?” Vonn snarls, his big body shifting behind us. He sounds downright murderous, and I agree, wanting to crush anyone who’s hurt our omega.
“Not in the way one might think. My stepfather never raised a hand to me. He was just difficult to live with. Nothing was ever good enough; nothing was ever right. He constantly made me feel like the nuisance that came along with my mother. I grew up learning how to be small so as not to bother him. There wasn’t a single day when I felt cherished or welcome in my own home. At least not until my first heat.” Her words ignite a fire in my brain, and suddenly, so much about Nixie makes sense. Why she gets uncomfortable with compliments. Why she wouldn’t date us until Asher pushed her into it. Most of all, why my attitude about Asher being our son was so off-putting at the beginning.
“What happened at your first heat, sweetheart?” Vonn’s voice has gotten dark, the rumble in his chest dangerously close to a growl. Nixie squirms beside me, and the painful souring of her raspberries and poppies has me perilously close to gagging.
Please don’t let it be bad.
“Honestly, it probably isn’t as bad as you’re thinking. No one hurt me or anything.” I breathe a mental sigh of relief. “My parents kept me woefully unprepared for my designation presentation. Everyone assumed I would be a beta like my mother. After all, I never met my biological father; my mother always said he was a bastard. With that information, I just assumed that it would all be fine because her side has no omegas on it. So, when I went into heat, I wasn’t prepared. No toys, no suppressants, or anything to soothe me. And when I was sobbing, writhing around on the floor, begging for a cock to soothe me, my stepfather brought in one of his friends. I was so grateful not to be in pain that I didn’t really consider what any of it meant. I didn’t like the Alpha, but he wasn’t cruel to me or anything like that.”
The monotony of her tone sets my teeth on edge, and I realize that my omega’s first heat was essentially rape, even if she doesn’t realize it. My fingers clench around the wheel as I try to keep it together.
“By the time it ended, I was embarrassed about the whole thing. My mother and stepfather made me an enormous meal and told me how proud of me they were. At first, it made no sense. I had never been treated like anything more than an inconvenience, and that’s when I realized the Alpha had paid to sleep with me. My body was now a commodity, and they realized they had just won the lottery. Of course, I was too humiliated to tell anyone about what had happened.”
Nixie fiddles with the hem of her shirt, a tear slipping down her cheek. Vonn growls from behind me, but her discomfort makes me do the opposite, and I let loose a loud rumbling purr. The sound seems to calm her, and then Vonn does the same, echoing along the interior of the car. Nixie reaches out, holding my hand. And I wish I weren’t driving so I could scoop her into my lap and snuggle her.
“Tell us the rest, sweet girl. What happened when you found out about Asher? What made you run?” I coax, knowing there are still missing pieces.
“Well, that didn’t happen after my first heat. After that, things went back to a strange kind of normalcy. My mother started watching me like a hawk, not letting me out much and asking me questions about how I was feeling. I didn’t understand why she was suddenly so focused on whether I was nearing my heat. But then the Alphas started showing up. They were all older, some with established mates, but no omegas. I thought they were trying to help me find a pack, but they weren’t. The more Alpha’s I rejected, the meaner my mother got, breaking down my self-esteem. It never even occurred to me that they were selling my second heat to turn a profit.” She keeps going, her ugly words slithering through me like poison.
“One night, I overheard an Alpha asking about the cost for me to sign over parental rights to a potential baby and it shocked me to my core, opening my eyes to reality. I was preparing to run when my second heat hit out of the blue, much earlier than expected. Evan, the Alpha who had purchased it, wasn’t nearly as kind as the first man. When I got pregnant, I knew there was no way I wanted my child to grow up with him as a father. The night I found out I was expecting, I left and never looked back. Pregnant and terrified, I spent a few weeks on the streets until I met Cassia. She took me in, and the rest is history. I’m not sure whether they looked for me, but I know that they never found me… until now.”
My purr continues to rumble, and I rub my thumb soothingly over Nixie’s knuckles. She takes deep inhales, but her scent isn’t as strong. Perhaps sharing her burden has helped calm her.
“You did the right thing. You’re an amazing mom. You’ve given Asher the best life. And I vow that no one is going to take yourson.Ourson.” I want to pull her into my lap, protect her from the storm.
Nixie swallows hard as we pull up to the school, and she raises her glassy eyes to meet mine. “Ourson.” She nods, and a surge of protective warmth blooms in my chest. My omega is accepting me, agreeing to become a pack, and it means everything to me.
