Piper was kind enough not to mention it, and I had been doing my best to ignore the date in my head.
But it looms there, like a ticking time bomb.
It’s all too much. Scent matches, Travis, and the anniversary of the crash.
The only logical decision is to stuff it all down and act like Ryland doesn’t exist.
It’s the only way I can get through this.
And if my womb cramps, and I need to use those slick pads that Piper bought me, so be it.
It doesn’t change anything.
I’m determined to stay single.
If I have to deal with another Heat by myself, even though I have my scent match, I’ll endure it.
It’s better that way.
Better for who?my inner Omega whispers to me.It sounds like this isn’t good for anyone. What if Alpha thinks we rejected him?
But the primal part of me doesn’t get to dictate my life, and she sure as hell won’t be starting now.
The last time I went with my instincts, it ended in tragedy.
I pluck up my cats, cradling them to my chest, and carry them to my bedroom.
I notice that in the time I was talking to Piper, more cat toys have piled up in my nest, and I sigh as I toss a plush toy sheep and rainbow-colored bird onto the floor.
I can’t even be annoyed with Marlin and Mervin.
It’s looking like the only company I’ll have in my nest for the foreseeable feature will be my felines.
I suppose it could be worse.
No, it couldn’t,my inner Omega says.Don’t lie to yourself.
But I ignore her voice and crawl under the covers, allowing myself to wallow for the rest of the night.
Tomorrow will be better.
It has to be.
7
ROWAN
“So,everyone is okay with this but me? Living like this?” I grumble from my desk in the home office. Ash lays on top of the desk in front of the right monitor, purring like a motorboat.
It’s been a week since Ryland told us about the scent match, and no one isdoinganything.
Travis sees Blair at work, acting like nothing has happened, because Blair hasn’t brought it up.
Ryland hasn’t been back to the rescue based on Travis’s orders.
“No one is okay with this,” my brother says from his desk on the other side of the room. “But she was terrified when she saw me. We have to handle this delicately.”
“By pretending she doesn’t exist?” I stop typing and swivel my chair to him. “So, you get to meet her, and I don’t?”
