“Nope,” she replies, sipping her beer.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. I brought him because he misses you. He has money, has influence. You can travel the world.”
“Lady, if you don’t get the fuck out of here in a matter of seconds…” Cole says.
Danny just stands there, like a complete moron, as my parents walk past him.
“Shiloh, can we still talk?” Danny asks.
“No,” Jonah says gruffly next to me.
“We’ve gotta hang out with Jonah and his pack more,” I hear Claire whisper as everyone watches the messy family reunion going down at Lincoln Financial Field.
“Seriously, every moment has been entertaining,” Axel replies.
Jonah glares at his siblings as I take a step forward.
“You want to talk, Danny? Fine,” I say, my anger is boiling over at this point. I’ve taken so many hits to who I am as a person because of these people and I’m over it. My emotions are heightened times ten and truthfully I’d love nothing more than to connect my fist to Danny’s face right now, but I know words will hurt more.
“I hate you, Danny. You fucking disgust me. When you sent that box to my house, I nearly threw up. Your scent revolts me, your face haunts me. If I never see you again, that wouldn’t be long enough. You were a bystander to me being emotionally abused, and you tried to play off like you were the nice guy. If you cared about me, truly, you would have never let me get on that plane. At the very least you could’ve flown me home, but you didn’t. You could have quit the band before they wrote that song about me. You could’ve warned me, but you didn’t. You don’t love me, you don’t want me, you don’t even know me. You’re the worst kind of man: pathetic. Is that enough for you?”
Danny blinks at me as his fist clenches at his side. I realize then that he’s off kilter. I knew that I kept that pack sane, but I don’t think I realized by how much.
“I loved you. I gave you everything you wanted!”
Cole goes to step forward, and I place a hand on his chest.
“You see these marks on my neck,” I say, pointing at them dramatically. “You see them wearing the hats I made. Do you see how much healthier I look? This is all I ever wanted. I don’t want you, and we have a restraining order,” I tell him.
“Because your pack made you. They’re poisoning you against me, don’t you see that?”
I stare at him, contemplating how I ever had sex with this idiot. It’s then I notice the dark circles under his eyes, and the way he seems like he’s almost shaking.
“You need to leave,” Mack’s voice says behind me.
I can feel the rage between my three Alphas and it has something wholly familiar licking up my spine. My skin feels sticky, and all I want to do is crawl into a little ball in my nest.
Today was supposed to be fun and yet, again, the people who have treated me the worst in my life are here, ruining what are supposed to be happy moments.
“You okay, sweetheart?” Cole asks, his voice as sweet as I’ve heard it tonight.
“I think I just want to go home.”
“Please, Shiloh, please. Let me be in your heat again, let me?—”
He doesn’t finish his sentence as Jonah’s fist collides with his face and Danny tumbles to the floor.
“Fuck. I never thought he would shut up. Elliot, can you handle this? Let the authorities know that he broke the restraining order. Axel, Claire, will you make sure Shiloh’s Gran gets home safe? We need to get Shiloh home,” Jonah says, putting everything into motion.
I’m not sure what’s said between everyone, as Cole holds me against his chest. His familiar and safe scent of honeysuckle soothing me along with the soothing rumble of his purring chest.
I know Claire and Gran say something to me, but I don’t absorb it. I just want to be home in my nest and forget today ever happened.
In the past, I would have had a breakdown after a day like today, but honestly, I’m relieved. For the first time in my life, I stuck up for myself and my pack had my back, only intervening when necessary.
There’s no way I’m going to let my family or Danny ruin what I know is about to happen. I’ve known since before we even bonded that my heat was on the horizon, but all the heightened emotions and adrenaline must have accelerated the timeline.
My shitty mom, my shitty ex-boyfriend, tried to take something else away from me, but I won’t let them.
