Ollie
The silence is unbearable as he hands me my jeans, his gaze fixed in a permanent look of shock as he stares at the floor.
I knew it would hurt when he found out, but this is Temple of Doom level of tear your heart out.
I’d already shown him my tears, and I don’t want any more to fall in case he thinks I’m manipulating him.
My legs and pussy spasm as I stand, my core aching, and my nipples begging for attention, but I don’t have the right to ask anything else from Timber.
He leans against the giant fridge, his arms folded as I pull my jeans on and try not to choke at the pain bouncing through my body as my heart breaks with every second of silence.
We told each other we love each other, but it feels like I’ve chained Timber even more tightly with my lies. His confession rings in my ears, and I want him to at least understand why I did it.
“My brother’s in hospital,” I say softly, and Timber flinches. “That’s why I called myself Luke. We can’t afford the bills, and this job with you was the only way to pay for them. But I’ve never dressed or acted differently than I did before I met you. The Luke you know is still me; it’s just a different name.”
His head shoots up, and his gaze sinks right through me. “So you thought sneaking into my life as this would work? What were you going to do? Wait until your heat and make me sign away all my money? Or were you going to go for the long game, where we became a pack, and you milked me for all I had?”
“No, that’s not it! Why do you think I’m leaving? If I wanted your money, I would have done it differently. I didn’t fall in love with you because of that.”
His growl grows, along with the darkness in his eyes. “What then?” he snaps, pushing off the fridge to storm toward me. “Did you just use me to come as many times as you want? Or shall I really just fuck you instead? Then I’ll give you all my contracts to control, and you can go to the tabloids and make money that way. Would that make you fucking happy?” he spits.
“Timber! Just listen to me!”
His surprise as I shout back just makes everything hurt more, and I waver. My head tilts back to look up at the giant alpha I’vebeen craving for so long, and his size makes me slick all over again.
I shouldn’t be angry, but his words now and when I was on the floor have cut so deeply that I don’t know if I’ll ever recover.
He’s right there, looming over me. Even though he looks murderous, I know he won’t hurt me, not like that.
“I’m not your ex, or some sneaky omega. I’m nothing like that. I didn’t even come here for you, and I didn’t know we were scent matches until we met in Marilyn’s office. None of this was ever about you.”
Plus, everything would have been easier if we hadn’t matched.
“I didn’t mean for it to go like this, Timber, I swear. I couldn’t find a way to fix it without making it worse. That’s why I planned on leaving, for both of us.”
“So running away was your solution? You’ll just block my number and hide from me so you don’t have to deal with any of the fucking consequences. If you were really leaving for both of us, you would have talked to me instead of this shit.”
I open my mouth to reply, but I don’t have a good answer. “No, I hadn’t thought that far. I just wanted to get through my heat, and then I could decide what to do next.”
“I’m youralpha, Ollie,” he snarls, and the words go straight to my core. “I’m supposed to be fucking here for you.”
I clench my jaw closed and hope he can’t see the way my hands shake. I loved feeling small when I was tucked in his arms, but now I can’t stand in front of him without trembling.
“Why do you think I’ll trust you again if you can’t trust me to be with you when you need me the most?”
Another sigh escapes him as he runs his hand over his buzz-cut.
“How do you think it makes me feel to know my omega is going through her heat alone?” he asks as his hand balls into a fist as it falls. “How the hell am I supposed to stay calm when allI can see is you crying out for me, and I don’t know how to reach you because you've run away?”
His questions keep coming, and I can’t reply. I’ve screwed it up so badly that I’m going to bawl if I answer any of them properly.
I deserve to suffer through my heat alone because of all of this. Even though my heart is singing at his words, I never expected him to admit his feelings to me. I thought the drunken confession would be the most I would ever get from him.
“And what about Kane? Are you inviting him to your heat?”
“Hell no!” I gasp. “I told you. I’m not doing anything like choosing him instead of you. It’s either both of you or neither of you.”
He shakes his head, gritting his jaw. “I can smell your slick. I can’t even tell if it’s because of me or if it’s because we’re talking about Kane.” More pain travels across his face as he lets out a shuddering breath. “Your scent drives me so fucking insane that it’s like I can’t breathe without you. If I feel like this about you, you have to feel the same way about him. Why the hell would I trust anything either of you says at this point?”
