“Sofia.”
“Oh, you!” Her voice turns mean.
I take a breath and hold it for a moment while I compose myself. Sand whips my face, and even Danger won’t leave my side.
“Listen to me for a minute. You won. You have them. Just let me go. I promise I won’t cause trouble. I’m just going to disappear, and we can both live our own lives. Please.”
I swore I would never beg this omega, but here I am shoving every ounce of self-respect aside because I want a chance with these alphas.
She’s silent for a long moment, and then she starts to laugh.
“Please, Giselle.”
“Absolutely not. There is no way, not in this life or another, that I’m going to let this go. You humiliated me. You tried to steal what was mine. Those alphas belong to me.”
“And you can have them, no contest.”
“Oh, so generous of you, now they have chosen me. You ruined my bonding day. But I’ll give you this. If you come back to the city, get down on your knees and crawl, I might consider letting you off.”
“What?” I say. “But you freaking won. You have them. What more do you want?”
“I’m the kind of omega that doesn’t like to be slighted. In short, I want revenge. Your humiliation. Your pain and suffering.”
“Why?”
“Why not? Because I can.” She’s smugly silent. “It will go easier for you if you come back. If I have to send them to drag you kicking and screaming back, I will enjoy it too much.”
“I’m not coming back,” I snarl.
“Well, then, I guess I will see you soon.”
My heart jolts in my chest. Danger crawls into my lap. “You don’t know where I am.”
“Oh, don’t I?”
“There’s no way. I was careful.”
“Sunshine Cove is a really pretty place. I think I might want to come and eat at the restaurant or perhaps visit the art gallery.”
My chest aches from not screaming, but Danger snuggles closer to me.
“I’m not in Sunshine Cove,” I say in desperation.
“You are a terrible liar, Sofie.”
“Sofia,” I correct automatically.
“You think I should care what your name is? You aren’t worthy of a name.”
I make a small sound of protest.
“Enjoy the next couple of weeks, Sofie. They are coming for you, and they are going to rip Sunshine Cove apart to find you.”
I gasp when she hangs up, struggling to breathe. I can’t bring that kind of trouble to Sunshine. Not unless I can figure out a way to stop them.
Danger struggles in my arms, so I kiss his head, check both ways, and let him down. He races up the beach for a minute before a group of seagulls join him and start playing with him.
“Everything happens for a reason. There’s supposed to be a lesson in this somewhere.”
