“What? I work here!”
“Since when?”
“Since none of your goddamn business,” he replies, but it’s not loud and aggressive, it’s soft and assertive. “You’re the ones that walked in the doors, not me. I’m allowed to react the way I did! I got blindsided seeing her and overstepped.”
“Yeah, well, you’ve obviously got no survival instincts. Did you not notice me standing in front of her?”
“Koz, it’s okay,” I say, and he glances over his shoulder. The glimmer in his eye is pretty telling that everything is okay, he’s being funny in a Koz way.
“Actually, why are you here, Raney?” Hayes asks, pushing the envelope further.
I guess though the question catches me by surprise, because I’m not the one who arranged the meeting here, it was my pseudo pack.
“To finalise the pack dissolution before I pack, Hayes.”
“What?”
“Yeah, your lawyers keep changing the goal posts.”
He shakes his head in disbelief. He does it again and again too. Looking more confused and a lot more pissed off.
“Yeah, no.”
“What?”
“No, please!” He grabs his phone and sprints out the rear of the shop.
ChapterEleven
RANEY
Of course, the second King hears we were here, all the Fallens’ phones go off. One by one too. It’s pretty funny, giving Koz and me no time to talk about Hayes. But then again, I’m done talking about them. I’m here, like I said, to fix this once and for all.
Rudely, mine’s the last phone Dad tries. Naturally, I hit ignore and focus on sitting still and getting the pretty tattoo running down the side of my neck finished. Whenever I walk into a tattoo shop, it’s like I get bit by the ink bug. My mind runs wild with ideas and visions which means I end up getting more than one tattoo. This scripted one is for me—sono tutto con te, Kozantine(I’m all with you, Kozantine)—and the artist made it run from my ear down to the top of my collar bone. Goddamn, it’s going to be gorgeous.
Niche is as unique as her name suggests. She’s also insanely good and well respected in the fine line black style that I personally prefer. Koz’s swallow was done by Mr. Ink himself and in a completely different style. He opted for the thick line and bold colour traditional style that suits my sexy man to a T.
Niche stopped talking about Hayes after a few easy to answer questions I had to know. He does work here and has for the past few years while he finishes up art school. Aside from that, she tells me to relax and get in the moment. And then she stops talking.
Zoning out and breathing through the pinching sting of a few deep lines, I miss the moment the chatter behind me dies down. Not that there was much, Koz’s not a big conversationalist. Before long, I can feel his attention on me. Not that it wasn’t before, but now he’s watching me without anything distracting him, and it’s different.
It’s hard properly explaining what it was like first meeting Koz. I’d actually done a lot of healing; I was pretty broken about the boys abandoning me, but in the same breath, I knew I was strong enough to survive. It just took a little while to come to terms with the change of what my life would be. Throw in my newly acquired omega designation, and clearly, during that time of my life, I often felt like I was on a spin cycle. Inside me, things were all out of alignment; my thoughts were mashed up, making me crazy irrational. My body didn’t seem like my own, my aspirations were blown up, and the pieces of my dreams were floating in tatters around me. But like every other person who’s been screwed over, I took one day at a time.
Some days were completely shit. I wanted to park my ass on a chair and watch the seasons pass like Bella did when Edward disappeared. I didn’t for a second attribute Twilight as being my motivator, but I remember it being a pivotal moment. I climbed off the chair—metaphorically—and I got on with chasing down the life I wanted.
After my Bella inspired moment, I figured out a few harsh truths. I was a people person, always would be. But I wasn’t an extrovert that needed to be the centre of everyone’s universe. I needed to be a part of something more than just me—not bigger or better, just more. I also found out that my independence was important which for some alphas was a hard pill to swallow. King’s reluctance to see I needed to be free after being broken was hard to deal with. I had to move halfway across the country to break away from him and his love. I needed him, without a doubt I did, but I needed me too.
Koz gave me the sense of freedom and safety I craved. He gave me what I needed without being asked. Yes, he was a moody bastard sometimes. He was abrasive, possessive, and freakishly obsessive. And most certainly he was demanding and sometimes acted without thinking in the moment, but at the same time, I can say, hand on heart, he consistently makes me his priority.
He’s patient when I question if he is going to leave me. He is patient with all my newly acquired needs, and he is impatient when I need to let go and trust. And fuck me, he keeps catching me when I fall.
Koz might be an anomaly in that he didn’t have a pack already, but I don’t think he’d looked terribly hard either. I guess together we were our own pack, but the both of us were also aware we needed more. Alphas had an inbuilt need to protect and provide, to shield and tend, to love and cherish—which for some alphas was hard to do. Letting go of their dominance to allow another part of them to flourish—maybe they were softer, gentler, or they were allowed to be even more dominant but they handed the reins of their freedom and happiness to their omega. Which is where omegas came to their own, ironic omegas, the softest designation, were the only ones strong enough to pacify a feral alpha.
And have fucking mercy, the Omega mothers at Unity were spot on when they talked about scent matches and instantly knowing you’d met your match. I can smell Koz and my worries disappear. Today is no different, over the top of the antiseptic, the astringent chemicals of the studio, all my uncles, I smell him. But I feel his presence too.
I play rabbit, pretending I’m asleep, but even with my eyes closed I can feel the way he’s looking down at me. And he’s getting a little freaky deaky—I can feel the smallest change in his mood. But then again, we’re equally responsive to each other.
“Okay, let me get a mirror to show you, but we are finished,” Niche says as she steps away.
