Leaving me alone again.
Chapter 13
“We have to get her out of here.” I smoothed both palms over my hair and leaned against the wall of my office.
Elias stared at me as if I’d suggested we mark her, a mix of horror and disgust flitting over his expression. He stood in front of my computer with his arms across his chest.
“Let’s stop with the bullshit. Even if murdering an Omega is a capital offense, her being an Omega changes things. She’ll likely get sentenced to a breeder program.”
“Think, Elias. How could she not have jumped at the chance?” I spat. “Alice wanted to fuck with us, and Briar was fodder. She’s a journalist; it’s her job to write articles, and she wasn’t wrong.”
Elias’ complexion was almost purple.
He had never been this unreasonable in the decade and some change that I’d known him. Ever since Jennifer, the woman who birthed me, brought him home.
Home. . .
That place had never been a home.
All the anger Elias was directing at Briar was from that dark place Jennifer brought out of us. And now our Scent Match was receiving the blows of our past.
Had we been a fully rounded pack without a mountain of baggage, she would have been protected from everything. Of course I couldn’t help but empathize with her situation, especially since she didn’t know how fucked it really was. “Vilifying the poor girl got us here in the first place.”
“You want to be used?” Elias blurted, his eyes glazed. He’d retreated into himself. “Again, at the whim of afemale?”
A swell of anger burst forward in a rush of words. “Figure out your hang-ups, Elias. Briar isn’t Jennifer.”
He jerked, as if I’d punched him.
“Low fucking blow, man,” Sinclair murmured, his tone verging on humored, but I ignored him.
“You weren’t the only one who faced her bullshit, Elias.”
I felt responsible . . . She’d been my mother. After Elias arrived, her beating me had lessened more and more until Elias was the only thing she could see. Until she ignored even Sinclair, her obsession before Elias had arrived. Fucking children.
Jennifer couldn’t out-strength all of us once we reached puberty, especially Elias and Sinclair, since they were a few years older than me, but we had to plan how to get rid of her without ending up in prison. That woman was a disgusting smear on the earth—we’d counted down the days until she’d given in to the rat poison we’d slipped into her food whenever we could.
The hollowness in my stomach that accompanied me whenever I thought of Jennifer swelled to the surface.
“I whored myself out for our pack.” Elias whipped his hand around. “To build this.” And to never be beholden to another. I didn’t need to say the second part—heknew this.
Jennifer always dangled her fortune over us. Before beginning the poisoning, we had to make sure one of us would receive the inheritance. It was our right after everything we’d endured.
I understood and agreed that we didn’t need baggage, but Briar’s fear lingered on my tongue, and I couldn’t ignore it.
“I’m not saying I’m going to claim her,” I repeated. How could he not see he was punishing Briar for something she hadn’t done? Both of them were. I glared at Sinclair. “You two are free to stay here. I’ll take her to the house tonight. That way, I can get some sleep.” With that, I turned toward the door. “I’m heading to the store to get her some more clothes, since you ripped what she had.” I didn’t hold back my disapproval.
“Kyan—”
“No,” I bit out, rounding on Elias. “We are in agreement. We don’t want a pack Omega, but that girl is harmless and frightened out of her mind. We owe it to her to get her in a secure, comfortable place until we have everything we need to get her safely out of the country.”
“We’re already unraveling,” he intoned—the ominous words held a heaviness I didn’t, and wouldn’t, acknowledge.
I snarled and stormed to the door, unable to contain my temper. Petty shit never bothered me, butshewas crawling under my skin, as sharp as a million thorns.
Even so, I wanted to grab on to her, despite the cuts it would leave behind.
Chapter 14
