Sebastian laughs in an evil way. I slap his leg, but secretly, the omega inside me is as happy as a pig in muck. He’s still going to be just next door.
He grabs a chunk of my hair, doesn’t pull it, just holds it. My scalp tingles.
“Don’t do what you did again, Cordelia.”
I glower out the window, setting my almost empty plate down. “I love Lorelei, Milton, and Franco.”
“I know.”
“And Sofia is my best friend. And your sisters are like my little sisters.”
“I’m aware.”
“And we…” I stop because I don’t know what to say. What are we? Enemies? Rivals? Friends?
“Don’t redirect my anger onto you,” Sebastian growls.
“If it helps keep the peace, I’m not going to say I won’t do it-”
“Cordelia, I’m big enough to handle not just my own feelings, but my parents-”
“You were going into a rut,” I spit out bitterly.
A tension snaps to life between the three of them so quickly I don’t even understand what I’ve said.
“You are impossible,” he breathes.
“Yeah, you say that a lot,” I grumble and stand up, gathering the plates.
“Sebastian, breathe. Slow. Progress, remember,” Katsu says in his deep voice.
I snort. “Sebastian doesn’t do slow. He does explosions.”
Seb glares at me, then walks out of the house, letting the door slam shut. The sound hurts. I hunch my shoulders and stare blindly at the dirty dishes.
“He will come around,” Fox whispers and hugs me. “I’m going to go with him. Katsu is going to do the dishes and help you close up the house. Goodnight, Omega. I will see you tomorrow, and I’ll be counting the seconds.”
“I don’t need-”
But it’s too late; Fox is gone. I escape to the kitchen, trying not to cry.
I feel his presence behind me and tense. He moves closer and closer, and finally, he’s standing right behind me, pressed against me. I’m breathing like I’ve just run a kilometer down the beach in flip-flops.
He reaches around me and takes the stacked plates, setting them in the sink and turning on the tap to fill it.
“Sebastian has some lessons to learn and feelings to sort out, but can I assure you, no alpha likes seeing what you did today.”
“No one else has cared.”
“Maybe no one else thought they had the right to intervene, but I assure you, seeing an omega challenge and get all that unbridled rage turned on them was not a good feeling.”
“He needed a safe outlet,” I argue.
“You are not equipped to deal with an alpha like Sebastian in that state,” Katsu says firmly but not unkindly.
He turns me until I’m facing him. His eyes are so pale but so intense.
“I don’t want to see him ruin his relationship with his family-”
