Maybe I’m doing what my dad did to my mum, maybe I’m sabotaging things before it’s even begun. No, it’s different. My dad had a bond and a child. He left after giving promises and building a life. This is a different situation.
I throw my head back and groan. “What am I doing? This is survival. It has to be. What’s one more book?”
I press the button and open the email from Sebastian that I have been avoiding. He sent it yesterday on my birthday. He must have known I wouldn’t check until today.
“I just wanted to say that this friendship with you has been the most important of my life. Forever yours, Bas.”
Tears well in my eyes, and I have to blink them back furiously. I stare at the email for an hour, letting those words, those precious, precious words heal something inside me. It’s only when I’m about to close it that I notice the attachment. I open it and lean back in the chair, the breath inside me whooshing out.
Fox, Katsu, and I. Not Cat or Wolf, my creations, but the real deal, staring back at me from a construct of Sebastian’s talented hand and eyes. I’m staring at Fox, laughing; he’s telling a story while Katsu stands behind me, protecting us and staring at me with a fondness on his face that I have never noticed.
Just staring at it makes me all jittery. I can’t wait to see them. I know I shouldn’t be getting in deep while I’m being so deceptive, but I can’t help myself.
I stand up and pull on Sebastian’s hoodie and jog down the stairs. It takes me only a minute to get to their house, but the minute feels too long.
“You had to have known!” Fox shouts.
I knock on the door, but when no one comes, I push it open and slip inside.
“I didn’t know. How could I have known? I’ve been here with you.” Sebastian growls. “Look, Fox, just calm down a bit. Yourfather was wrong. That whole phone call was wrong, he doesn’t understand. You’re letting him get in your head-”
“Don’t talk about my family, Sebastian. You wouldn’t understand, with your big mansion and your happy nests and people who love each other, siblings who care instead of seeing each other as competition. We have to be perfect, we have to have no dirt, nothing that can be used against us. You wouldn’t understand what that’s like.” Fox wipes his eyes, his face mottled red. “I know you’re lying to us. You know who she is, I can feel it through the bond!” Fox shouts.
I jerk my gaze to Bas. “You have a bond?” The pain is right there in my voice, I couldn’t hide it if I wanted to.
They had to have done it after I left this morning. I can’t hide the hurt. It feels like a betrayal.
They all jump, so preoccupied with their argument that they didn’t even sense me. Fox stares at Sebastian, his jaw ticking, while Sebastian looks absolutely shattered.
“I was going to tell you.”
“Ah, so it’s a habit of yours?” Fox growls and pulls on his hair.
“Shut up, Fox!” Sebastian snaps, losing his cool.
I tuck my arms around myself, feeling really stupid and small. A tiny voice that I haven’t been able to silence says, ‘see, I told you that you weren’t enough’.
“That’s not fair, Fox,” Sebastian snarls. “I am not going to be your punching bag because your family are imbeciles. And you don’t get to hurt Cordie because you are worried about what Daddy is going to say.”
Katsu is sitting in the armchair, his chin on his fist, staring into space.
“What happened?” I ask nervously. I move into the room, stepping between the alphas, but Katsu notices that and grabs my wrist, dragging me out of the way.
“We talked about you stepping between alphas, beautiful omega,” he says, but there’s a warmth that is missing. It’s lacking. Unease builds in me.
“You should have warned us!”
“I didn’t know, Fox,” Sebastian growls back.
Fox rolls his eyes. He’s really worked up and really, really upset.
“What happened?” I say loudly.
Fox turns a bitter look on Sebastian. “Ask her best friend.” He storms out of the room.
“She has uploaded a new preorder. There’s going to be another book,” Katsu says.
My whole body breaks out into cold chills. I stand there and feel my world tip sideways.
