Our Deceptive Heat (When it Raines Omegaverse #3)

6. Ryn

Chapter six

Ryn

The secrets we keep tie us oceans apart- Ryn Raines

Breathing has become the sole source of my focus. I need to pay attention to it, trying not to breathe in their scents. It’s so potent, so strong. I forgot how intense they were. Almond for Digs. Oak for Tyr. Mako smells like the beach, and Envy has a distinctive woodsy cinnamon scent.

I focus on the notepad in my hands and think about Tyr’s awful request. A song about the end of friendship. Is that what’s going to happen to us? Is that how all these years are going to end?

Mako shifts his weight, and I almost explode from the chair.

“Gotta use the bathroom.”

I don’t wait for an answer. I just bolt down the hallway and slip into the room, locking the door behind me.

I pull out my phone and pace in the small space.

“Ryn?”

I start to laugh and cry; the panic overwhelming me. I can’t even answer.

“Ryn, where are you?” Lia demands. “I’ll send Ianto to cut a bitch!”

“I’m hiding in their bathroom,” I whisper. “Well, the hotel bathroom. I’m refusing to come out, but I have to. I owe them a song.”

I sit down on the toilet and double over, unable to stop the tears that I’ve been holding back since I first laid eyes on him. The adrenaline and panic are crushing.

“If they are hurting you, I will destroy them! ”

And she would do her very best. Lia is fierce. She is loyal and beautiful, and we’re as close as sisters.

“No,” I protest. “They would never hurt me.”

“Do you want to come home? I can invent an emergency,” Lia says cautiously.

“Yes! No! I want to finish this,” I groan, “but I don’t want to end it. I don’t know what I want.” I spit out the words in a helpless whisper.

“Ryn, have you thought about maybe telling the truth?”

Ice slithers down my spine, leaving me cold and empty. The tears are gone and so is the panic.

“Of course, I’ve thought about it, but if I do that, my life ends, my dream ends, my freedom ends,” I say in a taut voice. “I can’t trust them. I can’t trust anyone.”

“Auryn,” the sympathy in Lia’s voice breaks me. “I would never hurt you. You could tell me at least.”

Regret fills me, knowing I will hurt my cousin. “I can’t, Lia. It’s not just my life that will end if I tell. No, I will stay here, and I will get through this. It’s just one song, right? Write them a song and leave.”

“Ryn!”

“It will be fine. I’ll be fine.” I don’t know if I’m trying to convince her or me. “Thanks for calling. It helped.”

“You called me.”

“Oh, yeah. Well, thanks for answering.” I lick my lips and brace myself. “I love you, Lia, and I’m so glad you finally found a way to be with your pack. So proud of you. I knew you would end up together eventually.” Lia deserves her happily ever after. She really does.

“Auryn!”

“Got to go. Stay safe. I’ll be home soon,” I say in a rush and hang up the phone. I set it to silent and ignore her calls.

I whirl away from the bathroom, refusing to look in the mirror. I don’t want to see the desperation in my eyes.

I square my shoulders and walk back out. I can do this. At the edge of the hallway, I pause, taking them all in. A year hasn’t changed them much. They look slightly older, wiser. Digs’ hair is a little longer. Tyr’s wearing more of those chunky silver rings. Mako is a little less stressed, and Envy, well, he’s Envy.

They are so touchy with each other. Even now, Mako is running his fingers through Envy’s hair, and Tyr has Digs’ hand on his thigh and is running his thumb over it.

I don’t move, taking in this moment and committing it to memory. They are so beautiful.

I take a breath and let it out, walking into the open space and reclaiming my spot on the single armchair.

Safe here.

“Shall we begin?”

“Just waiting on you, fish,” Mako says with a wink.

Damn, I hate that I don’t hate that nickname. I remember the stupid day he gave it to me. We were fighting over guitar chords, and I called him a shark. He stopped, smiled wide, and said if he was a shark, then I was a cute little fish who was swimming too deep.

It was funny but vaguely threatening and so much more arousing than if he’d told me to strip naked. All our conversations were flirty, teasing, and confusing.

I pull out a pen and start clicking it. “You want to write a song about a friendship ending. So, let’s go, they are the best of friends, and then something happens, and they have a misunderstanding-”

“One of them ghosts the other,” Tyr throws out and stands up and starts pacing.

He’s not as tall as the others, but he’s got an aura that you can’t look away from. He’s the right choice as the lead singer for Fate’s Choice. But I’d like to slap his beautiful face sometimes, like now.

“Fine. One of them ghosts the other,” I grit out, sending a glower in his direction.

“I can’t do this!” Envy says so quietly I think I’m the only one who hears it.

My heart bolts in my chest even as the crushing slash of pain makes me curl up even tighter. I keep my eyes on my notebook and hunch over, shrinking into myself.

“You don’t have to, Envy. We’ve got this,” I say quietly. Giving him the out they won’t give me.

He finally looks at me. Those beautiful pale green eyes seeing all of me in the two seconds that he glances my way. But he looks away. Like always.

I swallow hard and look down at my notepad, dismissing him from my mind.

It’s impossible.

Mako makes a warning sound, and I realise I’ve completely missed whatever Digs has just said.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.”

Four pairs of eyes fall on me, and Digs finally exhales moodily.

“Send the beta home.”

I flinch and slowly close my notepad. “I can work from home.”

“Sit down!” Tyr barks.

My legs collapse under me. I seethe, furious at the inability to fight his growl. I hate alpha barks.

“Uncalled for!” Mako grumbles .

Tyr’s phone rings in the silence.

“I need to take this,” Tyr snarls. “Nobody move. We are sorting this out.”

I glare at him as he paces and murmurs into his phone. He glances back at me and smiles widely.

I hate that smile. It’s the one that tells me that he is going to do something I don’t like.

“Yes, we need someone with marketing skills. Your daughter? I think we met her in passing a few months ago, but she’s actually here with us right now.”

Oh, what the fuck is he doing now?

“Oh, how wonderful. I appreciate that so much, sir. I’ll put you on speaker, and you can tell her yourself. We ran into her at lunch, and she’s been helping us get in touch with Locke.”

Tyr smirks so widely I consider killing him, right up until I hear my father speak, then I focus on the venomous snake like he deserves.

“Auryn?”

“Yes, Father?”

“I want you to go on tour with the band. I want a complete marketing overhaul for the brand. Tyr says you know their music, you know them. You can do it.” Tyr said nothing of the sort. This is just my father’s bullshit excuse to back me into a corner and make me do this job.

“I’m busy, I have other contracts-”

“I’m not asking, Auryn!” My father’s voice snaps over my protests. Two years ago, he decided I was no longer allowed to putter around making cards and pulled me into marketing, an apparently suitable job for a beta.

My cheeks burn under the humiliating command. “Okay. I’ll do it. Can you have Maud email me the information that I need?”

“Yes. Now, remember, you’re representing Alpha Labels. So act professional at all times. Give the band anything they need.” The ‘or else’ is implied but not spoken.

I shudder and drop my eyes to stare at the coffee table.

Tyr just crossed a line. A line I wouldn’t have thought a friend could cross. Except we’re not friends, not anymore, and that’s my fault.

I wince and wrap my arms around myself, feeling lost. Are they my enemies now? Is that what we are?

Tyr finishes the phone call and sits down, leaning back, smiling smugly.

I throw my notepad with deadly aim and hit the smug prick in the face.

Everyone blinks, but I’m finally free of his command. I stand up, ignore the notebook, and stalk towards the door.

“Hey! Where are you going? ”

“Anywhere else!” I snarl.

Digs seems mildly concerned and steps in front of the door. “Ryn, he didn’t think, he didn’t mean it like that-”

I lift my chin and glower at the big alpha. “Move.”

Digs studies me, weighing my intent before he finally sighs and steps to the side.

Mako grabs my hand and pulls me into a hug. “I’m sorry about how he did it, but I’m not going to be sorry for getting to spend more time with you.”

I stare up at him. “This is only going to make things harder. There is nothing good going to come from rehashing things. It’s only going to hurt everyone.” I glance at Envy, holding his eyes until he turns away.

Do they know what happened that night?

Mako shakes his head. “No, little fish. This is going to be our second chance.”

My mouth drops open. I can’t believe what I’m hearing. They’re insane.

I step around him and flee while I can. It’s only when waiting, desperately counting the seconds because the lift is taking forever, that Digs comes out and stands beside me.

He stares at me while I ignore him until I finally have to turn and face him.

“What?”

“You’re going to break us all over again.”

I wheeze a laugh. “You? Yeah, sure. Pretty sure you four are doing just fine.”

Digs leans in closer, his face at my level. I want so badly to back up, but I don’t allow myself to even move, not even when his beard tickles my face.

“If you’re back, you’re back. If you’re not, stay gone.”

I close my eyes, willing myself strength. “You really took my choices away from me. I can’t stay gone with my father’s command to fix your brand, now can I?”

“Do you really think anyone would care? Your father wouldn’t even notice.”

I open my eyes, looking straight into his blue orbs of rage and scowl. “Don’t be a dick, Digs. It’s beneath you. And if you’re going to use my words as weapons, make sure you have current ammo. I’m a useful commodity now.”

He inhales, and when he exhales, there is the faintest hint of a vibration in the air between us. Luckily, it’s at that point the lift doors slide open. I slip inside, turning and lifting my chin as I glare at him.

“The next time anyone tries to trap me, you’ll find out just how dangerous a Raines can be.”

Dig’s smile crooks up a smug little expression that practically dares me to bring it.

The lift doors close with excruciating slowness, and then he’s gone, and I’m alone, exhausted and shaking.

I can’t go on tour with them !

How do I get out of this? I was just supposed to write one song. How did I end up here?

Shit.

I bite the inside of my cheek and keep perfectly still until the doors open, then I practically run, fleeing the big bad wolves and all the growling horrors that haunt me.