18. Digs
Chapter eighteen
Digs
Can’t regret your smile. It’s worth all of my tears- Dillon ‘Digs’ Fate
She’s got a blanket wrapped around her and tears streaming down her cheeks. She’s not sobbing, her tears are silent, like they are overflowing emotion. There is so much pain in the air, and it smells like burned coconut. She clutches the blanket in front of her chest, her bare feet sticking out, looking so small and bruised.
“Envy,” her whisper is hopeful.
His shoulders stiffen, but he doesn’t turn away from the window. If her tears are the only sign she’s hurting, then his silence is the only sign he is.
People think I can’t see these things, but sometimes, the only things that are clear to me are people’s emotions.
I can see clear as day in this moment how much they care about each other and how much we’ve hurt him.
Did we make the wrong choice?
I’m frozen with a hand on the kitchen table that I remember my dad building when I was a kid. I don’t have a top on, just a loose pair of track pants.
“The heat’s over, yes?”
“Envy.” Her voice is softer now, less hopeful.
Yeah, me, too, Ryn, me, too.
Tyr stalks out, fully dressed, and walks to the window.
Envy turns with a smile that is as fake as the artificial plants on the kitchen windowsill. “Are you ready to get back on the tour? ”
Damn, we’ve fucked up bad.
Tyr tries to touch him, but he flinches and twitches out of reach.
“I’m going to go and wait with Tony. The plane is being readied now.”
With that, Envy walks stiffly out of my family home. I run my hand over my short beard, tugging at it as I shift my eyes to Mako, who is white, his lips pressed into a line that seems to convey all the feelings in my chest.
“He’s going to forgive us, right?” I ask.
Tyr looks at me and nods brusquely. “It doesn’t matter if he does or not. It’s already done.”
Ryn makes a sound that I swear I will remember for the rest of my life, whirls, and vanishes back into the room.
I stare at the dark doorway where she’s gone, torn because there’s an omega in that room, and her pain is screaming for all my instincts to fix it, but Envy is ours, our pack mate. I’ve known him forever. Loved him for more than half my life. Our family and his pain is a throbbing wound inside me.
“What do we do?”
Mako sighs heavily and shakes his head as he slumps against the wall.
I grab my hoodie and slam my feet into my boots and pause. I need to pack my clothes, but someone needs to go after Envy.
“I got you Digs, go,” Mako says.
I rush out the door without a second glance and find him standing outside. It’s raining, and though he’s under the eaves, he’s still getting wet, but I don’t think he notices.
“You told us to do it, Envy. You pushed us into the room and shut-”
“Shut up, Digs,” Envy snaps.
“I’m just trying to-”
“Yes, exactly, just trying. Stop trying. Stop explaining, stop rehashing, I don’t want to hear it.”
“You can’t be angry-”
He whirls on me, his beautiful face so full of so many emotions I can’t tell what he’s feeling. “I’m not angry, Digs. This isn’t anger.”
“Well, what is it ,then, because it’s clearly something?” I growl back at him, frustrated that I don’t understand.
“You saved her, let's leave it like that. Let’s get back on the road. If we hurry, we can make it. Let’s put this week behind us and pretend it didn’t happen, let's get back to reality. I just need to see if we can salvage this. But you have to hurry.”
I stare at him, wondering who this indifferent person standing in front of me is.
“Envy, what the fuck is wrong with you? ”
He steps into me, and though I’m not scared, I stiffen and hold myself perfectly still.
He opens his mouth, but there’s movement in the rain. Envy turns with a gusty exhale and smiles widely.
“You made it.”
“Anything for you, Envy.”
I turn and gape as a tousled omega rushes up the steps. She reeks of sex. And she’s not Ryn. She throws the blanket she’s been using to keep herself dry at Envy and ducks into the house.
“What the fuck?” I spit out in shock. “What is Ingrid doing here, Envy?”
Envy follows her inside. “Just go into the nest and roll around a bit.”
“Envy!” I snarl, beyond outraged.
He still ignores me, but Ryn spots her, and her face goes slack. She’s not given a chance to argue. Envy grabs Ryn by the wrist and drags her towards the front of the house.
“No, what are you doing?” I hiss, following them.
There’s a knock at the door.
We all freeze. Envy’s emotions are like a lightning strike, there and gone.
“Fuck!” Envy whispers. He licks his lips, his pupils are pinpoints, and he looks afraid.
Envy reverses direction, almost jogging as he fights to keep Auryn with him.
I whip my head between them and the front door.
Oh, fuck.
I grab Mako as he walks past me. Comprehension blooms in my mind, and I suddenly realise what Envy is feeling. It’s fear. It’s panic.
“No, wait, slow. We just got up from the nest.”
Mako’s eyes widen, and he whips his head around, tears off his t-shirt, undoes his jeans, and then walks into the nest.
Tyr spots him and me as I toe off my boots and undo the zip of the jumper I’m wearing. My alpha goes to the kitchen, turns on the burner, and starts cracking eggs into a frying pan.
I turn back, reach out, and slowly open the door. The man on the other side is thin to the point of painful. His features are pinched, and he stinks of cologne that hides his scent.
“Who are you?” I growl out in threat.
“My name is Uley Ethels. I am Typhor Raines’ assistant, and I’m here to see Auryn Raines.”
“Auryn’s not here,” I say flatly. “Don’t be stupid, she’s an unmated beta. She can’t be around while we see an omega through a heat.”
Uley frowns in suspicion. “All the same, I’d like to have a look. ”
He pushes past me. I’m so shocked I just turn and follow him as he stops in the kitchen. Taking in the cozy scene.
The omega is a friend, an old friend. I love her to death, but right now, I’d give her anything she asked, anything at all. Ingrid is currently braless, with just a blue thong on, leaning on the bench, making bedroom eyes at Tyr, uncaring that she’s all but naked in front of our guest.
“Who are you?” Mako says and runs a possessive hand up Ingrid’s back. It looks a whole lot more sexual than it is. Still, I feel a distinct urge to vomit seeing him look so intimate with another omega.
“Dickhead here thinks we’ve got Ryn,” I spit out, hooking my thumb over my shoulder at the guy.
The dickhead in question stalks around the house, looking and searching everywhere.
“You can tell Raines I’ll be sending a formal complaint through our agent and lawyer,” Tyr says conversationally. “This is an invasion of privacy, and a breach of our agreement.”
“Where is his daughter?”
“In the hotel where we put her, I assume, either way, I don’t keep tabs on Ryn Raines. She’s an adult. She can do what she wants. Tell Raines I’m not his damn babysitter. I was busy.” Tyr stalks him. “Knot deep.” He gets closer, and Uley reluctantly gives ground. “In omega pussy. Now fuck the hell off.”
Uley’s face is bright red. “Where is Envy?”
Mako and I exchange furious looks. This prick wants to die today, and I’m in a mood to generously defer to his wishes.
“Envy never joins us for heats,” Mako says easily but with a tight edge to his voice. “Raines has it on record, though. The questionnaire we had to sign when we joined the label, you know, the one where he asks our sexual orientation? Envy only likes sausage.” Mako leans towards our unwanted guest and flicks a bit of lint off his shirt.
“What does that mean?” The idiot parrots furiously. “Why isn’t he here?”
I roll my eyes.
“Envy doesn’t like pussy. He likes cock. Our cocks. So every now and then, we help an omega through a heat, and Envy goes on one of his week-long holidays. You can report that back to your boss. Now get the fuck out of my house while I’m still being nice,” I growl and advance towards him.
Uley backs up, while Tyr retreats back to the kitchen. He cooks his eggs as if he doesn’t have a concern in the world.
Ingrid giggles at something Mako says and strokes his forearm.
I follow Uley out of the house and watch silently as he gets into the car and disappears.
As soon as he’s gone, I rush back in, ensuring the doors are locked, just in case .
“How did you know?” I ask Ingrid as she steps away, pulling on a big jumper that stinks of another alpha. In two minutes, she’s rugged up again, with her arms wrapped around herself.
“Envy called about 45 minutes ago. I had Reg and Will fuck me real quick and rushed over. We owe you guys one. You paid for our IVF. If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t have our Angel.”
“Shit, Ingrid, you never have to owe us for that!”
“Where is Envy?” Tyr asks and chucks the eggs in the bin.
“He took her out of sight. Said to meet you at the plane at ten,” Ingrid says and kisses Tyr’s cheek. “It’s good to see you. Fate’s Choice is really going up in the world,” she teases.
Tyr groans, but I’m more focused on what she just said.
“That’s in two hours,” I protest. “Where did he take her?”
“Yep,” Ingrid says and then walks back into the nest and returns a few minutes later with her shoes on and her handbag, ready to go. “Oh, by the way, your mother said you have an hour to get your stuff and get out before the cleaners get here. She also said to tell you she’s having a wonderful time.”
I groan. “She’s never coming home, is she?”
Tyr shuts off the stove and puts the pans in the sink. He looks first at me and then at Mako. All of us are worried. What is Envy doing with the omega? Is he angry at her? What’s going to happen, and will Ryn be okay when we find her?
“Let's go find them,” Tyr says.
Ingrid smiles and shakes her head. “Nope, Aunt Ariel says get your asses to the airport. No excuses.”
I tense and then relax. Envy took her home. She’s going to be fine.
I just wish my stomach didn’t fill with butterflies just thinking about Envy and the pain I thought I caught through the bond.