Our Deceptive Heat (When it Raines Omegaverse #3)

21. Ryn

Chapter twenty-one

Ryn

I used to believe in fate. I used to think we could be- Ryn Raines

Envy stalks towards me, a determined expression on his face. Tyr grabs him and whispers something that causes them both to frown. Envy looks in my direction, pushes Tyr’s hand off him, says something that makes Tyr recoil, and then rushes towards me.

He reaches me, and though his mouth moves, nothing comes out.

“Envy?”

“I have to tell you something, and I should have told you a long time ago, but the truth is that I was scared. I thought I would lose you. But you have to know.”

“You wouldn’t lose me,” I murmur, absolutely sure.

Envy inhales, and when he exhales, he cups my cheek and leans in close, his lips so close to mine. I lean up, everything forgotten as his lips touch mine.

“This is so wrong,” he murmurs against my mouth.

“I don’t care,” I say back stubbornly.

His tongue dips into my mouth. He tastes of sugar and cinnamon. Something that drives me absolutely wild. It’s elusive and hardly ever there, but I’m addicted to his taste. I clench my fingers in his shirt, dragging myself closer to him. I open my mouth, and he takes advantage, pressing in, licking into my mouth, consuming me.

He pulls back, and I realise we’re both panting.

“I need to tell you everything,” he whispers.

“What the hell is going on here?” The voice cracks across the room .

We jump apart, and I turn to see a broad-shouldered woman in a tight black skirt suit. Her black hair is swept back into a no-nonsense bun and her eyes lined heavily in black smokey eyeliner.

She clicks her fingers and points to the spot in front of her. “Come.”

I bristle and lock my feet, refusing to move. She’s a beta, so she doesn’t have the ability to force any of us, but still I’m shocked by the command.

“Fate’s Choice, I am your newly appointed songwriter. Come. Here.” She snaps her fingers again and jabs a long red nail at the floor.

“We’re not dogs,” Tyr growls in the most cold and threatening voice I’ve ever heard him use.

“And yet, here you are, making out with the boss’s daughter. Giving me the perfect excuse to ring him up and tell him you’re refusing to work with me,” she says with a smirk and an evil glint in her eyes.

My stomach twists and drops out.

“We didn’t say we wouldn’t work with you-”

“Then come and stand right here.” She looks down at the spot and up, raising an eyebrow in an expression that makes me want to slap her.

“Call my dad-”

“Don’t!” Tyr says, cutting me off, but refusing to look at me. With deep reluctance, he moves to stand in front of the songwriter. Digs and Mako follow with deep growls of their own. Envy is the last. I reach for his hand to stop him, but he pulls it away, refusing my touch.

The room is tense, and the silence is thick. The new songwriter tosses her head, smirking in my direction.

I stand there, alone, feeling the sting of their abandonment, even though I know they’re doing it for the right reasons.

“My name is Tara Shillings, and Alpha Raines himself chose me to write your next hit. I don’t tolerate slackers. We will work, and we will work hard every day. You will learn my lyrics and my choreography, and you will perform my new songs in one month at the Silver Falls concert.”

My stomach has been filling with lead with each word. But as the meaning sinks in, my fear doubles. Did my father send her here to stop me from foiling his plans to sell me? Does he know?

“You will cease acting like teenage boys and stop this dalliance with the Raines’ help right now. All your focus is to be on music. If you want to fuck a woman, go choose a fan.”

Raines'…help? Really ?

How can she not feel the growing rage in the room? It’s throbbing in the air. She’s a beta, I remember suddenly. She must not have strong senses because anyone with a lick of sense would run.

“You will not alter or change the lyrics or melody of any songs I write for you. You will learn them as is and know that my genius will save you.”

She reaches out, her long claws slide over Envy’s chest. A low growl fills the air, and with a start, I realise it’s coming from me. It takes everything I have to stay where I am and not throw myself at her and claw her damn eyes out.

Tara looks at me and smirks. “You can go now.”

The rage I feel in that moment, from the outrageous dismissal, is unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. I have never wanted to hurt someone the way I want to hurt her.

I look at the fingernails still on Envy’s chest. Everything in me is screaming to get her off him, to make her stop touching him, to do something, anything, because she shouldn’t be touching what’s mine.

I inhale roughly and stalk from the room before I do anything stupid and blow everything out of the water.

I have a plan. If I screw with that plan, I don’t just fuck up my life. I fuck up theirs as well.

I go out to the garden and sit down, putting my head in my hands. I keep hearing the words she said and seeing the suggestive and sexual way she touched him.

Envy is mine.

No, he’s not.

I get up and pace, frustrated tears falling. This is a joke. A couple of months ago, I was prepared to live the rest of my life without them. I mean, I wasn’t going to be joyfully in love, but I was going to find my happiness.

I had a plan. I have plans.

So, why are they all falling apart?

I put a hand to my forehead and try to breathe through it. Fuck it. I pull out my phone and call Raider.

“Hey, shrimp.”

“I’m not a shrimp.”

“You’re teeny tiny, thus a shrimp. Wassup?”

I scrunch my nose up. “Nothing.”

There’s a silence. “Hey, you know you can’t lie to me, right? I’m the one who knows how your brain works. What’s going on?”

I take a breath and let it out in an effort to hold all the emotions back.

“Raider…I’m in trouble. ”

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

I pace back and forth and sit down, dropping my head between my legs.

“Dad. It’s always Dad.”

“What’s he doing now?” Raider’s furious growl is almost as good as one of his hugs.

I force a laugh. “He’s giving me away to a pack for a merger.”

There’s a long, tense silence. “I beg your pardon?”

“He’s going,” I look up, blinking back tears, “Raider, I don’t know what to do. I have to disappear.”

“Then go. Right now. You vanish and don’t come back.”

“But he’ll take it out on-”

“What’s he going to do? He can’t touch Erin or Mirakill. All he’s got left is me, and I am not scared of Typhor Raines.”

“But this is our life, and I’d be leaving everyone-”

“Auryn, no one is worth your freedom. Run while you can. Get away. And don’t worry, everyone here will survive.”

“But…” Envy, Tyr, Mako, Digs.

“Everyone who loves you will understand why you’ve done it, Ryn. Just get the fuck out of there. Run.”

I feel faint and dizzy. “If I do, will you tell Locke and Lia that I’m sorry? That I love them?”

“I’ll tell them, of course, I will.” He hesitates. “Tell Kelly to take care of you properly.”

I let out a sob. “I’m sorry, Raider.” Sorry I can’t go to you, sorry we aren’t as close as we used to be.

“He’s the only one who can protect you, Ryn. I know it. Just make sure he gets off his lazy ass and comes in from the surf to check on you.”

“I will. I’ll go in a couple of weeks.”

“When?”

“Four weeks. Then I’ll know if I can stay or go.”

“Okay. But if you need funds, a hideout, anything, you call me. The boys will break skulls for you, Ryn. You have the entire team ready to come to your aid.”

“I know. I love you, too.”

“Shit. I gotta go. I’ll call you in a week.”

He ends the call. I sit up and wipe my tears away. Inside, I can see Digs storming around. He spots me, and his whole face transforms.

I stand up, checking my face in the glass. No tears, a little puffy, but I look okay.

Digs pushes open the door and embraces me before I can say anything, lifting me off my feet and just holding me .

“We are so sorry. That was awful. So awful. Tony is looking to see if he can get her sacked.”

I relax in his arms and wrap my arms around his neck. Just talking to him makes me feel calmer. “It’s okay, it was just so shocking. I’ve met heaps of people like her, but I’ve never had one snap their fingers.”

Digs growls. “She’s lucky Tyr didn’t eviscerate her.”

“Was it an option?”

“That and drawn and quartered. I’ve never seen him so mad at anyone in his life. And her songs are awful. She’s got a god complex.”

I snicker.

“Tell me you're all right, Ryn. We’ll find a way to get rid of her, so tell me everything’s fine.”

I force a smile and lie to the alpha I love.

“Everything’s going to be fine, Digs.”