Chapter 5 Rose
Rose
Book Club is my favorite time of the month. I look forward to it the way some people look forward to Christmas—something warm, predictable, safe. I’m so glad I get to come one last time.
Today, though, I can’t focus at all. I knew when I ran into Kai this morning, it was over. If he tells his parents about my location, they’ll tell my parents. On top of that, another text from my brother’s burner phone last night keeps looping in my head.
They’re close. They’re going to find you. RUN.
Every time I think about it, my legs go numb and my lungs seize tight—like someone’s pressing a hand over my chest. Sunny makes a joke about putting my phone down to rest my eyes. I laugh on cue—and something in me cracks a little deeper.
I know it’s annoying, me always glued to my phone, always watching. But I can’t stop. It’s not just work. It’s survival. Beyond the marketing jobs that keep me fed, I’m always tracking my family. Their movements. Their motives. Measuring how close danger is creeping. The weight of it never leaves.
I set my phone on the table and look around Sunny’s living room. Twinkle lights glow against honey-colored walls. The scent of beeswax candles and nutmeg wraps around us, cozy and familiar. My friends laugh softly about something I didn’t catch.
These women. My friends. This town that somehow became home when I wasn’t looking.
Every face in this room means more to me than I ever thought I’d let anyone mean again.
My original plan had been to get momentum and leave this town after a short period of time.
But I’d ended up falling in love with it. With the people, the lake— everything.
A lump builds in my throat, thick and unmovable. My eyes sting. I blink hard, willing the tears back. I can’t cry here. If I do, they’ll know something’s wrong, and they’ll try to fix it.
And I can’t let them.
I just want this night, my last one here, to be happy. I want to remember it like this. All soft laughter and cozy rooms.
I couldn't leave before I got just one more night doing my favorite thing: Book Club, and just being with my friends.
“An omega clause. Can you believe that?” Sunny’s voice snaps me back, halfway through a conversation.
“I can’t believe that shit’s still legal,” Cali says, with a bite I rarely hear from her.
“Well, Cole’s stepdad was a piece of work,” Sunny continues. “Treated Cole like dirt. But Cole still feels guilty because he kind of just left Logan, even though he was really young and there wasn’t much he could do.”
“Was his dad abusive?” Winnie asks, concern written all over her face.
“Not physically, as far as Cole could tell. Just too harsh, too demanding. Didn’t seem like Logan fell too far from the tree, though. He acted like he had a stick shoved up his ass the whole time he was over.”
“So what does the omega clause say? Could they just date an omega and call it good?” Clara asks.
Sunny shakes her head. “Nope. Full bonding, bites and everything. They can’t even just bite someone and live separately using mental blocks. There’s legal verification, close media monitoring, the whole deal.”
Clara whistles low. “Sounds rough.”
“The dominant alpha is pissed, apparently.”
“They’re all staying at Bee Haven?” Winnie asks. Bee Haven is the Night Pack’s new resort on the lake.
“So wait,” I cut in. “They have to bond with an omega or what? A fine?”
Sunny shakes her head. “They lose everything. It’s all based on an inheritance that Logan received from his father.
Since they used that money to build the business everything they’ve built is tied to the clause.
Their whole empire would go to a cousin on Logan’s dad’s side. ” She lowers her voice dramatically.
“Damn.” That makes my predicament almost look tame. Almost.
“Where do they think they’re going to find an omega?” Cali asks.
“Not here. I already warned them not to go sniffing around,” Sunny says, crossing her arms. No one in their right mind would ignore Sunny’s warning.
A strange idea starts to take shape in the back of my mind.
I crush it immediately. It wouldn’t work.
It can’t. To go up against my family—it isn’t impossible, but it’s close.
They’re not untouchable, just powerful enough to ruin anyone who tries.
Any pack that got involved would have to stand toe-to-toe with them—and with the pack I was promised to.
“Cole already met with the dominant alpha of Logan’s pack, Harlan Stonewell,” Sunny says. “Cole tipped them off about the opening for a restaurant up here at the hotel.”
My head snaps up. For a second, I forget how to breathe. “Harlan Stonewell? Like from the Stonewell family?”
Four sets of eyes turn to me.
“Yes… I think so. Have you heard of them?” Sunny asks.
“I—” Think, Rose. “... used to do some side media for one of his restaurants,” I lie quickly.
Thankfully, they buy it. I’ve gotten too good at lying.
The Stonewells are new money, but formidable. Strong enough to stand up to my family—and maybe even the Blackbear Pack. They have reach. Connections. And Harlan Stonewell has gone toe-to-toe with my father before… and won. My family hates him for it.
Something stirs deep inside me—the hollow space where my omega used to be, fluttering weakly, painfully alive. The drugs must be wearing off faster than I thought.
Suddenly, the idea doesn’t seem so impossible. A plan begins to take shape, slow and steady, like a picture developing in the darkroom of my mind. Each piece falls into place. Each risk feels worth it.
I’m about to make excuses to leave early when Sunny’s next words freeze me.
“Their CFO is working with Cole on a deal to handle the hotels’ food services, along with the restaurant. Kai Lee. He’s—”
“Kai Lee?” I blurt, louder than I mean to.
They all stare at me.
“Yeah, he—”
But I’m already on my feet, shoving my things into my bag, the world narrowing to a single pulse of sound—my heartbeat. The girls call after me, voices sharp with confusion, but I’m out the door before they can stop me.
By the time I reach my car, the rush of hope is burning so bright it hurts. I start the engine, hands shaking, and drive straight toward Bee Haven.