6. Emmeline
6
Emmeline
T here’s a pounding on my front door, as if someone is literally trying to beat it down with the weight of their fists. A tremor wracks through me, as my brain races—is this… a territorial alpha demanding entrance?
My body aches, and as I reach for my monitor to check the cameras, the movement dislodges the blankets just enough for a chill to seep in. My wrist glands are exposed to the cold air, and a pained whimper slips free without my permission.
My muscles tremble, as a full-body shiver rattles me, as if the temperature in the room has gone from a hot tropical day, to an arctic storm, within a second.
I shouldn’t be alone. I should have an alpha to keep me warm. My scent glands throb, the emptiness a physical ache—every part of me knows I shouldn’t be alone right now.
Not before my heat.
The pounding on the door continues and my fingers tremble as I key in my passcode. My heart is racing, and I’m terrified that it’s… that it’s Uri.
What if he’s come back?
Or worse… what if he hasn’t?
Fuck. Fine, maybe I’m only a little bit terrified. Some part of me is still hopeful, no matter how much I fight it.
I tuck his tie under my pillow, just in case, before clicking on the front door camera. The three seconds or so it takes to load are the longest of my life, and it’s only when I see a familiar head of fluffy brown hair, that I can breathe a sigh of relief.
The tension in my chest unrolls, just a little.
I click the microphone button. “Give it a rest, Ev. I’m coming.”
Despite only being older than me by eighteen minutes, Evander’s always taken the role of older brother seriously. He was the only one unsurprised when I emerged as an omega, and not an Alpha, when we were fourteen.
He’s been my biggest supporter, the one who has always had confidence in me and my capabilities. Despite being the golden child, our father’s only pride and joy, he’s never treated me as less than him.
Ev’s got the strongest Alpha instincts I’ve ever known—although, I suppose that doesn’t mean much when the only other Alphas I truly know are my dads, and the four of them seem to resent me, and my omega-status.
“Hurry up!” he yells through the letterbox, sounding far too upbeat.
I roll my eyes, and toss my phone onto the blankets, before slowly getting out of my nest. Every movement I make has my body protesting, pain shooting through me, and I pull out the fluffiest pyjamas I own to put over the underwear I slept in.
My pre-heat symptoms are great, really. One minute I’m boiling hot, and the next, I’m colder than ice. I prefer the cold, at least, since then I don’t ruin my nest by sweating.
I pull on my thick, oversized, hoodie, and sludge over to my front door. I undo the deadlock, and yank it open to glower at my brother.
“What took you so long, sis?” he says, waggling his brows.
As soon as he steps inside, I whimper, the sound thin and needy, completely out of my rational control. The sunlight burns my eyes—it’s too sharp, too much—and I shrink back.
I’m always sensitive to light, but it’s harsh and blinding after I’ve spent the last twelve hours or so hibernating in the dark.
The scent of chocolate and coffee rushes over me in a wave, strengthening as he growls softly.
“Oh, Em,” he murmurs. His hands are on me before I can protest, firm and steady, guiding me away from the door.
His scent glands brush my temple, the barest mark of reassurance, and I shudder under his touch. It helps—not enough, but some.
I blame the hormones as to why I burst into tears, clutching at his shirt. I can’t catch my breath. My sobs tear through me, raw and uncontrollable, but of course my brother reacts instinctively.
He is the perfect alpha, after all.
“Come on, baby sis,” he soothes, his chest vibrating, as he lifts me into his arms. I can’t control my dramatics, and he doesn’t seem to hesitate before moving into my bedroom.
He pauses in my doorway, and I give a garbled permission for him to enter.
He truly can be sweet.
With a steady hand, he places me down on the floor just outside my nest, and he disentangles himself from me.
I sniffle, meeting his eyes, but he shakes his head. His hands linger at my shoulders, hesitant. I whine, my scent thick with desperation, clawing for something—anything, anyone .
I don’t move, staring at him through swollen eyes. I can’t be alone.
I don’t want to be.
His expression hardens, jaw tight.
“Don’t give me that look, Em. Get in your nest now, like a good omega,” he says, and when I don’t move, he barks out, “Now!”
Well, that has me moving without permission. The command is like a pulse through my spine—my mind, my nerves, my bones all subject to his will.
I stumble into my nest, instinct pulling me to burrow back into the comforting warmth. I sneakily hold Uri’s tie, keeping it hidden completely from Evander’s viewpoint, and I get comfortable.
“Can I sit here?” he asks, gesturing to floor just outside my nest. I tense, and he doesn’t move, still waiting for my permission.
Eventually, I nod, and he rewards me with a smile, that pleases me.
“I’m sorry.”
He growls low in his throat, giving me a dirty look. “What do I tell you every single time?”
“That I shouldn’t apologise for my biology,” I mutter.
He raises a brow. “Shouldn’t?”
“That I’m not allowed,” I correct, with a sigh. Tears well up in my eyes again, more controlled than my earlier breakdown, but still jut as pathetic.
Evander’s never been happy with how our dads have made me feel over the years, with how much I resent being an omega, resent being me . He’s always the first to tell me how proud he is, how he believes I’m precious, and deserve to be loved.
He’s never failed to show me anything but.
“Talk to me, Emme. Has something happened? You’re never usually this upset.” He leans forward, concern etching his features. “Do you feel poorly? Are you hurt?”
I try desperately to calm down, to try and chill out my hormones, and get my emotions back under control.
I don’t know how to admit to him what happened. How I can tell him how much I’ve fucked up.
How I’ve ruined everything.
I don’t think I can tell him. I don’t think I can bear having him be disappointed with me for the first time in our lives. How he’d be ashamed of what I’ve done.
“You have me so worried, little star.” He holds his hand out, expectantly waiting for me to take it. “This isn’t like you.”
“I’ve done something bad, Ev.” I burrow my head into the blankets, hiding from him, from his judgement. “Just leave me here to wallow. I deserve to be alone.”
“I didn’t hear that last part, Emmeline.” His voice hardens, stripped of any amusement. “I need you to sit up, okay? I need you to talk to me, so that I can help.”
“You can’t help.” My words are still garbled.
“Emmeline Whitmore,” he barks. “Sit up, right now.”
Instinct flares against the command, but I don’t even bother fighting it. Instead, I shove the blankets back, tucking Uri’s tie out of view, and give my brother the most pitiful look I can imagine.
“Oh, Emme,” he murmurs, squeezing my fingers tight. His voice is steady, anchoring me, pulling me back to where I know I’m safe. “I’ve got you, little star. Whatever it is, you’re not alone.”
“Can you… would you…” I sniffle, not sure how to finish my sentence.
“Do you want me to come into your nest?” he asks, his voice careful, like he knows this is a line he shouldn’t cross unless I need him to.
A desperate part of me whines for warmth, for safety, for him. My rational mind hesitates—this isn’t how I should handle things. I should be stronger.
I should.
But when I reach for my brother, I feel the tension in my body finally ease. And I accept… I can’t do this alone.
I nod, tears welling up as I squeeze his hand like a lifeline.
“Of course I can.”
He awkwardly kicks off his shoes, his grip never loosening.
The moment he settles inside my nest, his scent crashes into me—dark chocolate and coffee, rich and grounding. It rolls over me in a heavy wave, sinking into the very fabric of my nest.
I inhale sharply and something inside me—something raw and aching—loosens its grip.
Warmth, familiarity… safety.
My muscles loosen, my chest unclenches, and for the first time since I walked out of Opus Media yesterday… I can breathe.
The restless ache inside me settles—just for a second.
Because it’s safe now.
Because I’m not alone anymore.
My fingers tighten around his, not ready to let go. My unease seems to settle, as I relax into his hold, and I let him encourage me to lay down, the blanket a barrier between us both.
Where I snuggle under it, my hand still holding his, he’s on top, wrapping his other arm around the top of my head. I’m surrounded by the scent of the only Alpha who has always made me feel safe, and loved, and normal .
Uri might not be here, Sterling might not even want to acknowledge me… but at least my brother cares enough to stick by my side.
“Do you remember your first nest?” Evander asks, softly. His tone is careful, hesitant, as he tries to keep me feeling calm. “How you spent the entire day finding the right kinds of sheets, and blankets. How you raided all the best pillows from the house.”
I laugh, my eyes itching from their puffiness, but I don’t dare move.
“I was ready to murder you, until you so sweetly, asked if I thought it was good enough.” I sniffle, and he squeezes my hand. “I’ve never judged you, little star, and no matter what you’ve done, we can fix it. Okay?”
“I don’t think you can fix this for me,” I whisper. “I found my scent match—two of them.”
He stills. The room shifts. His scent changes—dark chocolate burned to a bitter espresso. The sharp, thick, acrid smell is an alpha’s rage on the verge of breaking loose.
Fuck, it’s horrid.
His muscles lock up, so tense I hear the faint crack of his knuckles. His jaw locks, his breathing no longer steady, and something lethal coils in his stance.
The deep guttural snarl that rattles his chest is so different to the soft, calming growls from earlier—this one isn’t a warning.
It’s a promise.
I’ve never seen Evander struggle to hold himself back like this before. He’s never had a reason to have to.
“I, um, I slept with one of them yesterday. Well, Saturday, night.” I squeeze my eyes closed, unable to face him, when I can smell his anger, feel his fury. “They’re um… I… he’s…”
Evander inhales sharply, his whole body going still. His Alpha instincts war with the need to be careful with me, and I can see it—the tightening of his jaw, the way his hands curl into fists before he forces them to relax.
I can’t bear to look at him. Not when my chest is already crumbling under the heavy weight of the truth.
“He left me,” I whisper, the words tasting like acid.
Silence.
A muscle ticks in Evander’s jaw. His hand unclenches, only to clench again, as he grips my other hand that much tighter.
And when he finally speaks, his voice is deadly calm. “He left you.”
Why am I like this? Why must I cause so much bother?
Why do I have to disappoint my brother?
“Who are they, Em?” he asks, gently. “Why aren’t you with them, this close to your heat? Are you not in pain—does it not ache?”
I duck my head, as a whimper slips from my lips. But my brother doesn’t shame me, instead he immediately tugs me into his chest. A soft rumble fills the space, the vibrations soothing me as best they can.
But my brother is right.
I’m in pain. No… I’m in agony , without them here. Without Uri’s comfort, and Sterling’s safety. Without anyone who truly feels like home .
Ev’s good, he’s great, and I know how much he loves me.
But I’ll never be someone’s first choice. Not Uri’s. Not Sterling’s. Certainly not my dads’.
And one day, Ev will find his own omega.
His scent match. His real family.
And I’ll be nothing but a responsibility he used to have.
A childhood obligation he outgrew.
A weight he finally gets to put down.
“I’m okay,” I lie, gritting my teeth as they try to chatter and betray me.
“You’re not, but you will be.” He smoothes my hair out of my face. “Who are they?”
“I don’t think I can tell you.”
He nods. “I take it this is why you weren’t up and awake ready for our breakfast tradition?”
I give a relived laugh, grateful that he’s not going to push me, that he’s not going to force me to tell him this truth just yet.
“I can’t betray them by going to the clinic,” I reveal, wondering whether he’ll judge me. “I’ve just got to deal with this one alone.”
His body tenses once more. “Do they know you’re due to go into heat?”
“One does.”
Ev growls low under his breath, tightening his hold on me. A small, needy part of me preens, loving that he cares enough to react this way.
But I just feel sick. I wish I was strong enough to handle life on my own, without needing my brother to rush to my defence.
“And where the fuck is this Alpha?” he demands.
“I… I…” something deep in me won’t let me say the words, won’t let me admit the truth.
“He left you.”
A sob escapes, and I bury my face into the blanket, into his chest, as I break down once more. I can’t control myself, I can’t believe that this is my future.
That I wasn’t good enough for one of the supposed nicest alphas…
I shouldn’t be surprised really. I’ve never been good enough, no matter how much I try. Why should this be any different?
“He left me,” I confirm.
“What about the second one?” My brother’s voice barely hides his rage. “How did this cowardly alpha react?”
“He’s not an alpha,” the words slip out before I can stop them.
Evander freezes. Just for a second. Then he bursts out laughing.
A deep, genuine belly laugh, like this is the best thing he’s heard all day.
I blink. How the hell is this funny?
It’s not. It’s fucking insulting towards Sterling. As if he’s less than because he’s a beta and not an alpha.
“What’s so funny?” I snap, scowling through my puffy eyes.
“You’re perfect, Em, you know that, right?”
“I don’t understand.”
“You don’t need to. So your second scent match is a beta. That’s interesting.”
I growl, a poor imitation of his own, and he laughs, as I pull back to glower at him. “I’ll have you know, Evander, that omega-beta bonds are actually just as strong as an omega-alpha bond, even if only the omega claims the beta. In fact, having a beta as a bond-mate for an omega is much more stabilising for the omega, and it’s?—”
“I’m not doubting his worth to you, little star,” Ev says, cutting off my lecture. “Well, actually, since the fucker isn’t here, I am doubtful of his worth, but , not because of his designation.”
“Good.” I nod, not sure why I’m crying again. “That’s really… good.”
“So why isn’t the beta here?”
“Um, he doesn’t seem to want me,” I say, quietly. “He didn’t acknowledge me. At all.”
The words taste foreign in my mouth, like my own body is rejecting them. As much as I wish I wasn’t, clearly I’m still waiting—still begging—for him to change his mind.
But he won’t. He didn’t. And that hurts in a way far more impactful than Uri’s disappearance has.
“Um?” Ev prods my forehead, and I groan, snatching my hand from him to swat his chest. “Since when are you a bumbling um-er and ahh-er?”
“Ummm.” I drag the ‘m’ sound out, and my giggles are hysterical, and so hormonally charged it’s ridiculous. Heaven forbid I manage to control myself.
“You’re heartbroken.”
I shake my head. “I think… it’s just my heat hormones. I think that maybe, I’m nervous.”
Evander gives me a look of true disbelief, his jaw dropping before he sighs and shakes his head. “I’m going to call Issac, and get him to bring us a feast.”
My eyes widen, and I grip my brother’s arm, shaking my head as a pit grows in my stomach. “No, no. I can’t, not, no.”
“Shh,” he soothes, his chest vibrating as his scent seems to sweeten. “Not in your nest, little star. I’d never disrupt it that way. Issac will deliver the food to the doorstep, and leave.
“He won’t come in. You won’t have to see him. He won’t know anything. Okay?”
I gasp, my lungs burning, as I struggle to calm the frantic thrum of my instincts.
It’s not Ev’s fault that I’m unhinged.
“I’m sorry.” I clutch his arm, unable to let go, scared he’ll leave. “I was just?—”
“Scared.” My brother gives me a warm smile, not moving, not even adjusting what looks like a very uncomfortable position.
“It was a biological reaction that was completely illogical and stupid.”
“You’re not going through this alone, Emme,” he says, not bothering to acknowledge me. “If they’re not here for you, I will be.”
My chest aches at the sincerity in his voice, but something deep inside me whispers that this can’t be enough.
Not when I still crave them. Not when the ache inside me is so deep, as I scream and beg for the ones who aren’t here.
And you know, the fact that I won’t allow my brother to be anywhere near me when my heat hits, and I cry out for cock, knots, and cum.
“No.”
He raises a brow. “No? You don’t get to decide how I look after you, little star.”
“Don’t little star me!” I kick at him, underneath the blankets, but he doesn’t even budge. “Styipid alpha body.”
He smirks. “It’s not my fault you’re weaker than a baby horse right now.”
“A baby horse? Why not a puppy? Or a baby sheep?” I demand. “Are you saying I look like a horse?”
“I’ve been so nice to you all morning long,” he says, waggling his brows. “I didn’t even complain that you didn’t feed me like promised. I told Isaac not to bother offering breakfast for today, knowing I’d have your home-cooked food. And what do you do? Kick me ? Abusive girl.”
“If I wasn’t so cold, I’d suffocate you with my pillow.”
He brushes my hair out of my face, and raises up onto one arm. “I’m going to go call Isaac, okay? Why don’t you take a nap, and I’ll wake you up once food gets here?”
“I’m sorry.”
“If you apologise again, I’ll have to fart in your nest, and that’ll probably ruin it for you.”
I fake gag, but erupt into giggles just thinking about it. He won’t, it was the worst empty threat he’s given in a long while, but it’s really made me feel better.
“Thank you, Ev,” I whisper, once I’ve calmed down. I rest my head on his arm, and he bends down to kiss the top of my head.
“You never need to thank me, little star. This is what brother’s are for,” he says. “And you know what else brothers are for?”
I shake my head.
“Beating up the men who think it’s appropriate to leave their sister in this state,” he says, and I gasp, pushing away from him. I sit up, kicking the blankets off me, and sneer down at my alpha brother who lays down against my pillow without a single care in the world.
“You cannot do that. You don’t understand.”
“What don’t I understand, Emmeline? That these cowards left you, knowing your heat was due in a few days? That you’re not laying here in pain, because of them? That?—”
“Don’t do this, Ev,” I beg. “They’re… they’re my bosses.”
His eyes widen. “Gerard? Gerard? Emmeline, what, no. He’s mated. We’ve met his mate. What the fuck is going on in that fucking building?”
I’m torn between laughing and crying. “Did you forget about my promotion, you dick?”
“Oh, fuck.” His face regains colour. “Wait—don’t you report directly to your COO now? What’s his name—Uri?” He launches up into a seating position. “Uri Rothschild? Sterling Carter? Oh, Em. What about Oscar Calloway and Paxton Harrington?”
“I, um, have never been that close to them,” I say, quietly. “But do you understand? They’re my bosses, Ev. This is the only company that would even offer me an interview, when I graduated. I don’t have much choice.”
“You do have a choice, Emmeline. You don’t have to go back to work there. You can’t .”
“Aren’t you the one who has always told me that I can do anything I can put my mind to?”
My brother heaves a sigh. “You’re the most infuriating, stubborn omega I’ve ever met.”
“And you’re the kindest, sweetest alpha I’ve ever met.”
Flashes of Uri’s sweet words and kind touches rush through my mind, but I brush it away, refusing to be drawn in.
Uri’s not here.
He left.
“Are you comfortable napping in this nest, or do you want to move to another one?” he asks, gently.
“You’re going to make your omega so happy one day, brother,” I say, smiling at how well he knows me, how well he understands. “I’ll go shower, and go into my office nest.”
It’s cooler in there anyway, and I can feel a hot flush coming on.
Perks of being an omega, I suppose.
I push the blankets off me, steeling myself. “I’ll go shower, and go into my office nest.”
“Em.”
Ev’s voice stops me. There’s no teasing now, no lighthearted brotherly banter. When I look into his green eyes, his gaze is steady, unwavering.
“Tell me the truth,” he says. “Do you really think they’re not coming back?”
The words punch through my ribs, sharp and undeniable.
I don’t answer.
I can’t answer.
Because if I say it out loud… if I admit it… then it’s real.
“I need to go shower,” I repeat, drawling out of my nest. My stomach cramps, and my legs are aching, but I don’t slow down in my hasty escape from Evander’s inquisition.
I try to stand, despite the firm pressure in my head that seems to travel down my body.
I make it two steps, before the world tilts.
Heat rolls through me in a sickening wave, my scent spiking sharp and sweet, so thick in the air that it almost chokes me.
My scent glands throb.
My body clenches.
Aches, even.
I barely register the alpha snarl behind me, before Evander is there, his strong hands catching me mid-fall.
“Whoa—Em? Are you okay?” Ev’s grip tightens, his voice sharper now. “What’s wrong? Talk to me.”
I blink up at him, my pulse hammering in my ears. I feel off. My stomach twists, my whole body burning hot then freezing cold in the same breath.
I whimper, my instincts coiling tight with unease.
I try to breathe, but my throat is tight, my chest too heavy.
Ev’s voice is distant now, muffled, like he’s speaking through water.
“Emmeline.”
I swallow hard, fighting off the growing nausea, the black dots creeping into my vision.
“I… I don’t know.”