Chapter 26 Faye
TWENTY-SIX
Faye
Trying to untangle myself from a mass of muscular limbs when I wake up in a pile with three adoring alphas and a craving for chocolate cake is no easy feat.
I wiggle out of Ren’s grasp, Cole stirring while I manage to hop over him.
Laz rolls, grappling around in the spot where I was lying and finding Cole’s hairy shin instead.
He grins in his sleep then cuddles up to it.
I try my best not to giggle. If I had my phone, I’d totally take a picture of him clutching Cole’s calf like a teddy bear.
Not wanting to wake them, I push the nest door open slowly, one inch at a time. Despite my caution, I just narrowly avoid falling flat on my face when I step on an enormous lump in front of the door.
“Ouch,” the giant heap gripes.
“Don’t blame me.” I hurry to shut the door before he rouses the others. “You’re the one who's sleeping on the floor!”
Damon bristles, standing up and adjusting his jacket. “Yeah, well…” He rubs the spot on his shoulder where I trod on him. “You can’t be too careful.”
“I don’t see any serial killers or wild animals about to ransack the nest.” I cross my arms. “What’re you doing anyway?”
His eyes narrow as he glowers at me with his usual angry intensity. “I could ask you the same question.”
“If you must know, I’m getting something to eat,” I reply indignantly. “And I didn’t want to wake the others. They need to rest too.”
He checks his watch. “It’s 3am.”
“So?” I place my hands on my hips. “I’m in heat, and I’m hungry, so move.”
He grumbles under his breath but moves out of the way.
“You don’t have to come,” I mutter as he stalks after me. “You can keep sleeping in front of the door, if you’d like.”
He grunts yet continues his pursuit.
I can’t see the chocolate cake, but the freezer beckons me closer, promising ice cream. As Damon looms behind me like a storm cloud, I do my best to ignore him and his delicious scent.
My alphas don’t let me down. The freezer is full of ice cream tubs in a variety of flavors. I grab a big tub of cookie dough and a spoon then look around for salty chips. I don’t care if Damon thinks it’s gross. He’s already judgmental enough.
Aha! Spotting them nestled on the top shelf, I fully stretch my arm, straining to reach it and doing an awkward hop, hoping I’ll be able to grab them with a jump mid-air.
“Do you need help with that?” Damon asks, his tone laced with smug bemusement.
“No,” I huff in exasperation. I won’t give him the satisfaction. “I’m just fine.”
I push a stool over then clamber onto it, feeling victorious and capable as I grab the chips. Take that, Damon. Before I can gloat, the bag slips through my fingers, I lose my footing, and the stool tilts, sending me flying.
Damon’s there in a flash, catching me in his brawny arms before I hit the floor. His jaw clenches then he barks through gritted teeth, “Why are you so intent on putting yourself in dangerous situations?”
I wriggle out of his vice-like hold, forcing him to set me back onto my feet.
“I didn’t ask you to save me.” I smooth down my hair and tug down Cole’s T-shirt that I fell asleep in.
“So you’d rather I let you fall and smash your head on the ground?” He arches one eyebrow, eyeing my bare legs before tearing his eyes back to my face. “Noted.”
“You can be a real ass, you know.” I straighten my spine. “Is it just me you have a problem with, or were you born this way?”
“Life made me this way.” He laughs bitterly. “Not everyone grew up with a perfect family, but I wouldn’t expect a pampered omega like you to understand that.”
“Pampered? You know nothing about me, Damon.” I can’t hold back my anger any longer.
I’ve tried being nice, but my hormones are in overdrive right now, and this alpha is getting on my last nerve.
“I worked hard to get to SVU, spending every spare hour I wasn’t working in the teashop studying.
I love Gram more than anything, but growing up without knowing my parents wasn’t easy. ”
“I-I didn’t know.”
“Because you didn’t ask.” I jab my finger into his rock-hard chest. “Because you haven’t made an effort to get to know me. Because you haven’t even tried!”
“I’m not like the other Silverwood alphas, Faye.” He grips his forehead. “I’m damaged. Broken. I grew up with a father who spoke with his fists instead of words and a mom who left me to chase a pack. You’re better off without me in your life.”
“Can’t I be the judge of that?” I inch closer to him. “If you’re not careful, you’ll push away everyone you care about.”
“I’m doing this for you and for them.” He shakes his head, his thick, onyx locks feathering over his chiseled face. “Contrary to what you believe, I’m trying to protect you.”
“Protect me?” I scoff. “I never asked for your protection! I want to know you, Damon.”
“I’ll just hurt you, Faye.” He looks down at his hands, but not before I glimpse the maelstrom of emotion swirling in his irises. “I’m not a good alpha.”
My curiosity heightens, wondering what’s happened in his past to make him believe it.
“Doesn’t trying to protect people make you good?” I stand my ground, unflinching. “And I’m not afraid of you.”
“You should be.” His lips press into a firm line. “The others haven’t told you about my past, have they?”
His question takes me by surprise, as does the flash of sadness in his eyes.
“They mentioned you had a tough childhood.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.” His sadness gives way to another emotion that I can’t read. Regret, maybe? “Did they tell you about my criminal past?”
“Criminal?” I frown. Why does something he did when he was younger matter now?
I know he had a tough childhood and figured that he might have had to steal to get by, but I can’t imagine him doing anything serious.
“I’m sure whatever you did, you learned from it.
I mean, you’re studying criminal justice. ”
“Of course, they didn’t tell you.” His nostrils flex with his loud inhale. “If you knew, you wouldn’t be here.” His expression is blank, his tone flat, zapping all the warmth in the air. “I got arrested for attacking an omega.”
“What?” I step back. I don’t understand. This doesn’t make sense. Why hasn’t anyone mentioned this before? “But you didn’t do it, right? It was a wrongful conviction?”
“My conviction was overturned, but I did it. I attacked an omega because I couldn’t control myself.” He hangs his head. “After that, I promised I would never put myself in a position where I could hurt anyone else.”
My bottom lip quivers, unable to stifle the fear squeezing my chest like a vice. “What happened to her?”
“She was hospitalized for over a month and lost sight in one eye.” It’s scary, how matter-of-factly he answers. “It was my fault.”
“There must be more to the story,” I say, searching for a logical explanation. “I can’t believe you’d hurt someone on purpose.”
“You look for the best in people, but you won’t find it in me.” Damon’s voice is cold and so devoid of emotion that it makes the hairs on my arms stand on end. “I’m a monster, through and through. Just like my dad and his father before him. I’m rotten to the core. It’s in my blood.”
Vomit rises in my throat.
“I wouldn’t expect someone like you to understand,” Damon continues. “You’re too delicate and too easily broken. I saw your reaction the night we met. How terrified you were of those football players. If you stick around, I’ll only hurt you too. You should leave while you still have the chance.”
My head spins. Learning this changes everything.
While I don’t know the full circumstances behind Damon’s actions, it doesn’t change the fact that I could never join a pack with an alpha who hurt an omega, especially after what happened to my parents.
Why didn’t anyone tell me? Their deception feels like a sucker punch to the gut.
Even sweet Ren lied. He must’ve known I wouldn’t have even gone on a date with him if he’d been honest with me about Damon’s past. They told me that Damon was a grump, but I still thought he was a good guy.
My mind flits back to a conversation I had with Cole, ‘Damon’s made mistakes in his past that he’s afraid of repeating.’
Is this the mistake he was referring to?
We’ve all made mistakes, but hurting an omega is not a little one that can be brushed under the rug.
He left an omega blind in one eye. That was a vicious assault leaving lasting damage.
What kind of maniac does something like that?
Everything I feared about alphas is turning out to be true.
“Does Sabs know?” I ask.
Damon and Laz grew up together. She vouched for the Silverwoods, and I’m positive she’d never put me in a position to be hurt, but the guys keeping this from me has me questioning everything.
“No.” He shakes his head. “My packmates are the only ones who know. And Cole’s dad, who covered it up.”
“Why are you telling me this? You didn’t have to.”
“If you’re thinking of joining the Silverwood Pack, you need to know what you’re really signing up for.” He shoves a hand through his hair, his expression an unreadable mask. “You’re in danger every second you’re around me. Unlike the others, I believe you deserve to hear the truth.”
“Were they planning on keeping it a secret forever?” With my mind a jumbled mess, the thought involuntarily leaves me.
“Or were they all waiting to knot and bond me before dropping this bombshell? Is that why your pack hasn’t bonded before?
Am I just a random omega from out of town you all felt you could trick? ”
Damon buries his hands in his pockets. “I—”
“Save it!” I hold up my hand. It doesn’t matter anyway. “I need to leave. Now.”
I stumble over to pick up my shoes and grab my purse from a hanging hook before throwing open the cabin door. A burst of icy wind hits me. It chills my bare legs, but it beats spending another second with Damon and the three alphas who lied to me.
“Faye, wait!” Damon follows. “It’s not safe out there.”
I rummage in my purse for my phone. No cell signal. That figures.
“It’s not safe in the cabin either,” I snarl, pushing his chest hard. “Get away from me!”
His face falls. “At least let me get Frank to come to drive you home?” He holds out a blanket. “And take this. Please.”
“Fine,” I agree, but only because I don’t want to freeze to death. “But you can wait inside. I don’t want to be anywhere near you.”
“Good.” He nods, like this is what he’s been waiting for all along. Lucky for him, he’s finally getting what he wants. Me gone. Forever. “I guess this is goodbye, then.”
“Yes,” I reply coldly. “It is.”
When he returns inside, I move to the swing seat.
After forcing my bare feet into my shoes, I pull my knees up to my chest. Shivering, I wait, hoping I don’t get frostbite or hypothermia, until I hear wheels crunching over gravel and see headlights appear down the drive.
Although my stomach cramps are worsening, I’ll take enduring the rest of this heat alone over staying.
I blink away tears, refusing to let them fall as Damon watches me from the window, like a predator hunting his prey.
How could something so good turn bad so fast?
Frank jumps out of the car, looking genuinely shocked to see me.
“Are you okay, little lady?” The look of concern etched on his kind face makes it even harder to hold back tears, but I bite my lip and put on a brave face.
“P-please can you take me home?”
“Of course, little lady.” He opens the door for me, nervously looking up at the window where Damon’s watching. “I’ll play some music on the journey. How does that sound?”
I force a smile. “Thank you.”
We don’t speak for the duration of the drive, but Frank’s gaze keeps darting to the rearview mirror to check on me. I stare out of the window. The mountains, that seemed so inviting before, now feel desolate and foreboding.
I sniff, hugging myself and getting a waft of Damon’s scent from the blanket and a hint of Cole from underneath. I might have forgotten that I was wearing Cole’s T-shirt if it didn’t smell so good that it hurts. How is it fair that my body still craves them after what I’ve learned?
Luckily, the journey doesn’t take long, and as soon as Frank pulls up outside Stella House, Delilah runs down the porch to greet me, wearing pajamas with a rabbit pattern.
“Frank messaged Sabs to say you were on the way.” The moment she wraps her arms around me, I fall against her. “The others are at a party, but they’re coming home soon.”
I can’t hold the tears back now that I’m in Delilah’s comforting embrace. I sob uncontrollably, shaking like a leaf.
“Faye?” Her face is pale when I finally pull away, practically hyperventilating. “You’re still in heat. What happened?”
“I’ve been…” I sniffle and wipe my tear-soaked cheeks. “So stupid.”
“Come on.” She helps me up the stairs and into the safety of Stella House. “Let’s get you comfortable, okay?”
Before I cross the threshold, I rip the blanket from my shoulders and hurl it into the yard. I don’t want any trace of him in my safe space. Even though it feels like my heart is splitting in two, maybe Damon did me a favor. I got out before we bonded, before it was too late.