31. Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-One
Mira
B efore my anxiety can spiral, Zane crosses to me with a steaming mug. “Here, Baby Girl,” he murmurs, and then his lips are on mine. The kiss is sweet and gentle, tasting of coffee and morning, his flirty zest bursting around me. His free hand settles on my waist, thumb stroking softly through my shirt. When he pulls back, his eyes dance and his scent grows rich with satisfaction.
I barely have time to process Zane’s kiss before Adrian steps close and cups my cheek. His kiss is different from Zane's, more controlled, but no less tender. Where Zane is playful sunshine, Adrian is steady warmth. His thumb strokes my jawline as he pulls away. Just a normal morning with two of my alphas.
“Zane tells me you had a good time last night.” There's no jealousy in his tone, only genuine pleasure at my happiness.
Zane leans against the counter, looking entirely too pleased with himself. His satisfied grin reminds me of a cat that got into the cream, and his scent is rich with pride. The way he watches me and Adrian together speaks of contentment rather than possession, like seeing us together brings him joy.
Maybe I'm being paranoid. Maybe their hushed conversation wasn't about anything sinister. Maybe this is just what it's like to have alphas who care, who want you to be happy, who... No .
Don't go down that path.
They’ve told me we’re mates. That we’re…scent-matched. That they want me forever. That means, for the safety and wellbeing of all of us given the dangerous knowledge I hold about Haven, I have to be the strong one and draw back.
I settle onto a stool at the counter, wrapping my hands around the warm mug as Zane plates up delicious-smelling bacon and poached eggs and sets them before me. My stomach tightens and I can’t believe I’m hungry again even after the huge, delicious dinner last night.
“The dinner was amazing,” I tell Adrian, still warm from the memory. “And the roof garden is beautiful.” The image of fairy lights twinkling against snow, of Zane's gentle kisses, makes me smile despite myself.
Adrian's smile broadens, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Wait until you see it in spring. When all the flowers bloom... the wisteria cascades down the gazebo, and the rose garden fills the whole space with scent.” He looks so excited to share it with me, so certain I'll be here in spring to see it. Something in his casual assumption makes my heart stutter.
Before I can protest, he pulls a box from one of the kitchen drawers. “Here. I have something for you.”
It's a phone… not just any phone, but the latest model with all its expensive features. My stomach drops as I think of my old, cracked phone, the one Stacey ga ve me that I haven't seen… since my heat, maybe? What if she asks for it back? I can barely afford food, let alone replacing a phone. Not that I believe I still have a job with her, considering I haven’t turned up for any of my recent shifts.
Then again, she owes me. She told them where I lived. I’m still processing how and why she did that. I’ll have to be much more careful with my next employer. If they ask, I’ll fake a name and address.
I mentally shake myself and look at the box I’m too afraid to touch. “This is too much.”
“Nonsense,” Zane chimes in, plucking the phone from its box. “How else will you join our group chat?” His fingers fly over the screen as he powers it up. “I've already loaded our numbers so you can call us whenever you need us. Or even when you don’t. You might just want to hear our voices.”
He lifts the phone, snaps my photo and does something complicated with the screen. “There! Now you're in.” He scrolls through pictures… Adrian frowning in concentration at his desk, his strong profile highlighted by weak morning light; Cole looking annoyed and sweaty in the gym, Zane's grinning selfie with a thumbs up, and... me.
I look small in the photo, pale and cheap in my oversized sweater. The kitchen lights emphasize the hollows in my cheeks and the shadows under my eyes but the way Zane shows it to me, you'd think he's captured something precious instead of pathetic.
“I can't,” I start, overwhelmed by their generosity, as he sets the phone next to my plate of food.
“You can,” Adrian says, his tone brooking no argument. “You will.” But his eyes are soft as he adds, “We want to be able to reach you. To know you're safe. And know if you need us, we’re only a phone call away.”
They're being so nice, treating me like I'm something special instead of a stray they literally picked up from the streets. Reality crashes back. I'm an omega, nothing more. A rare commodity valued only for my biology, for my ability to take a knot. Haven taught us that's all we're good for, all we deserve. The lessons echo in my head with clinical clarity: Omegas are vessels. Tools. Property to be used and discarded when-
Shards of myself tumble to the ground, shimmering and twinkling as they fall and fall and fall…
“Little One.” Adrian pulls me to my feet with a gentle tug. “Where did you just go in your head?”
I drop my gaze, shame burning in my chest. How can I tell them? How ungrateful would it sound to question their kindness? To admit that every gift makes me wait for the other shoe to drop, for the moment they demand payment in flesh and submission?
Zane's arms wrap around me from behind and he pulls me gently back against his muscular chest. “I know all these gifts might be overwhelming. But it pleases us to give them to you,” he says, his breath warm against my ear.
“I can't… I don't have money...” I can’t help the unspoken thought that follows, except with what's between my legs.
Adrian cups my face in his hands, forcing me to meet his gaze. “Listen to me very carefully. These gifts aren't transactions. They're not loans to be repaid. They're expressions of care, nothing more. We give them because we want to, because you deserve nice things, because seeing you happy brings us joy.” His thumb strokes my cheek, and I lean into the touch despite my fears. “Your only obligation is to be yourself. Not to service us, not to submit, not to do anything you don't want to do. Just be you. That's all we want.”
The sincerity in his voice, in his scent, makes my eyes burn with tears I don’t want to shed. No one has ever... I've never been told... Haven always said…
Zane's arms tighten slightly around me, and Adrian's thumbs catch the tears I didn't realize had fallen. I'm surrounded by their scents, their warmth, their care, and it's too much. Too real. Too different from everything I've been taught to expect.
“But I'm just...” A broken omega. A runaway. A thing to be used. The words stick in my throat .
“You're ours,” Adrian says simply, like it's the most natural thing in the world. “If you choose to be. And that means we take care of you, not because you're an omega, but because you're you. Because you deserve care. Because we want to give it.”
These alphas and their kindness are breaking down walls I've spent years building. Walls that have kept me alive and safe; kept me from hoping for more than mere survival.
“What'll it be today, Little One?” Adrian asks, smoothly changing the subject as if he senses my overwhelm. “Books, movies, or cooking? We could bake cookies together.”
I eye the phone in my hands, specifically the array of camera lenses on the back. It's not a DSLR like the one I used to dream about, but it's sophisticated. Something stirs in my chest, a long-buried dream, a passion I'd forgotten I was allowed to have. Before Haven taught me that omegas don't deserve passions or dreams or creativity.
Or autonomy.
They didn’t want to cultivate anything to take us away from our true purpose of being good little omegas for our alphas. To do anything and everything that was wanted, no matter how depraved. I shake off the thought. Adrian, Zane and even Cole are not like that .
“Could I...” I hesitate, then push forward, encouraged by their patient expressions. “Could I take photos? When I was younger, before I went to...” I catch myself before mentioning Haven, my heart racing at the near slip. “At school, I used to love photography. I'd spend hours capturing light and shadow, dreaming of making it my career someday.” The memory of my old camera, of endless summer days spent photographing everything I could see, makes my chest ache.
In the coldness of the basement at Haven, we’d dream about the lives we were forced to leave behind. Emma told me how much she loved drawing. Her teachers thought she could have become an artist, she was so good. Leah had dreams of winning the Nobel Prize in omega contraception. But we all knew that contraception of any kind would never be approved for omegas. Not in a world where we are nothing more than breeding stock.
Our dreams were nothing more than desperate attempts to take our minds off the drudgery, starvation and pain of that place.
I almost let slip how Haven systematically stripped away our interests, our talents, anything that made us unique. Our classes were designed to homogenize us, turn us into gray, lifeless beings who existed only to serve, to submit.
But they don't need to hear that.
Besides, what could they do? Mercer's influence runs deep, and Haven is a government institution. It's too big, too powerful. Better to keep those secrets buried.
“Would it be okay if I learned to use the camera function on the phone?” I ask instead.
Zane's face lights up like I've given him the gift. Before I can blink, he's taken the phone and started downloading photography apps with enthusiasm. His face sparkles. “This one's for editing, this one's for special effects… oh, and this one puts unicorn horns on people’s heads.” His joy is infectious, making it hard to hold onto my fears.
“Go wherever you want,” Adrian adds warmly. “Take as many photos as you like.” The way he looks at me, like he's pleased to discover another layer of who I am, makes me preen despite myself.
Excitement zips through me, real excitement, something I haven't felt in years. The possibility of creating again, of capturing beauty, of expressing myself... But then I hear the pounding of feet on the treadmill echoing from the gym, and reality crashes back. Adrian and Zane might want me here, might accept me, but Cole... Cole keeps his distance for a reason.
The sound of his workout is a reminder. Don't get comfortable, even as Zane shows me how to use the portrait mode, even as Adrian watches me with that warm smile that makes me want to believe in impossible things.
Don't get attached .
I force a smile to my lips to hide my thoughts. “Smile.” I take my first photo in years, capturing the way morning light streams through the kitchen windows, turning Adrian's hair to burnished gold and making Zane's eyes sparkle.
It's getting harder and harder to remember why I should leave.