12. Aspyn
Chapter twelve
Aspyn
A spyn Aged 16
His smile isn’t for me, it’s for the man at his side. The brown-haired, brown-eyed guy looks at me and leers. Complete malicious delight. I’ve never seen anyone so terrifying in my life.
I flinch as he stares at my face and my scars for too long before his eyes travel down to my leg and stop on my cane. He’s an alpha who targets the weak. He’d be someone who pushed me down a set of stairs. Why is my alpha with this horrible person?
He leans into the golden alpha and says something awful. I would bet my life it’s cruel. He seems like the type, and, since getting my injury, I’ve become an excellent judge of character. I can spot the rescuers, the people who will pity me, the ones who will pretend they can’t see it. The people who don’t see my injuries are few and far between. My alpha couldn’t be like his friend, could he?
He, my alpha, looks at my cane in surprise. His eyebrows draw together, and then he looks at my face. No, not my face, my scars. He doesn’t see past the scars.
I cringe into the seat, wishing I could be anywhere else. Fear beats in my chest. Hurt drags me down into that black river again.
“I think you found your omega,” the brown-haired, older man says with a bark of laughter.
His voice is loud, too loud. Everyone is looking at us, between us. He’s perfect, and I’m little more than a wreck.
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’d never take a less than perfect omega for a mate.”
The words hit me hard, destroying all hope. Destroying everything in me. My alpha refuses me. I’m not perfect. Of course. Whatever hope I had erupts into fire and dies, there is nothing left in this world for me now.
I try to stand up, but my leg spasms, and I collapse on the ground. I lay there panting while it twinges, and, as soon as I’m able, I pull myself up. Nobody comes to help me, but I can feel them staring.
I bite my cheek hard.
He’s laughing. I can hear it.
“A cripple for a mate. What a cosmic fucking joke.”
I manage to get up and get my cane. I’ve spilled my water all over the table, and it’s splashed onto my jeans.
“Oh, fuck, look! She slicked up for you!”
My face flames, and I duck my head, unable to even look in their direction. No one else is laughing, but no one is saying anything either. I look towards the toilets and see my mother’s white face staring in shock. She’s got tears running down her cheeks, but she’s not saying anything. She’s not coming to help me.
I’m alone.
I turn back around as I hear them approach.
“Do you even know who this is?”
I flinch away from the older man and shake my head.
“This is Kelly Raines. Your scent match is Kelly Raines, and you will never have him.”
I look up at Kelly. His eyes are the brightest blue green, and he’s laughing. He’s laughing at me. He’s beautiful, but, how he looks right now, it’s the most devastating sight I could see.
Okay. Fine.
I lift my chin just a fraction. “If you’ll excuse me.”
And then I limp away from my scent-matched alpha, leaving the scent of bitter night-blooming jasmine in the air.
And my devastated heart in pieces on the café floor.
P resent Day
I limp out and find, to my shock and horror, Kelly alone in the kitchen, staring out the window. He’s the last person I want to see, but just when I’m about to turn, he catches me, and I’m stuck. I do not want him to think I’m running from him.
Running would be cowardly.
“Hello,” I murmur with a bit of venom.
He doesn’t answer me.
My irritation grows as I pace past him, scanning the open living area, looking for Nat or the Daane.
“They’ve gone down to the pit.”
I stop dead and, with great reluctance, turn. “Did they?”
“Yep.”
I nod my head and retreat into the lounge where I sit down, only to find that Kelly has followed me.
“So, you’ve been here since it all happened? You came out here?” His question is mixed with aggression, and I find myself reluctant to answer him.
“No, I was in another town for years. I came here when Daane saved me.”
“Oh.” He perches on the arm of the couch and looks at his hands. “What happened to your mother?”
I stiffen. There are some things I don’t want to talk about. This is one. A big one.
“She left me,” I admit.
“Ah, well, we all have to leave the nest sometimes.”
I glower at him, at the sheer arrogance wafting off him. “Does this patronizing attitude come naturally or are you trying extra hard?”
Kelly blinks.
“My mother disappeared on my nineteenth birthday. I had no job, no home, and, as you can see, a body that makes those things difficult. She took the blankets and any money we had. I never saw her again, but I heard she got married. Apparently, she was happy. I was a burden to her, Kelly.”
Kelly stares at me. I can feel it. I don’t even bother looking at him, I just close my eyes and will him away. Will him back where he came from. I’m sick of the humiliation and shame. I’m sick of being tired and sore.
“I’m sorry that happened to you.”
“Are you?” I snap at him. “Every single moment that we have exchanged, you have made me feel like I have massively inconvenienced your life simply by breathing.”
“I don’t mean it that way.”
Kelly runs his fingers through his golden hair and scowls out the glass doors.
“And yet, here we are with you, for the second time today, making me feel like a bug you can’t wait to squish.”
“Aww, she’s so beautiful,” Nat purrs.
“My baby’s grown teeth!” Keagan hums and beelines straight for me. He sits right beside me so we’re touching all along one side. The Daane have no idea of personal space, and I love them for it.
I need his closeness right now. I need him to chase away the shadows in my mind.
“I don’t think you’re a bug. I think that you already have what you need. You have a life here. It seems idyllic.”
Keagan snaps his head towards Kelly and snorts. “Jeez, you’re dumb.”
Kelly stands up and adjusts his shirt. “Yeah, I’m dumb. Whatever.” His coldness to Keagan is surprising. I’m not sure how they even met for Keagan to deserve this animosity.
He stalks from the room, leaving me curled up in Keagan’s arms as he snuggles even further into me.
“Well, that’s not how you win friends or influence people,” Nat says with a snort. She brandishes a wooden spoon and whips it through the air. “Line 'em up and let the whacking begin.”
Keagan snorts, but I pull back so I can see his face. “Why are they here?”
“They need a place to stay, and since we all share an omega, it seemed the right thing to do.”
I glare at him. “I don’t know what you three are planning, but I’m not okay with it.”
“Don’t be like that, I promise you. It will all work out.”
I nod my head, but I don’t believe a word he’s saying. Gael walks in, but his feet are bandaged.
“What happened to his feet?”
Keagan looks over dismissively and returns that penetrating blue gaze to my face. “I really don’t even care what happened to his feet. Tell me about your bath. That is much more interesting.”
I blush to the roots of my hair and curse them fluently in my head.
Keagan traces a finger down my cheek. “What’s this?”
“What is everyone doing down at the pit?” I throw the question to distract him, shifting my eyes around the room, trying to find something else to distract him with.
“Making food. Why are you evading my questions?”
“I’m not!” I squeak in protest.
“You totally are, but you’re so adorable, I might let it slip. In exchange?”
I groan. “What do you want?”
“A kiss?”
I turn towards him and press our lips together. Keagan takes advantage, as he always does, and grips my hair, pulling my head back. When I open my mouth to moan, he pushes his tongue in, invading, demanding, taking over me and all my thoughts.
After several long minutes, and a few curses from Nat, he pulls back and smiles.
“Hello.”
I blush. “Hi.”
“KEAGAN!”
Keagan winces. “Duty calls.”
I watch him leave with mixed feelings. It’s good he’s going because I’m this close to throwing myself at him and just asking for an hour in the bedroom with him.
I sit alone and watch the window, wondering when they will come back. Ezy and Kelly come up to the porch and have a very aggressive whispered conversation. I watch them, but then, like they can feel my gaze, they both turn towards me. Ezy throws his hands in the air, says something else, and stomps away, but Kelly comes into the room and sits down beside me on the couch.
He’s working up to saying something. I can see it in every line of his body.
“You don’t have to do that, Kelly.”
“Do what?”
“Whatever it is that’s causing you so much trouble speaking.”
Kelly runs his hand through his hair, making it look even better. “Tell me about your life?”
I frown at him. “What?”
“Tell me about your life. I want to know. I need to know.”
“Why?” It’s the only thing I can think to say.
“Because Shale says that I’ve missed the point.”
I go cold inside. “Shale says you missed the point?”
“He thinks there’s more to you than this idyllic life, and I should find out.”
“So, you thought you’d come in here and ask me point blank after offending me twice today?”
“How am I going to know if I don’t ask? I don’t like to beat around the bush. I want to hear it from you. Tell me how this happened.”
He waves a hand at my leg.
The water roars like thunder in my ears. I shake my head, trying to dislodge the sound, but it gets louder and louder, seeping into my vision and across my skin.
Kelly is staring at me in expectation. He’s got the same colouring as my dad. I remember the way Dad threw me out of the second-story window into a tree.
The neighbours pulled me to safety, but before he could get my sister out, it was just gone.
“Hey, bitch!”
I blink and blink again.
“Ah, good, you’re back with me. Good girl.”
“Stop calling me that.”
Nat snickers and leans in. “Get up, we’re going to have a girls only minute.”
I get up and let her drag me away. Kelly is watching me from the other side of the room. His eyes are shadowed, and I can’t tell what he’s thinking, but, no doubt, he’s wondering why the universe cursed him.
Nat pushes me onto my bed. I sit on the edge while she paces.
“What was it?”
“The flood.”
She winces. “What brought it up?”
“He asked about my leg.”
Nat exhales through her nose, clenching her hands into fists. “I’m not sure about these three, Aspyn. There is something so off about the way they are behaving.”
I shrug. “It’s not every day you find your scent match. It must be a shock to them.”
“And that’s another thing. Why are they here? Why didn’t they leave with the others?”
I shrug. “Maybe they enjoy it here. Maybe they need to stay for… reasons.”
Nat hisses. “The Daane are up to something.”
I study her in silence.
She looks at me and smiles wickedly.
“You just want to be in on the fun!” I accuse.
“Guilty.”
We go back out and sit at the dining table and eat. Pack Daane keeps the conversation going with Nat. The Raines pack eats with a sullen quietness that makes my skin itch. Nat is right. There is something up with all six of them. What is going on?
In the end, getting Shale to escort me and Nat home is a relief.
They might be my alphas, but I’ve discovered an interesting revelation tonight.
They are my alphas. They are my scent matches. But I do not have to like them.