Chapter 19 #2
No misunderstanding left me with a house I struggled to afford alone after I bought Auren out of his half. “That’s not how I remember it.”
Auren sighs, his shoulders slumping in the perfect picture of regret. “Memory is such a subjective thing. We all carry our own versions of the past.” He casts Jared a meaningful glance. “Some of us have more trouble with perception than others.”
The targeted barb at Jared ignites anger within me, burning away the fog of doubt Auren always cultivates, and I snatch my wrist out from under his touch.
“Memory might be subjective,” Jared growls from beside me, “but security footage isn’t. Or text messages. Or witness statements.”
Auren’s eyebrows rise in delicate surprise. “I beg your pardon?”
Jared doesn’t back down. “Emily has evidence of how the pack voted. How you orchestrated it. How you kept her cat as leverage.”
My heart hammers. I never told Jared these details. He must have pieced it together from what he saw at Auren’s house and what Kyle or others have mentioned.
“Such imagination,” Auren murmurs, his eyes sliding from Jared back to me. “You’ve found yourself quite the champion. Though I wonder if he knows how broken you were when you left us. How lost without your pack. Without me.”
The words strike deep, finding the bruised places I’ve tried to heal. For a moment, I’m back there, bewildered at coming home to find his bags packed, my hands shaking as I begged for him not to leave me.
“She’s not yours,” Jared says, each word clear. “She never was, or you would have bonded.”
The challenge hangs in the air between them, Alpha to Omega in a reversal of traditional dynamics. Auren’s scent changes again, honey turning acrid with anger he can’t quite hide.
From the book stall across the aisle, Leif moves, crossing the narrow aisle. Quinn trails a half-beat behind, clutching her new picture book.
He stops just behind Auren’s shoulder. “I’ll ask you to rein in your pheromones. This is a public space, and you’re making people uncomfortable.”
Auren turns, expecting to find an Alpha behind him if the coy way he tosses his head is any indication. He freezes when he spots Leif, taller, broader, and more intimidating than either Jared or Grady.
As Auren registers Leif’s Omega scent, confusion furrows his unwrinkled brow. Then calculation replaces his momentary lapse, that quick, cruel appraisal he used to reserve for anyone he thought he could charm or destroy.
He chooses the latter as he tries to blast Leif with a pulse of pheromones. A passing server stumbles, and heads in the passing crowd turn toward us, but Leif neither flinches nor averts his eyes.
Instead, he folds his arms, weight shifting onto one hip. “I said, rein it in. You’re not the only Omega here, and you’re giving the rest of us a bad name.”
For once, Auren doesn’t have an immediate comeback. He’s so used to others falling at his delicate feet that he doesn’t know what to do with Leif. His mouth opens, then shuts, his smile returning thinner, tighter. Leif’s calm refusal leaves no foothold for manipulation, no weakness to exploit.
“I see you’ve replaced one pack with another,” Auren says to me, choosing to ignore the others. “Though rather…unconventional in composition.”
“Not a pack,” I correct him, finding strength in the truth. “Friends. People who respect boundaries.”
Auren lets out a delicate sigh, the sound soaked in condescension. “Oh, Emily. Always so literal. So basic in your understanding of relationships.”
He leans forward to whisper, “Do you really think they see you as an equal? They just want to get something out of you, and once they do, they’ll toss you aside.”
I flinch from the words.
How many times did Auren use my construction skills, my labor, and my income for the pack’s benefit while telling me I was neglecting my true potential? How often did he frame my practical abilities as a character flaw rather than a strength?
“I worry about how easy it is for you to be taken advantage of,” he continues, carving away at my self-confidence. “You’ve always wanted so badly to belong. It paints you as such an easy target when you don’t have me watching out for your best interests.”
“The only person here who doesn’t have Emily’s best interests in mind is you,” Grady says mildly, surprising me with his intervention. He sips his coffee, his posture relaxed, but there’s a coldness in his eyes I didn’t expect from the mild Beta.
I straighten my spine, warmth spreading through me at their defense. Not because I need protection, but because they see the truth without me having to explain it.
“I built a life after you,” I tell Auren, sitting taller as the certainty settles in my bones. “I made the cottage my own. My career is thriving. And I have Mixie back. Whatever you came here hoping to reclaim doesn’t exist anymore.”
Auren’s lips thin for a fraction of a second before smoothing into practiced concern. “I worry about you, Emily. Living alone. Working so hard. No pack connections to sustain you.”
“She’s not living alone.” Jared fixes Auren with a hard stare, not bothering to feign friendliness toward my ex-Omega. “Which you already knew. You’ve heard more than the taxi rumors, and now you’re trying to slither back into Emily’s life because you finally realized your shine wore off.”
Startled, I turn to stare at him. Never would I have guessed this young Alpha had a mean bone in his body, but my ex pushed too far, because Jared isn’t done.
He leans across the table, his glare fixed on Auren. “It’s pathetic how desperate you’re being right now. And for a man who’s…what?” Jared rakes his gaze over Auren. “In his forties? Grow up.”
Grady coughs behind his hand to hide his laugh, and Leif turns his head away.
Auren’s delicate nostrils flare. “How dare you—”
“I think you should leave now,” I cut in. “Whatever you came for, you won’t find it here.”
Auren stands in one fluid motion, his disappointment a performance for anyone watching. “I can see you’re not ready for this conversation. Perhaps another time, when you’re… less influenced.”
My grip tightens on Jared, and I bring our clasped hands above the table for all to see. “There won’t be another time, Auren. Our history is just that. History.”
He pauses, his perfect face arranged in an expression I once would have spent days analyzing for hidden meanings. Now, I see it for the performance it is.
“History has a way of repeating,” he says, staring down at where Jared’s fingers thread through mine before his attention shifts to Jared. “You say it’s pathetic for an older man like myself to chase after Emily?”
His lips form a perfect mew of sympathy. “But then what does that make Emily, chasing after such a young Alpha?”
I flinch at the accusation and try to snatch my hand away from Jared, but he refuses to release me, his jaw setting into a stubborn line.
With a smirk of victory, Auren turns and sweeps away, disappearing into the market crowd.
“Ignore him. He’s just a jealous snake,” Jared tells me, but when I tug again, he lets me go.
“Are you okay?” Grady asks, reaching partway toward me, offering support without pushing.
“I’m fine,” I lie reflexively, my mouth shaping the reassurance even as the rest of me rejects it.
Leif’s hand settles on Quinn’s shoulder, but his attention remains fixed on where Auren disappeared. “Manipulative Omegas like that are…” He glances down at his young charge. “Not nice people.”
Quinn looks between us, sensing tension she doesn’t understand. “I found a dragon book.” She holds up her prize. “Leif said we could get lemon scones next!”
“Sounds perfect,” I say and stand to gather the empty cups. “Let’s do that.”
Leif studies me for another beat, reading what I’m trying not to show. “I think we could all use some scones right about now.”
We fall back into the motion of the market, Quinn chattering about pastries. Leif matches her stride while Grady’s cane taps a steady beat beside them. Jared stays close enough to me that his shoulder brushes mine when the path narrows, and I struggle not to tense at the contact.
I can fake calm. I can buy scones, make small talk, and act as if I’m not a shaking mess after my encounter with Auren.
But inside, I’m unraveling. Seeing Auren again reminded me of how he got under my skin before, and how his charm used to sway me when I’d been starved for approval.
And Jared… sweet, eager Jared. I’ll have to be more careful going forward.
Kissing him was me being weak, reaching for warmth instead of common sense. And if I don’t put distance between want and need, I’m going to repeat every mistake I made with Auren, while hurting the young, vulnerable Alpha at my side.