Chapter 29 #2
Auren weaves a tale of abuse and neglect, trembling at all the right moments. Mark counters with evidence of shopping sprees and expensive gifts, pointing out inconsistencies in Auren’s story. Jacob backs up Mark, offering times and dates that contradict Auren’s claims.
Throughout it all, I stand still, answering only direct questions with facts uncolored by emotion.
When the officers leave to consult with the doctor, the room falls silent except for the steady beep of the monitor and Auren’s exaggerated breaths.
“This is ridiculous.” Mark runs a hand through his hair. “We’ve done nothing but cater to your every whim for months.”
Auren turns away, a perfect tear sliding down his cheek. “Em, don’t let them take me. Please. I can’t go back there with them.”
My fingers tingle with numbness, and I flex them to restore circulation.
“Can you give us a moment?” I motion toward the door, suggesting the Alphas step out.
“Fine.” Mark tosses the satchel onto the visitor chair. “Here are the clothes you demanded we go back home to get for you.”
When the door closes behind them, I turn to Auren. His eyes shine with unshed tears, his lower lip caught between his teeth, bruising the plump flesh.
I sink to my knees beside the bed, bringing us to eye level, and the hard floor digs into my kneecaps. “You can’t stay with them if you feel unsafe.”
He brightens. “I knew you still loved—”
“But you can’t come home with me,” I cut in.
He freezes. “What?”
“There’s an Omega protective house in Pinecrest. They have counselors, security, and resources. You’ll be safe there.” I rest my palms on the mattress, careful not to touch him. “I’ll help you get settled, but that’s all I can offer.”
Auren stares at me, betrayal flashing before it morphs into fury. The monitor beside the bed beeps faster as his pulse spikes with the first evidence of real emotion.
“You don’t mean that.” His voice drops to a soft, dangerous whisper. “You’re my Alpha. You’re supposed to take care of me.”
“I’m not your Alpha anymore, Auren.” I swallow hard. “You made your choice when you pushed me out of the pack.”
His pheromones spike with anger, sweetness twisting into a cloying haze that fills the room, clogging my nose and coating the back of my throat.
He reaches for my hand. “You can’t abandon me again.”
I pull back before he can touch me. “I didn’t abandon you before, and I’m not abandoning you now. I’m offering help that isn’t…us.”
His pheromones intensify, crowding my lungs, instincts warring with reason. The urge to soothe and protect battles the knowledge that his distress is a weapon aimed at my heart.
“You know what will happen if you send me there.” His fingers pluck at the bandage on his wrist. “Is that what you want? For me to hurt myself because you failed to protect me?”
“That’s your choice, not mine.” I rise to my feet. “But I think you’ll choose to be safe. You always yourself above all else.”
His pheromones surge, crushed violets turning rotten, filling the small room until it clings to every surface, to my clothes, to my skin. It will follow me home, like every other piece of him I’ve never fully washed away.
His amethyst stare settles on me, the shimmer of tears finally gone. “You’d let them hurt me again. You promised you’d always protect me, and now you’re abandoning me when I need you most.”
“That’s not what’s happening, and you know it.” My fingers curl around the cold metal of the bed rail.
“Do I?” He tilts his head, exposing the slender curve of his neck in a gesture that once triggered every protective instinct I possess. “You never wanted to be my Alpha. You just wanted the status of having an pretty Omega. When it got hard, you bailed.”
Even as my mind tries to process the lies, the accusations twist through me like a knife, and my knuckles whiten on the rail.
“I stayed when it got hard. I stayed through all the ‘emergencies’ that weren’t emergencies.
Through the tantrums and the ultimatums. Through you bringing other Alphas into your bed without consulting me. ”
He flinches, but it’s a calculated movement. “Because you were never there for me. You’ve never been any good at being an Alpha, have you?”
My hands shake, and I shove them into my pockets to keep from showing him that his words still affect me, even when I know they’re calculated to do nothing more than hurt. “I protected you long past the point any sane person would have.”
Auren tracks my reactions with the focus of a predator. His fingers pluck at his bandage, drawing attention back to his injury. “You know the worst part? I still care about you. Even after you abandoned me. Even after you replaced me with a broken Alpha who can’t even sense pheromones.”
My body goes rigid. “Leave Jared out of this.”
Satisfaction flashes before Auren buries it beneath a mask of hurt. “So there is something between you. I almost pity him. You’ll wrap him up in your care until he realizes you’ve been using him to feel needed. And when he does, he’ll walk away, leaving you alone again.”
My throat constricts, but I force myself to breathe evenly. “This isn’t about him.”
“No, it’s about you.” Tears slide down his cheeks, and Auren turns away as he shakes with silent sobs. “About how you promised to always be my Alpha, and now you’re turning your back on me.”
“I gave you everything,” I whisper, the truth raw. “All you ever did was take and tell me it wasn’t enough.”
The door swings open, the sound cutting through the tension. The nurse steps in, clipboard in hand. “Mr. Dovelle, the doctor wants to observe you for another hour before discharge.”
Auren doesn’t respond. His profile remains turned away, one tear suspended at the corner of his jaw, catching light like a diamond.
The nurse turns to me. “Are you the one handling his discharge?”
I stare at the back of Auren’s head. “Do you want to go back with Mark and Jacob?”
In response, he tucks his injured wrist tighter to his body.
I turn back to the nurse, my tongue thick in my mouth. “Yes, I’ll handle his discharge.”
Her pen scratches against paper. “The police officers said they’ll return to finalize their report.” She tucks the clipboard under her arm. “I’ll be back with those discharge forms.”
When the door shuts, Auren remains motionless, and the only sounds in the room are the steady beep of the monitor and the faint hum of the heating system pushing warm air through the vents.
“I’ll wait outside,” I say to his back, receiving no acknowledgment.
I step into the corridor, the door clicking shut behind me. Mark and Jacob are nowhere in sight. Did they give up on Auren, or will they be back to beg his forgiveness, the same way I did so many times when I was in their shoes?
My back meets the cold wall, and I slide down to sit on the hard tile, knees drawn up. The chill seeps through my jeans, numbing my skin. Even out here, his pheromones cling to me, threading through the fibers of my clothes, confusing my mind and dragging me backward.
I tried to leave him before, on my terms, at the beginning, and it had ended with late-night calls, sirens, and a guilt that never shut up.
If Mark and Jacob don’t come back, if Auren pushes through with these charges, I don’t know what I’ll do.
I tell myself I’ll wait until the paperwork’s done, then leave. I’ll drive home alone, and that will be the end of it.
But I don’t move. I just sit there, waiting.
Maybe this time will be different.
Maybe it won’t.