Chapter 7
SEVEN
Cathal
As I watch Devlin disappear into the night, her scent – a potent mix of heat and fear that’s sending my alpha into overdrive – lingers in the air. My heart races, and without thinking, I sprint after her.
Before I can get far, a hand grabs my shoulder, yanking me back. I whirl around to face Lorcan and Tadhg, their faces etched with frustration.
“Why the hell were you dancing with her?” Lorcan snaps.
I shrug off his grip, glaring. “Because I wanted to. Got a problem with that?”
Tadhg steps between us, his expression tense. “Cathal, this isn’t the time?—”
“Back off,” I growl. “She’s my scent match. My mate.”
They exchange a weary look.
“We know,” Lorcan mutters.
I freeze, confusion and anger boiling over. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Lorcan sighs, running a hand through his hair. “I met her on St. Patrick’s Day. We…connected. I didn’t know who she was.”
Rage blinds me, and before I can think, my fist connects with his jaw. He stumbles back, clutching his face.
Tadhg grabs my arm, holding me back. “Cathal, stop!”
Lorcan straightens, wincing. “I thought she was a beta. But I haven’t been able to get her out of my head. Then I saw her here, and we realised we’re scent matches. It triggered her heat.”
My chest heaves with fury. “Was Devlin the ‘something’ you had to take care of earlier?”
Lorcan’s silence is all the answer I need. I lunge at him again, but Tadhg tightens his grip on my arm, forcing me back.
“So you fucked her? My omega?”
Lorcan’s eyes flash. “ Our omega. And yes, because she was in pain. She needed me. And when I couldn’t be there, Tadhg was.”
Betrayal slices through me, and I turn on Tadhg, landing a punch to his gut. “You too? You had no right! You know what she means to me!”
He doubles over, gasping, then looks up, eyes fierce. “And what the fuck does that mean, Cathal? That you get to claim her now? After everything?”
I grit my teeth. “I never stopped wanting her.”
Tadhg lets out a humorless laugh, wiping blood from his lip where his teeth must have cut it. “Yeah? You sure as hell didn’t want her when you told her she wasn’t good enough. When you shoved her aside because she was a beta and didn’t fit into whatever picture-perfect alpha fantasy you had for yourself.”
His words hit like a gut punch, knocking the breath from my lungs.
“I—”
“No,” he cuts me off, stepping closer. “You don’t get to run after her like you’re the only one who matters in this. Not when you made her believe she’d never be enough for you.” His voice wavers, anger and something deeper bleeding through. “You broke her, Cathal. And now you think you can just take it back because fate decided she’s yours after all?”
My stomach twists. Then my brother adds the final nail in the coffin with his next words. “I love her too, Cathal. I always have.”
The weight of his words hangs between us, heavy and undeniable. The truth we both knew, but never dared to voice. Fuck. I’m not ready to be reasonable about this, not when my alpha is roaring at me to go after her and make her see she’s mine.
Lorcan shakes his head, voice tight. “She deserves better.”
The betrayal burns hotter now, because it’s not just about Devlin – it’s the fact that they’re right.
I thought…well, I thought when Tadhg found Lorcan, that would change things. We were a pack of convenience, and I assumed that whoever I ended up with would be mine and mine alone, because they already had each other. But Devlin? She was never meant to be theirs.
Before I can respond, Lorcan steps forward, his voice firm. “Enough. This isn’t about us. Devlin is out there, alone and in pain. We need to find her.”
His words pierce through the haze of my fury, bringing me back to the reality of the situation. Devlin is the priority. Whatever conflicts exist between us, they can wait.
I take a deep breath, forcing myself to focus. “You’re right. We need to find her.”
Without another word, we set off into the night, united by a common purpose: to find Devlin and make sure she’s safe.
The cold night air cuts through the heat of the reception as I step outside, my pulse thrumming with something I refuse to name. Not panic. Not desperation. Just the sharp, singular focus of an alpha tracking what’s his.
I follow the others as they scan the parking lot, their voices a distant murmur, but I already know where she’ll be.
When we were younger, whenever she got upset, Dev would steal her dad’s keys and hide in his car until she calmed down. She liked the feeling of being enclosed, of walls pressing in just enough to make her feel safe – but she needed the windows too. She needed to see. Needed the assurance that no one was closing her in.
Maybe it should have been obvious then that she’d present as an omega. Maybe I should have seen it. There were other signs too – things I missed, or worse, ignored. Too impatient. Too fucking reckless. I thought we had time. I thought she had time.
I was wrong.
Some things never change. And neither has she.
My chest tightens as my gaze lands on her – tucked inside a car, her head bowed, her fingers locked around the steering wheel like she’s holding herself together by sheer force of will. The faint glow of the dashboard lights catches the glimmer of wetness on her cheeks.
She’s crying.
Silent, wrecked sobs that shake her shoulders, her body trembling under the weight of something I should have protected her from.
Lorcan reaches her first, his knuckles rapping against the window. “Red?”
Pet names already? A sharp, possessive growl curls in my throat before I can stop it. My jaw locks, my hands curling into fists.
She doesn’t react at first, then she scrubs at her face, rolling the window down just enough to speak. Her voice is raw, wrecked. “Go away, Lorcan.”
His brows knit together. He glances at me, uncertain.
I don’t hesitate. “Give us a minute.”
“She’s upset?—”
“I know.”
A beat of hesitation. Then something in my voice must settle it because Lorcan exhales sharply and steps back.
But not without a warning.
“Don’t fuck it up. Don’t you dare do anything to make this worse. Or we won’t forgive you.”
I don’t look at him. My focus is locked on her. Only her.
I open the passenger door and slide in beside her.
The scent of her tears is thick in the air, laced with frustration and exhaustion and something deeper – something instinctual that calls to every primal part of me. My body locks up at the scent, my muscles coiling tight.
Devlin stiffens beside me but doesn’t tell me to leave.
It’s not permission.
But it’s not rejection either.
And that’s enough.
I wait a moment as Lorcan and my brother eyeball me through the windscreen. My muscles coil tight, my wolf riding me hard, but I force myself to exhale slowly before frowning at them and making a sharp shooing motion with my hands.
Thankfully, they get the hint. They hesitate, but eventually turn and walk away, their footsteps crunching against the gravel.
Good.
I release a deep breath and turn to Devlin—only for my chest to tighten at the wrecked look on her face.
I hate seeing her like this. Hate the tears clinging to her lashes, the way her shoulders shake as she fights to keep it together. Every instinct in me is screaming to fix it. To make it better. To make her better. My girl. My heart. My omega. Mine.
“Come here,” I command, reaching for her.
She resists for half a second. Just long enough for her pride to make a stand before it crumbles beneath the weight of everything she’s holding back. Then she’s falling into my arms, her entire body wracked with silent, shuddering sobs.
I pull her over the center console with ease, cradling her in my lap, wrapping myself around her like I can shield her from everything hurting her. One hand cups the back of her head, fingers threading through her soft, dark hair. The other splays against her back, pressing her closer, feeling every tremor wracking her small frame.
She cries into my chest, fists clenching my shirt like she needs something to hold onto. I don’t say a word. Just hold her. Let her get it all out. Let her feel safe.
Minutes pass, or maybe a lifetime. Her breathing evens, though her grip on me doesn’t loosen. My purr rumbles to life, deep and steady, vibrating through my ribs into hers.
She shifts slightly, tilting her head up. Her eyes are red-rimmed and exhausted, her lips parted like she wants to speak but doesn’t quite have the strength.
“You shouldn’t be here,” she protests.
I stroke a slow hand down her back, tracing the ridge of her spine through her dress. “I’m exactly where I need to be, Embers. And so are you.”
Her lips tremble like she wants to argue, but no words come.
“Talk to me, Devlin,” I say, voice low, steady. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
She lets out a brittle laugh, shaking her head. “Everything. Nothing. I don’t even know anymore.”
I press my forehead to hers, tightening my arms around her. “Start anywhere.”
She exhales, long and shaky. And then—finally—she speaks.
“I thought I could handle it,” she whispers, her voice raw. “Finding Lorcan was enough. More than enough. And then—” She swallows hard. “Then I went into heat. In the middle of a crowded reception, like some feral, desperate thing.”
I tighten my grip on her, stroking a hand down her back, slow and steady, grounding her. Letting her feel me here. Still purring. It’s instinctual, something I’ve never done before, but my alpha knows this is what our omega wants. What she needs .
Her breath shudders. “And it wasn’t just Lorcan.” Her fingers twist together in her lap, white-knuckled. “Tadhg, too. Two scent matches, Cathal. Do you know how rare that is?”
My chest tightens.
She lets out a hollow, broken laugh, shaking her head. “I thought I knew who I was. I thought I understood myself. And then suddenly, I’m drowning in scent and heat and instincts I don’t even know how to control.” Her voice drops to a whimper. “I don’t know what to do.”
I drag in a slow breath, steadying myself before I say the words that will change everything.
“Three.”
Her head jerks up, her eyes flashing with confusion. “What?”
I hold her gaze, my voice quiet but certain. “You have three scent matches, Devlin. You’re mine, too.”
Her lips part like she wants to deny it. But she doesn’t.
Because she knows .
Her breath catches. Her pupils blow wide. A fresh sting of tears glistens in her eyes.
“No.”
So fucking stubborn. That hasn’t changed a bit.
“Yes.” I reach for her hand, threading my fingers through hers. “Don’t try to fight it. You feel it just as much as I do.”
She yanks her hand away, shaking her head. “You don’t get to say that. Not after everything.”
I don’t flinch, even though her words land like a blade between my ribs. “I know.”
Her nostrils flare, her scent spiking with distress. I instinctively purr, hoping to soothe her, but it only makes her eyes burn hotter.
“You left, Cathal.” Her voice wobbles, full of too much pain. “You broke me. And now you’re telling me, what? That it was all a mistake? That you want me back ?”
“I never stopped wanting you.” The words are raw, dragged up from somewhere deep. “But I thought—” I swallow hard. “I thought it was over. You never presented. I couldn’t?—”
Her expression twists. “You couldn’t ? What, be with a beta? Is that it?”
My stomach churns. “It wasn’t that simple.”
“It was for me.” Her voice breaks, her fists clenching in her lap. “I would have stayed with you forever. I would have—” She sucks in a sharp breath. “But you walked away.”
I shut my eyes for a moment, the weight of it pressing down on me. “I was eighteen, Devlin. I didn’t know any better. I thought I was doing what was right for both of us.”
Her laugh is hollow, bitter. “Right for you , you mean.”
I let the words hit. I deserve them.
Silence stretches between us before I force myself to ask, “When did you perfume?”
She exhales, looking away. “I was twenty.”
Something clenches deep in my chest. “And you didn’t tell me.”
She snaps her gaze back to me, eyes blazing. “You weren’t there, Cathal! You left for England, and you never looked back. And I couldn’t stay in Cork, it was too painful, the memories…”
Guilt claws at me. I thought I was doing what was best, leaving her behind. I thought it would be easier for her if I didn’t reach out, if I let her move on.
But now?—
I swallow hard. “You went to England, too.”
She nods once, her throat working. “Yeah.”
I stare at her, my mind reeling. I always thought she’d stayed in Cork. That she’d built a life here without me. I never imagined?—
“You had no idea,” she says, watching me closely.
I shake my head. “No.”
Her breath is shaky. “I hated you for leaving. And when I perfumed, I thought—” She swallows. “I thought maybe it was too late. Maybe I wasn’t meant to be yours after all. Because if I was, fate would have found a way to bring you back to me, right?”
My chest aches. “It’s never too late. Fate has intervened now.”
She exhales sharply, looking down. “You hurt me, Cathal.”
I reach for her again, this time not letting her pull away. I stroke my thumb over her cheek, catching a tear before it can fall. “I know. And I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you, if you’ll let me.”
Her eyes lift to mine, raw and searching. “And if I don’t?”
I don’t hesitate. “Then I’ll spend the rest of my life wanting and loving you anyway. And making it up to you.”
Another tear slips down her cheek. This time, I kiss it away.
I won’t let her go this time.