Serena #2
She wouldn’t even let him mark her, and here she was, head on his good shoulder, asleep again, while Vinny ate his pudding and drank his third glass of bourbon like he wasn’t intentionally trying to rub this in my face.
I’d asked Skye to sit in my lap but he said no something about pregnancy and being uncomfortable and all things that sounded like a lie. So I did my best not to glare as Benji and Skye took turns asking Vinny about his heroic endeavors.
“So, why did they even start attacking the omegas?” Skye asked, not once looking up from his crochet hook and red yarn.
“It’s the fucking Stellars,” Vinny grumbled. “Logan lost his omega and is throwing a fit because he can’t fucking find her. That’s why you shouldn’t let a kid run a god damn mob.”
Vinny finished his miniature rant by taking another bite of his dessert.
I remembered Pierce talking about it while he was here, but he didn’t really share anything other than the fact it wasn’t his fucking problem.
Vinny told me to look into it, and while I had, not much was coming up.
All I’d been able to find came in rumors around town.
“People say she was the daughter of some family that owed the Stellar’s money.” I shrugged. “Apparently, Logan married the girl and that squared off the debt, but no marriage certificate exists.”
At least, not one I could find.
Benji leaned back further into the couch as he looked up at the ceiling, head bobbing side to side as he thought.
“Logan is not very old, right? Twenty six? Twenty seven?” Benji guessed.
“Something like that.” For the first time tonight, Vinny slurred his words.
“So, that means whoever he picked has to be his age–right?” Benji had a point.
But not a good one.
“Stellars are slimeballs.” That was to say the least. “If a marriage certificate doesn’t exist, the girl could be barely eighteen.”
Vinny scratched the stubble on his jaw, and Violet stirred with the motion. If she’d just let me hold her, I wouldn’t have done that but no, she suddenly preferred men. Shit, no, this wasn’t the time for jealousy, I needed to stay on topic.
“You find any descriptions of the girl?” Vinny asked.
I shook my head, but the second I did, Vinny’s expression changed ever so slightly, like he’d just realized something none of us could.
“Benji, you checked Violet for marks right?” His voice was harder, but he pulled Violet closer to his chest.
“I did as much as she’d let me! She was afraid of me the first night. I do not hurt omegas.” Benji said firmly. “I left the rest to Skye.”
Slowly, every set of eyes shifted toward Skye, and his crochet hook paused.
“What?” He asked, tipping his head to the side.
“When Violet showed up at the house, did she have any alpha marks?” I asked, doing my best to not sound irritated.
This whole thing was ridiculous. Every last member of our pack had seen Violet butt ass naked since she moved in. The only alpha mark she had was the one I’d given her on the base of her neck. Where could she have hidden an extra mark? Up her ass?
I almost scoffed at the idea, but I didn’t because I was a rational adult who could handle their emotions, unlike Skye.
“Oh my God, even if she did, would it change anything?” Skye’s voice cracked as he spoke, and through our bond I could feel his heart breaking ever so slightly. “When she came here she was starved and hurt, you’d make her go back?”
“That’s not what I said,” Vinny grumbled.
“It is!” Skye argued, his lashline shimmered with tears. “You’re talking about marks and Stellars and Logan, it doesn’t take a genius to connect the dots. You really want to get rid of Violet?”
His deep seeded fear bled into me.
“No,” I said louder than I meant to. “No one is getting rid of Violet.”
Vinny shot me a look, but I didn’t back down.
“Everyone in this house has seen her naked, have you seen a mark?” I snapped, before a thought dawned. “Or are you just jealous she won’t let you mark her?”
Vinny practically snarled at me. “If she’d let me mark her, I could feel if she has another alpha.”
“Well, she doesn’t,” I declared, before standing and coming knee to knee with Vinny. “Now give me my god damned omega.”
Vinny glared, but did as I asked, and Violet melted into me the second her head met my chest.
And, that was all it took to put me over the proverbial ledge. I was tired of Vinny raising his voice and pacing around the house like a caged animal because Violet didn’t give him what he wanted.
“You don’t get to throw another fit tonight,” I said, shifting Violet’s weight to one arm before pointing toward the hallway. “Not about a mark, or Logan, or about what Violet does or doesn’t want.”
“She’s my—”
“She is a pregnant omega who nearly got killed today,” I cut in. “And she is finally sleeping. You’re not ruining that because your pride’s bruised.”
The muscles in his neck chorded, but he didn’t argue with me.
“If you want to protect Violet, you need to respect when she tells you no.” I continued. “That includes the mark.”
Silence.
Then I very calmly added. “You’re staying out of the nest tonight.”
That did it.
“Serena,” Vinny growled.
“No,” I said, just as firm. “You can sleep on the bed in your room or your office, or literally anywhere else. Let her rest. And maybe take the night to remember that controlling someone isn’t the same thing as protecting them.”