Chapter 30
thirty
Pierce
Pierce is helpless as he simply clutches Xenia to him.
His own pains and aches are nothing compared to the knowledge that has been dropped.
He knew she had been submitted to evil, but he never truly thought how bad it had been.
Never thought she might be suppressing more than her own abuse.
How horrible it must have become for the timid omega to kill someone.
A flash of pride fills him at the thought, that even in her darkest and most difficult hours, she kept herself safe.
If the man were still alive, he knew with certainty he would have ended his life himself.
Consequences be fucking damned.
Vinny opens his mouth again and Pierce narrows his eyes at the man. His emotions have changed, but he still doesn’t trust him. Wants him to leave and never return.
“Serena and I were going to get you away from him. We were close to executing the plan and then we showed up at that apartment. Saw you covered in his blood. We cleaned it up. I took Tony’s place as head of the family.
If only to keep you both safe.” Vinny heaves a bitter sigh.
“I always loved you, even if we never officially met. Serena told me about you for years after she found you in that facility. It is my fault that Tony set his sight on you, that he went after you there, and for that I am sorry.” He breaks his gaze with Xenia, his attention shifting to Pierce and his pack mates.
“I can see that Xenia has made her choice. That she is safe with your pack, and wants to be your omega. I will leave on the condition that she is to never endure hardship, abuse, fear, or hunger ever again. In exchange for her care, I will cease any hunt for Charles. But should anything happen to Xenia or if Charles says anything about what he saw, this promise is null and void.” Vinny jerks his thumb across his neck, the threat crystal clear. “Do we have an understanding?”
Pierce is the first to react, to break free of the shock. “My family will not become involved. But you must leave us alone. All of us, and we will not involve ourselves in your affairs.”
He isn’t sure if he can truly trust Vinny. The man seems to be guided by his obsession with Xenia.
So there’s no possibility he will let her go.
“Good.” Vinny cracks a sad smile, holstering his gun.
“Even I know there is a point of no return. She’s pregnant.
You are a family, and it is evident just by watching that she cares deeply about you three.
You are the ones keeping her together. I can’t help.
I never could. All I can do is promise to leave you all in peace and to be here if ever anything goes awry. ”
Pregnant?
Luther chokes on his next breath. Wren physically falls back a few steps. Pierce simply mulls the word, the how behind them.
That’s why she held Luther’s scent even before they reunited. Why his is the strongest on her.
Vinny continues as if he has not just dropped a live bomb into the room, as if it hasn’t already detonated. “The clinics are corrupt, omegas are leaving pregnant more often than not.”
“She just had her heat again.” Pierce settles on the words, squaring his shoulders and leveling a glare at Vinny.
Vinny’s eyes widen in shock, but then realization flashes across his face.
“Apologies, Xenia. If you took the heat-blockers from your apartment any time recently…” He groans, pushing his fingers through his hair.
“They might have caused it. They were to kick-start your heat. I wanted you to make it through. To not let Tony’s death destroy you. ”
Luther growls and jumps forward, but Xenia catches him. She seems to have finally come out of the trance that Vinny’s words threw her into.
“Don’t.” She reaches out squeezing Pierce’s hand reassuringly as he takes a step forward. “You promise to let me go? To leave Charles be? To not go after Serena for her part in this?”
There is visible sadness etched in Vinny’s eyes, in the manner in which he slumps. “Yes.”
“Thank you for taking care of everything with Tony.” She chokes on the words. “I forgive you. Please leave.”
Vinny’s eyes turn glassy. “I loved you, Xenia. I would have done anything for you, but I failed you. Every single step of the way. I don’t deserve you. I can only keep my promise.” Vinny acknowledges the alphas. “I regret the part I played here. The injuries and the misunderstandings.”
And then Vinny, without any further hesitation, leaves, shutting the door behind him.
Pierce doesn’t move until he hears the vehicles outside leave.
Not waiting a single extra second, he turns to Xenia, gathering her into his arms as she sobs into him. He doesn’t question her, he simply does what he can to comfort her.
His heart breaks as she comes apart again. He doesn’t even feel the injuries left by Vinny, doesn’t care about the holes in the ground, that he and Luther were nearly killed over the misunderstanding.
Vinny had shot at the floor and then sent his goons to force them down on the chairs to tie them there. Luther and Pierce had fought back, but they were overpowered.
Pierce shakes that thought away. He isn’t even angry with Vinny.
He is just concerned, worried that this has been too much for Xenia.
He focuses on the omega in his arms.
My Omega.
“I’m pregnant,” is all she manages to choke out.
Wren in his periphery sets up the couch, gathering all of her favorite cushions while Luther rinses up in the kitchen sink, dims the lights, and puts on soft music in the background. Making their living area as tranquil as it can be.
Pierce limps as he leads Xenia to the couch, wrapping her around him; he sits them down and allows her to continue to fall apart. Luther takes up the space next to him, holding a pack of frozen peas to his swollen eye, but Wren settles on the floor.
Wren offers soothing caresses up and down her legs as Luther rubs her back, and Pierce simply acts as the vessel for her to pour every piece of her pain into.
“Shhh, it’s okay. You’re pregnant. Is that why you came here to find me?” Luther’s question is soft, but Pierce can hear there is hurt buried within it.
“Not only. It was just the excuse. But I couldn’t”—she hiccups—“I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I would have ended up here eventually either way, that just pushed me along.”
Luther hums his happiness. “I love you, Nia. Everything is going to be okay. We have you and will keep you safe, Little Omega.”
“Didn’t you hear him? I’m a killer! I killed a man!” Xenia cries into Pierce’s shirt. Her small hands squeezing cute fists into the material. “And I was happy to. He hurt me so badly it was a relief when he died.”
“So have I,” Pierce admits. “It was why my family kicked me out. I walked in on my uncle doing horrible things to a girl I went to school with. I saw red and when I came back, he was dead.” He had never spoken to the girl before, never knew her name but later he found out she was a Rossi.
Winter Rossi. It had been the nail in his proverbial coffin.
Choosing a Rossi over his own family. But he doesn’t regret it.
And after that, he began to look for the signs.
To illuminate the victims and the predators.
It was why it was so easy for him to spot that Xenia was a victim.
Pierce expects his words to shock Xenia. “You understand then,” is what she says instead.
A deep vibration comes from his chest as he purrs his contentment, as his urges ride him to make her his. Something has flipped. Her acceptance of his darkest crime has caused a surge of obsession.
“What about Charles?” she murmurs.
Charles. I nearly forgot about my own son in this chaos.
"We will make contact. Even so, it will take time. But he is safe now, and that’s thanks to you, Nia.” Luther hums. “You have our eternal gratitude.”
Pierce tempers his emotions, stomps on the obsession building in his heart.
“I love you, Xenia. And we will never pressure you. But you are ours whenever you are ready to be. Your past does not define who you are. If anything, it is just another reason for us to dote on you. To give and show you what it means to be loved.”
Xenia snuggles further into him, her addictive scent perfuming around them as her worries ease.
“I’m sorry.” Pierce is surprised by Wren’s words.
But then he remembers how they were missing. How Wren must have tried to leave with her.
“I betrayed the trust of our pack. I thought I knew what was best. I thought I was keeping us all protected. But I made a mistake. Xenia is ours. It is my duty to protect her, just as it is to protect you two and Charles. She is our family. And I can only hope you all will forgive me.” Wren looks up from the floor, his eyes landing on Xenia’s.
“I love you. You are ours. Will you have us? Will you be our omega? Will you become the heart of Pack Bentley?”
Xenia stills in Pierce’s arms. Pushing off, she looks between the three of them. Her nose is red, her eyes glassy, the freckles painting her face are exceptionally cute and clear. But it is her piercing clear eyes that freeze Pierce, that take his breath.
They are filled with joy. With love. With happiness.
She is healing. One slow step at a time.
“Yes. I will be your Omega.”