Chapter 35 Lo
Lo
The Gilded Lily smells of buttery sin.
Warm sugar, with something citrusy sharp underneath. My stomach actually growls, loud enough that the old lady at the corner table side-eyes me like I just confessed to murder.
Tansy grins from behind the counter. “You’re drooling.”
“I’m starving,” I correct, collapsing onto a stool at the window bar. “And your place is basically an assault. How do you even work here without weighing four hundred pounds?”
“Metabolism and sheer spite,” she says sweetly, sliding a plate my way. Three fat croissants, all golden and flaky, still steaming. “Eat before you get feral. I know how feral you are when you’re hangry.”
I tear into one without shame. “I don’t get feral.”
She arches a brow. “You once threatened to fight a vending machine because it ate your dollar.”
I glare at her through a mouthful of croissant. “That machine deserved it.”
She just laughs and grabs her own pastry before sitting beside me and nudging my elbow. “So. Tell me everything. It’s been a while.”
I sigh, dragging flakes of croissant into a sad little pile. “Everything is… a lot.”
“That’s not news,” she says dryly. “Try again.”
I pick at the crumbs, stalling. My pulse kicks faster just thinking about saying it out loud. Tansy’s always had that look, like she’ll peel me open whether I want her to or not.
Finally, I blow out a breath. “I went into heat.”
Her brows jump. “Well. That’s… something.”
“Yeah.” My voice is flat, but my cheeks burn anyway. “And Beck, Hayes, and Ford… they were amazing.”
Tansy tilts her head and cocks a brow. “Oh yeah?”
I chuckle, trying not to let embarrassment burn through me. “Yeah. It was special.”
“You lucky, scandal-stained brat. Three men willing to anchor you through a full-blown heat? That’s got pack written all over it.”
I shake my head, tearing another croissant apart. “It doesn’t feel real. I keep thinking I’ll wake up and be alone again.” I keep shredding the croissant into nothing, flakes sticking to my fingers. “But maybe the timing’s right. Perfect, even.”
Tansy frowns. “Perfect timing?”
“Because they are back.”
Her whole body goes still. “Them?”
“My parents.” The words taste sour on my tongue.
“They showed up a few nights ago. Wanted to meet me at the diner across town. Cornered me like I was some kind of criminal. Told me I was ruining the Marsh name, shaming the whole family by staying in the townhouse. That I never should’ve come back. They want me gone, Tee.”
Tansy’s pastry drops back to her plate, untouched. “They what?”
“They raised their voices. Threatened. Said I had no right to be here. Then they just… disappeared. Like smoke. Left the diner and didn’t give a damn about the condition they left me in or the things they said.
” I swipe at the flakes on the counter, refusing to meet her eyes. “I don’t even know where they are now.”
Tansy slams her hand down on the counter hard enough to rattle the sugar jar. The old lady at the corner table jumps and mutters something, but Tansy doesn’t care.
“Unbelievable,” she hisses. “Those two have the nerve to crawl back into town just to tear you down again? After everything they did to this place?”
I shrug, trying to look unaffected, but my chest feels hollow. “I should’ve expected it. Being here…”
The sharp buzz of my phone cuts me off. I flinch, fumbling it out of my pocket.
Unknown Number.
Again.
Every muscle in my body goes cold.
Tansy notices instantly. “Lo? What is it?”
I swipe the notification open with shaking fingers.
The text is short, abrupt.
Unknown Number: Is this where you think you belong?
Another bubble pops up before I can even breathe.
Unknown Number: I don’t know why you keep thinking you can leave me.
My lungs seize, panic crawling up my throat. Then, another ping.
A photo.
The world tilts.
It’s Dylan. Standing in front of my townhouse. Flames rising behind him.
The fire… the fire that happened while I was in the house.
My stomach lurches.
“No.” It’s a broken sound, ripped out of me. “Tansy, it was him. I thought it was someone in the town, someone who hates my family, but it was Dylan. He found me. He’s… he’s the one that… that set the fire.”
Tansy leans over, eyes catching the screen. “Oh my god. Lo.”
Another vibration rattles through the counter. Then another. And another. I don’t want to look. My hand shakes so badly I nearly drop the phone, but the notifications keep piling up until the screen is a blur of gray bubbles.
I force myself to swipe.
The first photo: Beck comforting me outside the burning townhouse.
The second: Hayes at the café, hugging me after the disastrous meeting with my parents
The third: Ford and me, driving in his truck.
Unknown Number: Who are these assholes? Are you dating any of them?
Unknown Number: You think they’ll protect you?
Unknown Number: Pathetic little slut, pretending they’re yours.
I choke on a gasp, scrolling too fast, too desperate to make it stop. Tansy presses her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide and horrified. “He’s been watching you. ”
My throat closes. The croissant in my stomach turns to stone. “No, no, no…”
Another text pops up, cutting through my panic.
Unknown Number: They can’t keep you. You’re mine.
I nearly drop the phone.
Tansy grabs my wrist. “What do we do?”
The phone buzzes again in my palm, and I can’t help it. I look.
Unknown Number: Run if you want. I’ll still find you.
The phone slips from my hand, clattering against the counter. I can’t breathe. The café feels too small, too bright, every pair of eyes suddenly sharp and watching.
“Lo.” Tansy is trying to keep me from breaking apart right here. “Where’s Beck right now?”
“The station,” I whisper. My pulse is a drumbeat in my ears. “He’s working today. I know he’s at the fire station.”
“Then go,” she says firmly, shoving the phone back into my hand. “Get to him. Show him all of this.”
I don’t think. I just move. Out the door, down the street, my legs pumping like the ground might open up and swallow me whole. Every car I pass could be his. Every window has a pair of eyes. The phone buzzes again in my hand, but I don’t look. I can’t.
By the time the firehouse comes into view, my chest is on fire, breath ragged. Beck is outside, rolling up a hose, broad shoulders bent to the work. The sight of him nearly undoes me.
“Beck!”
His head snaps up. The second he sees me, sees the terror stamped all over my face, he drops the hose and strides forward. Not just strides, stalks.
“Lo? What—”
I crash into him, clutching his shirt, sobs ripping out of me before I can stop them. “He knows. He’s here. He’s been watching. He set the fire. He… he…”
Beck doesn’t even hesitate. His arms lock around me, pulling me so tightly against him that my feet leave the ground for half a second. His scent rolls over me, sharp smoked cedar and something hotter underneath, a blanket and a command all at once.
“Breathe, Lo. I’ve got you.”
I bury my face in his chest, the steady thud of his heart, the only anchor I can find.
“He sent me pictures,” I manage between sobs. “Of us. You. Hayes. Ford. All of us. He’s been here this whole time. And my house… he set the fire to the townhouse.”
Beck goes rigid, then tighter, like he could fuse me to him and keep everything else out. A growl rumbles low in his chest, vibrating through me. His jaw flexes hard enough that I can hear the grind of his teeth.
“Fuck,” he mutters.
Then he tips my chin up, forcing me to meet his eyes. They’re hard, burning, a storm barely leashed. “Listen to me, Lo. You are not alone in this. You hear me? He doesn’t get to touch you again. Not while I’m breathing.”
The words are a vow, raw and absolute. Not comfort.
Hot tears blur my vision, but I nod, desperate to believe him.
“And it’s not just me,” Beck continues, thumb brushing away one of the tears that slipped free, his hand lingering with a possessive weight at my jaw. “Hayes. And Ford. We’re all in this. You’re ours, Lo. You’re pack. And no one, no one, hurts what’s mine.”
Something in me cracks open at that, relief and terror tangling in my chest. My hands fist in his shirt like if I let go, I’ll fall apart completely.
Beck just holds me tighter, a low growl humming through his chest. “We’ve got you. Always.”
He doesn’t let go right away. Not when I’m still shaking, not when my breath is still stuttering. But I can feel him pushing that comforting smoke of his through my veins.
I feel Ford’s wind, kicking up in my chest and soothing the heat of my fear and anxiety. Hayes’s rays of sun splash against the darkest parts of my soul, illuminating me so that I can’t hide from them any longer—like he’s always been the shining star I look toward whenever things go haywire.
I feel all of them trying to soothe me as Beck tucks me against him, chin brushing my hair, until the worst of the panic starts to ebb.
Finally, his voice rumbles low above me. “Hayes is stuck in a meeting with his father right now, and Ford’s on a job. But I’ll message them both. I’ll let them know what’s happening.”
My pulse kicks faster. “No. Don’t… don’t pull them away. I don’t want to—”
“Lo.” His tone cuts through the spiral, steady and unyielding. “You’re more important than whatever else they’re doing. They’ll want to know. Stop fighting us.”
I can’t argue with that, not really. But the knot in my chest won’t untangle.
I press my forehead to his chest, whispering, “What if he’s out there right now? Watching?”
Beck’s hand slides up my spine, soothing a wild animal. “Then let him watch me take you inside the station. Let him see you’re not alone. He can glare from the shadows all he wants, but if he gets close,” Beck’s mouth brushes my temple, his words rough and final, “he won’t make it past me.”
My knees nearly buckle at that, the sheer weight of his promise. He senses it, tightening his hold until I feel steadied again.
“Stay with me here,” he says, gentler this time. “The station’s secure. Cameras, locks, people coming in and out. Safer than anywhere else in this town.”
I pull back enough to see his face, the firehouse behind him, the engine gleaming red. It should feel ridiculous, hiding in a fire station like some runaway kid, but the way he’s looking at me makes it feel safe.
“Beck…”
“Don’t argue.” He presses his forehead to mine, a rare, aching softness in his eyes. “Let me keep you safe, Lo. Let me be the Alpha you deserve.”
Something in me unclenches. The last lock on the door to my soul finally gives way. I nod. Tiny. Barely there. But enough.
Beck exhales slowly. Then he takes my hand and tugs me toward the open bay doors. “Come on, Trouble. I’ll get you set up somewhere.”
And for the first time since my phone lit up with Dylan’s words, I believe I might actually be safe.
Beck hauls me tighter against his side as we walk into the station, and for a second, I swear I could just…
disappear into his body and let the whole world burn down.
Preferably with Dylan in it. His scent is everywhere, cedar and bourbon mixed with the smoke of his job and something heavier, like I’m wrapped in a fireproof blanket that also happens to have biceps.
“Breathe, Lo. I’ve got you.”
Easy for him to say. My lungs are staging a rebellion. My pulse is trying to beat itself to death against my ribs. And somewhere in the middle of all that panic, my brain has decided to short-circuit over how good he smells.
Fantastic. Really helpful.
I tilt my face up because he forces me to, because Beck isn’t exactly the type you say no to when he’s in firefighter protector mode. His eyes are storming. Dark, and dangerous, and locked on me like I’m the only thing that matters.
And then he kisses me.
Not the kind of kiss that steals your clothes.
Not even the kind that steals your breath.
This one just… settles. Gentle. Careful.
Like he’s afraid I’ll break apart if he pushes too hard.
It’s the softest kiss he’s ever given me, and it caves my knees.
His arms sweep around me, holding me against him.
And it’s ridiculous, honestly, because my whole body is still vibrating apart at the seams. But this kiss, just that press of his mouth to mine, tugs me back together.
When he finally pulls away, our foreheads rest together. “I’ve got you, Trouble. Always.”
And damn it. Against every wall I’ve ever put up for myself, I believe him.
The scared, stubborn Omega inside of me that knows nothing but running is finally starting to believe all of them.