Chapter 11
Aiden
The sun beats down on me as I raise the axe before bringing it down onto the block of wood, splitting it in two, and sending it clattering to the ground below.
I’m tired, hungry, and in need of a shower.
Yet, I’m outside chopping wood, even though I’ve been up since four in the morning, working all day.
I don’t want to go inside right now. If I do, then I’ll have to sit and be with my thoughts, and that's a place I don’t want to be. I need to keep myself busy so my mind doesn’t have a chance to wander, to think about her until this gnawing pain takes over my body.
I’m a fucking mess. We all are. It’s been three months, and nothing has gotten better. I don’t even recognize my pack anymore. This is at no fault of Nolan’s. All the blame is on Thomas and myself.
Nolan has been amazing, trying his best to give us the time and space when we need, all while loving us as hard as he does.
I hate that we’re making it so rough on him. It’s just... fuck, I don’t know. It’s hard to go back to the way things were. We can’t. Because we can’t just forget about Violet.
Losing her has caused me to change, to become more quiet, more angry.
Depressed, that’s what I am.
Not to mention my cock has no interest in coming out to play. It’s been three months since I’ve had sex with either of my men. I’ve heard them together, and my heart ached to join them... I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.
I want them, I do. But I also need her.
“Hey, baby.”
Dropping the axe to the ground, I turn to face Nolan as he approaches me, a bottle of water in his hands.
“Thanks.” I wipe the sweat from my forehead and take the bottle from him. Uncapping it, I down half of it before coming up for air.
“You need to eat,” Nolan points out, crossing his arms as he surveys me.
“Not hungry,” I grumble, capping the bottle and placing it on the ground nearby.
“Aiden, you haven’t eaten anything since yesterday. Please don’t do this again.” I hate the pleading tone in his voice. He’s hurting... because of me. He’s worried because I’ve been slipping deeper and deeper into the darkness of my mind.
“I know,” I sigh. “Okay, fine, I’ll—” My brows furrow as something in the distance catches my eyes. “Nolan, give me your phone,” I say slowly, my heart racing in my chest.
There’s smoke in the distance, looking to be from a chimney. The only cabin in that direction is hers.
“Ahh, okay, why?” he questions, pulling his phone out of his pocket and handing it over to me.
Grabbing it, I quickly dial Jimmy, one of the people who’s been managing the property.
“Hello, Jimmy here.”
“Jimmy, it’s me, Aiden, from Pack Wheeler. Are you at Violet’s cabin?” My heart beats so damn fast as I wait for him to answer.
“Ah, no. Why would I be? I haven’t been there since just after Christmas, when I went back to clean and close up the place again. Why, what's wrong? Is someone there?”
Licking my lips, I blink, staring at the smoke.
“Aiden, what's wrong?” Nolan asks, stepping in front of me, breaking me out of my trance.
My eyes bore into Nolan’s as an ember of hope ignites deep inside my chest. “Never mind. Sorry to bother you, everything's fine. Bye,” I say as I hang up.
“What's going on? You're freaking me out.”
“Look.” I spin him around and point over his shoulder. “See that smoke.”
“Yeah?”
“It’s coming from Violet’s cabin.”
He whips back around, eyes wide. “And Jimmy isn’t the one in there?”
“Nope.” A slow smile slips over my lips. I know there could be many reasons why there would be smoke coming from her cabin—maybe she let her friends use it, maybe she sold it.
No, I don’t want to think about that.
“Come on,” I say, abandoning the wood and rushing into the house.
Thomas looks up from the table. “What's going on?” he asks, looking between Nolan and me.
“Let’s go.” I laugh, grabbing two sets of keys to the snowmobiles. “You ride with Nolan.”
Tossing the keys, Thomas catches them, standing up in confusion.
“Again, I ask, what the hell is going on?”
I don’t answer him as I race back outside and over to the snowmobile. Throwing my leg over, I straddle the seat, start it up, and take off.
No jacket, no helmet, and I probably stink, but there’s no way in hell I’m going to take the time to shower and dress before finding out why there’s smoke.
Nolan would tell me not to get my hopes up because we don’t know anything.
That's not happening. I’m already vibrating with excitement, with hope that my Omega, the woman who’s consumed my every thought for the past three months, whose loss has had me slowly drifting away, is in that cabin.
Because if she isn’t, then I don't know what I’ll do. I can’t keep living the way I have been since she left.
The sounds of another snowmobile let me know the guys aren’t too far behind.
I beat the guys here by a few seconds, but I don’t wait. I should, but I don’t. Turning the engine off, I jump off, my feet pounding against the wood as I race up the steps.
Raising my fist, I start to pound on the door.
“Aiden, fucking hell, man. What are you doing?” Thomas asks, parking the snowmobile.
He and Nolan get off and I turn around, about to answer him when the door opens.
Whipping my head around, my heart stops as I stare down at wide blue eyes and a shocked Omega. My Omega. It’s Violet. She’s here.
“I–um–” she starts, seeming unsure what to say.
Me? I don’t give her a chance to say anything as I dart forward, cradle her warm, soft face in my hands, and kiss her.
She whimpers against my lips as every cell in my body explodes.
It’s like everything clicks into place, all the hurt and pain from the past three months is just gone, vanished because I’m here, touching, kissing, holding my Omega.
How can things not be perfect now that I have her back?
My lips move against her frantically, the kiss hungry, as I growl low. Everything in me has me wanting to bundle her up in my arms and never let go.
“Fucking hell, Aiden,” Nolan sighs heavily from behind me. “Let go of the Omega.”
Ripping my lips from Violet, I shoot a snarl his way. “Never.” I move my hands from her face and wrap them around her body, pulling her into my arms and crushing her to my chest.
Thomas stands there, lips parted, unsure if he can believe what he’s seeing as he stares at her.
“You're crushing me,” Violet whimpers.
“Aiden, baby, let her breathe.” Nolan talks to me like I’m a wild animal, and honestly, I kind of feel like one. I’ve never felt more feral than I do right now.
The idea of hurting my Omega or causing her any harm has me loosening my hold... just a little bit, enough for her to peek up at me.
“Hi,” she whispers, uncertainty in her eyes.
“Hi, Little One,” I rasp, voice thick with emotion.
“We thought we’d never see you again.” Nolan grins, tears swimming in his eyes.
She tries to pull out of my hold, and I panic, holding her tighter. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I really don’t feel comfortable with you touching me like this.”
“What? Why?” I bark, and Violet flinches. I immediately feel like shit.
She licks her lips, looking between the three of us. “Because of Sylvia. It’s not fair to her.”
That name sends ice through my vines. “Fuck Sylvia,” I snarl.
“What?” her eyes widen.
“She means nothing to us,” I promise.
“But she’s having your baby.” Violet’s eyes furrow. “You're her Alphas.”
“Like fuck we are,” Thomas finally speaks, moving to stand next to us. “Sylvia isn’t anything to us. We are not her pack, and that baby she’s pregnant with isn’t ours. She’s just some crazy chick who wishes it was.”
“What?” Violet whispers, her lower lip trembling. “B-but she said... she...” Her eyes flick between the three of us. “Are you telling me the truth?”
“Yes,” Nolan answers, moving his hand to her back like he can’t resist touching her a second longer. “Sylvia is a Beta who we saw over a year ago. We went on a few dates, spent one night together, and that's it.”
“She’s been harassing us ever since,” Thomas growls. “Calling, showing up at our house, telling the whole damn town we’re together. She’s fucking crazy!”
“Really?” she asks, still not seeming to fully believe us.
“Baby girl.” Thomas places his forehead against Violet’s. “She’s not ours. She never was. You are. You're our Omega. You were always meant to be ours.”
“Oh my god.” Violet starts to cry. “How could I be so stupid? God.” She tries to pull away from me, but I refuse to let her go. Instead, she wraps her arms around me and cries into my chest. “I can’t believe this. She was lying to me. And I just left. I didn’t stay. I didn’t wait to find out the truth from you guys.”
“Shhhh.” I try to soothe her. “It’s okay. Everything is okay.”
“No, it’s not!” she shouts, ripping herself from my hold. She steps back, looking at us with wild eyes. “None of this is okay. I so easily believed what she said because I didn’t know anything about you three. So, to me, it was the truth because I didn’t know what to believe otherwise. We knew each other less than twenty-four hours before I started my heat.” She runs her hands through her hair, stressed.
I hate seeing her upset. All I want to do is go over to her, wrap her back up in my arms, and make everything better. Like she has. Because it’s like I don’t remember the last three months. They don’t matter. Only she does. She’s here. Everything is okay.
That's why I step forward but don’t touch her, not wanting to overwhelm her more.
“It doesn’t matter, Violet. All that matters is that you're here. You’re back.”
“But it does matter.” Tears stream down her cheeks, causing my heart to break. “You must hate me. I just left. You found your scent match, something you’ve been wanting for so long... and I just left. ”
She wraps her arms around herself, looking so small.
“No,” Thomas growls, her eyes snapping over to him. “We don’t hate you, Violet. We could never hate you. What happened was one big, fucked up mess. And yes, it really fucking sucked, and I’m not going to lie, being without you just about fucking killed us.” Thomas rubs at his chest, his green eyes filled with vulnerability. “But what matters now is that you're here. You’re back, and we’re never letting you go. Do you hear that, Baby Girl? You're ours,” he growls, stepping towards her.
Her lips part, breaths coming in quick heavy pants as Thomas gets closer, moving until he’s pulling her into his body and kissing her just like I did.
She whimpers against his lips, and the room fills with the scent of sweet apple pie. “Fuck,” I breathe out, nostrils flaring as I inhale her perfume deeply. My cock thickens for the first time in months.
I blame everything that's happened on Sylvia, not Violet. She had every right to take off without talking to us. No matter how much I hated her being gone, I understood. She didn’t owe us anything, scent match or not. We were strangers thrown together because of something powerful and out of our control.
None of that changed the fact that we just met, that she had a whole other life before meeting us.
The thought has my stomach sinking. She’s not leaving, I’m not letting her. Wherever she came from, she’s not going back. At least not to live.
I’m not sure how, but I’m going to do anything I can to keep her here with us, where she belongs.
When Thomas and Violet pull apart, both of them are breathing heavily. Their gazes locked as they share an intense moment.
Jealousy courses through me. Not at them being together, but because I want that moment too.
She licks her lips, takes a step back from him, and lets out a sigh as she runs her hands through her hair.
“I need to sit down.”
I’m moving, rushing over to grab one of her dining chairs and helping her sit down.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” she groans.
My panicked eyes flick to the guys, but Nolan is right there next to her, grabbing the tiny trash can by the couch and placing it at her feet.
“Breathe, Sweets. In and out.” He looks at Thomas. “Get her some water.”
Thomas nods and goes to the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water and bringing it back.
Nolan takes it, twists the cap off, and hands it to her. “That's it,” he says softly as she drinks. “Better?”
“A little bit.” She nods, licking her lips. She blinks at Nolan for a moment before a pink hue appears on her cheeks, and she gives him a shy watery smile. “Hi.”
“Hey, baby,” he murmurs, leaning forward to kiss her forehead. “I fucking missed you.”
Her lower lip trembles as more tears fill her eyes, and I know right now that she and any daughters we have will be spoiled rotten because the sight of my girl crying guts me. I just can’t take it and will do anything to avoid it, to make her happy.
But Nolan has her focus right now. My sweet, amazing Beta. I fucking hate myself for how I’ve treated him, and I’m going to make sure he knows just how much I love him.
“I missed you too. All of you. So much it hurt. These past three months...” She bites her lower lip before continuing. “It was horrible. I don’t think I would have been able to make it if it wasn’t for my best friends.”
Whoever her friends are, they’re some of my new favorite people. They took care of and protected our Omega when we couldn’t, and I’ll be forever grateful.
“Is that why you came back?” Nolan asks her, his hands on her thighs rubbing up and down as he continues to help calm her.
Her eyes widen, seeming to remember something. She looks afraid all of a sudden. She better not be here to break things off with us, to reject us. Fuck that, I refuse to let that happen.
“Not exactly,” she starts, looking between the three of us before taking a deep breath. “I don’t know how to tell you all this. Thankfully, finding out the truth makes this a hell of a lot easier, though.”
“Makes what easier, baby?” Nolan asks.
“Telling you...” she pauses. “That I’m, ahhhh” She’s shaking now. Fuck. What is she going to tell us? I feel sick . “I’m pregnant.”
I sure as hell wasn’t expecting her to say that.