Losing Control
Chapter seventeen
"Can I talk to you alone?"
I turned from the bread I was kneading to see Olivia standing in the kitchen doorway, looking ridiculously small in the oversized clothing I'd bought her. She needed something that fit, and soon. Maybe that could be one of the courting gifts.
"Everyone's in their rooms now," I pointed out, gesturing to a stool on the other side of the island. "What do you need?"
"I want to talk to you about your expectations." She scrambled up onto the stool. When she was situated, she took a deep breath and raised those wary eyes to mine. "I like your alphas."
"And me?" I could guess where this was going.
"I think you like them too. And you want what's best for them, which is what you should do as pack leader," she said hesitantly.
"But?" I slammed the bread down on the counter and she jumped, a squeak escaping.
"Maybe… we can talk another time."
As she went to slip off the stool, I leaned over the counter and gripped her chin with a floury hand. "No, you came in here to say something, say it."
"I-I don't like how you treat me."
"I thought I'd been nice enough. I cooked for you, I made sure Vale didn't hurt you," I said with a frown, not understanding.
"Why did you pick me?"
"I didn't. Zephyr smelled you in the room at the heat dens. But you were in the basement for a punishment, they said. Why?"
"Okay, why did you bring me home?"
"Because you are our scentmatch and you can heal my alphas."
"If I wasn't your scentmatch, would you still choose me?"
I rolled my eyes. "Is this one of those ridiculous questions like 'would you still love me if I were a worm?'"
Olivia narrowed her eyes. "Just answer the question. Aside from my smell, what made you choose me? Would anyone do if there wasn't a scentmatch?"
Something niggled at the back of my brain. Warning me. But foolishly, I plunged ahead anyway. "Yes, I would have picked someone who smelled good to both of us and taken her home."
She nodded. "That's what I thought. Kienan. You don't respect omegas. You're as bad as my last pack. As bad as all the alphas who came into the heat den, looking for a hole to knot."
I sighed. "I'm sorry about the kidnapping. It couldn't be helped. We had no other method of getting an omega."
"And there it is. Getting an omega. Not your scentmatch, that was a happy coincidence. You didn't want me, you wanted any omega to be the fix."
Fuck, I should have known she'd see it that way. "I do want you, but I'm also desperate to keep my packmates from going feral. Is that so wrong?"
"No." She gave me a sad look. "Never mind." She slid off the stool and disappeared upstairs, leaving me wondering what I'd missed.
My entire life revolved around the pack and making sure it functioned at its best. We needed an omega to do that. I'd gotten an omega. I understood she wasn't thrilled about being paid for, but if anything, that showed how valuable she was to us.
It occurred to me that she might not realize how valuable she really was. Maybe that would make her feel better.
I ran toward the stairs, catching her just as she started to trudge up them.
"I just want you to know, we paid nearly ninety thousand dollars for you. You're priceless to us," I told her.
Olivia froze on the stairs, then turned slowly to look at me with a dark look in her eyes. "Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why did you need to tell me that?"
"Well, it's a lot of money. I thought you'd want to know you're worth a lot and I didn't just grab any old omega off the street."
"Oh. Thanks." She turned and continued up the stairs until she disappeared out of sight down the hall.
Somehow, I'd found our scentmatch, brought her home, and I'd still messed up. I wasn't even certain of what I'd done. Tomorrow, I'd talk to Zephyr about it. Right now, he was already in Dean's room and I could hear them talking quietly in there. Probably about how badly I'd fucked up.
With a sigh, I headed down the hall to my room and fell into bed, feeling completely worn out.
First, Vale had stressed me out, taking off with the omega like that, then the fighting in the living room.
But I'd been right. Olivia was the perfect fit for us.
Everyone else needed to settle down and realize that, because she'd calmed the two alphas and brought them back to themselves in seconds.
Regardless of what they all thought, my decisions had been the right ones. They'd see in the end.