What happened? #2
Have they all known? Every alpha I've worked around for the last three years, every guard at the Morder, every stranger on the street?
Have I been walking around thinking I was invisible while everyone could see right through me?
"Stop it, omega." Odette's voice cuts through my spiraling thoughts like a blade. “Stop that thought right where it is, missy.”
I stare at her, wondering how she actually knows what I’m thinking.
"Alphas only pay attention to scents that catch their attention.
" She takes a sip of coffee, calm as ever.
"Scent-blockers don't catch shit. You walk past a hundred alphas wearing that spray and not a single one is going to stop and sniff the air.
It registers as nothing, and nothing isn't interesting.
The only time a blocker fails is when the person wearing it is putting out something strong enough to break through.
And honey, from what the twins told me last night, you weren't just putting out. You were going feral."
Heat rushes up my neck and floods my face. My cheeks burn so hot I can feel it in my ears. I look down at the rooster mug, wishing the ground would swallow me up.
Sensing my unease, Cliff's hand slides across the table, slipping over my wrist. His skin is rough and warm.
"You're safe here," he says firmly. "Nobody knows what you are, and nobody is going to find out."
I nod, not sure what to say to that.
I mean, what can I say? Sorry I turned your life upside down? Sorry I forced you to fuck my brains out? Sorry I practically begged you to mate me?
Fuck, I need to get out of here.
“Morning.” Perrin steps into the kitchen with a sheepish smile on his face.
Cliff quickly reaches for the beta, kissing the pillow creases on his cheek.
Odette chats with him as he pours himself a cup of coffee, asking how he slept, but all I can focus on is the back door.
It's right there. Ten steps, maybe twelve. Through the door, across the yard, past whatever kind of neighborhood is out there, and I’m gone. Back to my apartment with the deadbolt and the blackout curtains and the neat rows of stolen suppressants in my bathroom cabinet.
Back to the version of my life where nobody knows what I am and nobody asks questions I can't answer.
But that life doesn't exist anymore.
My heat saw to that.
And, now, the bite on my neck isn't something I can spray away.
"Slept great," Perrin says, settling into the chair at the far end of the table. "Nothing like listening to Raff chainsaw through drywall from two rooms away to really lull you off." He gives me a small smile before taking a sip.
"That's funny." Raff's voice carries from the hallway before he appears. "Because I don't snore."
"You absolutely snore," Perrin says into his mug.
Raff rolls his eyes as he moves past the kitchen table.
He’s already dressed in a tight white T-shirt that clings to his chest and shoulders like it was painted on, and a pair of snug jeans that sit low on his hips.
My eyes drop before I can stop them, tracing the line of denim across the front of his jeans, and I look away so fast I nearly give myself whiplash.
Did I just check him out?
“Got any juice, Ma?” he asks as he opens the fridge.
“Check the door,” Odette says, and my gaze pulls back to the alpha.
I watch his tattooed forearms flex as he twists the cap off the carton and pours himself a drink.
The ink stretches from his knuckles past his wrists, disappearing under the pushed-up sleeves of his shirt.
Dark lines and shading, intricate and dense, covering every inch of visible skin.
I find myself tracing the patterns with my eyes, trying to make out individual shapes in the patchwork.
A chair scrapes softly behind me.
I turn and see Adam is already sitting down next to Perrin, his coffee in his hands, so quiet I didn't even hear him come in.
He whispers something to Perrin, then shifts, angling his body slightly away from the table.
Away from me.
I don’t think he’s angry. He's not giving me sharp looks or clenching his jaw, or radiating hostility. He's just quiet, his dark eyes fixed on his coffee, his thumb tracing the handle over and over.
I understand why he’s upset, and it makes me feel like the worst person alive.
"So." Odette pours herself a fresh mug, then settles back into her chair. "Whenever you're ready, sweetheart."
Everyone is looking at me.
Four men and a she-alpha, gathered around a small kitchen table, waiting for me to explain how I ended up in heat in the middle of the black market, with their pack alpha's teeth in my neck.
I take a breath, trying to decide if I should lie then sneak out, but there’s no sense hiding the truth anymore…at least most of it.
"I presented as an omega late," I say with a heavy sigh. "Really late. I was twenty-seven."
Perrin's eyebrows lift, and Raff’s juice pauses halfway to his mouth. Even Adam goes still.
"I thought I was a beta my whole life. I grew up beta.
Even my labs as a teenager showed my hormones levels in line with a beta.
" I stare into my coffee. "Then, three years ago, something happened, and my body just..
." I search for the word. "Changed. Overnight.
I woke up in heat, and I had no idea what was happening to me. I thought I was dying."
Odette's expression doesn't change, but her eyes soften by a fraction.
"After it passed, I started taking everything I could get my hands on. Black market heat suppressants. Scent-neutralizing sprays. Scent patches. Anything to keep my dynamic hidden." I swallow.
“Is that why your heat ended so quickly?” Perrin asks, his voice soft, and genuinely curious.
"Probably." I wrap both hands around the mug, needing something to hold onto. "I’m sure I've destroyed my system. My cycles are unstable. They spike quickly and burn out fast. I've been chemically overriding my body for so long that nothing works the way it's supposed to."
“That’s not smart,” Odette says simply. And while I know she’s right, it's not like I had any other choice.
"Why not see a doctor to get proper meds?" Raff asks.
"Because the second a doctor flags me as a late-transitioned omega, I'd get reported.
" I look up at him. "They'd put me in an omega processing center.
They'd see my age and immediately force me to mate the first alpha that showed interest. I don't have any family to pledge to take care of me, so I'd lose my entire life.
Everything." My hands tighten around the mug.
"I didn't have a choice. It was the meds or a cage. "
My bond flares, and I feel Cliff's emotions hit me like a gust of wind.
It’s a dark sensation, filled with territorial fury. It’s like the idea of me being mated to someone else has set something off inside the alpha that he's barely keeping off his face.
I know that alpha-omega bonds form fast. I've read about it, studied it, prepared for the possibility the way you prepare for a disease you hope you'll never catch. But knowing it and feeling it are two very different things.
And this alpha met me yesterday.
He doesn't know my middle name or where I grew up or how I take my coffee. And right now he's sitting beside me, radiating a fury so fierce it's making the fine hairs on my arms stand up, all because I mentioned the possibility of belonging to someone else.
It should terrify me. And it does, a little.
But mostly, it makes me feel less alone.
"It must have been really scary to hide like that for so long," Perrin says softly, his brow creased with a gentleness that catches me off guard.
Cliff's thumb strokes across my knuckles. Raff's fists are curled, but his eyes are soft. It’s like he’s angry for me…I think.
Adam takes a sip of his coffee, but his expression stays completely blank. I can only assume his hatred for me is growing by the second.
And I get it. I do.
I showed up out of nowhere and tore through his pack like a wrecking ball.
I put my hands on his mates without permission.
Then his pack alpha mated me without his consent or a conversation or even a proper introduction.
Whatever trust exists in this pack, I smashed it in an afternoon.
Adam has every right to hate me, but that doesn't stop it from hurting.
“Alright.” Odette looks at Cliff. "What's the plan then?"
Cliff straightens in his chair, looking right at Raff. "You and Perrin are going to strip the van."
The alpha nods once.
“Every panel and bolt,” Cliff says firmly as he turns to Perrin. “I want it unrecognizable by tonight.”
"Done," Perrin says.
"Adam, Elowen, and I are going to head home." Cliff looks at Odette. "Any chance we can get a ride?"
"Of course." Odette waves a hand like he's asked to borrow a cup of sugar. "You can take Sal's old Caddy."
Raff pushes off the counter. "I'll bring it back tonight, Ma."
"Rafferty, that car is yours. Your father left it to you."
"It belongs here." he says like he’s said it a hundred times. "With you."
Odette's mouth opens, then closes. Something moves behind her gray eyes. “Alright,” she sighs hard.
Cliff stands. “Thank you, Odette.” He looks at Raff, then Perrin. “I'm expecting a visit from Angelica today. Maybe tomorrow, but it's coming. She's going to want to know what happened at the market.”
He continues to talk, but all I can focus on is the guilt sitting on my chest.
These people took me in, protected me, fought for me, and now they're about to lie to a dangerous woman to keep me hidden.
My eyes drift to the back door again.
The morning light is brighter now, slipping through the glass along the top of the door. The urge to open it and run grips me.
This is my mess. Not theirs.
"When Angelica does show up, here's what happened.
" Cliff looks down at me, making sure I’m listening.
"You are a beta,” he says firmly before looking around the kitchen at everyone else.
“She was working at the pharmacy and felt sick.
I was in the area and brought her somewhere to sit down.
The guards overreacted and jumped to conclusions because they smelled me on her.
That's it. No omega. No heat. A beta with heatstroke and a bunch of trigger-happy assholes who panicked. "
His hand presses flat against my back. It’s warm and broad, settling between my shoulder blades like it belongs there. I lean into it before I can stop myself, my body tilting toward him, my forehead almost touching his arm.
Every instinct I have is screaming at me to crawl into his arms and press my face into his neck and let him wrap around me until the world goes away.
He's my mate.
My body knows it.
The bite on my neck knows it.
But it feels wrong to take comfort from a man I stole.
I straighten up, keeping my hands on my mug.
"We’re going to cover your scent again,” Cliff continues. “Fresh blockers, patches. Whatever you need to smell like nothing. And when Angelica asks questions, that's the story."
Unless Anton or Angelica go to my apartment, I silently say in my head.
All my notes and stolen meds would blow a hole right through any story Cliff told them.
“I need to go home,” I blurt out, and everyone goes quiet. "I need to collect a few things," I say, keeping my voice light. "Clothes, mostly. I don't have anything here and I need—”
"No," Cliff’s voice is soft, almost like he feels bad for saying it.
"I only need a few minutes. I could be in and out before—"
"Elowen." His dark eyes lock onto mine. "It's not safe. If anyone from the Morder knows where you live, they could be watching your apartment right now."
I don’t care as long as they aren’t inside my apartment, I think to myself.
"Right," I say with a smile, despite feeling completely defeated.
I’m never gonna see that notebook again.
Three years of names, dates, and theories. Every supply run, delivery, and name that came through my parents’ books that might connect back to the Morder is in there. All of it in a small black notebook tucked into the false bottom of my dresser.
If someone found it…
If someone already found it…
"It’s going to be okay, omega," Cliff says as he caresses my back. "Everyone needs to stay calm and let me do the talking."
The table is quiet. I look at each of them in turn. Raff is nodding slowly, Perrin sits a little straighter, and Odette takes a long sip of her coffee.
But Adam…
He’s still staring at his mug. His brow is furrowed and his jaw is set. There's something in the way he's holding his mouth that tells me he wants to say something, but won't.
He doesn’t want me here.
"Or I could just leave.” The words leave my mouth before I've fully decided to say them.
Every head turns toward me.
"What?" Perrin's head snaps up, his eyes going wide. "You can't leave."
"Look,” I press my palms against the table, trying to steady myself.
“This is all too dangerous for you guys. I mean, what if Angelica doesn’t buy it?
It'll be safer for all of you if I'm not here.
" I lean back in my chair, forcing Cliff’s hand off my back.
"You've already risked enough for me. I can disappear.
I've done it before. I'll find somewhere—"
The bond in my mind snaps so tight it makes me wince.
It hits me mid-sentence, a sharp, possessive pull that radiates from the bite mark on my neck and sinks into my chest like a hook.
“No,” Cliff growls softly, and a wave of raw, territorial refusal floods my entire body. His eyes have gone dark and his jaw is clenched so tight I can see the muscles jumping beneath his skin. "You're not going anywhere," he says, low and final.
I stare up at the pack alpha as our bond continues to hum with his determined anger.
It’s clear he’s not giving me up.