Chapter Nineteen
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“I CAN’T STAY here,” I announce as I slam out of Omen’s bedroom. She had finally left her nest when we went to New York City for back-to-back Primordial Covenant shows over the weekend, but as soon as we got home, she locked her door again. It’s been a week of her shutting me out, suffering in her pain alone while I have to sit here and watch.
Pack Graves is lucky I haven’t castrated them for whatever they did to her. Not that I know what they did, since she won’t fucking talk to me!
Stomping into my bedroom, I hear footsteps following me. When they stop, I look back to find Ridley leaning against my open bedroom door in that sexy way men do, with one arm resting on the top of the frame and his muscular arms and torso on display. The slick flooding between my legs begs me to pull him inside and ride his knot until I can barely remember my name, but my frustration and concern for my best friend quickly drowns the feeling out.
“We’re going to my parents,” I tell him as I grab a bag from my closet and start tossing clothes inside. Yesterday, he and Lex had shown up at our apartment and announced the DAU was assigning them to guard us full time. Apparently, there’s been word from New Hampshire. Omen’s birth family has found her identity, putting us both in danger of being captured by their lackeys. I’m over the bullshit. Someone needs to tear that stupid fucking cult apart already.
“You want me to meet your folks?”
Glancing at him over my shoulder, I see the overly pleased grin on his handsome face, and roll my eyes. Maybe I want to introduce him to my family, but more than anything, I need out of this damn apartment. “Make sure Lex knows it is only the two of them until we have to leave for Boston next week.”
An hour later, we’re in my car and headed upstate. Ridley’s behind the wheel, jamming along to every song I play through the speakers. The pinching in my chest lessens the further away we get.
We’re halfway home when I remember to text my parents and let them know we are coming. They might not all be home today, but they should return tomorrow.
Mom is standing on the porch when we pull in. Ridley slides out of the driver’s seat and immediately locks the car. I scowl at him, tossing my hands up in question as he rounds the front. He only unlocks my door when he’s close enough to pull it open for me.
Ridiculous men and their need to impress people with chivalrous gestures! His grin only grows when I knock my elbow against his stomach on my way past him. Damn his toned abs for hurting me when I’m trying to knock some sense into this alpha!
“This is a wonderful surprise,” Mom says, beaming as she glances between me and Ridley. “Welcome to our home, Mr. Hale.”
“Ridley, please. No need for formality among family.”
Mom’s eyes widen and I groan, my head falling back to look up at the sky so I can beg for patience. This man is going to be the death of me if he continues to insist I’m his and doesn’t fucking claim me. I will lose my mind without his bite on my neck and his bond in my chest. Patience is not a strong suit for most omegas, especially not with our mates.
“Well, come on in. It’s only me and Bea’s dad, Austin, at home right now. Phoenix took Forrest out for date night, so they won’t be back until tomorrow.”
Ridley wraps his arm around my shoulders, pulling me inside of my childhood home. He fits in here, charming my mother and Pops with ease. It’s frustratingly attractive and I can’t do a single thing about it!
“Poor timing,” Pops says as he pulls a tray of roasted asparagus from the oven. “This year’s firework display is postponed until next Saturday thanks to all this rain.”
His words draw my eyes to the wall of windows at the back of the house. Tiny raindrops trail down the glass as it continues to pour down from the sky. A little over a mile beyond the back porch is a large lakeside community. The closer you get to the shore, the higher the value of the houses. Growing up here made my house the go-to spot for all my middle and high school friends to meet up to go out for Halloween. The lake houses go all out for the holidays and they give out the best candy!
They also put on a huge fireworks display every Fourth of July. With my parents’ house sitting on the hill up from the lake, we have the perfect view from our backyard. I’m kind of sad there won’t be a magical show tomorrow, but we may still be here to see them on Saturday.
“Not that you aren’t always welcome to stay with us whenever you wish, but why are you here? We thought after spending the past month on the road, you’d want to settle into your apartment.” Mom’s interrogation starts a few minutes into eating. The dining room is too quiet with just the four of us here, and I know I won’t get away with not answering. Maybe they’ll have some advice about Omen’s spiral I hadn’t considered on my own.
Y’know, except for leaving her be, because that’s bullshit. No one should suffer alone.
Ridley slips his hand onto my thigh, squeezing lightly. His presence steadies me enough to explain what’s been going on with my best friend and adopted sister. Mom and Pops look as concerned as I feel. They both consider Omen to be their second daughter.
“She’s refusing to speak about what happened before this spiral started?” Mom asks. I nod and she frowns. “Does anyone else on the tour have any ideas about the cause?”
“No. We asked the pack she’s been seeing, Pack Graves, but they seemed more equally confused. She’s shut us all out.”
“You might not want to hear this,” Mom starts, narrowing her eyes when I try to speak. I pinch my lips together and listen. “Leave her be. There is a show in Boston next week? Bully her into taking care of herself then. She may need time to deal with everything on her own before she lets someone help through it.”
“I—ugh! Fine! Only until the festival in Boston. Then she’s going to tell me what is going on. I will not stand idly by while she falls apart.”
“None of us will,” Pops promises before he shifts the conversation elsewhere, leaving me to stew in my frustration.
“I played baseball throughout middle and high school, and at the Alpha Academy.” Tuning back in to Ridley talking about his sports career, I have to count to one hundred to stop myself from picturing him in the tight pants baseball players wear.
Do not perfume at the dinner table, Bea!
My internal scolding thankfully works, but I tuck the image away for later.
“Ohio has some amazing baseball players,” Pops comments.
Ridley laughs, his hand rubbing up and down my thigh and not helping my current swing towards horny instead of worried. “Yeah, it was pretty wild being on a team back then. I played against a few of the major league players on the team out of Medley Falls. They were insanely good, and watching them on TV it’s clear to see they’ve only gotten better.”
“It was a damn shame Elio Standen hurt his shoulder two years ago. Their team hasn’t been the same without him.”
I know absolutely nothing about baseball, but I’m obsessed with the way Ridley lights up discussing it. His already sunny eyes sparkle so bright they look like tiny galaxies swirling through the teal orbs. Happiness must be contagious and this alpha spreads it like elementary kids spread germs during flu season.
Mom begins cleaning the kitchen, so I join her, slipping away from the ball talk still happening at the table. She’s silent at first, but I should have known it wouldn’t last. “What’s going on there?” Her soapy hand motions between me and Ridley.
“He swears we have a Fated Connection,” I admit with a shrug.
“You don’t think you do?” Her question is cautious, a little suspicion in her eyes as she glances at my alpha.
“I do,” I rush out, not wanting her to doubt his intentions. “I haven’t felt the connection myself, but the pull is there.”
She raises one eyebrow in question, waiting for me to explain.
“He thinks we have a Shared Pain connection.”
Mom’s mouth falls open, her eyes wide as she stares at me. It’s one of the rarer types of connections, and one of the most taxing. “That’s… I don’t want to say I hope he is wrong, because you deserve the happiness of a completed bond with Fate Matched mates, but to share pain…”
“Yep. It looks like I drew the short straw on this one.”
Mom is a doctor. She understands more than most how rough sharing pain can be. Though it has a perk or two. Like having mates with an intricate understanding of how painful giving birth can be. And always knowing when one of your mates is seriously injured.
“If it ever gets to be too much, please let me know. There aren’t many options to help dull the pain you share, but there are some routes we can explore.”
We finish dishes and she wraps me in a tight hug, whispering how proud of me she is. I squeeze her just as tight, fighting back tears as the stress of the past few days crashes down over me.
Ridley must sense my turmoil because he quickly ends his conversation with Pops and is at my side, pulling me against him and kissing the top of my head. “Ready to lie down, sunshine?”
I give Pops a quick hug before I lead my alpha up to my childhood bedroom. My parents’ room is on the opposite end of the house, so we don’t have to worry about disturbing them. And they’re progressive enough to let us have a sleepover without the door open. Or Mom and Pops are. We’ll see how my father, Phoenix, reacts when he comes home tomorrow. He’s always been a little overprotective of his baby girls.
I swing the door open to my childhood bedroom and cringe. It’s clean, but Candy Courage posters and magazine clips hang everywhere. Literally. Their faces cover every inch of the wall beside my bed.
“If I didn’t know how much you love coming on my knot, I’d be worried,” Ridley jokes as he steps inside. I walk over and collapse onto my back on the bed, letting him walk around and snoop through the small amount of stuff I still have here.
Hands gripping my waist startle me a few moments later. My eyes fly open and meet Ridleys where he’s dragging me out of my jean shorts. Butterflies flit through my stomach as his palms knead my calves, working their way up my right leg before repeating the process on my left.
“That feels amazing,” I groan.
He hums and flips me to my stomach, pushing my shirt up and over my head. My core clenches when he unsnaps my bra, but avoids my breasts, continuing his sensual massage along my back.
I’m a puddle of cooked noodles when he flips me back over. On his face is the softest look, one so full of admiration and… love that it makes my chest ache. The desire to feel his claim on my skin so deep my soul feels untethered without it. He must see what I want in my eyes, because sadness quickly flickers across his expression.
His lips mold against mine in languid swipes, and his hands glide down my body to remove the rest of my clothes. When he flips to the bed behind me, pulling my back against his chest and lifting my thigh to rest back over his hip, perfume floods around us. The stretch of his dick entering me is so wonderful I nearly come from the feeling.
Long, dragging thrusts unhurriedly build us toward orgasm. His arm slips under me, reaching around to palm my breast and tease my nipples as he makes love to me. Each sucking kiss against the side of my throat is the same unspoken promise. Soon I will be his, proudly wearing his bite for the world to see.
Soon.
The festival in Boston is a different world compared to the one we played in Chicago last month. Tensions are much higher among the bands and road crew. We all expected a protest. Some backlash from the state of New Hampshire and its anti-designation cult.
With things going smoothly, it feels too good to be true.
I’m jumpy, snapping at the band members as I try to fight the urge to run and hide coursing through my body. Ridley hovers behind me, vigilant in his guard duties as we traverse the festival grounds. When we’re stationary for more than a few minutes, his purr rattles to life to soothe my frayed nerves. It works until we have to move again, then all the stress pours right back into my body.
“Orbital Somatic!” The stage manager calls for the band, and I rush them to the front. During the past week’s break, I worked with them to improve their stage presence. Their confidence has grown immensely over the past month.
Watching Joey’s girlfriend swirl onto the stage dressed in the image of Fate, I can’t hold back a fist pump as the crowd roars with delight. This is what they needed, something a little theatrical to fit the whimsical nature of their lyrics.
I congratulate them as they cool off behind the stage after their set. Smiles stretch across all of their faces, their joy tangible in the air from their success. We’ll find their groove and rocket them toward headlining in no time if they keep this pace up!
“Ready to head across the venue?” Ridley grunts, warily eyeing the crowd pushing against the rails, blocking them from accessing the backstage areas. I nod and let him guide me across the grass to the stage where Primordial Covenant will perform in an hour.
Having both bands play so close together is a gift today.
The sooner we can get away from this tense hell, the better.