Chapter 28
Unlike my brothers, I’ve never been outwardly romantic or vocal about having a mate. I grew up seeing love as it was meant to be in its purest, realest form, and thought I’d never reveal my heart to anyone less than that. Sonnet had my heart the moment I met her.
Oh, she smells heavenly.
It was like walking into a wall and getting knocked over by the impact when Felix and Kai walked into the house.
Sonnet’s sweet scent of pleasure hung in the air, lingering on every item, guiding a thick trail of her sweet strawberries down the hallway towards the master’s room.
Jude’s scent hung slightly in the air, but nothing was as strong as a strawberry shortcake.
He could write so many poems about her scent; it was ridiculous.
Kai had the opposite reaction. He buckled over, fist against the wall, hyperventilating as if trying to circulate the air.
Felix reached out his hand to offer any comfort or understanding, but Kai ran out the sliding glass doors and didn’t look back, his scent carrying a burning sting of desperation and resentment.
The poor bastard.
Felix’s alpha growled, impatient to see their omega, who obviously got up to some fun without them.
He hated to admit it because it was so unlike him, but Felix was jealous.
Maybe if he had talked less during his appointment with Dr. Burdough, he wouldn’t have missed out, but surprisingly, Felix felt very comfortable producing long monologues during his session.
As he walked down the hallway, Zayden walked out of the master bedroom. His expression was nonchalant, but he had a possessive, teasing glint in his eyes. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and his long hair was pulled up.
“She’s asleep right now,” he explained, opening the door slightly to reveal Sonnet crashed out in her blankets wearing his missing shirt. “She had a heat spike, but Jude and I took care of it. Where is Jude?”
Huh. Now I’m even more jealous.
Felix sighed and crossed his arms, leaning against the wall, feigning indifference. “We went to pick him up, but he said he had too much to get at the store for Sonnet. I didn’t understand his urgency and pickiness, but he didn’t exactly explain what the both of you got up to.”
Zayden smirked. “You might have missed out on one hell of a bathtime.”
“Funny,” Felix cooed, “but I only recognize Jude’s scent.”
Zayden rolled his eyes and quietly closed Sonnet’s bedroom door.
He nodded his head, leading Felix to the kitchen.
“I couldn’t bring myself to touch her,” he admitted, then rubbed his face as if he regretted his decision not to.
Felix most certainly would have. “She was right there, but every time I pictured it, I pictured her breaking like glass. So instead, I guided Jude.”
“How chivalrous."
“More like pathetic.”
“You’re too hard on yourself. That was the kind of decision a pack alpha makes.” And you haven’t acted like that in a long time; he wanted to add, but held back, figuring that kind of blow would be more painful than bittersweet and honest. “Did she enjoy herself?”
Sonnet’s scent in the house made it seem like she did, but Felix had to be sure.
None of them had really touched her, been romantic or intimate in any kind of way.
Jude held her a lot, but she still blushed and got shy, and she and Felix had their first kiss only a week ago.
To be naked and touched like that… He hoped she felt safe and comfortable.
Zayden had a dark expression, like he was ticked Felix would even ask, but then his tone got heavy and worried.
“That’s why I stayed with them and guided Jude.
I wanted to make sure nothing went too far or too fast, especially because she wasn’t in control; it was her omega.
I comforted her and did everything I should have done. She was very happy, but…”
“But?”
“What she said about her omega. I guess I didn’t realize that during any heat phase, she takes over, and Sonnet isn’t conscious, so they don’t communicate.”
Felix frowned as he shuffled around the kitchen for some snacks.
He scanned through his mind on everything he read about omegas, but what Zayden said didn’t add up.
“An omega takes control at the height of their heat in a heat cycle, but during other phases, they share consciousness. Sonnet might not have been in control of her needs, but she’d be there witnessing it and communicating with her omega. ”
Unless they don’t communicate.
Felix bit the sides of his nails. He wasn’t sure what he could say to Zayden about what Sonnet had opened up about, but it seemed imperative that he did. If their pack wasn’t the only thing at risk of breaking, but their omega as well, then her health and happiness needed to be made a priority.
Zayden growled softly. “Well?”
“Well, what?”
“You have that serious, contemplative expression you get right before randomly dropping a huge bomb on all of us.” Zayden poured himself a glass of wine and sat down at the kitchen island. “Get on with it.”
“I don’t want to betray her trust,” Felix started, determined to stay loyal.
“However, Sonnet revealed some of her past to me. She was holding back what I can only assume to be more emotional details, but she told me she’s an affair child.
Her father cheated on his wife. Sonnet lived with her birth mother for a few years before being abandoned at the police station and sent to live with her father and his wife, revealing the consequences of the affair. ”
“Shit.” Zayden threw back his drink. “I never would have thought she carried something like that. She’s always so happy, so bright.”
“She thinks it’s her fault.”
“How? Her father—”
“I know.” Felix sighed. He couldn’t get the sound of her pained voice or the memory of her teary eyes out of his head.
“She didn’t mention anything else, but she did mention wishing she wasn’t an omega.
Maybe there’s a chance that the intimacy moment and what she said about her omega runs a bit deeper than we know. ”
“Do you think we’ll ever know? Do you think she’ll ever open up more?”
Felix poured Zayden another glass and gave him a firm, fierce look. “Will we? We’re all in the same boat, jumping over and drowning in our own mess, refusing help from others. So how can we help her?”
Felix left the bottle of wine on the kitchen island and Zayden to sit with all the heavy words.
There was no one Felix looked up to more than their lead alpha, but now that Sonnet was in their lives, it seemed everyone in this pack needed a piano dropped on their heads to wake up, take responsibility, and work towards a better future together.
It was easier to solve a mystery in one of his books than it was to solve the mess of this pack.
But Dr. Burdough seemed like a smart woman who had helped many packs and alphas before them.
If she could get them to a place where they were all willing to communicate with each other, there was a good chance they’d all get Sonnet to feel comfortable revealing her wounds as well.
When Felix opened the master bedroom door, she was just starting to stir awake. Her hair was a mess, as were the bed sheets tangled around her, and she had a shy, happy smile painted on her exhausted face.
She was so damn beautiful, she puts to shame every word he’s ever read.
“Hi sweetheart,” he hummed, falling onto the bed and scooping her into his arms. “I missed you.”