3. Wild Morning Glory – Meaning Dead hope Extinguished hopes
3
WILD MORNING GLORY
(HEAVENLY TRUMPETS, WHITE WITCH’S HAT)
MEANING: DEAD HOPE EXTINGUISHED HOPES
OCEAN
________
M y body ached. I’d already been at the gala far longer than I wanted to be, and there was only so much more I could take. Between the too-tight corset and people who’d known my parents coming up to me and telling me how sorry they were—which happened every year—and telling me stories, I was done. I didn’t even want to go to the greenhouse anymore. I just wanted to go curl up in my bedroom, pretend it was a nest, and go to sleep.
Laura and Frank hadn’t looked in my direction for a while. There was a chance I could slip out without them noticing. They’d see on the cameras later, but then I’d already be gone.
The entire mansion was laced with cameras, inside and out. I’d never fully understood why, and I hadn’t allowed them in my rooms. But other than that? Everywhere.
Part of me wondered if it was to keep an eye on me. My aunt and uncle’s constant suspicion of me was absurd, given the control they held. Not that they allowed me to do enough to get away with anything.
“You’re Ocean, right?”
A male voice came from behind me. A tall man that I vaguely recognized as being one of Frank’s business acquaintances. If he was who I thought he was, he got kicked out of the holiday party last year for being so drunk. “Depends on who’s asking.”
He laughed like I’d made the funniest joke in the world. I wasn’t sure why. My statement was serious.
“They told me you were witty.”
I was too tired and in too much pain to play along, and I hadn’t wanted to in the first place. “And they didn’t tell me who you were at all.”
He bowed at the waist, smirking. “Jason Marsh. I work with your uncle.”
“Right. Nice to meet you. Have a good night.”
“Wait,” he reached out but didn’t manage to touch me. “That’s it? I was hoping to ask you to dance.”
The scent cancellers in the room were strong, but I could still smell him. He smelled green and not in the good, fresh-cut grass way. I wasn’t able to pinpoint it, but it wasn’t great, and the idea of standing close to him wasn’t appealing. “Thank you, but I think I’m finished for the evening.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Hands came down on my shoulders and pushed me toward the man. Laura had appeared out of nowhere. “She’ll be happy to dance with you.”
“Aunt Laura?—”
“He runs the biggest shipping network on the west coast. Give him whatever he wants,” she whispered harshly in my ear.
Jason, at least, pretended not to notice that my hand was being forced. I managed a smile. “One dance.”
“I’m honored.”
He smiled like he really was. But as soon as we were on the dance floor, he pulled me far too close, his hand wandering downward toward my ass. “I saw you as soon as I came in, and it took me all night to come talk to you.”
“Oh? Why? I’m not that scary.”
He shrugged, pulling me against him. “Wanted to make sure you were the one.”
“The one…?” I blinked, not understanding what was happening. His green scent wrapped around me, and I did my best to keep my reaction off my face. Wheatgrass? I wasn’t sure. The fact that I couldn’t identify it bothered me.
Chuckling, he turned us slowly to the music. “The one I’m going to take home with me.”
My mouth popped open, and I stared at him. All Jason did was grin. I shook my head. “Where the hell did you get that idea?”
Leaning in, his breath brushed my ear, and once again I smelled alcohol. He was drunk. “By looking at your ass in this dress.”
“That’s enough,” I told him, pulling back. “We’re done.”
His brow furrowed. “Why?”
“Because I’m not interested. You’re drunk, and I didn’t want to dance with you in the first place.”
All at once his face transformed into something ugly, and my heart fell. I knew that look. It wasn’t the look that meant I was in danger. Not physically. No, this was almost worse.
“You should be grateful. Not everyone’s going to want you. I’m offering you a good time. You should take it.”
I pulled away, but he didn’t let go of me. “I should be grateful that you’re hitting on me at the gala that’s meant to honor my dead parents? Sure. That makes sense. Take your hands off me. Now.”
“No, you should be grateful because as an Omega with a body like yours, no one’s going to want you. Take what you can get, Ocean.”
The lance of hurt entered my heart even though I didn’t want to. Men like him were all the same. Thought they were god’s gift to earth while also thinking I didn’t know the reality I lived in.
I was fat. It wasn’t a dirty word, it was just a fact. Did he think I didn’t understand? He couldn’t say anything worse to me than I’d already said to myself. And it still hurt, because even if I knew the truth, I still wanted things the world didn’t think were meant for me. “Take your hands off me,” I said evenly. “Right now. Or I will make a scene. Wouldn’t want this to be the second of my family’s parties you get escorted out of.”
All he did was laugh. “Your aunt was the one who pushed you into me. I don’t think they’ll mind a scene.”
A hand came down on his shoulder. Hard. “She told you to take your hands off her.”
The man now standing next to us looked at Jason, and then he looked at me. Stunned. His gaze roved over me like he was shocked he’d intervened for me. He looked like he’d been struck by lightning and was staring into the sun. Like he’d glitched and needed a full system reboot. Like he didn’t even know where he was.
Then he blinked, looking back at Jason. “Do I have to remove your hands for you?”
Jason threw his hands off me forcefully and scoffed. “You bitches are all the same. Stuck up and too self-centered to see a good thing in front of them. Especially when it’s their only option .”
He stalked across the dance floor toward the refreshments table and left me standing there. I needed to move. Not only because people were staring, but because in about ten seconds Laura would find me and berate me for not dancing with him longer.
The stranger stepped in and slid an arm around my waist, and suddenly we were dancing. His scent wasn’t green. It was bright and balmy in a good way. In a great way. A light and sharp scent of lemons undercut with the sweetness of sugar. Lemon bars. The kind of thing that made your mouth water to taste that blend between the two opposing sensations. It was lovely.
“I’m sorry if I overstepped. I don’t take kindly to people who don’t understand the word no. You looked like you needed a rescue.” Warm green eyes stared down into mine, and I couldn’t quite find my words. Because this Alpha was smiling at me, and it felt so different it was almost comical.
When you looked like me, you figured out quickly how to tell which smiles, looks, and words were real, and which ones weren’t. The way he looked at me was genuine, and I found myself smiling in relief. “Not overstepping. And thank you.”
“I’m Cameron.”
“Ocean.”
His eyebrows rose. “That’s a pretty name.”
I laughed once. “My mother loved water. She did research on it before she passed. If she’d had more children she told me she would have done more. Like ‘Lake,’ ‘Rain,’ and ‘River.’”
When we spun, I barely felt it because he was leading me. It was gentle and steady, and I knew without having to think that I could trust him to take that lead. “That would have been quite the family reunion.”
“We’d have to wait until it was raining,” I said.
“And only have those reunions on the beach. Or lakeside.”
“Or,” I countered, “we could find a stream and be next to a body of water none of us were named for.”
Cameron nodded. “I think that’s probably the best way to go. So no one feels left out.”
“If it were a real thing, I’d definitely do that. But I’m an only child.”
“Ah.” His fingers tightened on my hand and my back, where his hand rested. In contrast to Jason, nowhere near my ass. “Me too.”
Glancing around the room, he looked back down at me again. “Are you all right? My packmates made sure he left the party, so if you don’t want someone else touching you, I understand.”
The words stopped me in my tracks. They shouldn’t, but they did. His packmates were in on it too? “I could use a drink, I think. Probably just water.”
“Of course.”
Cameron led me off the dance floor with a hand on my lower back, and I didn’t mind that it was there. Because I already knew it was a measure of protection, not possession. When we reached the refreshments table, two other Alphas stood close by. “Ocean, these are my packmates. Micah and Everett.”
I grabbed a glass of water before looking and finding the same kind of awed, dazed looks on their faces Cameron had when he first rescued me on the dance floor. One of them looked at Cameron briefly before looking back at me and inhaling deeply. “It’s lovely to meet you, Ocean. Like he said, I’m Micah.”
“Everett.” The second Alpha held out his hand. Dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes pinned me to the spot. A second later his scent curled through the air. It reminded me of cookies my mother used to make. Pistachio and almond, but sweet.
“Nice to meet you,” I said. “Your packmate, and you, I guess, saved me from a rather awkward encounter.”
Micah held out his hand then, and when I gave him mine, he covered it with his other hand, clasping it gently. “I’m glad. Bad behavior aside, no one should leave a beautiful woman alone in the middle of a dance floor.”
I inhaled sharply. Chocolate and caramel. They smelled incredible, and I didn’t even have time to marvel about the fact that their pack smelled so good because my brain was busy being short-circuited by how easily he called me beautiful.
Jason, who declared he’d wanted to take me home, had said nothing of the sort.
Taking the moment to sip my water and look at them, they were exactly who belonged at a party like this. Handsome beyond belief, and rich, if the tuxes and watches they wore were any indication. And they’d rescued me from an asshole?
Yeah, I needed to get away from them as soon as possible. Because I’d already had this particular bubble burst too many times. And after Jason telling me I needed to accept pity sex because I was fat, I wasn’t prepared to see their kindness turn into pity.
I realized I’d been staring at our joined hands for too many seconds. “Thank you again,” I said, gently pulling back. “I was on my way out when he insisted we dance. So I think I’m going to go. But I do appreciate it.”
Everett smiled. “Any chance I can convince you of one more dance before you go?”
Yes .
Fuck, yes.
Dancing with all of them would be incredible. But it wouldn’t fix the root of the problem. I was already going to deal with the guilt and the loneliness when I got back to my room. Dancing with Alphas who only wanted to make sure I was okay wouldn’t help that, no matter how good it would feel to dance with someone who smelled amazing and looked even better. To be held.
“Not tonight,” I murmured, unable to hold his gaze and tell the lie. “But thank you for the offer.”
It took more effort than it should have to walk away. I felt their gazes on my back, and everything in me wanted to glance over my shoulder. But I didn’t, because if there was pity in their eyes, I would need more than this too-tight corset to hold me together.
So I didn’t look, and left, wishing I’d said yes to that dance.