Chapter 29
NELLY
"Yes, I was tricked," I snapped, gripping my fork tighter. "Funny how Eros left out that part. Maybe their sneaky fucking tactics to get ‘willing’ products for their match database is a damn trade secret.”
They all stared at me, eyes drifting and expressions focused, as if they were trying to put together a puzzle, but the puzzle was just a close-up shot of a tranquil lake. And that meant zero dead giveaways to ease construction, just an expanse of blue-green water.
“Did they also leave out the fact that they drugged me when I told them no. Then they stripped me, dressed me like a doll, and dragged onto that plane while I was unconscious?"
Boone stared at me with those intense dark eyes, his expression unreadable.
He looked different with his hair down—softer, younger, less intimidating despite his massive frame.
The sleepy confusion on his face made him appear vulnerable.
I couldn't tell if he was surprised by the information that I’d just bitterly dropped on him or simply processing it.
Either way, I didn't like the way his gaze made my skin feel too warm. I didn’t like how he looked like a bodice ripping, romance cover model, even while half awake.
I didn’t like that I was beginning to like everything about the man.
"They told us you'd been fully informed," Wade said softly. "That you'd consented to the match. They sent us… fruit baskets." The way he said ‘fruit baskets’, full of childish trust, almost made me feel like he was also a victim of this. Almost, but not quite.
"Well, they lied about that." I stabbed a gooseberry viciously. "Just like they probably lied to you about what kind of Omega you were getting. Bet you were hoping for someone all Hannah Homemaker instead of me."
I shoved the berry into my mouth, chewing gracelessly, not caring that juice began to dribble from the corner of my mouth and trace down my chin.
I went for another berry, only this time my aim was off.
The tines of the fork slipped down the red skin instead of gaining purchase, and the glossy orb went flying across the table.
Somehow, it hit Wyatt dead square between the eyebrows.
Wyatt stood abruptly, his chair scraping against the floor.
The sudden movement made me flinch, my fork clattering against the plate.
Was he going to punish me for hitting him with the gooseberry?
He was suddenly all Alpha energy. It radiated from him so heavily that I began to squint unconsciously, wondering if I peered just right, at the perfect angle, then I’d be able to see his Alpha-ness as color steaming from his body.
"No," he said, his voice tight. "We weren't expecting Hannah Homemaker, as you put it. We were expecting a willing participant. Someone who knew what they were getting into."
“We thought all your anger was just,” Levi paused, rubbing the back of his neck, “you being pissed that you ended up in somewhere like Pinedale. And with guys like us. We thought you were expecting something nicer.”
“Just like you were expecting someone nicer,” I choked on the words as they exited.
Part of me, for whatever stupid Omega reason, didn’t want to say them.
I didn’t want these men to want someone else.
So, I had to push with all my might, releasing syllable by syllable.
“But, surprise, you got me instead.”, the sound bitter even to my own ears.
“Whoever said we wanted someone nicer?” Wyatt’s forest eyes bore into me, his mouth drawn in a serious line. “In what way did we make you feel we were disappointed?”
Those questions hung in the air.
I swallowed, caught off guard by the directness of Wyatt's question. The way he was looking at me made it hard to maintain the bitter edge I'd been clinging to.
"You don't have to pretend that you’re happy I got off that plane," I said, but my voice didn't carry the same conviction. "Look at you five. Literal giants. I’m a broken ballerina with a bum leg. Don’t try to act like I’m the kind of Omega you pictured. And I’m not going to change," I added. “What you see is what you get. I’m not going to let anyone control me.”
Wyatt loomed above and I glanced up at him, nerves fraying. “Could you please sit back down. You’re making me nervous.”
Wyatt slow blinked, absorbing my words, then he slowly sat.
“Thanks,” I murmured.
“You’re welcome,” he said, slowly nodding.
Silence blanketed the room. Too warm. To confining. I had to fill it.
“Even if I’d come here in a better way, this just wouldn’t work.
” I told them, gaze roving over each splendid Alpha face.
“I’m too different. I grew up flying between San Francisco and Tacoma.
I’m used to cities. Air pollution. Noise pollution.
Nonstop shopping and coffee shops at every corner.
I know nothing about living on a ranch.”
Wade leaned forward, hands knitting together atop the dining table, his eyes—a deeper green than his twin’s—gazed at me unwaveringly. "Did you ever think maybe that's exactly what makes you interesting to us?"
"What? My complete ignorance of rural life?" I scoffed, but the sincerity in his expression made something flutter in my chest. “My stupid body that can’t even get me past the property line without failing?”
“In your defense, there was a mountain lion involved,” Cooper butted in, that teasing way of his grating.
“Sure, a big ass cat. And how did I handle it? The second I was afraid; I ran back here so the big men could save me.” I leaned back in the chair; hands limp against my lap. “There’s nothing about me that fits in a place like this.”
"Everything about you is exactly what this place is missing," Boone said with quiet conviction. I turned to find his impossibly dark, warm eyes still fixed on me. “We’ve been colder longer than you know, Nelly. To us… you’re fire. You’re everything warm."
I looked away, uncomfortable with how his words seemed to reach inside me.
My gaze fell onto my plate. I picked up another gooseberry, then dropped my hand back down to my lap.
I fidgeted with the small fruit, trying not to pop it and make a mess, but also wanting to absolutely smash it.
Destroying something would feel good, even if it was this tiny berry Wyatt had painstakingly foraged.
“Even if I’d come here in a better way,” I repeated my earlier claim, “I’m not the right Omega for your pack.”
“Nelly, we really didn’t know,” Wade spoke again. “You got to believe that we had no idea they’d find you the way I did. No idea they’d cuff you and bring you here against your will.”
“Are you really trying to tell me you had no idea how Eros operated?” I asked, desperate to believe them. If they really hadn’t known, if they were good men, then maybe I didn’t have to fight my Omega desires so hard. "That they’d get your product anyway they had to?"
"We would never have agreed to that," Wyatt said firmly. His jaw tightened, a muscle ticking at the corner. "Never."
"I don’t understand why it’s me," I demanded—mostly from the universe, hoping fate would explain itself. My voice cracked out two questions. “Haven’t I been through enough? Haven’t I met my quota?”
Levi's face fell, a flash of genuine hurt in his eyes. "It's not like that, Nelly. We didn't ask for you to suffer."
"So, you say," I muttered, but something in his expression made my conviction waver. “But it’s not just this. It’s…” I waved both arms, gooseberry tucked into my right fist, “everything.”
Wade pushed away from the table, his chair legs scraping against the floor. I flinched again, expecting anger, but instead he walked to the coffee pot and refilled his mug. His movements were deliberately slow, like he was trying not to startle me.
"Look," he said, turning back to me with the steaming mug between his hands. "We're not asking you to stay if you don't want to. We're not monsters. But we didn't trick you either."
"Then what happens now?" I asked, hating how small my voice sounded. "You just... let me go?"
“First, we’ll make Eros answer for this,” Wyatt’s Alpha aura built again, though his words stayed steady. Only the dark promise of a storm overhead, no thunder or lightning yet. “Then, we’ll arrange everything you need to get home safely.”
Levi spoke next, his voice thoughtful, expression calculative. “Cooper, the contract was clear about informed consent, right? So, we definitely have a reason to give them hell over Nelly’s situation?” He paused, head tilting. “Maybe we can demand at least a partial refund.”
I frowned, realizing that Levi was running the numbers on returning me.
“So glad there’s a return policy,” I mumbled.
“I’m not sure there is,” Levi said evenly, ignoring my unhappiness. His mind was going, his focus elsewhere. “But what happened to you wasn’t part of the deal, and anything we can claw back from them should serve as your compensation.”
“Oh,” I bit my lip, then took a deep breath. “I don’t need any money. I just need… to not be here against my will.”
“Cooper?” Wyatt pressed, waiting for his pack mate’s response. “You know more about the Eros stuff. The rest of us just listened to you and that lady. Didn’t do much contract reading in the process.”
I snorted out a derisive chuckle. “Well, we can bond over the fact that we’re all stupid when it comes to signing shit we don’t read.”
At my words, Wyatt smirked at me. Somehow, the little quirk of his mouth and the slight brightening of his eyes, made him even more handsome. God, stupid Alpha being so stupidly gorgeous.
Now, all eyes turned to Cooper, who shuffled his feet and delayed answering long enough for Wyatt to stand up and take a step towards him. Cooper backed up until his body hit the butcher block island. He scratched at his jaw, looking guilty.