Chapter 33 Sofia
Sofia
Igrab Devon’s arm, pulling him back. “Wait. Please.”
“Why should I? Is it true? Do you have a pack?” Devon snarls at the door, though his eyes swing back and land on me.
A sob breaks free, but he just growls, unmoved.
“Devon, please, I can explain.”
“How can you explain this?” Devon says, his voice soft, broken. He stops abruptly when Elijah puts a hand on his chest.
“You have a pack!” Mack says in a horrified whisper. “Sofia, you should have said something.”
More and more people start throwing questions, start shouting. It gets louder and louder, but I can’t look away from them.
They’re going to leave. No, I have to stop them.
“Wait.”
They can’t hear me.
“Devon, stop!”
He’s turning away. I have to tell the truth. All of it.
“I don’t!” I shout over the roar of voices. “They are courting someone else. That pack isn’t mine. They didn’t want me. I was just a joke, a way to hide their real choice from their parents. I didn’t want them. Nothing was agreed; they never touched me. I was just a joke.”
My words trail off in the silence.
Humiliation burns through me. All eyes are on me; every single person I care about is staring at me, watching this lowest moment. I should have said something earlier.
Devon has paused; he’s still breathing hard.
“They were going to make it official when I found everything out. They never wanted me. It was a game. I was a fool, but…”
I look at all the angry and disappointed expressions of my family. Everything I feared has come true. Everything I was hoping to avoid.
I snuggle Danger closer and then spot Felix.
“Felix?”
His eyes are hard and distrusting. “Can you take Danger to the secret beach? Don’t let anyone stop you.”
“Why?” he practically spits. “Will you tell me the truth?”
“Because I…” I look around, and I duck my head. Fess up, Sol. “I stole him. They are probably here to arrest me. Trust me, that pack doesn’t want me; they want Danger back and probably money for the damage I caused.”
My mother shrieks and grabs my arm. “Sofia, what were you thinking? What damage? You stole their dog?”
I rip my arm free of my mother’s grip. “I was thinking the job I went to the city for didn’t exist. It was a scam.
The apartment was crap and no bigger than my bedroom here, probably smaller, and it was scary.
That first night, I was robbed, and all my money was gone.
I was thinking I couldn’t get home even if I wanted to. ”
“Why didn’t you call for help?” she whispers.
“And say what? That I failed? Come back here and spend forever pining for someone who would never look at me twice?” I say bitterly. “That all my dreams dried up in the smog-filled city in just a couple of hours?”
They stare at me.
“I had to try. Then I had my heat, and it costs money to hire a pack, and I couldn’t afford it, and…
” I glance down. “I had to borrow money. Every time I paid it off, something would come up, and I would need to borrow more. The pack bought my debt; they claimed it was love at first sight. They rescued me.”
I squeeze my eyes closed.
“It wasn’t love for me, but it felt like a way out.
” I open my eyes, focusing on Elijah. “They said they loved me. They helped me find clean, safe housing. I got a job as a waitress. I started getting back on my feet. They were nice, but then, one day, they brought this puppy, and I fell in love. They promised everything was going to change when we became an official pack.”
I exhale roughly, remembering the last couple of hours I spent in that hellhole.
“I went out one day, and when I came home, my dog was gone. I could smell them, they never even bothered to hide that it was them, so I went to their home.”
I look around the room quickly. People are listening, but I can’t tell if they care or not.
“They gave my puppy to her and were laughing about it. About fooling me, how simple minded I was. How countrified. She’s their real omega. And I wasn’t sad, not about her anyway.”
I stare at Elijah, focusing only on him.
“I was angry, and I just snapped. Danger was hungry and so very little. Just another lost soul, like me. I couldn’t leave him with them.
So, I took him, set the sprinklers off inside their house, and stole their car.
I dumped the car and bought mine off someone for all the money I had in my bank account.
I went to a pet shop, got Danger what he needed, and sank every cent I had into gas to get home. Then I came back.”
Elijah opens his mouth, then closes it and swallows hard. Do they believe me?
I’m losing them. Desperation surges through me. I remember that night; his eyes were so bright, his hands were so soft, and he knew things no one else did. He changed me. Now, I can’t imagine a day without him.
“You are my summer days.”
His eyes flick to my face.
“You are my summer days,” I choke out. “You are the sunlight glinting off the bluest ocean. The salt and laughter in the air, the warmth on my skin. You’re what I yearn for.
What I’ve always yearned for, Elijah. You are my summers, those happy days I missed so very much. You are warmth and happiness.”
He doesn’t say anything, and neither does anyone else. The weight of their disappointment is heavy in the air. Their judgement.
I turn to Mack. Two of the happiest days I ever had were spent exploring Sunshine Cove hand-in-hand, when I was his. I mourned him like I’d known him for a lifetime.
“You are my lighthouse, the safety when everything is terrifying. It was your words I heard all these years. You believed in me, saw me. In the darkest storms, it was the memory of you that kept me from losing myself. When I was watching them take Danger from me, it was you that gave me the strength to find home.”
Devon is still facing away from me, his body stiff and still. In all my life, whenever I think of home, Devon is there.
“You are my ocean, Devon, deep, dangerous, dark. Full of joy and mystery. You are the tide that is in my veins. You are my heartbeat, the pulse of my life. I ran from you, and I came back because I couldn’t stay away, because no one is you. No one ever will be.”
I take a step towards him, towards them.
“I am sorry I didn’t tell you the truth. I am sorry that I hurt you. That I didn’t trust you, but,” I swipe away the tears running down my cheeks, “I love you. I always have, and I always will.”
When the three of them still don’t move, I turn away but just manage to catch the weight that throws itself at me. Another one hits, then another.
“You’re a Sunshine Omega; that’s all you need to be. We have your back,” Cordelia whispers. “I don’t care what happened. I just care that you’re safe.”
“That, exactly that!” Asher growls in my ear.
“Ditto,” Felix grumbles. “No one is getting you or Danger. I’ll take him and hide him. No one will touch a hair on his body.”
I open my eyes and see Sebastian’s grim expression. He raises an eyebrow.
“They hurt you, Sis?” He cracks his knuckles.
“We can talk about it first, Sebastian,” Pops says.
“We’ll talk after they're gone,” Dad snaps.
Grandma takes Mum's arm. She nods her head, and I know that she will help me with whatever I need.
“Some paths are a journey. She had to go and grow so she could come back. She’s here; she’s safe. You raised an amazing omega; be proud, my daughter.”
Mum sniffles and looks at me. I stare back at her until I hear the door slam.
I struggle free and look around, but the pack is gone. Panic turns the edges of my world white.
“Where are they?” I shriek.
I rush to the door and yank it open, rushing out, only to stumble backwards as Devon stalks back in, followed by Mack and Elijah.
They look different than I’ve ever seen them.
Devon grabs me by the nape and drags me up against his chest, kissing me hard. I melt into him, using him to keep myself upright.
“I forgot to do this.”
I pant against him. Relief makes me tremble. “I’m confused, don’t you hate me now?”
“You think for one second I would ever be disgusted or disappointed in you?” Devon growls out.
He sounds feral. “Do you think after all these years I don’t know you inside and out?
Do you think I could hate you for stealing a car and a dog?
Or getting suckered by some idiot alphas?
I want to kill them. They won’t touch you,” Devon promises in a savage growl.
I stare up at him.
He kisses me hard and then shoves me at Mack.
“Foolish omega. No one would punish you for surviving.” He is so infinitely gentle when he rubs his thumb over my cheekbone. “Don’t you know how much we love you? Shhh, what are you crying for?”
“I wasn’t sure…I didn’t know.”
Elijah takes his place and wraps his arms around me, holding me tight. “We were waiting here for you, and we would have waited for a lifetime. I might be your summer days, but you are Sunshine. This place isn’t home without you, Sofia. We could never hate you.”
I bury my face in his shoulder, and he holds me tight while I cry.
“I know you were scared, and it was lonely. But you’re here now, and we’re not leaving you. You have a pack, and we’re right here. Look at us.”
I lift my head, taking in his soft smile, Mack’s intense gaze, Devon’s electric aura, and then gradually, I take in the rest of the people in the room.
Pack goes beyond just the one you're bonded to. I’ve heard that, but I’ve only ever seen it true in Sunshine.
The Pack Makers and my grandparents stand with mum.
My siblings, those born into this family and those chosen to join, stand together.
But it spreads out further; we are a network, everyone connected. This town is more than just a town.
It’s a family.
It’s pack.
“They want to take you back?” My mum finally finds her voice. The thunder in it makes everyone who has lived with her flinch. “They think they can force my baby to go back to suffer after they hurt her?”
Elijah slides his hand down my arm and laces our fingers together.
“We’re not running,” he says. “Bring Danger. It’s time to drive this pack out of town.”
My head is spinning, but did I hear that right?
“What?” I choke out.
“We’re going to face this together,” Devon says firmly. “That pack doesn’t deserve to even look at you.”
Asher takes my free hand, while the others gather close around as we step back out onto the street.
There are red and pink hearts everywhere, and Mum's Valentine’s Day banner flaps in the wind. But Sunshine is stepping out, ready to go to war. For me!
The pack are scowling in our direction. They look exactly the same as the last time I saw them, but it feels like it was a lifetime ago. How did I even think I could be happy with them?
“Don’t worry, Rebel. Everything is going to be fine,” Devon says with a wink that makes my heart lurch.
They believed me. They listened. No one cares what I had to do. No one is trying to force me to give Danger back. I don’t have to run. I can stay here.
My head spins wildly, but I walk out into the middle of the street, ignoring the stares of everyone from Sunshine.
“I’m not your omega. I’m a Sunshine omega.” I say loud and clear, declaring myself to everyone who can hear, and they will all know exactly what that means.
I’m staying.
I’m fighting.
I’ve come home.