Chapter five #3
Gabriel looks at me, really looks, and I feel how small I am in this house, how out of place. My face is stinging, my eyes are wet, and I’m curled up so tight I might fold all the way in on myself. I see a flicker on his face—a twist of regret or maybe longing. Maybe both.
“Let me look at your shoulder,” he says, crossing the room toward me.
I shake my head, pulling away. “I’m fine. You should go to him. He needs you.”
“I need to make sure you’re not seriously hurt.”
“I’m not. It’s only scratches.” I’m lying and he knows it, but the last thing I want right now is his hands on me, this thing flaring between us when we both know it’s not going anywhere.
Gabriel hesitates, caught between me and the sound of Miles’s sobs still echoing from upstairs. He closes his eyes for a second, like it hurts him to even leave me, but then he’s made up his mind.
“Garrett will take care of you,” he says finally. “I need to calm Miles down before he hurts himself. But Lily—“ He pauses at the door. “I really am sorry. This isn’t what I wanted for you.”
He leaves. Of course he leaves. He will always leave.
His footsteps are heavy on the stairs, and then I’m alone in the wreckage, blood drying on my skin. Miles is screaming his rage and heartbreak. Mine sits silent under my skin, like it always has. Quiet. Always quiet.
I sit there for a while. Long enough for the burn to turn into a heavy ache. Long enough for the truth of what I’ve walked into to settle in.
This is it. This is my life now. A pack house where the only other omega hates me on sight. Alphas who feel the pull but can’t do anything about it.
At least Brennan Foster can’t find me here. Small mercies.
Eventually, Garrett comes back, first aid kit in hand, and sits down next to me on the couch.
“Hey,” he says soft and careful, like I might shatter if he’s too loud. “Let me take a look at that.”
I let him. He cleans the cuts on my face first, gentle with the antiseptic, apologizing every time I wince like he’s the one who scratched me.
“The shoulder too,” he says, and I let him move the collar of my t-shirt aside so he can see the bite. His touch is warm, sweet, nothing like Miles’s frantic grip.
When he’s done, he sits a little bit closer. Just close enough that I feel the heat from him.
“I’m sorry about Miles,” Garrett says, and I believe he means it.
“He’s not usually… I mean, he can be a lot, but he’s not a bad guy.
He’s scared. What happened to him before…
” He trails off, shoulders slumping. “It broke something in him. He’s been getting better, but this—you, the scent match—it’s like it undid a lot of that work. ”
“I’m sorry.” I stare at the wall, wishing I could disappear into it. “Gabriel told me. About his old pack. And the promise.”
Garrett’s hands still for a second. “Yeah. Gabriel made that promise when Miles was at his lowest, when he was so sure we’d leave him if something better came along. It’s the only thing that made him feel safe.”
“And now I’m here.” I hear the emptiness in my own tone. “And he thinks everything Gabriel promised is about to break.”
“It won’t.” Garrett finishes the bandage and doesn’t move his hand away, lets it rest on my shoulder. “Listen, Lily. This is a mess and you didn’t ask for any of this. But having you here—it feels right. I don’t know how to explain it.”
“The match,” I say, because it’s easier than anything else.
“It’s not just that.” He turns to face me, green eyes meeting mine and holding on. “When you walked in, it clicked. Like we’d been waiting for you and didn’t even know it. Cyrus feels it too. He wouldn’t have said you smell right if he didn’t. That’s basically a love confession coming from him.”
I laugh, watery and a little shaky. “That’s a love confession?”
“For Cyrus? Absolutely.” Garrett smiles, soft and a little sad.
“Look, I’m not going to sugarcoat it. Miles is going to fight you every step of the way.
Gabriel’s going to keep his distance because he feels guilty.
And you’re going to feel like you don’t belong, because what else could you possibly feel in this situation? ”
He takes my hand, thumb tracing gentle circles on my skin, soft but insistent.
“But you do belong here, Lily. Even if this is temporary, even if everything feels upside down. You’re not alone anymore. Okay?”
That’s what finally breaks me. The quiet way he says it. The tears spill over and this time I don’t hold them back.
“Okay,” I whisper.
Garrett pulls me into a hug, careful of my shoulder, holding me while I cry.
The house is quiet except for the faint sound of Miles upstairs, sobbing, and Gabriel’s low voice trying to calm him down.
The rest of the house settles around us, unfamiliar but suddenly not so scary with Garrett beside me.
This isn’t what I dreamed about. It’s not the happily ever after I was hoping for.
But letting Garrett hold me through my heartache makes me feel more alive than I have in a long time. For now I’ll take it. What choice do I have?