Chapter forty-one
Lily
The drive is silent. Jeremy keeps both hands on the wheel like it’s the only thing holding him together.
He stares straight ahead. He looks angry and sad and guilty all at once.
I don’t try to talk. I stare out the window and watch the city slide past. The familiar places blur until they’re nothing.
Really, I try not to think. Because thinking means remembering and I can’t take that right now.
Remembering is Miles at the kitchen table with his banana, not even looking up.
Gabriel’s eyes all red and wet, hand sure as he signed the forms anyway.
The last breath I ever took of cedar and smoke and how my whole body reacted to it.
So I try to go blank. I watch the road and pretend I’m not even here.
It takes me a while to notice we’re not going the right way.
At first, it’s just a weird feeling. The roads get wider. The strip malls thin out. Instead of drive-thrus and neon, there are big stretches of trees and lawns nobody mows themselves. I see a couple of fancy gates. This is definitely not the way to Jeremy’s place.
“Jeremy. This isn’t the way to your house.”
He doesn’t answer.
“I know it was late when you drove me there before, but I remember the route. We didn’t go this way.” I say it quieter, just in case he’s not ignoring me on purpose.
His knuckles whiten on the wheel. He still won’t look at me.
“Jeremy, where are we going?”
He lets out this long shaky breath. Like he’s been carrying something too heavy, and he’s just put it down. “I’m sorry, Lily.”
That makes me freeze. Something’s wrong about it. It doesn’t sound like an apology for my crap day. It sounds like a confession.
“Sorry for what?”
He keeps driving. Bigger houses now. Even greener lawns. The cold in my stomach creeps up, spreading until I feel sort of numb.
“I do like you,” he says. “My whole pack wanted you. We really did turn down three omegas, hoping you’d come to us.”
I try to laugh but it comes out weird and bitter. “I’m coming to you now.”
He shakes his head, just a little.
“Jeremy. Tell me what’s going on.”
“He has something on me, Lily.” He barely gets it out. Like the words could come back on him.
“Who has something on you?” But I already know.
The pieces have been there all along, just waiting.
Brennan at the event the other night. How Jeremy looked when he came back from talking to him.
His pack huddled together, off for the rest of the night.
I hope the Santos pack gives you everything you deserve.
That wasn’t a blessing he gave me on the phone. It was a warning.
“My father is important,” Jeremy says. “He built so much. The businesses, the charities, the family name. If he found out what kind of trouble I got into, he’d cut me off. He’d cut my whole pack off from everything.”
“What kind of trouble?”
We’re deep in old-money territory now. Stone walls, iron gates, houses set so far back I can barely see them.
“My sister died four years ago. We were close. I… fell apart after.” He swallows. “I started spending time in the Hollows. Looking for anything that would make me stop feeling it.”
My head spins. “You were involved with trafficked omegas?”
“No.” He shakes his head fast. “Not the ones forced into it. The ones who chose it. The voluntary ones.”
“Prostitutes.”
He winces, but nods. “That wasn’t even the worst part. I drank. Gambled. Bet on the alpha fights. I owed more than I could cover. Someone kept records. Pictures. Videos. Financial stuff. Enough to ruin me.”
“And someone’s using that against you.”
“He has proof, Lily. Enough to show my father and destroy everything. He’s also promised to clear my debts.”
“Brennan.”
He doesn’t say yes, but he doesn’t need to. The silence is enough.
My pulse is too loud. “Jeremy, where are you taking me?”
“He’s not going to hurt you.” Jeremy’s words come out fast, rehearsed, like he’s been practicing. “I swear. I wouldn’t do this if I really thought he would.”
“You don’t know that!” I’m climbing. Panic everywhere. “He came to the Santos house and tried to buy me. He told Gabriel I was his omega but I’ve never even liked him. He’s dangerous, Jeremy. He will hurt me.”
“He was your scent match, Lily.”
Everything stops. The road, the trees, the engine, even my own thoughts. All of it frozen.
“That’s not true. I’m matched to the Santos pack.”
“You are now. But you were matched to the Fosters first.”
“No. He’s lying to you. He’s just manipulating you. That’s not even possible.”
“He’s not lying. And you know it’s possible. He took me to the registry. Had them pull the records. Your scent sample was there. Brennan matched to it and registered before anyone else. Almost six years ago. It’s all documented.”
“If that was true, the registry would have pushed him to take me immediately. Matches always get top priority.”
“Brennan’s father wouldn’t have it. The Fosters were supposed to take a different omega—a daughter from a business family. It was all arranged. Brennan’s father made him claim her.” Jeremy’s hands flex on the wheel. “When Brennan claimed the arranged omega, your match dissolved.”
“But I’m matched to the Santos pack.” I’m repeating myself but I don’t care. Jeremy isn’t understanding me.
“Dissolved doesn’t mean they can’t shift, Lily. You know that. Matches can reform with other alphas and omegas. As long as you don’t have a mate, they can shift. It’s even rarer than original scent matches, but it happens. The Santos pack is your second-chance match.”
He says it like he memorized it. Like something he had to practice.
“What happened to the omega Brennan claimed?” I ask it even though I really, really don’t want to know.
“She passed. A few years ago. She was very sick. They weren’t together long.”
Very sick. How convenient. I don’t say it, but the words land hard. I can barely breathe around them.
“Even if all of this is true,” I say. The words come out unsteady. “We’re not matched anymore. The bond is dissolved. It’s over.”
“It is. But you were matched once, and that means you’re biologically compatible. He never stopped wanting you, Lily. He’s been waiting for this since his omega died and his father got off his back.”
“I don’t want him. I’ll never want him.“ I turn to Jeremy, desperate. “Please. Don’t do this. Just turn around. Please.”
“It’s done.” He has to swallow before he goes on. “The paperwork is signed and filed.”
“That’s impossible. I didn’t sign anything for Brennan. I signed your transfer. Your name was on those forms.”
Jeremy doesn’t answer.
The silence is thick. Heavy. Some part of me already knows what’s coming.
“It wasn’t your paperwork,” I whisper. “The stuff I signed. It wasn’t for you.”
Jeremy nods, slow.
“If I’d actually read them...” I can barely get the words out. “Brennan’s name was on those forms?”
“He signed in advance. It was all done before you arrived.”
“The registry wouldn’t allow that. Both people have to be there. The clerk has to witness it.”
“They would allow it if your father mattered enough. Brennan’s does. And the registry still had your original scent match records. Dissolved or not, they get priority. You know the rules, Lily. Biology comes first.”
I do know the rules. Every omega does. Scent match above everything. Biology before preference. Before anything that might make things messy.
The system that was supposed to protect me just handed me over to the one person I’m most afraid of.
“Jeremy.” I’m begging now, and I don’t care. “Please. Turn around. Take me back. Take me to the registry. To your house. Anywhere. Just not to him.”
“I can’t.” He won’t look at me. “I can’t lose my family. My pack needs me. If my father finds out—“
“So you’re trading me for your inheritance.”
He doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t have to.
“You know he was on the news yesterday? Brennan was being praised for helping bring down a gang of traffickers and murderers. The same man you’re delivering me to gets to play hero on TV and move people around like pawns behind the scenes.
” I’m shaking now. “You saw how he was the other night. You know exactly what he is.”
“I know what he is,” Jeremy says. He sounds empty. “I also know what happens to me if I say no.”
The truck turns. We’re on a long, tree-lined driveway.
The branches form a weird tunnel overhead, blocking the sun.
At the end is a house that could be a castle.
Three stories, stone and glass, everything perfect.
The yard is so manicured I bet every blade of grass gets measured.
It’s stunning. Cold. Beautiful like a tomb.
They’re waiting for us.
Four men. Brennan’s in front, hands in his pockets, casual as anything. The rest of his pack is behind him: Jules, Tyler, Kaison. They look like they’ve been expecting us. Like they have all the time in the world.
Brennan is smiling.
Terror floods me. I throw myself at the door, yanking the handle, shoving as hard as I can. Nothing. I try again, kicking, clawing. Useless.
Child locks. He locked me in.
The alpha who brought me wildflowers and opened every door for me locked me in the truck so I couldn’t run.
“Let me out!” I’m sobbing, pulling at the handle, pounding the window. “Jeremy, let me out, please, please—“
“Lily, stop. You’ll injure yourself. He’s not going to hurt you. He just wants his omega. You’ll be okay.”
“You don’t know that! You have no idea what he’ll do to me! Please, Jeremy, please don’t do this to me. I thought you were a good guy.”
He pauses like he wants to change his mind and take it all back.
“I’m sorry,” he finally says. Whatever fight he had in him is gone.
He puts the truck in park.
Brennan opens my door.
He holds out his hand, palm up, like a gentleman. Like this is all normal. He’s still smiling. His scent is locked down so tight I can barely read him—just the faintest trace of sandalwood and leather.
“My omega has finally come home,” he says.
I slam myself back against the seat. “I’m not your omega. I’ll never be your omega!”
His smile doesn’t fade. He keeps his hand out, patient, like he’s enjoying this last little bit before he wins. He already knows how it ends.
“Lily.” He says it so soft, almost gentle, like he’s talking to a scared kitten. “There’s nowhere else to go. The Santos pack doesn’t want you. The Carrs can’t have you. Everything’s processed. I’m all you have now.”
I don’t take his hand. So he just reaches in and grabs my arm. His grip is firm but not painful. He’s done pretending.
He pulls me out and holds me against his chest. I fight—I really do—I kick and scratch and try to get free. He doesn’t move. He wraps his arms around me and his scent, even muted, makes everything in me recoil.
“You’ll learn,” he murmurs into my hair. “Omegas always do.”
Then he finds my ear. His voice drops, low enough that only I hear it. The warmth disappears. What’s left is the real Brennan—the one who looked at me in Gabriel’s living room like I was already his.
“I’m going to punish you for every day that my omega spent in the arms of those fucking alphas.“ He crushes me tighter. “By the end, you’ll be begging for my knot and my claiming bite. I’m going to remind you who your real alphas are.”
I scream.