Chapter 13
Ariana
Istart skipping breakfast and keeping to my room or going out for walks more often. It’s better to be alone than to be punished for accidentally stepping on someone’s toes. Secretly, I wish they would ask me to join them again. No one does.
Cole does question me about the walks over dinner, the meal I can’t avoid. There’s only so many times I can pretend to have fallen asleep early.
“I was checking your phone’s location and saw,” he explains, passing the salt shaker to Ian. “You’ve been going out more often.”
I look up from my plate, pausing from borderline shoveling food in my mouth. My dinner plans lately amount to eating as fast as possible before asking to be excused. I reach for my glass of water, taking a sip as a pretense to give myself more time to answer.
“I just like the exercise.” I could leave it at that, or maybe add something about getting in shape for summer.
I don’t want to leave room for my actions to be misconstrued again, so I look at Ian as I continue instead.
“It’s nice to get out of the house, have some space. Prevents any misunderstandings.”
We stare at each other as the other three continue the conversation, not questioning my reasoning. His jaw twitches, like it normally does when I mention leaving the apartment. He’s allowed this, though.
He’s given me permission to go on my walks. It may not have been spoken in words, but he’s also enabled Amy’s prioritization of the common spaces by only punishing one of us. I’m just making sure she has the comfortable environment they want for her.
My normal days begin to consist of waking up after the pack has already left, cleaning the war zone our kitchen’s become, then walking around Scentral Park aimlessly until it’s almost time for my pack to come home.
I skip breakfast, eat lunch at one of the food trucks at the park, then take meager portions of dinner and tear through them, retreating to my room after until it’s time to do the dishes again, then back to my room.
Despite my decreasing presence, the apartment doesn’t return to its former peace and quiet. It’s a Sunday that throws a wrench in my planned routine. The pack’s home, but settled into their rooms or offices, busy with the interest they’ve accrued from Coates Industries’ attention.
That’s not an abnormal weekend for us. It’s the woman lingering outside of my bedroom door when I return from cleaning after their brunch that’s unusual.
“What are you doing?” Amy jumps at my words, making me squint suspiciously. “Did you need something?” I ask dryly, rubbing my damp hands against my pants.
“No!” The other omega squeaks. “Why?”
My eyebrows lift at that. Her scent doesn’t seem guilty, but there’s no reason for it to be filled with so much surprise. It’s natural for me to return to my room before my walk, to change or grab a jacket.
“What’s that?” I grab my doorknob, lifting my chin towards the hand clutched behind her back.
“Nothing. Well, I was just passing by,” she smiles almost nervously, stepping away. She’s being weird, but I’m not going to take the bait.
When I open my bedroom door though, turning gives me a view of what she’s holding. “Where the hell did you get that?” She’s clutching the umbrella the Coates pack gave me before she arrived. “That’s mine.”
Amy’s face falls. “I couldn’t find one. This was in the hallway.”
Bullshit. “That was definitely in my room.” There’s no reason for it to be in the hallway. Our cleaning service has never moved the things in my closet around, and I distinctly remember tossing it in there. “Give it back.”
“What’s the commotion about?” Liam pops into the hallway. It’s like he has a sixth sense for Amy.
“She’s been going through my stuff! She took my umbrella.” I can’t help my voice rising.
It’s about the principle. It’s my room. She already has the rest of the apartment to herself, why does she need the one place just for me?
Liam scoffs at my frustration. “How immature are you, babe? It’s a damn umbrella. Is your name written on it?”
It might be just a damn umbrella, but I feel strangely possessive over it. It was given to me without any expectations to return it or because I did something for them. It was a plain act of kindness that wasn’t turned on me later, like the coffee cups.
“It’s mine.” I repeat, upset. She can’t keep taking everything from me.
Amy bursts into tears, clutching it close. “I’m sorry! I just wanted things for my nest badly. I only went into your room to look for the pack’s clothes.”
“Why go into Ariana’s room instead of ours? You could have just asked.” I didn’t even register Cole’s arrival. Looking up now, I can see Ian’s office door has swung open as well, though he stands watching without speaking.
“I didn’t want to accidentally take anything important or something you’d miss,” Amy pouts. “I thought if you were okay sharing it with her, it would be okay to share it with me too.”
“What if it was something I would miss? You were just going to take it without asking?” Her bottom lip trembles at my sharp tone.
“I just wanted to work on my nest. Is that a crime?”
“With an umbrella?” I point out incredulously. It’s so ridiculous I could almost laugh.
“It smells really good! Here, take it,” she thrusts it at me. It smacks into my stomach and knocks the wind out of me, but I wrap both of my hands around it anyway. “Happy?”
Liam rolls his eyes. “It’s just an umbrella. We’ll buy you a new one. What’s so special about it?”
“The Coates pack gave it to me.” In my mind, this fact might please Ian. He wanted to gain their favor so badly, and I helped him do that.
The displeasure that begins to sour his whiskey scent tells me I’ve given him the wrong answer. “And you’re saying you would miss it?”
“No, I-” the explanation I’m scrambling for dies in my throat as he holds out his hand, looking at the umbrella meaningfully.
“Neither of you should be wanting anything from another man as long as you’re in this house,” he coldly stares at me. “Especially not from another alpha. Think about how that makes our pack look.”
I can’t tell him it’s not about the umbrella itself, but about the way it was given. It’ll only make him angrier.
“Amy, if you need something for your nest, come to us. Don’t go rummaging through Ariana’s closet.” The pack lead waits for Amy to nod before he turns back to me. “Give it here.”
I look at his outstretched hand, then up at him. My fingers curl tighter around it, clutching it closer and stepping back. His eyebrows raise in surprise.
I’m wrenched forward, stumbling as he tears the umbrella out of my hands. The smell of apples grows stronger as Cole moves forward to catch me.
“That’s a bit harsh.” Cole’s words give me deja vu.
“She shouldn’t have had it in the first place.” Ian answers gruffly. “Why would you let another alpha give you something? You know better than that, Ariana.”
My vision clouds with tears, palms turned red from how hard I was gripping the umbrella.
“Sorry, I didn’t think it through when my pack told me they were bringing in another woman and just let me walk out into the rain. I should have just gotten drenched instead.” I look up from my palms to Ian. “That’s what you would’ve preferred, right?”
The air grows tense as our pack’s eyes flicker between me and Ian, whose pheromones swell with displeasure. It presses down against me, but the sting of my hands is worse, distracting me from shrinking away like I normally would. I stare at him defiantly, neither of us speaking.
“I think another night without dinner will do.” Ian finally says, turning back into his office.
We don’t move until the door shuts behind him.
I tear myself away from Cole’s grasp, stomping into my closet to look if anything else’s missing.
It doesn’t look any different from how I left it this morning, but it feels unsettling.
Like there’s been a disturbance and it doesn’t quite belong to me anymore.