Chapter 50
Ariana
Ahand caresses my face softly.
Mumbling, I lean into it expecting the scent of pistachio, aloe, wine or sandalwood. The fragrance twists instead, turning into the smell of a crisp apple, spiraling again as the apple scent turns rotten.
Recoiling from the touch like I’ve been burnt, my eyes snap open. They slowly focus on Cole’s body standing next to the bed. Realizing where I am, I scramble out of the sheets.
He clears his throat. “Come eat breakfast.”
“I’m not hungry.” Surprisingly, the words don’t come out strained. My throat’s improved vastly.
“It isn’t optional.”
When is it ever?
Amy’s tight clothes have returned. She can openly flaunt her pregnancy now that it’s no longer a secret, after all. It must have been killing her to keep to herself, knowing she had material to one up me.
The bump is tiny. I can only see the curve of her stomach because I know to look for it. If I strain, I can smell the undercurrent of fertility in her scent now too.
The tinge of it to her fragrance doesn’t hurt. If it had been there when she had first arrived, it might have. Perhaps that’s why they moved her in so early into her pregnancy. Her neck’s tinged bright crimson, a fresh mating mark blemishing her skin.
She isn’t the only one. I didn’t notice it when he woke me up earlier, but Cole and the other two alphas have similar bites. They sure move quickly. That’s that then. Amy’s linked to them, just as I regrettably still am.
I don’t know whether to congratulate or feel bad for her. I do neither, because I’ve decided on a new tactic.
“If you don’t let me leave, I’m going to throw myself out of one of these windows.”
The room stills. Liam and Amy stare at my standing body. Ian sits at the head of the table, watching me coldly. Cole’s still standing next to me.
Who took down my birthday decorations, I wonder. Amy? One of the assistants?
Then Ian picks up his tablet, looking down at it dismissively. “Sit down, Ariana. How long will you keep doing these ploys for attention?”
Following his lead, everyone resumes their motions. Amy and Liam start eating. Cole moves to the table, pulling out a seat and looking at me meaningfully. I don’t budge from my spot in the doorway.
“It’s not about attention. It’s about the bond, and you know it.”
“My decision still stands.” He reasserts firmly, scrolling.
I glare at him. “Why? So people won’t talk badly about you?” Scoffing, I cross my arms. “You care so much about your reputation you’d rather have a dead omega than one that’s left.”
That’s the type of men this pack are. If the bond won’t function as a leash, they’re fine with it becoming a noose. Anything but letting me be free. A free woman can be a disappointing or shameful one, after all.
Setting the tablet down, the alpha returns my stare. The eyes of the remaining three flicker between us. Amy’s scent switches between entertained and unimpressed. Liam’s sage bitters with disdain. Cole’s apple fragrance ripples with unease.
Ian and I, for perhaps the first time ever, match. Both our scents remain unwavering with contempt.
He breaks the stare first, pressing his hands into the table as he stands. “I’m getting sick of your nonsense. See me in my office. Let’s talk.”
“I don’t want to.” I retort immediately. I already came to his little breakfast. Nothing he says in his office will be something I haven’t heard before.
Cole already used the classic lines yesterday.
Everything that happened was my fault for not listening.
I should have paid more attention. This is why I can’t leave the house.
I’m still a member of this pack and always will be their scent match.
It was for my good, and if not for mine, it was for the pack’s good.
Which in their minds means it was ultimately still in my best interests.
They’re too predictable. I can recite all of their excuses from memory. There’s nothing to be gained from hearing it again.
Not that it matters to Ian. “Come!” He barks, the sudden shout making Amy jump. Liam glares at me like I’m the one who scared her. The way his thought process seems to work, I probably am.
Despite my body’s attempt to hesitate, it can’t resist the command. Ian walks in quick strides, holding the door open for me. His eyes narrow at the sloth pace I deliberately move at. The bark was only to come, not to come fast.
When I arrive in his office, the alpha locks the door behind me. It hasn’t changed much since the last time I was here. When Amy had her misunderstanding and he decided to punish me over it.
The chairs and desk are the same. Ian sits behind the latter, I don’t take a seat on the former.
There’s a tinge of the constant air of impatience that follows Ian in the room.
The only notable thing is the umbrella the Coates pack gave me the day I first met them.
I notice it out of the corner of my eye, leaning against the corner of the wall in the room.
Ian must have left it here since he confiscated it, oddly.
The whiskey scented man studies me, every note of liquor in his fragrance so bitter it makes my recently recovered throat burn again. Finally, he leans back in the chair.
“If I give you shares in Viewer, what message does that send to Amy? Will I have to give away shares for the rest of my life, each time an omega gets her feelings hurt?” He glowers at me. “I’m not interested in rewarding bad behavior, Ariana.”
I shrug. “Seems like you’ve never had a problem doing that before.” I don’t mean only with Amy, but with all the crimes he’s committed. Ian’s a conniving man.
He sends me a grim, malicious smirk at that. “They’ve been whispering in your ear, haven’t they? Here’s what I think. I don’t need to give you Viewer. I just need to keep you here. If they care about you so much, will they let you go down with our pack’s ship?”
“No, they won’t.” I answer him honestly. “There’s no chance I’ll stay here though. They’ll come back for me. They have enough for a conviction, and then they’ll break my bond.”
He leans back. “Is that what they told you? You’ve really convinced yourself they love you. What will you do when they meet their scent match? I’m not going to be generous enough to take you back a second time.”
“Generous?” I look at him aghast. “I didn’t choose to come back. I didn’t choose to be here at all. You marked me before I got to pick!”
“Oh, poor little Ariana. You were begging me to mark you, sweetheart. You couldn’t get your hands off of me.” He smiles at me cruelly. “You got what you wanted, and I gave you the world besides, and you’re still ungrateful. We never should have spoiled you so much.”
“Spoiled me? You didn’t even let me walk outside alone for years.”
“See what happens when we did? You went out and decided to be a little whore, like I knew you would.”
Seething, my hands clench into fists. “They would never talk about me like that. They’ll never abandon me like you did. They chose me, and they’re going to come back for me, and you’re going to regret everything.”
He stands. “What kind men. They chose you even though you’re mine.” He sighs. “I hate sharing, Ariana. Especially what belongs to me.” He moves back towards the windows, looking outside.
“I didn’t want things to come to this. They want my life’s work and my omega. Because of love,” he spits the last word out, sneering. “How juvenile.” He turns back to me, a derisive smile on his face. “How far do you think their love goes, Ariana?”
I don’t answer, but he continues, seemingly thinking aloud to himself. “Far enough to love you when you’re mine.” There’s a dangerous glint in his eyes, making the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
Every instinct in my body is screaming at me to get out of here. Slowly, I move backwards in small steps. My hand finds the knob, slowly twisting it. It doesn’t turn. Still looking at him, I fumble with the lock behind my back.
“Is it far enough to love you when you’re pregnant with another man’s child?
Will they still love you then? Stand still!
” He barks the last words at me, making me freeze.
Nodding with dark satisfaction, he continues.
“You forgot your place, Ariana. It’s always been under me.
A bit of attention from other men doesn’t change that. ”
Walking away from the window, he starts moving towards me. I’ve never felt loathing like this in my life. All I can do is stand, watching him approach.
“And even if they can? Will they still ruin everything, knowing your child is half mine? Would the men you love so much put your child in that situation? No, Ariana. You have to stay. You still have a role to play in this pack, whether you like it or not.”
My soulmate, I used to think of him as. My scent match, my enemy. An oxymoron to most.
The source of the sheer hatred flooding my body to me. Years of festered resentment course through my veins, making each limb blaze with heat. The scorching force of my hatred sends a single down my limbs, down my arm to my fingertips. My finger twitches.
Ian’s growing closer, having crossed around the desk now. In an act of either blind faith or a gamble, I swerve to the side. Miraculously breaking through the bark and avoiding him. My hands close around the umbrella firmly.
In my longing, I may be imagining what I want to smell. I swear there’s a hint of my pack’s scents still lingering on it, despite how long it’s been since they gave it to me. Delusion or not, it makes strength surge through me.
I swing it at Ian with all the force I can. He startles, scent flickering with surprise. Alphas recover from wounds quicker than the rest, though. I raise the umbrella again as he starts moving towards me once more.
Recovered from his shock, Ian’s furious and expecting the hit this time. He grabs it with one hand, wrenching it from my grip and tossing it aside.
“How dare you?” His nostrils flare as he seethes. He’s blocking the door. I should have ran out of it instead of diving for the umbrella.
No, that wouldn’t have worked. I would have had to unlock it, move aside to open it, then run out of it. He would have grabbed the back of my collar again in that time. My pack’s umbrella was the best bet.
Their faces flash in my mind now as I run further into the office. Ian grabs me by my shoulder, flipping me to face him. The desk stabs into my lower back, but the pain is nothing compared to the fear I feel.
Ian’s body looms over mine, cornering me against the desk. In a last ditch effort, I grab the contents off its surface at random, flinging them at him. They do next to no damage as he runs his eyes over me, making my skin crawl.
Fingers grasping around a tape dispenser, I raise my arm again. He grabs it and holds my wrist in place. My other hand closes around something else I can’t discern.
“Throw that and I’ll break your wrist.” Ian’s fingers squeeze around my wrist for emphasis. “You don’t need it, do you?” My hand doesn’t let go of whatever I’m holding, but my arm stills.
Think, Ariana, think. I plead with myself. I can’t come up with ideas, my mind preoccupied flashing through memories with my pack. Walking with them in the park, learning they love me, meals together, cuddling in my nest.
One memory slows, all of us together, the living room furniture spread out to give us space. Sebastian and Evan teaching me how to box, Nico and Jason giving me advice. I said I would never use the lesson, but I was wrong.
My knee shoots upwards, slamming between Ian’s legs. His hold on my hands loosens as he slumps stumbles. Unrelenting, I free my arm from his grab and elbow his face. Taking the opportunity, I dive for the umbrella again.
Without hesitation, I raise it again. The man hasn’t caught himself yet, still bent over. Heart pumping, I bring the umbrella down with all of my strength. He looks at me right before it strikes against his head cleanly, making him slam into the desk.
He crumples, and I don’t take the time to see how long it takes him to recover. Sprinting to the door, I unlock it and fling it open. I don’t look back.