Mum was at the door, her cool composure cracking slightly as she saw me stumble up the front steps, but she opened the door and followed me in.
“Cyn? Ar
e you OK? Your alphas rang me to discuss—”
I held up a hand, and for once, Mum stopped, falling silent as I ran up to my room. Just like before, I made a beeline for the shower, not needing to be told this time. I rubbed and rubbed at my skin until all traces of them were gone, then poured on the de-scenter until it burned. Then I sat there, water pouring over me, the chemicals, their scent, and my tears, all washing down the drain.
Chapter 24
Tap, tap, tap.
“Cyn?”
This was the way I carved out my days. The interminable gaps between taps on my door, my name that had become a question and then finally the silence when I didn’t reply. They’d come to the house, those alphas, knocked courteously at first, then much louder when they didn’t get what they wanted. I’d heard my name shouted from downstairs, the sound floating up and into my room, invading it like they always did and had since I was revealed. But the worst was when it was just him. He cried out my name like his fucking heart would break, and I sat, wedged into the corner of the room, my feet planted against the floor, my arms wrapped tight to stop me from going to him.
My mate. My heart. He’d gotten to me when I was completely and utterly vulnerable, with all the calculation of the boys in the forest as they mobbed that omega, needing something soft to share between them, but she was nothing more than that. I was nothing.
Miranda Rhodes’ daughter. Omega. That summed up my entire worth to the world, and they had capitalised on both, my brain working out Benson’s plan way more easily than they had. I was my mother’s sole heir, and an omega wasn’t able to own or run a company. We were too flighty, too impressionable, victims of our nature and that of overbearing alphas. No beta board would stand behind us, so whatever we inherited transferred to our mate’s care. I would mate Orion, and then Mum’s company would transfer to him once she died, no doubt something planned not long afterwards. While I was grieving, Benson would pick my mother’s company clean of everything he wanted, merging it with his own, and the deal would be done. If I were lucky, Orion and I would be left to our own devices, as long as we were present at family gatherings and little omega or alpha children were in the pipeline. Everyone would be happy.
Everyone but me. I grabbed onto that, holding it close to my chest as he called for me, his voice hoarse with it until the police arrived.
“Cyn, we may have to consider a restraining order if this goes on,” Mum said as she hunkered down beside me. “He’s not letting up. The neighbours are pissed, and that Rhys is telling me he’s your mate?”
I nodded slowly. Rip the band-aid off, Cyn, I told myself. Let the wound drain.
“I was talking to Kai and George and your therapist, and they said that this is an incredibly difficult time, post mating. That the two of you must be in agony.”
Wasn’t I just? I felt it, the maddening urge to sprint down those stairs, throw my arms around him, and bury my face in his neck, suck his scent in by the lungful, inflating myself back up with him when everything had collapsed, but I couldn’t. My nails dug in until the stinging turned to trickles of blood, which Mum hissed her displeasure at, pulling my hands away and mopping the mess up with tissues.
“How’s she doing?” George asked, peering from behind the door, making me duck my head down. He couldn’t see me like this—sodden, dirty, a fucking wreck. I couldn’t bear it. “Any better?”
“I’ve always liked you, George,” Mum replied tightly. “You could have sold my daughter out to that bastard. We are not a powerful family, not in the way they are. What money or intellectual property I manage to develop, it could be here today and gone the next, but they are eternal and no one knows that better than you. But you stood by my Cyn, and so I’ve always paid your rates without complaint. She’s not going to go to the Omega Ball. I’ll arrange for a dispensation. For all intents and purposes, her season is over and you’re free to find other charges, but if you do this for me, I’ll pay you triple your rate.”
“What? Miranda, you needn’t go that far. You have my loyalty, always. You know that. I feel fucking sick it’s come to this, but if there’s anything I can do to help, please tell me.”
“I work with data and figures, with scientifically based modelling, not gossip and backroom deals. It’s always put me at a disadvantage, as that’s the playground of alphas, but I’ve been able to make do. I need that from you now. Be my eyes and ears, use that massive network of connections you have, wring them dry, and find out what Ratcliffe had in mind for my daughter. I knew he wanted my company, knew he needed the new systems we’re developing to disappear.”
“How did you find that out? Why on earth would he—”
“I met McCallum some time ago, before all this, before he got involved with Cyn. He’s known for making business meetings with beta run companies and volunteering insider information that will assist them. He gave me a heads-up that Benson was looking at my business, considering a hostile takeover, and helped me fend off his attempt so far. It’s partly the reason why I didn’t stand in the way of Marcus’ pack’s overtures. Anyone who was willing to stand up to Benson fucking Ratcliffe is all right in my book.” Mum let out a long sigh. “You can’t breathe a word of that.”
“No, of course not.”
“But I need more. Who, what, when… I need it all. Anything you can get on those boys, Orion’s family, Ratcliffe Industries, Cyn. Anything at all. You’ll have a budget for schmoozing and greasing palms, being seen in the right places, but I expect a report every day on what you’ve found.”
“Of course and…that’s most generous.”
“I’ve never been much of a mother. It isn’t in me, George, no matter how I tried. But I love her, my daughter, irrespective of what is happening, and I can’t see her like this. She’s been up here for days, doesn’t eat, doesn’t sleep, and they’re plaguing my house, trying to get at her. We’ll set your deal up, and then I’m calling her therapist.”
“No…”
I whispered that, but Mum’s eyes narrowed down on me.
“Yes, Cyn. It’s time, beyond time. You need help, sweetheart.”
“Her trainer as well, perhaps?” George suggested. “She always seemed to trust Kai.”
“Excellent. Let’s go downstairs and sort this out.”