“I’m fine.” He drops the hem of his shirt and sighs. “She stabbed me and then ran away. Missed all the vital organs.”
Of all the things I expected to hear when inquiring about their lost omega, this wasn’t one of them. “What? Why?”
“I still don’t know exactly. It’s just that she—her name was Bokerah, and she wasn’t well.”
“Clearly. Where is she now?”
“In prison.” If it pains him to remember her, he doesn’t show it. He appears far more concerned with my reaction instead.
“For how long?”
“Not much longer,” he admits. “But we’ll protect you, Violet. We won’t let her get anywhere near you. We all have restraining orders, and we’ll hire round-the-clock security when she gets out.”
“Okay.” It’s all I have in me to say right now.
“Our mate bond was never finalized. We never claimed Bokerah’s heat as a pack. Never marked her. So we’re not legally tied to her or anything.”
“Okay,” I say again. When it looks like Archer needs a little more, I add, “I guess that’s good.”
Neither of us says anything for a few beats. Not until he asks, “Do you hate me for keeping this secret?”
“No. No, I don’t,” I assure him. In some ways this makes things easier, but in others, my plight is now much more difficult to navigate.
The guys have been keeping a big secret from me. That may be enough to make them forgive mine.
But then again…
They’ve already taken one ruined omega—taken and lost her. If they find out that I’m also damaged goods, they won’t have any good options when it comes to dealing with me.
They can’t send me back and just expect to land another, not with two strikes to their pack’s name. They could begrudgingly choose to keep me around and we could spend the rest of our lives hating each other. Or they could kill me and make it look like an accident. That at least would enable them to take on a third omega.
Yes, they could also accept me for who I am and what I’ve done. They could keep me on, love me, and spend the rest of their lives delivering on Miles’s early promise to spoil me like a princess.
But they’ve already been betrayed by an omega once. How will they feel when they learn that I’ve been planning to do the same?
Or do I only tell them part of the truth and keep the rest to myself?
Do I keep using my birth control treatments without telling them I’m doing it? Or do I come out with the full truth right now, but tell them that even if my body can conceive another child, I can’t handle revisiting that pain?
So many questions, and every time I think I’ve found what I need to confidently take that next step forward, the earth crumbles beneath me and I’m falling once again.
ARCHER
There. I’ve told Violet the worst of it, and from what I can tell, she doesn’t hate me yet. Everyone thinks I’m this huge asshole, but can’t they see I give them the tough love they need to survive another day?
I was there for Miles and his family when they needed me. I was even there for Bokerah until she fucking tried to kill me rather than accept my help. And I’ll be there for Violet, if only she’ll let me in.
I can see those wheels turning, turning, turning. But she never shares whatever thoughts she’s working so hard to crank out in that top-secret factory of hers. My job is to protect, to create, to provide. It’s how I take care of those who matter. It’s how I want to take care of her too, when she finally lets me past those walls.
For now, I’ll leave her to her thoughts for the rest of our car ride. Three hours total, two more to go. That’s why we had to leave so early. I needed to get us to our destination before the others realized we were missing. I needed the chance to tell her about Bokerah, so that Violet will know everything vital before sharing her first heat with Pack Muldoon.
The guys and I have already lost one omega to less-than-ideal circumstances. It’s possible that Violet will want to bolt too, which would basically screw us over in the mate department. It would mean our newly formed pack dies with us instead of living on to see future generations, but at least it will live.
I’ve been holding onto our secret so tight, it’s given me rope-burn. My hands have become blistered and bloody, but finally I’ve allowed myself to let go.
And it feels so fucking good.
Violet could run away screaming.