This is our omega. She wasn’t supposed to be touched by anyone outside of our pack. Rage flies through my veins, but then I catch myself.
Logically this response doesn’t make sense, but it’s the way our society works. It’s how we’ve all been conditioned to feel, to behave.
Poor, poor Violet. No wonder she’s terrified.
I have to defend her. I have to protect her.
She’s my omega, and nothing is going to change that. I will argue; I will fight. I will challenge Archer for pack leadership if I have to. I will do whatever it takes to make sure they don’t throw away the best thing that’s ever happened to us.
I will throw myself into the fire if that’s what it takes to keep her from getting burned.
thirteen
MILES
“Violet, go.” I point toward the cabin door, unable to so much as look at her right now. This was supposed to be my perfect fairytale ending, and instead it’s a fucking nightmare. She’s not the princess. This whole fucking time she was the monster.
“Go inside and wait,” I growl as I think back to what we just did together. What she let me do, knowing. “Our pack needs time to discuss what you’ve just told us, and it will be easier if you’re not here.”
Tears well in the wayward omega’s eyes, and even though I’m furious, my heart breaks for her. Breaks for me too. “Yes, Alpha Miles.”
We all watch her leave.
Silence.
“Someone care to enlighten me here?” Noah asks, tugging at that stupid sports bottle he always has with him.
“Violet has a daughter,” Archer reveals placidly.
“But that would mean… Wow, seriously? That’s fucked up.”
Archer is leaning forward in his chair, an elbow on each knee, fingers steepled before him. “So what are we going to do here?”
Okay, if I have to be the asshole here, so be it. “Obviously, we can’t keep her.” I say what I know we’re all thinking.
“Why is that obvious?” Ben demands. His long hair falls in front of his face, hiding his expression. His voice makes his disagreement perfectly clear, however.
“Omegas are supposed to—” Noah begins, joining team Miles, which is really team Muldoon.
“Supposed to what?” Ben challenges. He’s on his feet now. If he intends his change in stance to be intimidating, it’s not. I may be the least likely to throw a punch, but Ben is the shortest and trimmest of us four.
None of us respond. We all know what’s expected of omegas. Violet knew too, but that didn’t stop her from ruining herself.
“Violet made a mistake, but it’s in the past. It doesn’t change who she is now, and it doesn’t change how we feel about her.” He grabs a hair tie from the front pocket of his jeans and sweeps his hair up. “At least it doesn’t change how I feel about her. I can’t speak for you assholes.”
“If we send Violet back, we can’t get another omega,” Archer points out, still appearing deep in thought. “First Bokerah. Now Violet. If we lose Violet, we lose our chances altogether.”
“She fucking betrayed us, and then lied about it,” Noah practically explodes, then takes a long chug of juice to silence himself.
“She didn’t know us when she slept with that other guy, so how could she have betrayed us?” Ben counters.
How are he and Archer so calm right now? I may not show my rage on the outside like Noah, but inside it bolts through me like a powerful electric current.
I rake both hands through my hair, not even trying to hide my tic. Yeah, I’m agitated. Why aren’t we all?
Archer drops his hands and sits up a little straighter. “Don’t forget we lied to her too. She didn’t find out about Bokerah until this morning. She came clean the same day we did.”
“Yeah, I get it.” I sigh and pull harder at my hair. Why do we have to keep paying for the same mistakes again and again? We were dealt a bad hand with our first omega. Now our second too, I’ll admit that. But can’t we just move on already? “Bokerah fucked us all up when it comes to omegas. So maybe we don’t get another omega. Maybe we can take a beta instead.”