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Quinn steps forward, his face pale. “This isn’t just domestic abuse or a bad break up. We are dealing with a killer.”
I feel my anger momentarily eclipsed by a wave of cold fear. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck,” I mutter. “Not only are you an undocumented omega, but now you’ve brought a murderer into our lives?” I run a hand through my hair, my mind racing. “Do you realize the threat you’ve put us in? Legal consequences on one side, a killer on the other?”
Dash moves closer to Aria, his shoulders squared and his aura lashing out. “Who did he kill, Aria, and why didn’t you tell us?”
I run a hand through my hair, my mind racing. “We’ve been operating blind this whole time. We had no idea we were up against a murderer.” I turn to Aria, my voice a mix of frustration and fear. “Do you realize how much danger you’ve put us in by keeping this from us?”
Aria’s sobs grow louder, her body shaking. “I’m sorry,” she whimpers. “I was so scared. I didn’t want to drag you into this.”
“But you did drag us into this,” I say, my voice hard. “You brought a killer to our doorstep without giving us all the information we need to protect ourselves, and you did it while hiding your true nature as an omega.”
“Zane, please?—”
For a moment, I feel myself waver. The hurt in her eyes tugs at something deep inside me, something I’ve been trying to ignore, but I can’t afford to let my growing feelings for her cloud my judgment. We willingly stepped into her complicated life, but I never expected it to threaten everything we’ve built.
My voice drops to a dangerous whisper, laden with hurt and betrayal. “You need to leave, Aria. Now.” I struggle to maintain control, my alpha instincts warring with the sense of betrayal. “An undocumented omega…my perfect scent match… It’s too much. It’s too dangerous, for all of us.”
Aria’s eyes widen with shock and pain, and she stumbles back into Dash. “Zane please.”
“No,” I cut her off. “You’ve put us in an impossible situation.”
“What the fuck, Zane?” Dash steadies her, his eyes hardening as he looks at me. “It isn’t that deep.”
“Isn’t that deep?” Is Dash out of his fucking head?
“No Dash, just, no.” Malachi’s hand is firm on my shoulder as he whispers, “We need to handle this better, Zane. We can’t just throw her out without understanding everything.”
I shake off his hand and glare at Aria. “You have five minutes to get your things and go. If you’re still here when I come back, I’ll throw you out myself.”
With that, I turn on my heel and march out of the house, my heart pounding with rage and betrayal. My mind is a storm of thoughts, each one more chaotic than the last. As I stand on the porch, breathing in the cool night air, I try to calm the turmoil inside me.
Malachi joins me, his expression grave. “We need to find out who this he is, if he is connected to Noah, and why she was so afraid. She was talking about murder. This is about more than domestic abuse with an ex.”
“I don’t care,” I snap back. “She lied to us. That’s all that matters.”
“You should care,” Malachi says softly, “because this isn’t just about her anymore. It’s about us, our pack, and our safety. If we don’t get to the bottom of this, we’re all at risk. Remember, we’re the ones who decided to protect her in the first place. We can’t just abandon her now.”
Malachi’s words make sense, but they can’t penetrate the red haze of anger clouding my judgment. My hands shake, and I clench them into fists, trying to ground myself against the tide of betrayal threatening to sweep me away.
“I need time,” I mutter, a sense of foreboding settling over me. This revelation about Aria being an omega, my perfect match, and the looming threat of her past—it’s all a powder keg waiting to explode. And we’re all caught in the blast radius. We chose to insert ourselves into Aria’s life, knowing she brought danger with her. We thought we could handle it and protect her while keeping ourselves safe. Now, faced with the reality of her deception and the true extent of the danger, I’m left questioning everything. My feelings for Aria, my duty to my pack, and the risk we’ve all taken is all tangled up in a knot of fear, anger, and something dangerously close to heartbreak.
“We all do,” Malachi agrees, “but we’re a pack, Zane. We deal with things together.”
I nod, though the rage still simmers beneath the surface. “I’ll give her one chance, one chance to explain, and after that, she’s gone.”
Malachi sighs, knowing it’s the best he’ll get from me right now. “All right. Let’s go back in. We need to hear her out.”
The problem is, I’m not sure how much longer I can bear to hear her sweet lies.
40
ARIA
“Get out!” Zane booms, sending a shockwave through me. His eyes, wild with fury, lock onto mine. “Now! You can’t be here. You need to get out now. We can’t have an undocumented omega here. It’s too dangerous, for you and for us.”
My heart shatters, each shard a piercing reminder of my foolish hope. Zane’s words echo in my head, suffocating me like a vise around my chest. I struggle to draw breath, the weight of rejection crushing me from the inside out.
My heart.
