AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My world is still crumbling, piece by jagged piece, and I'm left scrambling to hold it together with hands still raw from the last time I tried to catch the shards. Daria's betrayal is a wound that refuses to heal, festering beneath the surface of my carefullycrafted persona. But her absence isn't the hardest part of it all. It's the hole she left in her stead, taking away the one thing that once bonded me to my packmates.
I never trusted her. Not really. But that hardly mattered when Damien was so hell-bent on claiming her as our own. And now, in the wake of her abandonment, it falls tometo be the glue that holds our fractured pack together.
"I'm so sorry," I say to the eager young omega batting her lashes up at me, her scent a cloying mixture of arousal and desperation. "I'm afraid I have to go."
I don't wait for her response before slipping backstage and fishing my phone from the pocket of my tailored suit. A text from Damien glares up at me, demanding my immediate presence at the estate for an emergency pack meeting.
Fantastic.No doubt another wild goose chase in his relentless pursuit of Daria. The man can't seem to accept that she's gone, and she's not coming back.
The pain we all felt, signifying she had consummated her bond with another alpha--and severing the mark we left on her in the process--made that abundantly clear.
At least, it did tome.
I slide into the waiting limo, the leather seats cool against my overheated skin. The privacy screen is up, blessedly shielding me from the driver's curious gaze as I let my head fall back against the headrest with a sigh.
The city gives way to rolling hills and towering evergreens as we wind our way toward the Blackwood Pack estate. It's a sprawling property, the house itself a stately Victorian mansion with a wraparound porch and turrets that make it look like something out of a fairy tale.
Or a horror movie, depending on your perspective.
It's a massive property built for the ages and completely refurbished with all the modern amenities you could imagine.It's a property the four of us chose together, long before we found Daria—with the hope that one day, we would share it with an omega.
Ouromega.
There's plenty of room for all of us to have our own space, and we made sure there was ample room for a nest and entertaining just in case our omega ended up liking that sort of thing. But that all went to waste on Daria, who viewed nesting in anything more complex than a bed as a mundane, outdated relic of the past and the "frilly" omegas she always deemed inferior.
None of us cared, really, as long as she was happy. But I was admittedly a little disappointed. I'd always dreamed of having an omega to pamper and spoil and protect, and I felt a bit obsolete as a result. Now the entire place feels like a mausoleum to a life we thought was so certain.
But I know better than to even bring up the idea of cutting our losses and courting an omega who actually wants us. Not only did Daria's betrayal leave us all licking our wounds and nearly cost the life of one of our own, but it left Damien… changed.
Obsessed.
Our families all gave us a wide berth in those first few months after it all came crashing down, but eventually, the questions started trickling in.
When are you going to take another omega?
Don't you think it's time to move on?
I've echoed those same questions a few times in my own head, but Damien's response to anyone who asks always made it clear enough what the answers would be. And for better or worse, he is our pack leader.
Then there's Lake. He wouldn't make his opposition quite as plain, and there's not an aggressive bone in his body, but I don'tknow how it would affect him if we took another omega. He barely survived the first one.
The limo pulls up along the gravel drive, the crunch of rocks beneath the tires the only sound in the oppressive silence. I thank the driver and step out into the crisp autumn air, the scent of woodsmoke and decaying leaves filling my lungs.
I take the porch steps two at a time, the old wood creaking beneath my weight. The front door is unlocked, as always. We have nothing to fear from the outside world.
Our demons are all homegrown.
I stride past the grand piano in the foyer, my fingers itching to coax a melody from the keys. But there's no time for that now. I take the stairs to the second floor, my footsteps muffled by the plush runner.
Damien is waiting for me in the study, pacing like a caged animal in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the rear gardens. His dark hair is disheveled, as if he's been running his fingers through it in agitation. His broad shoulders strain against the fabric of his black dress shirt, and his icy blue eyes are alight with a familiar, feverish intensity.
"Good, you're here," he says without preamble, his voice tight.
"Where are the others?" I ask, glancing around the room. It's not like the twins to be late for a meeting, especially one called by Damien.
He shakes his head, his sharp jaw clenched. "I don't know. I texted them before you."
I frown. "What's this about, Damien? If this is another wild goose chase for Daria?—"
