Page 124 of Our Deceptive Heat
“What are you so afraid of?” Tyr whispers in desperation.
“What if,” I lick my lips and glance at the others. I look back up at him. “I don’t want to end up like my mum.”
Tyr flinches. His hand drops from my throat as if I’ve burned him. “You think we’d hit you? You think we’d really lay a hand on you?”
“No!” I wail, “but it hurts. It hurts when you have an omega but tell me you love me. Tyr, it hurts when you make promises and break them. It hurts because I’ve given you everything, and what am I now without you? You lie, and you keep secrets.”
Tyr stares at me, his eyes scanning my face, his mouth parted. “We did do that,” he admits. “We did. You’re right.” Tyr walks to the coffee table and sits down, looking down at his hands between his knees. “We hurt you so much,” he murmurs.
Everything in me wants to go to him, but I hold my ground. “So, what am I supposed to do?” I ask again.
“We left Alpha Labels, Ryn,” Mako says, ignoring my hopeless question.
I glance at him, the magnitude of that statement crashing through me. “You left the label?” The sentence doesn’t make sense. Why would they leave the label?
“Yes.”
“But-” I look around at them. “So, what is this? Added torture? Did you think I’d just forgive you? That it would all be okay?” I snap and fold my arms over my chest, closing myself off and trying to find the reserves to fight them.
“We’re here to claim our omega,” Tyr says starkly and with total honesty.
Their omega. The one they have been hiding. I should have known. I never forget about the hidden mystery omega, but I don’t understand. Where is she? Why are they hiding her? Is she sick? Injured?
I lick my lips. “So she’s here?”
A throat clears, and I look past Tyr and find my cousin Kelly. Just behind him, staring with huge eyes, is Envy.
“We need to talk first,” Envy says. “Just you and me, no touching, no bribes or blackmail, nothing but a conversation we should have had four years ago. No alphas. Just you and me.”
I stare at him, drinking him in, he looks so different, and yet, still the same. Those green eyes are so much more beautiful than I remember. Missing him has been a wound I haven’t been able to heal from. I’ve seen all the others on and off for weeks, but Envy has been a ghost, and I’ve been too scared to ask. Where the alphas bring all this rage to the forefront, Envy just recalls the depths of my despair.
Envy holds out his hand. I don’t want to go with him, but I think the only option of escaping these alphas will be taking his hand.
“Go with him. We’ll be watching,” Tyr suggests flatly. “Envy won’t hurt you.”
The room is silent while I come to my decision. They aren’t giving me a choice. I need to get out of this room. I need to get away from them. My head is spinning and their scents are making my stomach clench.
I take the first unsure steps towards Envy and pause, glancing at Kelly. He shrugs, giving me that familiar lopsided smile.
“You don’t have to go, but I think, Ryn, that you should do this. Trust me, you want to hear this.”
I trust Kelly. I really do, so I reach out and slip my hand into Envy’s.
“There’s a beach about ten minutes’ drive from here that is always empty. Ryn knows the way,” Kelly says as he wanders deeper into the hotel room, picking up an apple, and then flopping on the couch and making himself at home.
I stare at Kelly, wondering at his transformation, but then Envy has my hand and tugs me gently from the hotel room.
And because it’s Envy, I follow him. But I’d follow him anywhere.
That’s why it hurts so much.
Chapter thirty-nine
Ryn
Pulling my courage onlike a threadbare blanket- Ryn Raines
Envy takes my hand and drags me away from the others and into a waiting car. I’m so confused, but his hand in mine feels so good. We duck out of the car when we get to the very hidden, secret road. With a glance at me, he leads us in the direction we need to go. For several minutes, we walk in silence, only the birds screaming break it.
