Page 17

Caspian

I plastered on a smile, but I knew I looked like a maniac as I stepped inside the room and ran my gaze over her. I paused for a second before my heart fucking exploded with nerves.

Eggshell curtains with delicate daisy-chains she’d embroidered along the bottom matched the swirling patterns in the wooden posters that hadn’t changed since the accident. They’d become so familiar that I used to see them in my dreams.

The only difference from when she was a teenager was everything in the room was bolted down to the thick carpeted floor. She said it was because she slipped when she was in her room, but I had never seen her fall before. And she would completely rearrange her room after every one of her heats, anyway.

All Camille’s light vanished as she noticed me, and I dropped my head straight away. I couldn’t take it. Not even a second of it.

“Hi,” I croaked softly, moving towards her lush four-poster bed where she spent most of her life.

Camille sat against an overflowing pile of pure white pillows, her lace dress nearly hidden by the thick duvet tucked around her to keep her warm in the stuffy room.

I bent down as I reached the bed, my hand denting the duvet as I leant over, kissing her cheek. And we both inhaled.

It was our ritual. Like we used to do before either of us presented.

One hit of her composed chamomile scent and she instantly soothed me.

“Hi,” she whispered against my cheek.

Her skin was usually hot, like she constantly had a fever, even though she always said she was cold.

I pulled back, about to speak, but she got there before I could say a word.

“Kai told me the good news,” she said softly, reaching a trembling hand out to lay her fingers gently on my wrist.

I just had to keep pretending, even though red fucking rage flared through me at her dim expression.

My aura spiked, and she flinched back instantly. Her eyes widened and I tried to draw it in, but I’d been shit at controlling my energy since the first time I went rogue.

I hated the fact I upset her whenever even a little wave of anger raced through me. I just wished I could hold it together around her.

“Oh, has he now?” I forced out a chuckle as I leant back, acting like it was okay as I casually moved my hand away. I didn’t deserve to touch her after everything I’d done to her.

“I’m so happy for you all,” she replied with a weak smile. “Who could imagine you would find another scent match?”

“It’s a miracle, isn’t it?” Kai’s laugh was filled with spite, and I instantly turned to growl at him.

He’d fucked Mel, too, even though he was so fucking furious that he could barely keep calm every time she was brought up. If I hadn’t worn myself out from fucking both of them when I was in rut, I could have stopped Kai making the worst decision of our entire fucking lives.

“And it’s a female omega!” Kai continued clapping his hands like he was actually happy about it. “How lucky for us, right?”

He beamed at her. If Camille was bonded to us, she’d have felt the bitter resentment bubbling up in Kai. And the desperate need for her that was eating him alive.

“It’s fine,” I cut in. “She rejected us. There’s nothing there anymore.”

“Come on now, Cas, you can’t say that,” Kai purred as he lifted his hand. “She did bite me, after all.” He waggled his fresh wound in front of her.

Camille’s sharp intake was enough to show that Kai had been saving onto that nugget of information until his alphas arrived.

Her gaze swung to me as her thin fingers clenched around the duvet. Guilt pierced me strongly enough that my scent went sour.

I wanted to hold her. I wanted to wrap my arms around her and cover her ears with my palms so she didn’t have to hear the poisonous truth.

I thought there’d be an end to all the fucking hurt I’d dumped on her, but it turned out I was great at surpassing expectations.

Kai’s finger was already healing, forming two nice semi-circles on each side. Adding the extra presence of another fucking omega to our bond was like a splinter in my foot that I couldn’t fucking find. I had to keep walking, but I couldn’t get Mel out from under my skin.

Omega-to-omega bonds were only supposed to last a few weeks, but it already felt like she’d tortured us for months.

“Kai, enough,” Sin said heavily from the chair on the other side of the bed, sending him a firm push of disapproval.

Kai might think we didn’t know how he felt about Camille, but anyone just had to look at the way he smiled at her to know he didn’t want her anywhere near us.

Camille was even paler than normal as she lifted a shaking hand to her lips.

Her pink fingertips pressed hard against them, like she was silencing herself. But her throat bobbed and her chin dipped, her frail scent twisting like a rope tied too tight.

I didn’t want to see her pain, but I had to. I had to look at what I’d done to her.

But that was why I’d sent Kai in first, wasn’t it? So I didn’t have to see her shuffle in the bed, a flush painting her pale cheeks as controlled tears filled her eyes.

Moments later, a breath racked her body and she looked up, meeting us with a composed expression that was a trademark of her family.

“Well, um… Isn’t that perfect?” she said softly.

“What?” I snapped, and she flinched again. I instantly regretted it, closing my eyes at my own stupid behaviour. Ever since we matched with Kai, I had become harsher, and it was never her fault.

Sometimes I couldn’t even touch her because I thought she would break.

“You’ve been looking for a female. How wonderful that you’ve suddenly found one,” she said, her voice cracking on the last word.

I still thought it was suspicious that Mel had fallen into our laps at exactly the right time. Mother liked to gloat, but when I’d pushed her to tell us about Mel, all I got were scowls and complaints that we still hadn’t chosen anyone from the list.

I'd already searched for Mel, found her address, her work records, her family life. There was nothing out of the ordinary, everything she'd told us seemed to be true, even about not having children. But those things could be easily faked, especially if Mother was backing her.

“Absolutely no fucking way,” I said as I threw myself into the second chair next to Kai. “Not a single fucking chance. We’re finding a different way to go about this. I’m not having you mating with the Hiscox pack, and we’re not bringing another omega into our pack.” I shifted my gaze to Kai, glaring at him. And the bastard was still grinning away, like I didn’t know what he was planning.

Her brow furrowed as she gave me a look. But anything else she could have said was drowned out by the peal of Sin’s phone from his front pocket. As soon as he pulled it out, he shot up from the chair, a stab of nerves pulsing through our bond.

He quickly swiped right.

And it was just that second. That single fucking second that came every damn time Sin’s phone rang after Mel rejected us and got the fuck out of there with Sin’s business card clasped between her slick-drenched fingers.

Where need and fury and fucking longing pierced through the bond because there was one fucking second where we all hoped it was her.

“Sin Risler speaking,” he answered, stepping away from the bed. “Yes, I’m busy. What is it?”

And we all released the breath we’d been holding because we didn’t have to deal with her. Or more like we were all fucked up for our own reasons.

“Shit,” Kai hissed, running his hand through his hair as he glowered at our mate.

Both of us half raging, half fucking desperate to hear her rich voice again, to luxuriate in every sound that dropped from her luscious fucking lips.

“What happened?” Camille asked softly, breaking our rapt attention.

And my heart plummeted as I realised what we’d done.

I’d slowly waited years to be Camille’s mate, but a single possibility of Mel had me wild and salivating like a fucking dog.

Kai clicked his tongue. “It’s not got anything to do with you, so don’t get any ideas stuck in that pretty little head of yours. We wouldn’t want you worrying, would we?” he asked darkly.

A growl rumbled through me, and I avoided acknowledging how Camille trembled at the sound. I needed to show my mate he was out of line.

And suddenly both omegas looked at me like I’d ruined them.

Pain pulsed out from Kai as he jumped from his seat, rearing over Camille.

“Guess you guys got stuff to talk about, huh?” he said, barely hiding his look of betrayal as he backed away. In seconds he was by the thick window, wrapping his arms around Sin, who instantly leaned down to kiss his hair before returning to his conversation. Like a proper alpha should treat his omega. Not whatever shit I’d put them both through for years.

It was so messed up that Camille was hurt by how I had unwillingly scent matched with a new omega, and my real omega was fucked off that I was trying to find a way to make it easier for Camille. And they were both right to hate me for it.

“Camille,” I said softly, looking up at her. Her expression was completely stark, staring at me with wide eyes.

I could have made excuses, tried a ‘wait, let me explain’, but I’d spent years disappointing her and I didn’t know what else I was supposed to do to fix it.

“She won’t join our pack,” I insisted.

The heavy silence between us was only broken by Sin’s low voice.

“You can’t say that,” she answered after a pause.

“I mean it.”

“You’ve said a lot of things that you mean, Caspian.” Her sigh hurt more than her words. “It might be true for you now, but what about when the Selection Ceremony comes and we all have to make our choice?”

I couldn’t give her a proper answer. My hand slipped forward over the bed, aiming for hers. But this time, she was the one who moved her arm away from me.

Why did she have to be so fucking small? And why couldn’t I ever protect her? Why did we have to meet another omega when we couldn’t even look after the ones we had?

“You can’t mate with the Hiscox pack,” I repeated. “I’ll find a way to stop this.”

“I believe you. I do. But you’re not being honest. It was the same when you met Kai.”

I bit my lip, holding back my frustration. I’d waited two days after Sin to bite Kai because I needed her to tell me what to do. She could have told me no and I wouldn’t have done it.

But, yeah, she was right. That had been a lie. I went to her to ask for her approval, not her permission.

I couldn’t have stayed away from Kai if I tried.

And this time… With Mel… With an omega we’d only met once…

The silence ate away at us. Her gaze had fully left mine, glued to Sin as his conversation seemed to come to a close.

“Camille, can I just—”

“I’m feeling ill again,” Camille raised her voice, cutting me off. “I think I need to be alone. Could you come back tomorrow?”

Sin turned from the window, tucking his phone back into his pocket, and she gave her brother a weak smile.

“Yes, of course. Caspian?” He summoned my attention with a narrow stare. “We are needed elsewhere,” he said, giving me an out.

I thought I was going to be sick. That same look of betrayal was etched into her face again, and her scent had lost its calming edge as she pulled herself back from me.

I dragged myself from the chair, giving Camille one last look, but her gaze stayed fixed on the window, blocking us out. I wanted to say goodbye to her properly, but Sin sent a pulse through the bond, warning me back.

Kai glared from beside Sin, and I knew if I gave in and hugged Camille like I really wanted to, it would take days to make it up with Kai. Kissing her cheek was already bad enough.

Camille’s eyes fluttered as I rose, and the too-strong scent of camomile just told us how much she needed us to get the hell away from her.

A growl rumbled in my chest as I stomped out of the room like an absolute child. And I swore if I ever saw Mel again, I’d fucking kill her.