Page 19

Melanie

I ended up crying to Mum. I didn’t tell her about the money, but I needed a friend, and I was too raw to talk to Lucielle. I didn’t know what she’d told our other friends at work, either.

I slouched back on my red leather sofa, finally home, back in my nest.

With every other crazy thing happening in my life, even the bits of me that still couldn’t accept that I’d presented as an omega, I was so happy I had a nest to keep me safe.

I tried not to dwell, but it was too difficult when every thought imaginable pounded around my head. Even sticking on headphones and blasting music couldn’t stop the lashes of pain that came whenever I thought of what Rosa had done.

I was an idiot to think that maybe we could be real sisters now that I’d presented.

Just as I was nodding off, my music abruptly stopped as a phone call came through. I pulled it out of my jeans pocket and looked at the screen.

Rosa .

It was the only word I needed to see to make my blood roar. I tipped forward, pressing my hand against the arm of the sofa, attempting to keep myself strong as I answered the phone.

“Mel!” Rosa’s chirp filled my ears. “Honestly, I thought I was never going to get hold of you. I tried calling, like, five times.”

The murmurs of her alphas echoed behind her, along with the sound of Tommy crying. I could just imagine the way she paced the room, spinning on her toes in a loose, flowery dress and a dreamy smile on her face, like she always did whenever she was on the phone.

“Mel, are you there?”

“Yeah, I’m here,” I answered numbly. My throat was raw, my brain was tired from over-thinking, and I was at a point where I just wanted to curl up and let myself wither away.

I’d spent all day imagining what I would say to Rosa when I finally had the energy to call her. I just wanted to release it like I had in front of Mum, to hurl all my feelings at her, so maybe I could deal with all the ways my heart had broken in the past week.

But when I finally heard her voice, all I felt was disappointment.

“Well, why didn’t you answer?” she sighed. “Anyway, whatever. Look, I’m going to need to cancel—”

“When did you stop making Mum’s payments?” I asked bluntly, cutting straight through her. I’d normally let her babble, but it hurt too much to hear her break yet another promise while knowing we were so deep in debt.

“W-What?” Rosa answered, her tone suddenly dropping from a cheerful lilt to a hushed whisper.

I didn’t give her time to gather herself. I’d had all day to imagine this conversation. I wasn’t letting her stop me.

“I spoke with Greensprings today.” I pushed out, my chest growing tighter with each word. “How long have you been letting me pay for all of Mum’s care? Did you think I wouldn’t find out? What have you even been doing with that money?”

There was only silence from her end of the line. The only time she was ever quiet was when she needed to come up with an excuse.

“It wasn’t like that,” she said cautiously. I thought she would at least have the decency to be honest with me, just for a second, but she ruined it, like I knew she would. “It was just…Andy nearly got fired because of his leave of absence and Carl needed extra for the Land Rover and—”

“Rosa! Please . Stop making excuses!” I wasn’t holding up a fist and counting down all the different reasons she couldn’t do something until she ran out of options. I was done accepting that this was a normal part of my life.

“This isn’t a conversation where I just listen to you wiggle your way out of this. We’re ￡10,000 in debt because of you!”

“Oh, be real. It can’t be that bad,” she scoffed, and my jaw dropped. "You were still paying your half, so it should have been fine."

Still weak from my heat, it took me a minute before I could gather myself enough to actually give her a sane response instead of shouting at her like I really wanted to.

“You know exactly how much it costs every month. I know you can be an idiot, but you’re not this stupid.” I pressed my hand against my stomach. I was so enraged by her excuses that it actually hurt.

“Hey, I’m not—”

“Shut up!” I snapped. I softened my voice to try and regain some control. “Please, Rosa.” I scrunched up my eyes, rubbing my hand against my forehead. “I can’t believe you’ve been so selfish. What did you expect would happen? That I was just going to work harder to pay it off?”

“No, but…I mean…We can’t exactly afford to pay it with Tommy starting school soon and—”

“I just got fired,” I threw out, hoping it would be enough to stall her. “So there’s no chance of me paying it back. Ever.”

“What?” she screeched. “You got fired?”

The room behind her was plunged into silence as her alphas stopped talking. Even Tommy went quiet.

“How is that possible? I thought you had a contract with them?”

I knew I was about to make another mistake, just like I did with Lucielle. But I was so tired I didn’t care about anything anymore. I just wanted some relief.

“I presented, Rosa. As an omega. Six days ago.”

I wanted to show her I was suffering, too. I always suspected she’d never believed me when I told her how I’d had to live since Mum had her stroke three years ago. So maybe that would wake her up, even just a fraction.

The line went completely dead before she gave a shuddering breath, and I heard movement from the other end of the phone. It sounded like she was walking, and I wasn’t sure until there was a click of a door shutting.

And then she started screaming.

“Oh my God, Mel, that’s so amazing! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!”

I quickly whipped the phone from my ear, worried she was going to deafen me.

“This is so incredible!! I can’t wait to tell Mum! And our cousins! Oh my god, the family is going to go crazy!”

“Rosa,” I tried to get a word in, but she just ignored me.

“Have you been in heat? You said you were ill! When was the last time you had proper food? I can make you something. I’ve got some chicken leftovers and I can get you a bunch of ice packs and energy drinks. You must be knackered! Wait, did you go to a Heat Clinic?” She burst out laughing. “I would love to see your face as you went to check in.”

A low growl rumbled from me as I clenched my fist. But she just carried on.

“I’ve still got my old books as well! I’ll bring them over. Oh my God, this is so amazing. I haven’t even read them for years! Do you remember we used to read them together? You know, before you…”

“Before I didn’t present?”

“Well, yeah, but that doesn’t matter anymore! I think I’ve still got Omega’s First Heat and Knot Your Problem ! Oooh, I might have Knotty or Nice ! Tommy needs someone to look after him tonight, but I can come over tomorrow. Actually! I haven’t fed him for a while, so I need to go, but oh my God.”

“No.” I raised my voice close to a shout. “No, Rosa. Don’t use that as an excuse. Don’t try to run away from this conversation.”

“I’m not running away. Tommy needs me.”

“And Mum needs you. And I needed you to keep up with the payments and you couldn’t even do that.”

“Look, you’re just grumpy because you’ve been in heat. Why don’t you take a day or two to calm—”

“It’s not about me being calm! This has nothing to do with me or my heat. This is about you.”

I couldn’t let her get to me. I had to be an adult about it. If I began screaming like I wanted to, then I’d be no better than her.

“Well, can we talk about it tomorrow?” my sister huffed. “Because I don’t feel like—”

“Okay, fine, you know what? I wanted to have a proper conversation about what we could do together and how we could help Mum, but you're clearly too busy . I can’t work anymore, Rosa. I don’t even know what I’m going to do now that I’ve presented. But I’m so tired. I’m so tired of everything. I don’t want to do this anymore.”

“Then you don’t have to!” she said brightly. “We can sort it out later on. I’m sure we’ll find time. Just not now because my schedule is super packed and I just don’t know when I’ll be free, you know?”

I pressed my lips together, trying to balance it out in my mind. How long would she put me off if I gave her time to think about the situation?

“I’m trying to understand, Rosa, I really am. But I don’t have the energy right now. So, guess what? The bills are in your name. You’re registered as her primary carer. I haven’t received a single letter or phone call from them since you changed our payment plan, so it looks like you’re going to have to find a way to afford it. It’s not like I can pay it anymore, so you won’t be seeing anything from me.”

“Wait! What? No, Mel, you can’t do that!” Suddenly extra voices chimed in like her alphas had gathered around the phone.

“We don’t have the money!”

“There’s no way we can afford it!”

“Think about our family!”

“If you were all thinking about our family, then you wouldn’t have done this,” I bit back. “I’m not always going to be here to cover you. You can treat this as an example if you want.”

There was a chance she could pull Mum out of the home, but we had found the cheapest place for her and, unless Rosa brought Mum back to her pack house, she didn’t have any other options except to throw her out on the street, and I had to believe even my sister wouldn’t go that far.

“Mel! I’m not joking. This isn’t—”

“I’m not either. Anyway, you need to feed Tommy, don’t you?” I blew out a deep breath, pain thundering through me. “Bye, Rosa. Don’t call me again.”

“Mel!” Her shout was the last thing I heard as I ended the call.

I trembled, sitting there on the sofa with my hand clutched around my phone, trying to focus on something, absolutely anything. But my vision blurred and tears dropped onto my lap.

I gasped as I suddenly threw my phone across the room. It cracked against the wall, leaving an indent in the gorgeous purple paint I’d saved for months to buy.

My chest burst as my thoughts ran out of me like sludge, leaving a numb buzz that travelled to every part of my body.

What was I supposed to do now?

I’d said she had to pay it all, but I couldn’t leave Mum in that situation.

An empty laugh rang through me as I looked at the wastepaper bin my phone had landed next to.

It sat by my calming sky blue table I’d carefully painted with vines winding around the legs and over the round top.

Everything wooden in the room I’d painted myself: curling plants, small animals, rows of trees growing up from the skirting boards. I had lived here for years, and I’d spent all that time saving money where I could. I searched for the perfect furniture and beautiful colours of paints, delicately patterned scarves to cover the lampshades, watercolour paintings of soft forests on hot summer days and complex Turkish tiles for my kitchen.

I’d put so much work and love into it, and I’d never realised it was my nest.

The wastepaper basket was a simple metal mesh, and I spotted the crumpled business card on the top of my ruined dress that still held traces of their scents.

I craned my neck, looking up to the ceiling I had decorated with a deep midnight blue and scattered with glow-in-the-dark stars.

I had given up having a real life so that I could take care of the people I loved, and what was it worth?

All my years of hard work were swept away instantly.

I needed to calm down. I had to stop myself from panicking. I’d fix it just like I’d always done. I’d find a way, because that’s what I did.

But I shook so much I couldn’t keep upright. I had to bend over just to get air into my lungs.

I really can’t wait to see you again .

Sin’s voice echoed in my mind, and a whimper escaped me.

As soon as I thought of the way he’d looked at me as I left the heat suite, a fraction of the tension squeezing my muscles eased, and my gaze flicked to the card again.

A groan of pain and relief flowed from me as I knew what I had to do.

They needed an omega, scent match or not. If they could drop ￡10,000 on a luxury heat suite for a week, maybe they’d pay the same for me.