Page 44 of Claiming the Pack’s Omega (Riverwell Omegaverse #2)

Reyna

T heo comes over with a glass of water before sitting down back in his seat.

“We’re here to listen, Spitfire," he says, softly.

“Thanks,” I say, nodding. “I think everything that’s happened can be traced back to when I was sixteen. It’s when I met my ex-boyfriend. We both ran in the popular crowd, back at the high school I went to, but there was just something about him that was special. He was nice. Not douchy, you know?”

The guys all listen intently as I take a sip of water to try and get rid of the lump in my throat.

“I was so stupid, looking back on things now. But he told me he loved me and showered me with attention that I never really got from my family. They love me, they really do, but my mom and dad were always busy at work and it was always my job to take care of my siblings, you know?”

“What happened?” Stone asks, his expression already growing dark and stormy like he knows what I’m going to say next is going to be bad.

“I went into pre-awakening when I was sixteen, so by the time we were dating, he already knew I was going to become an omega. I think that was part of why he pursued me instead of the other girls in our friend group. There were three of us, but the other two already had long-term boyfriends. Things went to shit when my first heat rolled around when I was eighteen.”

I bite my lower lip in an attempt to ground myself. There’s an almost electric buzz in the air. I don’t have enough mental energy to read into the guys’ scents right now. All I know is they’re growing in intensity.

“I—I loved him. Sure, it was puppy love, or whatever you want to call it, but he was the first person I ever thought I loved,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper. “When I started going into heat, I didn’t realize the signs. No one ever tells you that sort of thing. But I think he knew. He—He?—”

My entire body locks up as I figure out how to verbalize something I’ve never verbalized before. Not to my parents, not to my friends, hell, not even to Dom. The only reason he knows was because he was there to witness it happening.

“He brought me to a park we went to pretty often, but he brought a bunch of his friends. They—they tried to rape me as I was going into heat. He—He kept on saying this fucked up bullshit about how I was an omega and I was practically begging for it, that taking their cocks was what I was made for.”

I blink furiously, trying to clear my blurry vision as I stare down at the glass on the table, unable to look at any of them.

“He—he hit me when I fought back. That was the first time I was ever hit in my entire life. I—I don’t know why I’m even telling you guys this, it wasn’t like that was the main part of everything, I think it was just so shocking...”

“What happened next?” Killian growls, his voice so low and menacing that it sends a shiver running down my spine.

“My boyfriend—ex-boyfriend—he tried to go first, but someone heard me screaming. These guys were all high schoolers, so even though most of them were alphas, they didn’t stand a chance against an alpha twenty years older than them.

It was—it was Dom, the guy I worked for back at the brothel.

He beat them to a pulp. There—there was so much blood. ”

“Shit,” Stone breathes out, running a hand over his buzz cut hair. “That’s why you freaked out when I punched that stupid beta at The Warehouse when we first met, right?”

I give him a jerky nod.

“Yeah, I don’t do very well with blood like that. Especially blood on knuckles, it—it reminds me of that night.” I let out a bitter laugh. “Working at an illegal fighting ring probably wasn’t a good idea.”

“Fuck, I’m so sorry, Wildflower, I didn’t know.”

“You don’t have anything to apologize for. I was the one who freaked. You were just trying to help me. And you did.” I spin the glass around on the table to give my hands something to do. “I should be thanking you, actually. I don’t think I ever did, that night.”

“Of course, I’d fight off everyone in that fucking building for you,” Stone says with such conviction it makes my fingertips tremble around the glass.

“So that’s how you met your old pimp, how did you end up working for him?” Theo asks, a hardness in his voice I haven’t heard before.

“He asked me if I wanted my heat to stop and I said yes. Begged him to make it stop. Told him the last thing I ever wanted was to go through that again,” I say, my voice growing tight.

“So he tossed me his jacket because at that point, they’d torn off all my clothes and said he had something he could give me for that. For a price.”

I gesture down at myself and laugh bitterly.

“So I took the job. It was a mindfuck, going from almost getting raped to letting douchebag alphas fuck me for money and actually becoming the whore my ex-boyfriend called me, but it helped me afford those suppressants and take care of my family. It kept me up at night, when I’d think about it too hard, but I think part of my brain just went numb.

It felt like I was just moving through life, looking down at my body for years .

” I glance up at the four of them, wiping away the tears that still linger on my cheeks. “Until I met you guys, I guess.”

I feel a sense of peace wash over me. The underlying anxiety is still present, heavy in my chest, but it’s no longer buzzing. They know now. Now I won’t be tricking them into something they’ll end up not wanting to be a part of.

“There it is,” I say, pursing my lips. “I just—I just needed you to know everything before you guys made a decision about us being scent matches that you’d regret.”

“What the hell would we regret?” Killian growls. If gazes could cut, he’d be able to slice through diamond with how furious he looks. “Why in the world would you think that any of what you just told us would change how we feel about you?”

“I mean, look at you right now, you look like you’re ready to punch someone,” I say, shrugging.

“Yeah, I want to murder all the people who ever betrayed you or touched you without your consent.” He leans his elbows on the table, leaning forward. “I’m not angry at you, Princess. None of us are.”

I glance at the rest of them and swallow hard. Killian is right.

“I—I guess I just thought you guys would think I was broken. Used goods, or something like that. I—I loved Nate but he obviously thought so low of me that he’d try and rape me with all of his buddies.

” I shake my head, pressing the palms of my hands onto my eyelids so hard I start seeing stars.

“I just—I just couldn’t be blindsided by someone I really liked again. ”

“You’re not broken, Spitfire,” Theo says softly. “You’re one of the strongest people I’ve ever seen. You carry yourself with this unwavering determination to take care of everyone around you, even if you don’t receive any of that energy back.”

“We want to take care of you, for a change,” Milo says softly. “Speaking for myself, I know that’s all I’ve wanted to do since I first spoke with you.”

“Same,” Theo nods.

“You’re not alone anymore,” Stone says. “I know I’m speaking for all of us when I say that even before you told us that you’re our scent matched omega that you were it.

In the short time that you’ve been in our lives, you’ve changed things completely.

We’ve all got a bad habit of sticking our heads up our asses and drowning ourselves in work when we want to run away from our issues. That’s changing now.”

“You’re ours, Princess,” Killian says, standing from his chair and making his way to me. He approaches me slowly, giving me plenty of time to tell him to stop.

I crane my neck back to look up at him as he towers above me as I remain seated. He’s so tall.

Then he falls to his knees next to me, resting his forehead against my shoulder.

“We will find everyone who ever wronged you. And they will pay . I promise you that,” Killian growls, his voice deathly soft.

My heart races in my chest. I’ve never had an alpha fall to his knees in front of me before.

I don’t know how I feel about it, yet. It feels so unnatural, an alpha as strong and dominant as Killian showing anyone a sign of submissiveness.

But at the same time, that only adds weight to Killian’s words.

He’s making a vow. Kneeling before me like a knight in front of his queen. It makes my heart want to fly out of my chest.

“That—that sounds an awful lot like you’re planning on doing something illegal,” I say, letting out a soft huff of laughter as I reach up and run my hands through his hair.

He leans away from my shoulder, a devilish smirk tugging at his lips.

“There are plenty of legal ways to make someone pay," he says.

“What do you think this whole case is for?” Theo says, standing from his chair and kneeling by my other side. He reaches up and brushes some of my hair away from my face. “We’re going after everyone we can, Spitfire.”

“Damn, that’s a lot of responsibility on my shoulders, if I’m the star witness,” I say.

“The case isn’t completely reliant on you, if it’s any consolation,” Stone says. “Our pack may be leading the charge, but it has the full backing of the police department too.”

“Your testimony is important because it provides the lived experience of the many omegas who are involved in this because it’s the only viable choice,” Theo says.

“That’s important too. It’s not just omegas who are getting kidnapped who are affected.

This problem requires big and actual systemic change to be fixed. ”

I nod slowly, taking a deep breath.

“Well, I’m down to help however I can,” I say.

“I have one question,” Stone says slowly, his brows drawing down as he purses his lips.

“Shoot. I’m an open book, you guys basically know the darkest times in my life. I’ll tell you anything.”