Page 22 of Cost of Courting (When it Raines Omegaverse #6)

Chapter twenty

Selene

I walked out of there without doing either of the things I had intended on doing. With a shake of my head, I push the pack to the side and focus on the more pressing issue: my sister.

She looks up at me as I walk in, her cheeks bright red, and as soon as she knows she has my attention, she throws a plate at the wall above my head. It’s such a move reminiscent of our father that I’m speechless.

“You can’t just dictate who I talk to!”

“Would that I could, we wouldn’t be in this situation!” I toss the barb back at her.

She flinches like I’ve hit her. “I didn’t know!” she shouts back at me.

I close my eyes, trying to find the calm that I used to have. I don’t want to fight with her.

“I know that, and I’m not,” I exhale roughly. “I’m not blaming you. I don’t blame you for anything, Luna. He was a predator. But you can’t just go around trying to get what you want like that!”

“Like what? Being friendly.” She flicks her hair and rolls her eyes. I try to hold my temper but it’s hard.

“Flirting,” I grind out and bend down to pick up pieces of the plate. It was the last one our mother bought before she died.

She narrows her eyes. “You’re jealous.”

I let out another warning growl. “They are mine. If they belong to anyone, they are mine. You lied to me. You betrayed me. We are not okay right now.”

Luna huffs. “You just want them for yourself.”

“YES!” I shriek, whirling around to face her. “I do. I always have. That’s what hurts. They hurt me and betrayed me, and instead of siding with me, you were sneaking around behind my back.”

“You have no idea about the real world. All you do is work in a bar and help these poor people here. You don’t want to get out of here, you don’t have ambition. How can we ever leave here if you give everything to everyone else?”

I press my lips together to stop any words from escaping.

“I know what I want, and I’m going after it.”

I pull out a chair, grab the potato peeler and potatoes, and start peeling. “What are you going after?”

“The pack.”

I know she doesn’t mean it, but I can’t stop myself from responding.

I slam a potato down and yank my shirt away from my collar. “They are mine. You stay away from them, and, while we’re talking about you being so grown up, why the hell are you hanging around Benson again?”

Luna lifts her chin defiantly. “I can talk to my ex.” But her eyes are focused on the bond mark on my neck.

I grind my molars. “Luna, for fuck's sake, please don’t do this again. You don’t know what it took to clean up that mess.”

“Oh, I see, so all I do is cause a mess that you have to clean up?”

I let out a fierce hiss. But it doesn’t affect her at all. She’s not listening. She’s filled with righteous anger, and she’s got no intention of hearing me out.

“I’m not saying that! Will you just listen to me for once-”

“Yeah, because all you do is give orders! You don’t ever talk to me, you and all your damn secrets. But not everything is about you.”

My snarl goes unnoticed.

She takes out a container from the fridge, opens the lid, sniffs, and then tosses the whole thing in the sink.

“What are you doing?” I snarl and lunge for it. I only made it yesterday.

“It’s old. I want something different to eat. We always have the same.”

I pull the ruined container of food out of the sink, half the food remains. I scoop it back into the container, but it’s no good, it’s ruined.

She’s already gone by the time I turn around, and I’m left with the helpless feeling that no matter what I do, I keep fucking things up.

Maybe I should lay out the truth for her. All of it. But then she would have to live with the fear, the uncertainty, the way I do. That veil of safety she has so much confidence in would be ripped away. Nowhere is safe. No one is safe.

How can I do that to her? She’s already lost so much and lived so much hardship.

It hasn’t been easy growing up in this neighbourhood.

If I can preserve that innocence for a little bit longer, isn’t that an obligation that only I can provide?

After all, since Dad died, I have practically raised her.

I’ve managed the bills, the food, the rent. She doesn’t have to worry about any of that. Maybe I spoil her, maybe I allow her too much freedom. Maybe I should give her some of the responsibilities.

The bolognaise sauce drips down my fingers and into the sink. I turn on the water and meticulously clean them.

My thoughts turn back to Mael. Is he protecting me in the same way I protect my sister? If he is, I don’t like it. He should know I can take care of myself.

Haven’t I proven it over and over again?

I think about those scars I’ve seen on his body, peeking out of his tops.

Someone hurt Mael.

The thought burns inside me, growing and growing with a rage that I can’t seem to control at all.

Who hurt my alpha?

On autopilot, I go through the motions of getting ready.

When I’ve got my boots on and my wet hair is plaited, I slip out the back and through the fence into Dot’s yard.

I don’t go and alert her, I just slip through the side of her fence and cross the road, jogging down the backstreets and out of this neighbourhood.

I can sense Kingston through the bond. His attention slowly turning to focus completely on me. Strangely, there’s a warmth glowing inside me, a feeling of not being alone anymore.

I wonder if everyone else has bonds this strong? It’s inconvenient to have what feels very much like a tracer on me, but, in saying that, I know where they are, too.

This could come in handy.

By the time I feel his alarm, I’m smiling as I slip into the pub. Kent pauses in stacking glasses and scowls.

“What are you doing here?”

“Can’t a girl come say hello to her boss?”

“No one in their right mind comes to work on their days off. Except you.”

A tall guy with ginger hair wanders out of the back room and sets a case of beer bottles on the bar.

“You need to order three more of these.”

I dislike him intensely just on principle.

“Who are you? ”

He blinks the bluest eyes at me and then smiles, the widest and friendliest grin I’ve seen in ages. “Who are you?” He mocks me. Then, with a laugh, he grins, and his whole self warms. “Eben.”

“Eben who? Wait, you’re not Mael’s cousin, are you? Little Eben?”

He laughs. “Not so little now.”

“What are you doing here?” I say and walk up to hug him.

“Seeing how long it takes Mael to notice that I’m in town. It’s a game I like to play with him, since he won’t stop trying to flush me out of my hole.”

Kent looks between us. “I’m never going to get anything done with you two. Go, have a beer or something and talk outside!”

Eben laughs. “You old grump, you just want us to fuck off so you can go smoke a cone.”

Kent tries to look stern, but he ends up spluttering with laughter. I’ve never seen him like this either.

“Yep. Busted, and I don’t care. Now get out.”

Eben grabs two beers, tosses his apron onto the bar, and leads the way outside. He sits on the ground with his legs bent. I sit beside him, marvelling at the massive bulk he’s grown into.

“I heard you were gone,” Eben says with a wink.

“I am gone.”

“Uh-huh. Looks like it.”

“I heard you were left.”

“I was left.”

“Looks like it.”

“Mael came back for you, didn’t he?” Eben asks.

I sit quietly, listening to the sound of traffic and bird song. The sun isn’t hot today but warm.

“I don’t know if he came back for me or if I was simply here when he came back. I wish they hadn’t come back, though.”

“Do you?”

“No, not really. I’m just tired and angry. I don’t know what they want, but I don’t trust them.”

Eben laughs softly. “They hurt you badly. Will you ever forgive them?”

I hesitate, wanting to say no but knowing that the answer is yes. I bang my head against the bricks and look up into the sun. The birdsong is loud; the air smells like booze and dirt, and Eben is here. Now, I always saw Eben as a brother, and that feeling is still strong.

“Forgiveness isn’t the issue. They’re going to leave again, they won’t stay here, and I can’t abandon these people. It’s a moot point. ”

“I don’t think so. I think forgiveness is healing, and it can change everything. You’d be surprised what my cousin is willing to give up to keep you happy and safe.”

He laughs, and that damn smile comes back. Mael smiles like that, but more intentionally and less freely. Or he used to.

“Are you asking for forgiveness or giving it?”

Eben rolls up onto his feet and grabs one of the porch poles and twirls around it.

“Shale and Mael are searching for me. Do you know what they want?” he asks me quietly. “They need to leave me alone.”

“Well, judging by how much Mael cares about you, I’m going to guess it’s just wanting to know you’re okay,” I say dryly.

Eben leans his head back and flings his arms wide. “The sun isn’t quite as bright here. I miss the sounds of the hawks and bugs. It’s so quiet in the city.”

I frown, watching as he drops his arms. “You’re not going to stay, are you?”

He crouches down and cocks his head to the side. “I heard a rumour that Mael was in trouble.”

“Yes, they are while they are here. It would be safer if they left. But I’ve got it handled.”

“I’ve heard a bit about what’s going on here. It would be safer if you left.”

I don’t bother answering him. The truth is, I’m not going anywhere. We both know it.

“Yeah, I thought that about you. I remember how stubborn you were. Your dad used to tell you to do something, and you’d put your hands on your hips, look up at him, and say, ‘why?’ You never did anything you were told unless it suited you.”

I snort. “I was always a smart kid.”

“Why was it Mael that caught your eye and not Shale? My brother was older and more aggressive. More independent. Prettier, even.”

I pause, thinking about it. “He wasn’t mine.

Have you met a person who was yours, Eben?

A person who made your entire world make sense?

They turned on everything: lights, reason, dreams, hope, feelings.

It all made the world unimaginably wonderful?

Even when it was awful, and, because you were together, it was perfect? ”

Eben frowns down at his hands. “Yeah, and when they disappear, it’s a million times worse because they were the light in your life, and now you don’t live anymore, you exist in the grey, waiting to hear their name, their voice, their laugh. Anything that can give you a spark of what you once felt.”

“Yes,” I breathe.

“Sucks, doesn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“So, you’re pulling away because?”

I stand up and pace. “We don’t know each other. We shouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“It’s because we barely know each other that we should. Besides, we’re family.”

“Why aren’t you fixing things, then?”

Eben’s shoulders curl. “I did something so bad, no one would ever forgive me, let alone him.”

I pause. “They left me for another omega. Even when I told them it wasn’t her, it was me, they ignored me. I was important and part of them until I wasn’t, and they just discarded me. Why the fuck would I put myself in a position of being vulnerable again?”

“Because you love them.”

“It’s because I love them that I can’t. They will destroy me completely this time.”

“There can be no epic happiness without risk,” Eben says like some sage wise man.

“Says the alpha who is holed up somewhere no one can find him.”

Eben laughs. “This is true. And yet, I’m never that far away.”

He shrugs his shoulders and holds up his phone. With a start and a flush of rage, I see Mael’s name and the green icon showing a call in progress.

“You fucking dick!”

Eben grins. “Suck it up, Princess Psycho. Now play nice and give into your alphas. Forgive them. Be happy.”

I take a step towards him, but he dances away, laughing. Except I can see the laughter is only skin deep. He’s oozing pain.

“Go find that person, Eben, don’t be a coward.”

He stops and glares at me. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure, I don’t.”

“Wait for us, Eben,” I hear through the phone.

The alpha smiles, and, this time, I think it is real. “Nope. Give up trying to get me to come back, Mael. It’s not happening.”

“Shale would like to see you.”

Eben coughs, and I hear bullshit in the middle of it.

“Shale is wrapped around that cute omega of his. Nursing his bruised pride.”

“I know that you went there to help him, just like you’re doing now.”

“Oh,” I say loudly, cutting in. “This is repeat behaviour?”

Eben flashes me a wild smile. “It is, but, with Aspyn, it was worth it. She gave in and stopped giving them the cold shoulder after Shale beat me. Gael went to the island with his pack for the surf competition. You know, I paid a lot of money to ensure that it happened at his home. A lot of money. Pulled in some wild favours, too. They just needed a little nudge. Just like you. ”

“Oh, do I just? I’m not the same as this Aspyn.”

Eben grins wildly. “No, you’re not. You’re more like Aunt Doreen. She was cunning and wild and full of this fierceness. Aspyn would have drowned with Mael and his overbearing pack. But you meet them head on and make them prove themselves.”

“How do you even know?”

“You’d be surprised how often I’ve been down here checking up on you, Selene. I knew they would come back. So, I keep an eye on you, too.”

He smiles and winks. “You can thank me later.”

Eben Daane lifts a hand and walks away. I watch him go somehow, knowing I won’t find him unless he wants to be found.

He’s given me a lot to think about, but no time. I turn as the pack rock up, pouring out of the car.

“Where is he?” Mael growls.

I shrug my shoulders. “Gone.”

I expect him to go after Eben, but the alpha who holds my unwilling heart turns all that singular attention on me.

“You love us.”

Damn Eben to hell.