Page 7 of Cost of Courting (When it Raines Omegaverse #6)

Chapter five

Selene

I arrive home to find Pack Dread sitting on my porch, speaking to my sister and a couple of her friends.

Everyone’s eyes fall on me, and I’m honest enough to admit that I hate the fact there are girls almost falling over themselves to talk to Pack Dread.

With my gaze fixed on the front door, I ignore Edric’s greeting and step over them without a word.

I stalk through the inside of my house, ignoring the stomp of heavy boots behind me.

“You have to forgive us,” Mael snaps.

I collapse on my bed and kick off my boots. “I don’t have to do anything of the sort. Go away, Mael. I’m tired.”

I set my alarm and close my eyes. I’m almost asleep and convinced he’s gone when I feel someone sit on the edge of my mattress. My body rolls in that direction, and I have to dig my palms into the mattress before I collide with him.

“What’s it going to take to get you to forgive us?”

I sit up and glare. “First off, boundaries. Secondly, a time machine. Now get the fuck out.”

Mael just watches me in the dark. All those fantasies I had growing up were had in this room.

All the budding emotions and love for these alphas came from sleepless nights lying on this mattress.

How many times did they sleep in here with me?

How many pathetic nights did I lie here wondering if tonight was the night?

Wondering what they tasted like. How it would feel to have them inside me.

Staring at them sleeping, thinking how beautiful they were.

It’s not right. It’s confusing and just wrong.

“Forgive us.”

I shake my head, furious at him. “Absolutely not. I am not some person you can just discard whenever it suits you.”

Mael moves so fast I don’t see it. I’m tucked under him as he leans over me, our noses just inches apart. I hold myself perfectly still, too scared to even breathe too deeply.

With Bailey, everything is new and exciting, but, with Mael, it’s a familiar pining that I’ve had forever. Kiss me. Tell me you love me, tell me I’m the only one.

“We never discarded you.”

His words take a second to penetrate. In the dark, the light from the moon paints the side of his face, all lines and angles and beautiful, beautiful alpha.

“When you leave someone and you don’t call or write or, hell, come back and visit, it’s called abandonment, Mael.”

“We were always coming back.”

“I wasn’t waiting for you,” I lie.

He knows it, too. In the low light, I see his expression intensify. “Let’s play a game.”

“No games.”

“Two truths and a lie. You weren’t waiting for us?”

“I wasn’t.”

“Lie,” he whispers and brushes his lips over my temple.

“I really wasn’t,” I say and swat at him.

“Lie.”

“I hate you.”

He chuckles and threads our fingers of my left hand together above my head.

“Lie.”

He ducks down as if he’s going to kiss me and then freezes, no doubt remembering who I am. He slowly draws back. Our eyes are locked, and I feel like I might pass out.

“You went and grew up without us. I missed you.”

“Lie,” I hiss and struggle, trying to buck him off.

“Every damn day.”

“Two lies.”

“We were coming back for you.”

I let out a wail and smother it by pressing my mouth against my upper arm.

“We were coming back. I promise, Sel.”

He lowers his weight and then rolls, pulling me into a hug that I’m too tired and heartsore to escape from.

I bury my nose in the familiar scent of the darkest part of night. Whenever I smell it, I go outside and stand there thinking of Pack Dread. Every. Damn. Time. I have missed them. I have waited for them .

I lied.

But I don’t think he’s back for me.

Eventually, I get too tired to care, and then I fall asleep on the alpha I have loved since before I knew what love was.

An eerie wail tears me out of sleep. I jerk away, only to suddenly be lifted and thrown across the room. I hit the wall hard and drop into a crouch, scanning the room for the threat.

There’s only my bed, the dresser, and Mael. He is the only person in here, and he’s thrashing in the bed. Muttering, he looks distraught.

“Let go!” he hisses, but it’s filled with so much desperation that my heart just about stops in my chest.

I pause, straightening slowly, rapidly going through my options. I could go get help, but I would die before I left him. Especially when he’s like this.

“Don’t touch me. Let go of me! I don’t know anything!”

I edge closer, staring down at him. The moonlight is shining in through the window with enough strength that I can see the scars on his chest. His top has clearly been ripped open by him or me.

With no hesitation, I flick the light on and move back to the bed, standing over him.

He is crisscrossed with scars. Some are surface, but most of them are deep furrows. He reaches out, snagging my wrist, but I rip it free and slap his hand away from me.

“Wake up, Morrow.”

He shudders and starts to cry.

Fuck. I’m not strong enough for this. I blink a few times and swallow hard, mentally pulling myself together.

I inch closer, but, as soon as I’m within reach, he grabs me and pulls me close, burying his face in my stomach.

“Don’t leave me.”

I frown and stroke his hair. “You’re safe here, Mael. If anything tries to hurt you, I will cut them to pieces.”

I wince, wishing I could rephrase my words, but I don’t need to. He relaxes in my arms like I’m the balm to his terrors. I reach out hesitantly. I just want to comfort him, but it’s not my place.

He needs it .

Just for tonight.

I allow my fingers to stroke his hair, sinking into his thick locks and running over his scalp. His hair is cool and silky soft and brings back a thousand memories of him laying in my lap, me idly playing with his hair while we watch TV or talk.

“You should have stayed here and been mine,” I murmur to the sleeping alpha. “You would have been safe.”

“But you wouldn’t have,” he mumbles back. “Not from us. Not from this life.”

What?

“What?”

He doesn’t answer me, and he doesn’t say another word. When the sun rises, I sneak out of my bedroom, grab my baseball bat, and cross the road with vengeance in my heart.

I kick open their front door and slam the bat against the bedroom wall. I know the layout as well as I know my own. We spent half our lives here. It was, after all, Kingston Noctis’ childhood home.

“Get up. You two owe me a night’s sleep.”

“I can give it to you tomorrow,” Kingston says sleepily. “Come to bed, Fisher, I need a cuddle.”

I think I breathe sparks of rage into the air. With an enraged shriek, I reach for the weapon I brought with me this morning. I throw it on the bed and then upend the bag of mashed banana beside it.

Edric throws himself out of the bed, gagging and trying not to vomit. It’s so good to see that some things haven’t changed. If Edric has one weakness, it's the smell and texture of bananas.

“What the fuck are you doing, crazy girl?” Kingston growls.

My nostrils flare. I haven’t heard that nickname since the day they left, but they are going to find out who crazy girl really is. I smash the bat into the leg of the bed and watch as the whole thing collapses.

Kingston shrieks like a fucking girl.

Call me crazy girl, I’ll bring it to your fucking bed.

Edric grabs a fistful of my hair, wraps an arm around my waist, and drags me back out into the kitchen. The house is spotless, which I don’t really expect. I kinda assumed they would be messy.

“I think we deserve an explanation.”

“You know I had that argument with myself for years,” I snap back.

Edric snarls. “You’ve got today to whine about this, and then I’m going to give you something to whine about.”

“Why are you defacing my property?” Kingston says with a yawn .

My eyes widen as I track the expanse of exposed skin, the low slung boxers, the way he absently scratches his chest, drawing my eyes up and down to the V of deliciousness that is pointing to happy town. He did not look like that seven years ago.

I rip my eyes away, but I feel shaky.

How can they still affect me like this?

“What happened to Mael?” I ask before I can stop myself.

Kingston stills. “Fuck! I thought he was okay. He was sleeping fine.”

Edric lets go of my hair. “We should have brought him home.”

“What. Happened. To. My. Mael?”

My Mael?

Edric clears his throat. “Nothing you need to worry about.”

“It is when he sent me flying into a wall!” I hiss furiously.

“I did that?”

DAMNIT!

I turn and find Mael there, he’s pale and shaky, and when I step towards him, he takes a step back from me.

I feel a rush of regret at my actions, but I smother that with anger. They put me in this position. I wanted to be alone.

“Gonna run again, Morrow?” I sneer. “Got another great excuse to bail? Here, let me give you a third. I don’t want you here!”

Mael stares at me with bruised and hurt eyes. Damn him!

“Fuck this, and fuck you.” I storm out of the house. My eyes are gritty, and I feel the need for sleep throbbing against my chest and temples.

I crash back into my room, but it smells like him. I throw myself on my bed and stare up at the ceiling, hating everyone and everything.

If my eyes burn, it’s from lack of sleep, not tears.

The guy I’m following is so arrogant he doesn’t even know I’m here. This piece of shit thinks he can bash his girlfriend and force his kids to steal for him.

Well, he picked the wrong neighbourhood. I pull the balaklava down and heft the bat. It takes me ten seconds to catch up. He hears me just before I get close, but I’m already swinging.

The crack is the most satisfying sound ever. He has no way to stand. I’ve probably broken his kneecap .

But I don’t stop there. I keep going until he’s just a moaning, groaning lump on the ground.

“It’s time for you to move, Lester. We’ve decided that you’re not welcome here!”

“You crazy fucking bitch! I need help. I’m hurt.”

There’s that word again. Crazy. I hit him again just because.

“So did Ellis, but you didn’t call for help. You made her cook you dinner. So you can go, or I can kill you now,” I say and pull out my knife. It really is a gorgeous knife. It's matte black and was a gift from Mael on my sixteenth birthday.

His fear intensifies. They never expect a woman to be serious, not until I pull out the knife.

“I’ll go! Fucking shit!” He almost screams, blood and snot running down his face.

“First, I need a video.”

I walk the long way home, needing some time to think. My exhaustion is weighing me down. I need to get a decent amount of sleep.

The trees help me hide. It’s never a good thing to be walking around this neighbourhood at night. The birds are silent, only the rustling of the wind through dry leaves and the bugs keep me company.

I get distracted in my thoughts, wandering back to Mael calling out in his sleep. I rub my sternum and will the ache to go away.

Footsteps run towards me. I turn, alarmed, knowing it will be too late. He runs at me with a tree branch and swings. I don’t even know how he’s standing.

The bang comes out of nowhere. Lester stops, stunned, his eyes wide as blood runs down his shirt, and his life fades in front of me.

He drops to the ground. I’m pleased he’s dead, but I didn’t do that, and who is watching me close enough in order to see him run at me? Fuck, they probably have all the proof they need to send me to the slammer.

A shape shifts in the shadows. For a second, I think it’s Mael, but it’s not as menacing as Mael. It takes me a long moment, and then I recognise Bailey.

I looked him up. I know all about his family history. The Raines. He should not be here in this shitty neighbourhood.

“Bailey?”

“Hi, Selene. So, uh, you moonlight as a…what are you?”

I glance down at the body and back at him before reaching up and pulling my balaklava off. “Are you following me?”

He moves into the light, and I see that he’s smiling slightly. “What would you say if I am?”

“I would say it’s not nice to stalk people you barely know. ”

Bailey moves closer, ignoring the body and reaching out to brush my hair behind my ear.

I shiver.

What happened to not being interested? What happened to distance? My eyes travel over his exposed shoulders and arms. He is covered in ink, black swirls of colour that reach down to his fingertips. How did I miss that? I want to inspect every inch of those designs.

“How do you know I don’t know you well? Maybe I’ve been watching you for a long time?” Bailey whispers and shuffles even closer. “Fuck, you looked so good breaking his kneecap.”

I cock my head to the side. “If you’d been watching me, you wouldn’t be standing here with me like this now.”

“Maybe I just don’t care.”

“Maybe you should, and what happened to the other night?”

“What other night?”

He moves closer still, but a jaunty ringtone cuts through the tension, and he backs off, moving to answer the phone.

“Yeah, I need a clean-up crew.”

I stare at him for three seconds before I come to my senses and back away.

Bailey blows me a kiss that makes my whole damn heart turn over. Dangerous. He is far too dangerous.

I turn and jog away from the scene of my crimes.