Page 7 of Enticing Little Omega (Twisted Little Tales #5)

Annerly

I didn't even realise the other woman with Honey and Cindy, had vanished until Honey had slammed the door in our faces.

William stood beside me, still staring at the closed door like he could will it open. His expression was unreadable, but I knew him too well not to see the turmoil brewing under the surface.

"Well, she ran from us. Again," He said, more to himself than me. "At least she's consistent."

"She was scared," I replied, my voice lower, calmer. I didn't add what we both knew—that Cindy had every right to be scared.

No. Not Cindy. Christa. That's what Honey called her best friend. That must be the name she'd taken after she ran away from her stepmother.

From us.

Although, after everything she'd been through and how it turned out, Tracy, the wicked witch as William liked to refer to her, had been treating Christa, I don't really blame her for running.

William turned on me then, eyes wild. "After all this time... she's here, just on the other side of the door." He rubs a hand over his face, taking a deep breath, and I rub my hands over his chest, trying to calm his baser, more aggressive Alpha tendencies.

Everything in me aches to help soothe his worries. But I'm no Omega. I'm not his Omega.

I shake off the feelings of inadequacy and focus on him instead.

With my hand still rubbing soothing circles on my Alpha's chest, he took another deep breath before looking at me. "We need to call the twins."

I blinked.

No.

"Now?" They're hot heads. They'd... Fuck. They're pack, no matter what's been happening the last few years.

"They need to know she's here. That we've found her. That she..." He broke off, jaw clenched.

"I get it," I said gently. "I do. But maybe... maybe we take a second. Breathe. Give Christa a moment to catch up."

"We've been breathing for two years, An." The nickname spoke to me in a way that only he could do. "Almost two whole years without our pack. Without her. I'm tired of waiting and breathing."

I exhaled, dragging a hand through my hair. "Look, I'm not saying we don't tell them. They deserve to know. I just think we need to be smart about it. We don't need to scare her off."

His shoulders dropped, the weight of the past two years pressing down on both of us. He pulled me into his arms, and as messed up as my emotions were right then, I had to appreciate how much I loved this.

Almost four years ago we met. Six months after that we found the twins, and after testing out the waters for a year, we decided to formalise the pack bond. Throughout all that time, he was my best friend.

Turns out he was more than that.

Now, finally, after years of searching for our Omega we'd finally given in to feelings neither of us knew the other was hiding.

"An," William whispered against my head. "I know you're scared. I am too. But she's just on the other side of the door. We won't lose her again. Call them."

"Fuck," I muttered before giving in.

I pulled out my phone and dialed Drew's number. Of the two, he was the one more likely to answer. And sure enough, after two rings, his voice came through the speaker.

"Annerly?" His voice was cautious, like he half-expected me to fight with him. To be fair, the last time we spoke, things did not go well.

"Hey. Yeah. It's me."

A pause. "Is everything okay?"

I swallowed down the apprehension at sharing the news with them. They deserved to know. We could trust them with her. They weren't the problem. It was their damn mother.

A mother they hadn't seen in three years before the disastrous party, and if they could be believed, not again since.

Man the fuck up, Annerly.

"We found her."

Silence. Then a sharp inhale. "You're kidding."

"No. She's here. Alive, well."

"Where are you?" he asked, his voice barely more than a croak.

"A small town called Mystery Falls."

"And you're sure she—" Drew's voice cracked again. "She's safe, right?"

"She's safe," I blurted. "Skittish as hell, but safe. She ran when she saw us, but she's in her apartment." I ran a hand down my face. "Listen... It's a long story. We've a lot to catch up on."

Another silence. Longer this time. I pictured Drew looking at Anton—which was insane because I didn't even know if his grumpier brother was with him—and doing that whole twin mind meld thing that annoyed the crap out of me at times.

"Can we... I mean, do you think it's okay if we came?"

"I don't know," I told him. "She wasn't very happy to see us as it is, and we have no clue what she's been through in the last two years. I'm worried if you two show up too, she might bolt again."

Drew was quiet again. "Anton's not going to like this."

Which answered the question of whether or not his brother was with him.

" I don't like this," I said dryly. "We found our Omega, one that's been on the run for two years. We're a pack, fractured so badly that we're not even close to being worthy of her, and I can't tell whether it would hurt her more or less if you two were here."

There was a heavy beat, and then Drew's voice softened. "Are you two okay?"

That one question went a long way toward making me feel like we had a halfway decent chance of mending what was very badly broken between us. I glanced sideways at William, who was resting his head on my shoulder.

"I don't know," I said honestly. "But we found her. So that counts for something, right?"

"Yeah," Drew responded. "Listen, I'm going to call Anton. He's at work. He can come home, and we can phone you two together, and we can come up with a plan. Okay?"

"Okay, yeah. That works."

"Let us know if anything changes," he begged me.

"I will."

We ended the call, and I slipped the phone back into my pocket. William hadn't moved.

"What if she runs again?" he asked quietly.

"What if she doesn't?" I returned. "What if this time she gives us a chance?"

He sighed before giving me a long, lingering kiss. "Then we do the work to prove we deserve her."