Page 11

Lily

I did exactly what I promised myself I would. When the three alphas approached me, I didn’t cower and submit. Nope. I stood up for myself and didn’t take the bait. I walked away.

It was everything I told myself I’d do in the situation.

Rumor might have the perfect dream life here with her mates, but she was not the rule. She was the magical unicorn of omegas.

We didn’t live in a world filled with DarkShadow Packs. If anything, my pack was the one others aspired not to be. Forgetting that was easy to do. I lived a good life here, but that didn’t change the fact that omegas were treated horribly everywhere else.

I refused to let myself become complacent simply because Rumor had this perfect life, one she willingly shared with me.

A false sense of security could lead to darkness taking over my life again.

These alphas might act like they would take care of me and treasure me the way Rumor’s did her, but that’s all it was, an act.

I was staying here…with them.

End.

Of.

Story.

There was no reason to chance it. Back before Rumor took me in, I’d have risked everything to get out of there. But that time was behind me now.

I was no longer forced to do hard labor without food or sleep, no one beat me anymore, not for mistakes I made or for the mistakes of others, my pack smiled when they saw me, and I never had to help clean the wounds left by a whipping on someone who “stepped out of line.” This was a good pack, the best pack.

And they accepted me into their fold and treated me like I was important.

I had a good life, better than I ever dreamed possible. And, more than how they treated me, this was a family. I had cubs around me, both Bernie and Rumor’s growing baby. Cubs bring packs to life, and being part of that, even as an auntie, was everything.

“Where did you go?” I’d been finishing up cleaning the jar returns for hours now and wasn’t any closer than when I started.

And this missing dishcloth was the third of the day.

At this rate, I was going to be in the kitchen for a decade.

But that was fine. At least those alphas weren’t here trying to woo me with their sexy smiles and delicious scents.

“Argg.” They needed to leave my head already. They weren’t paying rent. I was evicting them.

Maybe I needed to stay away from the market for a while.

My wolf tried to tear through me and take my skin at the thought of skipping market days. That wasn’t happening. She needed to chill out.

He did have a point, though. Selling my goods gave me a purpose, bringing money into our pack. Allowing those alphas to push me out of there was just as bad as falling for their courting offer. Right?

Or maybe I’d been too harsh, shutting them down without hearing them out.

“Argggg.” I stomped my foot like I was three. Second-guessing myself wasn’t going to help my situation. I needed to cut it out.

I did the right things for myself. Full stop. I didn’t decide in the moment and go by feelings. I had a plan, and I stuck with it.

So, why did I feel so completely shitty?

It didn’t help that my wolf was madder by the second, pacing around inside me, growling, growling, and then growling again.

Most days, I could ignore her if she got pesky, but when she got this worked up, it ate away at my resolve and, eventually, she’d win.

I went back to the dishes, grabbing yet another clean dishcloth. My beast growled louder, catching me off guard and I ended up dropping a jar. It didn’t break, but that didn’t mean the next one wouldn’t.

“What the heck was courting anyway? Stupid wolves acting like stupid humans. Courting? Ha! I’m not a human. Why were they acting like I was a human? Did they have to come to my table and ruin my perfect freaking life?”

No. I refused to allow them any control over me.

I ran outside, ripped my shirt off, and barely got my jeans free of my legs before my wolf tore through me. I lost a pair of underwear in the shift and my best bra. Ugg.

My beast pushed me back, taking over completely, howling like in the horror movies when all the wolves look to the sky, see the full moon, and decide to—I didn’t know what they did, because I always turned them off, but it was something not good.

My wolf jumped to the grass and ran to I didn’t know where, not letting me in on her little plans. She was barely letting me share her eyes to see where we were, not risking me regaining control.

But then Bernie squealed with delight in the distance, and my wolf stopped short, turned around, and ran back to our youngest packmate. We found her sitting on a blanket and grabbing at bubbles Rumor was blowing in her direction.

“Is that the kind of day you’re having?” She looked my wolf dead in the eyes.

I jumped up and grabbed a bubble, ignoring Rumor and focusing on making Bernie smile.

She giggled louder.

“You can’t hide from all this forever,” Rumor said. She blew another wand full of bubbles. “They’re not all bad. Trust me. I know. You do too. I’m not saying you need to agree to anything or everything or whatever. But they’re not all bad.”

I wanted to argue, but my wolf wasn’t allowing me to regain control just yet.

My wolf stood on her hind feet and batted at some more bubbles that were coming her way. Bernadette crawled over and pet me. She might not know what was happening, but she knew exactly what my beast needed…told me I belonged in the way only she could.