Page 25

Chapter 25

Harlow

I stare at the ceiling, my heart feeling like it’s being squeezed in a vise as the early morning light filters through the curtains. The light casts a shadow across the nest.

I inhale. It still smells like my alphas.

But they are not my alphas. They didn’t fight Parker when he told me he didn’t want to claim me. They were never truly mine.

Maybe my true pack will all have my scents. Everyone will smell of coconut, pineapple, vanilla, and rum. Not just three elements each. Apart from Carver.

“Did you sleep well?” Asher’s head pokes around the door, his green eyes filled with concern .

“Fine.” I force a smile. It's a lie. I had a restless night, tossing and turning as I thought everything through. “Have a lovely day at work.”

“Call me if you need me.” He hesitates. “I can be home in fifteen minutes.”

I don’t answer with anything but a nod, and he leaves.

The front door clicks shut moments later.

I drag myself out of bed, feet carrying me to Jagger’s room.

His space is so perfect for him.

Toy cars are scattered across the floor, a half-finished puzzle on his desk. His ceiling is full of space objects and constellations. He seems to like a bit of everything.

My fingers trace the edge of a drawing pinned to his cork board. My heart clenches, Jagger already informed me that the stick figures are of him and Parker holding hands.

A birthday card catches my eye, tucked into the corner of his mirror. The envelope is worn, like it’s been handled many times. I shouldn’t read it, but I can’t help myself.

“To my boy. One-year-old today. And I promise to always keep you safe, to give you the home and family you deserve. I will never hurt you. Nothing you ever do will ever change that. Love, Uncle Kai.”

My throat closes up.

It hits me like a slap across my cheek, and it stings just as badly.

I’m the thing that could change that. I’m the weakness of Parker’s promise to his nephew.

Only now do I get Parker’s reluctance to claim me. Only now does it make perfect sense.

I’m his omega, but being an alpha once is also a liability.

His omega is the very threat to everything he’s built for Jagger.

If only my omega had awakened sooner .

It doesn’t stop the anger flaring hot in my chest, warring with a deep, crushing pain. What was this all for then? Some elaborate show for social services?

“You were never supposed to reveal,” I say to myself. You were just supposed to keep up the illusion of being in their pack as an alpha…

I swallow a lump in my throat. They never asked me to stay long term, so I don’t know why I have this ache in my heart. It’s not like they lied to me.

But they were going to ask you to sign away your life to their pack.

And I am an omega now. Everything has changed. I can’t live a lie if this is only short term…until this pack gets what they need–not me—Jagger.

Of course, I can still stand up in court and pretend as much as they need me to. I don’t want Jagger losing the man who has brought him up to the stranger who never cared about what happened to him.

But I can’t stay, and I can’t sign away my life to them.

My hands shake as I pull out my phone, dialing for a cab. “Downtown, please.” My voice cracks.

I press my palm against my chest, trying to hold myself together.

“Five minutes,” is what I get in response.

Five minutes and I have left before I walk away from everything I never knew I wanted.

The thought of leaving them - all of them - makes me feel like I’m being torn apart. But I have to.

For Jagger.

For the pack.

And for myself, if I’m going to be honest with myself.

I want a pack who is desperate to claim me, not a pack who holds back.

The cab pulls up outside Freya’s building, and I stare at the meter through blurry eyes. My chest feels hollow, like someone scooped out everything inside me and left nothing but an aching void.

“That’ll be thirty dollars.”

My phone buzzes as I dig out my purse. But I hesitate when I see Colton’s name flashing across the screen.

“Hello,” I say as I hand cash to the driver and fish Freya’s apartment key from my purse.

“How are you?” His voice is soft, careful.

“I’m fine.” The lie tastes like poison on my tongue.

“I’m so sorry, Harlow. I wish I did things differently. I miss you so much. Please come home. I don’t care that we aren’t scent matches—”

“It’s too late.” I shake my head.

He sighs. “Listen to me. Carver’s using you to get back at me. He always swore revenge, and this is how he did it. He set me up with that omega.”

My hand tightens around the phone. “I know.”

“You do? Then please, Harlow, give me another chance. I’ll give you anything you want. I’ll never hurt you again.”

“I can’t do that, Colton. You cheated on me.”

“I promise I never touched that omega. I admit I was swayed, but I never went home with her or kissed her. I just watched Jenson with her, that’s all.”

“It’s enough,” I whisper as I step into the building and walk to the elevator.

“No—”

The elevator doors slide open with a soft ding.

“I have to go.” My voice breaks.

Eleven years of loving Colton, and despite that, I can’t spend another minute with him. Not because he cheated, despite what he claims. But because how can I when I know his brother is mine?

Maybe Carver and I could sail off into the sunset together. Maybe it could be just the two of us.

My phone rings again as the elevator stops.

I stare at the screen. This time it’s Parker’s name that lights it up. My thumb hovers over it for a few seconds as I contemplate answering, but I know he’s only calling because Asher made him.

I switch off the phone and drop it in my purse before stepping into Freya’s cozy apartment.

Later that day, I'm still curled up on Freya’s oversized armchair when her key turns in the lock. She bustles in, her copper hair dusted with a coating of flour. She's carrying a paper bag that fills the apartment with familiar scents.

“Special delivery.” She holds up the bag with a flourish. “Coconut, pineapple, and vanilla muffins. Just what you ordered, minus the rum.”

“I need the rum,” I mutter, pulling my knees tighter to my chest .

“Only joking.” She sets the bag on the counter, her smile softening. “I wanted to know how much you needed every scent, because deep down they all fit together, don’t they?”

My throat tightens.

Freya and I talked on the phone when I first arrived at her apartment, and despite her usually scattered demeanor, Freya picked up immediately that something was awry.

She fills her green kettle and sets it on the stove, the familiar motions somehow comforting. “Tell me everything.”

“I don’t even know where to start.” I press my palms against my eyes, fighting back tears.

“Start with why you’re here instead of in that gorgeous house with your alphas.” She pulls two mugs from her cabinet, both painted with ridiculous puns about baking.

“They’re not my alphas.”

She nods as she fills each mug and walks toward me.

I take the steaming mug Freya offers, wrapping my fingers around its warmth. The ceramic declares ‘ Muffin to worry about’.

I wish that was true.

“Sure they’re not.” Freya breaks a muffin in half, pushing part of it toward me. “That’s why you ordered these specific flavors.”

“Asher turned me down. I tried to have sex with him.” As I pick at the muffin, the coconut, and pineapple smells makes my chest ache. “I know it was because of what I said. They don’t like me anymore.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Some people need a little more than wanting sex. Maybe Asher needs more love than other alphas.”

“How’s your heat coming along?” I ask her, ignoring that ridiculous comment.

“Don’t change the subject.” She takes a sip of her coffee, then waves her hand dismissively. “It’s nothing. I’ve done it before. Three days in the wellness center being fucked by the alphas I choose, and then they’ll leave me and I’ll go home feeling empty.”

“Empty?”

Her lower lip trembles. “I want a baby, Harlow. Every time I’ve left, I’ve never ached for the alphas. I suppose you don’t if they aren’t a scent match, if they’re not your mate or mates.” Her voice cracks. “But each time I sit here and wish I could have a baby to love. To cherish. You know?”

Tears spill down her cheeks, and I’m out of my chair in an instant, wrapping my arms around her. “We could bring the baby up together.”

She lets out a watery laugh, wiping her eyes. “You have your alphas. This is just a breather for you. You’ve gone through so much in such a short amount of time. You just need a few days to take it all in, and then you should go back to them.”

I sink back into my chair; the muffin is forgotten.

If only she knew. This isn’t just a breather—it’s an ending.

The pack needs me for the custody hearing, nothing more. Parker made that clear enough.

But I can’t bring myself to correct her, to voice the truth that would make it all too real.

Freya’s phone rings, and she glances at the screen with a grimace. “Sorry,” she mouths.

“It’s fine, take it.”

“Hi, Mom.”

I pick at my muffin while trying not to eavesdrop, but it’s impossible in the small apartment.

“No, Mom, I haven’t found an alpha yet.” Freya rolls her eyes at me. “Because I’m not looking... Yes, I know the wellness center isn’t ideal... Mom, please. ”

My chest tightens thinking of my mother. Despite everything she did with the implant, I miss her. Miss the way she’d brush my hair when I was little, how she’d sing to me when I was sick.

How she protected me and my two sisters all our lives. My father was a deadbeat, leaving us when we were little. Mom hurt all her life. He claimed her when she wasn’t his to claim.

Is that what Parker thinks?

Is he worried that we don’t have a full scent match?

“Mom, I don’t fit the omega mold, okay? I’ll probably be single forever.” Freya’s voice cracks, taking me away from my own worries. “No, I’m not being silly. Some of us just don’t get the fairytale.”

My eyes drift to the newspaper on her coffee table, and my breath catches. There’s Carver, looking devastatingly handsome in his Raiders jersey. Tattoos on his arms and his neck.

The headline makes my heart skip.

Carver Sinclair Signs Record-Breaking NHL Contract with the LA Raiders.

He’s really staying. He moved across the country, signed the biggest deal in hockey history, all to be here. To be near me.

Freya ends her call with a heavy sigh. “My parents are worried I won’t get the perfect omega ending like my sister got. You know, the two alphas, three babies, white picket fence. The whole deal.”

“Your alphas are out there,” I say, meaning every word. “They’ll be amazing. The mates every omega wished they had.”

She snorts, gathering our empty mugs. “Right. Most alphas wear suits and prefer bourbon to muffins. I'm hardly likely to have the alphas of my dreams waiting to sweep me off my flour-covered feet. ”

“Stop it, Freya. You deserve that happiness.”

“Maybe.” She shrugs, but I catch her small smile. “But right now, I’d settle for not having my mother remind me I’m failing at being an omega.”

As Freya rinses out the mugs, her shoulders slump. “Hopefully, I’ll get pregnant during this heat. I’m going to pick a large pack this time.”

“Really? Why?”

“I don’t want to remember any of the alphas and look at my baby and wonder about him.”

“Freya. That is so sad.”

“I’m going to go there a day early and prepare my nest, so everything is perfect…for me to conceive.” She nods, not meeting my eyes. “And after I have the baby I might go on scent blockers.”

“Why?” The word catches in my throat.

“So I don’t smell my alpha. It would be typical of my luck for him to appear then.” Her voice cracks. “And imagine he still doesn’t want me. I couldn’t handle that rejection. I’ve felt it once before.”

“You have? You found a scent match?”

She nods. Tears in her eyes. “He never wanted me. He was obsessed with another omega.” She sighs. “I was so hurt…embarrassed…” She blows out a deep breath.

“There could be another one out there.”

She smiles. “I’ve given up, Harlow.”

My heart breaks for her. The way she’s so convinced she’ll never find her pack makes my chest ache.

She turns to me, her eyes glistening. “You had one follow you from New York because he knew he was yours, despite not revealing your true designation to him. Then three more find you while you’re here. Some of us are not that lucky. I’m twenty-seven years old, and never had one alpha desperate to be with me. ”

I stand up and wrap my arms around her. She’s trembling, and I hold her tighter. “Listen to me. You are going to be the most beautiful mother and fuck alphas. They don’t deserve you.”

She lets out a wet laugh against my shoulder. “You think?”

“I know.” I pull back, wiping a tear from her cheek. “Any alpha would be lucky to have you. And if they can’t see that, then they’re idiots who don’t deserve your time. And the baby you are going to have will be the most cherished baby in the land. Not only from you, but from me. I’ll be the best auntie.”