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Rumor

Wilder hadn’t mean anything by what he said. None of them had. They’d been nothing but amazing to me at every corner.

But hearing the mention of my heat, my suppressants, my scent blockers—it was all too much.

I was too visible.

Too seen.

I wasn’t hiding or blending like I needed to. No. Not what I’d grown to believe was needed. I’d been forced to be invisible, ever since coming out as an omega. I had my place and it wasn’t with the alphas.

And now I was in the bathroom crying…because that helped.

“Come on, Rumor. Pull it together.” I grabbed a washcloth and ran it under cold water. I held it to my face, willing the tears back, hoping I wouldn’t look every bit the mess that I was.

These alphas were different. They were. And they weren’t saying, “Oh, I’m different. You can trust me.” I’d met alphas like that before. Wilder, Penn, and Vargas showed me they were different.

They let me eat first. They might never understand how meaningful that small gesture was. It would be a while before it would be automatic for me, but I was getting there.

They didn’t throw chores at me. They barely let me help. That wouldn’t last forever. I liked being useful but being a choice…wow.

The first time I saw Penn, I knew he’d be kind to me, and that he was a better option than staying where I was. I had no idea about the others, but it hadn’t mattered because the bar had been in the basement, so it had already been surpassed simply by him giving me that small smile.

This should be easy. I was someplace where people actually wanted me. Adjusting shouldn’t be difficult, except it was. There was so much to take in.

I pulled the washcloth from my face and peered in the mirror to make sure I didn’t look too much of a mess. I very much did. Anyone would know I had been crying. I pulled my hair forward to try to shade my face a little, braced myself, and walked out. These alphas, my mates, deserved better than me melting down and hiding from them simply because I was freaked out over a sex talk that hadn’t even included sex really, just the mention of heat.

I don’t know why I was surprised to find Wilder standing there, arms open. I shouldn’t have been. His face had fallen when he realized what he’d said. He wasn’t being a dick, just comfortable enough with me to say all the things.

“Hey, I just wanted to—”

I threw my arms around him at the invitation of his open ones and clung to him for dear life as he held me, so gently, so sweetly.

When was the last time I’d been hugged?

Never, since I was an omega.

But before that, when I was an alpha? Alphas didn’t need affection. They needed to be strong. Tough. To do things on their own.

Try as I might, a memory of being hugged anytime after I was very small didn’t come to me.

But here I was. Wilder, holding me close, telling me he was sorry. I was the one who should be apologizing. I was the one who ran out, too weak to deal with a reasonable conversation. But when I tried, he asked me not to, to let him bear it.

“I’m ready to go back in.” I pulled back and wiped my tears with my hands, no longer worried about what I looked like, feeling so accepted by him.

He apologized again.

“Please don’t apologize,” I said. “Wilder, I-I overreacted. You didn’t—”

His hand came up and cupped my cheek, and I leaned in to his touch. “You didn’t overreact. You’ve been through so much more than I’ll ever know, and I was insensitive. If you don’t want to come back to dinner, we’ll understand. I can bring you food to your room.”

“I want to,” I said, and I started walking that way because if I thought about it too long, I probably would go and hide in my nest. The one they made just for me. The one place they promised never to enter without my permission. I’d never had that before. I was always either in my parents’ house or the omega house.

My new pack was nothing like the old.

I sat down and thought to apologize again but bit it back. I didn’t want them to see me this weak. But I did want them to see me, something I hadn’t realized before.

They must have sensed I didn’t want to rehash my distress from earlier, because the first thing Vargas did was tell me that he’d just been talking to Wilder about my rocks.

“I was always told it was a silly hobby,” I said, “but you guys seem interested.”

“We’re interested in everything about you,” Penn stated very matter-of-factly. “Now, this is new to us. We’ve never had an omega in our pack before, and we want to do right by you. We want you to feel this place is every bit as much yours as it is ours. And that we’re making your days better—not harder.”

“I can’t believe you guys want me here.” I hadn’t meant to say it aloud, but out it came.

“Why wouldn’t we? You’re amazing.” The sincerity in Wilder’s words floored me. It was very clear he didn’t have the best filter, but that gave such a sense of honesty to the words he did share.

“Because I’ve been rejected,” I admitted.

And it was true.

They rejected me.

I was sloppy seconds.

An outcast.

First, I was rejected by my family, then rejected by my mates, then by most of the alphas wanting to buy an omega. Nobody wanted me.

Until Penn.

“The best thing that’s ever happened is them rejecting you,” Penn said, “because we hadn’t found you yet.”

Penn reached over to touch my hand but pulled back. They were still so nervous around me. But then again—I was nervous around them too.

“You’re so brave and strong,” Vargas said.

Wrong.

I scooped some more stew onto my plate, not even asking, something entirely new to me. Maybe I was brave or getting braver.

They had to have noticed I left all the carrots. They weren’t my favorite. I’d eat them eventually—or maybe not. I suspected that they wouldn’t care if I chose not to eat things because they weren’t my preference.

That hadn’t always been the case for me. It was, eat everything or don’t eat the next meal , even before they knew I was an omega. It had always been about power and control.

“I’m not strong. Trust me, I’m not.”

“Of course you are. You came to us. You came to the bastard pack. That’s the kind of brave most people won’t even consider.”

I didn’t have the heart to tell them that my choices were to trust them—or end my life and be with the Goddess. Because one thing was for sure. I wouldn’t have stayed there. That life had been no life at all.