Page 25

Emmie

The bus rumbles to a stop just outside of Silvercrest Manor, and the entire journey I’ve wondered about what comes next.

I don’t know what that looks like yet, but I know one thing for certain…

I won’t settle for scraps of affection ever again.

I won’t beg anyone to see my worth. I deserve an Alpha who will choose me without hesitation, who will fight for me instead of pushing me away.

I deserve someone who sees forever when they look at me, not just the ghost of someone who left them behind.

Romeo Silver isn’t that Alpha. He’s a walking contradiction. Rejected me so brutally, but still wanted me in secret. I don’t care if he turns out to be my full scent match when I’m eventually brave enough for the world to know who I really am.

I won’t choose Romeo Silver ever—he blew it.

With Elias Silver, I found a man I thought was definitely my Alpha. But it’s time I stopped pretending he could be.

And then there is Beck Silver. I admit he’s different. I actually believe him now. But somehow, I feel Beck gives up an awful lot for everyone else and I doubt he will pursue me once he knows who I really am and the danger that brings.

I turn the corner. The estate gates come into view, and I steel myself for whatever awaits me, knowing that Mom will probably have a hundred questions about where I’ve been.

After what she did to save me, I can’t tell her my life feels like it’s falling apart again.

But I’ll survive this. I’ve survived worse.

And maybe, just maybe, one day I’ll find an Alpha who isn’t afraid to love me back.

The cottage feels smaller than usual when I slip inside, the familiar scents of home doing little to comfort my aching heart. Mom is in the kitchen preparing dinner with such care and attention, but it means she’s thinking about something else entirely.

“How was your day, sweetheart?” she asks without looking up from the carrots she’s dicing. I have a suspicion she already knows.

“Fine,” I lie, settling at the small table with the book I always start, but I’ve never finished reading. “Quiet.”

“Good. Quiet is good.” She pauses in her chopping, finally looking at me with those sharp eyes that miss nothing. “You’ve been spending a lot of time away from the estate lately.” It’s not quite a question, but it carries the weight of one. I shrug, pretending to read.

“I like the bookstore in town. It’s peaceful.”

“Peaceful is important,” she agrees, but there’s something in her tone that suggests this conversation isn’t over.

“Romeo asked about you this morning. He wanted to know if you’re sick, since you haven’t been riding to school with him.”

My stomach clenches. “I’m taking the bus now. I know my way around now and I like the independence.”

“Independence.” Mom repeats the word like she’s testing its flavor. “Yes, I suppose that’s important, too. For someone your age.”

I glance up from my book, catching the worried expression she’s trying to hide. “Mom, is everything okay?”

“Of course, darling. I just...” She sets down her knife, wiping her hands on her apron. “I just want to make sure you’re being careful. This is a good situation for us. We can’t afford to complicate things.”

“I’m not complicating anything,” I say, a defensive edge creeping into my voice. “I go to school then I come home. Afterward, I help with dinner. What’s complicated about that?”

“Nothing, if that’s all you’re doing.” She sits across from me, her expression growing serious. “But if you’re developing feelings for anyone in the Silver family—“

“I’m not,” I interrupt, the lie bitter on my tongue, but I know she thinks it’s Romeo, so it’s not really a lie.

“Good.” Her relief is palpable. “Because Alphas like the Silvers, they don’t see girls like you as anything more than temporary entertainment.

They might seem kind, might make you feel special, but in the end, they’ll choose someone from their own world.

Someone with the right connections, the right background. ”

“I know that, Mom.” And I do know it, but hearing it stated so bluntly still stings.

“Do you?” She reaches across the table, covering my hand with hers. “Because you’re a beautiful, intelligent young woman, and men like Beck Silver have ways of making you forget your place in the world. They make you think you’re different, special even, and that the rules don’t apply to you.”

My breath catches. “Beck Silver?”

Mom’s eyes narrow. “You seem surprised that I mentioned him specifically.”

“I just...he’s barely spoken to me,” I stammer, which is technically true even if it omits significant details.

“Hasn’t he?” Mom’s voice carries a skeptical note. “Because someone mentioned seeing you in his car the other day.”

Heat floods my cheeks. Of course, someone had noticed. Nothing happens on this estate without the staff knowing about it. “It was probably the day he took me to get my hair fixed.”

“But why did he do that?”

“He was being kind. After what happened with Cerise and her friends.”

“Kind.” Mom repeats the word like it leaves a bad taste in her mouth. “Men like Beck Silver aren’t kind without expecting something in return. The sooner you learn that, the safer you’ll be.”

“He’s not Blake, and he expected nothing,” I protest, but even as I say it, I remember the electricity that sparked between us in that car, the way his touch had made my entire body respond.

“Didn’t he?” Mom’s expression grows knowing. “Then why do you smell like him?”

I freeze. “What?”

“Your scent,” she says quietly. “It’s been different lately. Layered. Like you’ve been around Alphas whose pheromones have affected your biology.”

Panic claws at my chest. If Mom can smell Alpha influence on me, if she knows I’ve been intimate with someone... “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Don’t lie to me, Emmie.” Her voice hardens. “I’ve been dealing with alpha manipulation my entire adult life. I know the signs. Your scent has changed and there is only one reason, and that is your suppressants are failing.”

The book slips from my nerveless fingers, hitting the floor with a soft thud. “Mom—“

“How many?” she asks quietly. “How many of them do you feel?”

“It’s not what you think—“

“How many?” The question hangs between us like a blade. I can see the fear in her eyes, the terrible certainty that her worst nightmares are coming true.

“Three,” I whisper, the admission torn from my throat.

Mom’s face goes white. “Oh, God. Oh, Emmie, what have you done? This is why I asked you not to get close to Alphas.”

“I have to find a pack eventually,” I say desperately, standing so quickly my chair scrapes against the floor. “I need Alphas, Mom. I need—“

“I asked you to wait. We had to know this place was safe first.” Mom’s voice cracks with anguish. “Don’t you see that?”

“Blake doesn’t know we’re here.”

She stands too, her hands shaking as she grips the back of her chair. “But three Alphas, Emmie. Three men from the same powerful family, and you think that’s a coincidence? You think they all just developed feelings for you?”

“They’re not from the same family,” I protest weakly. “Jude isn’t—“

“Jude?” Mom’s voice rises to a near shriek. “Your professor? Oh, Emmie, no. Tell me you haven’t—“

“He’s an Omega!” I shout, the words exploding from me before I can stop them. “Jude is an Omega, just like me. He understands what it’s like. He wants nothing from me except friendship.”

The admission hangs in the air between us, loaded with implications I’m not ready to examine. Mom stares at me like I’ve grown a second head.

“Omega,” she repeats slowly. “Your professor is an Omega.”

“Yes.” I lift my chin, some of my defiance returning. “And he’s the only person in this entire place who sees me as more than my biology. Who values my mind, my opinions, and my feelings?”

“And the other two?” Mom’s voice is deadly quiet. “Beck Silver and…”

“Eli, but it’s over with him.”

Her head nods lightly. “His brother? And what do they see you as?” she asks, like I never just told her what I did.

I open my mouth to defend them, to explain that it’s complicated, that there are feelings involved. But the words die in my throat because I can’t explain it. Not in a way that won’t confirm all of Mom’s worst fears.

“I thought so,” she says, reading my silence correctly. “Oh, Emmie. My brilliant, beautiful daughter. They’ve gotten to you, haven’t they? Made you think you’re different from every other Omega they’ve used and discarded.”

“You don’t understand—“

“I understand perfectly.” Mom’s voice turns cold, controlled. “I understand that I’ve failed you. That I brought you to this place thinking we’d be safe, and instead I’ve delivered you directly into the hands of predators.”

“They’re not predators,” I insist, but my voice lacks conviction.

“Aren’t they?” She moves around the table, standing close enough that I can see the tears gathering in her eyes. “A professor taking advantage of his student? A wealthy alpha old enough to be your father? His brother—“ Her head tilts back, and she sighs as she stares at the ceiling.

“It’s not like that,” I whisper, but I’m not sure I believe it anymore.

“Then what is it like?” Mom demands. “Explain to me how three powerful men all developing an interest in the same vulnerable Omega isn’t predatory behavior. Explain to me how this isn’t exactly the situation we escaped.”

I can’t. Because when she puts it like that, it does sound calculated. It sounds like the situation Blake would have orchestrated if he’d been clever enough.

“Pack up your things,” Mom says quietly. “We’ll leave by the weekend.”

“What?” The blood drains from my face. “Mom, no. We can’t leave. This is our home now.”

“This was never our home,” she corrects. “This was a temporary sanctuary that’s become a trap. I won’t let you become another casualty of Alpha entitlement.”

“You can’t make me leave,” I say desperately. “I’m twenty-one. I can make my own choices.”

“Can you?” Mom’s smile is bitter. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like alpha pheromones, and their sneaky manipulation has heavily influenced your choices. When was the last time you thought clearly about what you actually want versus what they’ve convinced you to want?”

The question stops me cold because I can’t answer it.

“That’s what I thought,” Mom says softly. “You can’t tell the difference anymore, can you? Between your own desires and their influence.”

“I...” I sink back into my chair, suddenly exhausted. “I don’t know. I’m the one choosing.”

“Are you Emmie? Or are you doing what they expect? Don’t you see that’s how they operate, sweetheart? They make you think every feeling, every choice, every decision is your own. But it’s not. It’s all carefully orchestrated to make you dependent on them, to make leaving seem impossible.”

“But what if it’s real?” I ask quietly. “What if some of it, at least, is genuine?”

Mom kneels beside my chair, taking my hands in hers. “Then it will survive separation. If any of these men truly care about you, they’ll understand why we need to leave. They’ll respect your need for space to figure out your own feelings without their influence.”

“And if they don’t?”

“Then you’ll have your answer about their true intentions.”

I stare down at our joined hands, seeing the small scars she got from Blake while protecting me however she could. She’s sacrificed everything for us, and now she’s asking me to trust her one more time.

“Where would we go?” I ask.

“I have contacts,” she says. “People who can help us disappear again if we need to. We’ll figure it out.”

“What about your job? Your position here?”

“There are other jobs.” Mom’s voice is steady, certain. “I failed your sisters and have no other daughters to save.”

The simple statement breaks something inside me. Here I am, agonizing over men who may or may not actually care about me, while the one person who has never wavered in her love for me is willing to sacrifice everything to keep me safe.

“Okay,” I whisper. “Okay, we’ll go.”

Her shoulders relax as relief floods Mom’s features. “Thank you. I know this is hard, but I promise we’ll figure out a new plan. A better one.”

I nod as I walk away, but when I reach the bottom of the stairs, Mom’s voice stops me cold.

“Emmie.” Her tone has shifted, becoming the one she used when I was small and had done something dangerous. “I need you to promise me something.”

I turn slowly, dreading what’s coming. “No more contact with any of the Silver men. Not Beck, not Elias, not even casual conversation. And absolutely no more private meetings with your professor.”

Her eyes are steel. “I mean it, Emmie. Not a word, not a glance, nothing that could be misinterpreted.”

“Mom, you can’t make—“

“I can and I am.” She crosses her arms, every inch the protective parent. “You said you’d trust me. This is part of that trust. Complete separation until we leave.”

“But school—Jude is my professor. I can’t just—“

“You’ll sit in the back, keep your head down, and speak only when directly questioned about coursework. No lingering after class, no office hours, no casual conversations.” Her voice brooks no argument. “Promise me.”

The cage she’s building around me feels suffocating. “What if they approach me? What if—“

“Then you’ll be polite but distant. You’ll make it clear that your circumstances have changed.” Mom’s expression softens slightly. “I know this feels harsh, sweetheart. But it’s only for a few days. Just until we can leave safely.”

A few days that feel like a lifetime stretching ahead of me. “Fine,” I bite out. The idea of cutting all contact feels wrong. Worse than wrong. It feels like I’m betraying something fundamental about myself.

“Good.” Mom’s relief is visible. “Now go get some rest. Tomorrow we’ll start making arrangements.”