Page 26 of Ondine: Vol. 2

“Ondine and I spoke this morning,” he starts, and I am immediately on edge. “She said that the contract I wrote for you has been unexpectedly violated.”

I don’t move. I let the silence pile on.

“Last summer, you made a verbal offer to me, do you remember?”

Yes, I fucking remember. I offered him a bond.

“And you rejected that offer.”

“Did I?” I finally speak up.

Already exhausted with his doublespeak—I choose again to wait.

“Jake, it’s time. Let’s finally finish this out so we can get started on a plan to separate her from Freddie Wong.”

Oh, how fucking interesting. He thinks I need him.

Also, I don’t intend to separate her from her scent match. He must not know how serious her bond is with him. Or maybe he truly doesn’t care. That would be disturbing.

“Boone, my omega rejected you this morning. Sebastian told me that she was really upset that he touched your arm. She then told you to leave. How would it look if I brought you into my pack, knowing my omega doesn’t like you?”

“Jake, come on, that’s not what it looked like to me. Ondine doesn’t want her alphas together. I warned you about this possibility years ago. That’s why, when you told me aboutmeeting a handsome alpha at military college, I told you not to get too close. Omegas don’t often want their men in their own relationships. Ondine is no different.”

I hate to say that for a small moment I follow his logic. When I was 21 and in my senior year, Shadow’s crush on me became too obvious to ignore. We spent two weeks in the throes of sex and limerence. When I came home for fall break, I spent some time with Boone who did tell me this. He got to me.

I used to view him like an older brother. Someone who knew more than me.

He told me that it would be a bad idea to start a relationship with him if I ever wanted an omega.

“My scent match, Bunny, she felt the same way. She didn’t like how two of her alphas were getting so close. It hurt her, remember?”

Now he’s going to bring up his dead scent match. I have compassion for him, I do. Boone was 19 when he found his scent match, an omega already in a bonded pack. She suffered from bond sickness and died shortly after that. Her pack was charged with negligence. The case was so severe , it made Boone want to became a lawyer.

It’s also why I tended to lean on him with his knowledge on omegas.

But it feels like he’s bringing Bunny up now just to manipulate me.

“You think Ondine wants you, she just doesn’t want you to be with Sebastian?”

“It’s obvious. Have you told her about you and Shadow? What did she say?”

She hasn’t said anything. Sebastian and Freddie were together, too. Did she get upset about that? I didn’t even think to ask.

I didn’t realize until now that my belief I needed to be careful about alpha-alpha relations in my pack was all from Boone.

I’ve let him manipulate me. I’ve let him control my relationship with my pack mate. This whole time. I was young and vulnerable. I’d fallen for Shadow so fucking quickly, and then suddenly apart from him, Boone’s words took root.

I still bonded Shadow when I returned to school. I knew I wanted him. But I told him I didn’t want to keep fucking him. That I had just been excited to find him.

Did he know I was afraid?

“Jake, the best thing now is for me to be the bridge. It will establish a line between Ondine and yourself. And it will keep her away from Shadow, if he continues to be a problem.”

Oh, thank fuck he finally revealed his intention. I am getting so sick of listening to him. He wants to be the bridge, and by being the bridge he could potentially set himself up as pack lead.

That’s why he turned me down last summer. He didn’t want to bemyalpha, he wanted to be pack lead.

“I will take it into advisement. In the meantime, do not contact anyone but me. Not Sebastian. Not Freddie. Not Shadow. And definitely not Ondine. Furthermore, do not touch Sebastian again.”