Page 50 of The Violence of Love (The Black Market Omega #2)

Autry

The room is quiet except for the soft, steady rhythm of breathing.

Rhett is dead asleep beneath me. One arm is wrapped around my waist and the other is draped across the bed, hand loosely curled near Charlie’s knee. Even in his sleep, he can’t let go completely of him.

Charlie is still curled around Oli next to us.

The omega’s heat seems to have finally broken.

His skin is pale, and he’s no longer burning up.

Oli holds him close, knot still lodged in Charlie’s body and his face pressed into the omega’s neck like he’s anchoring himself there.

Oli’s hands move slowly, tenderly—caressing Charlie’s jaw, brushing through his hair, kissing the curve of his shoulder with a tenderness that makes something ache deep in my chest.

It’s not just hunger or heat. It’s devotion .

One day , I think. I’ll have that too. When Rhett marks me, when we’re fully bonded. I’ll get to be knotted like that. I’ll get to hold someone through the storm of my heat and feel them hold me back.

But not yet.

Moving very slowly so as to not disturb anyone, I slip out of bed as quietly as I can. Myrick stepped out to get water, maybe twenty minutes ago. I figured he was taking a moment for himself—none of us have had many lately—but I’m starting to worry.

My feet touch the floor, and Rhett’s eyes peek open, reaching for me. But I quickly kiss his forehead and whisper for him to go back to sleep. Thankfully, the alpha instantly drifts off.

Light pours in at the end of the hallway, telling me it’s morning. The house finally feels like it's breathing again, soft and cautious.

Chilly, I veer into the living room and grab a throw off the back of the couch before making my way toward the kitchen. I drape the soft fabric over my naked body, snuggling it close.

When I find Myrick, he’s standing by the sink.

Still.

He’s wearing his navy silk robe and holding an untouched glass of water in one hand. His other hand rests lightly on the edge of the counter. And he’s just... staring. Into nothing. His expression is unreadable, lost somewhere far away.

“Myrick?” I say softly.

He jumps, and the glass in his hand sloshes, water spilling over the rim. “Shit—” he exhales, blinking rapidly, like he’s shaking off a dream. “Autry. You scared me.” He smiles widely, letting out a nervous laugh.

“Are you okay?” I move closer, and the strange stillness of him now feels unsettling .

He doesn’t answer right away.

And I realize—I’ve never seen Myrick look like this before. Hollowed out. Like something inside him came loose, and he doesn’t know how to fit it back. Is he upset about Charlie and Oli?

“You looked lost for a second,” I lean against the counter next to him.

“I was thinking about the past,” he finally says with a shadow of a smile.

“Oh.” I freeze, not sure what to say to that. I know exactly how he feels, but I’m not sure I can tell him that. I want to, but I’m not ready.

“Hey.” I reach for him, my fingers brushing his arm.

“You don’t have to say anything.” I step into his warmth and wrap my arms around his waist before he has a chance to shut down completely.

His body goes rigid, like he’s caught between reflex and decision—then, slowly, he leans in.

Not fully, just enough. “I love you,” I whisper, and he smiles.

It’s little, barely curling the edges of his lips, but I’ll take it.

“I love you, too.” The beta exhales, slow and shaky.

“Please know that I’m here if you want to talk about it,” I offer.

His smile softens, growing more genuine. “I want to,” he murmurs, pressing his nose into my hair. “I need to. Packs share everything.”

Guilt cuts through me, and I pull back enough to see his face. His eyes are distant again, but not empty. Just sorting through something heavy.

“Before we got you…” He pauses and swallows hard, trying to collect himself. He looks like someone bracing for impact. “About a year ago,” his voice is stronger, “it was me and Rhett. And… Jason.” His jaw tightens. His grip on the glass shifts, fingers going white. “He was our mate. ”

Myrick’s hand rises almost absently to his throat. And that’s when I see it.

Two bite marks, almost completely overlapped. So close together they could pass for one if you didn’t know.

“I never noticed,” I whisper, still staring at his silver scars.

“No one does,” he says softly. “Thankfully.” He lowers his hand, and I see something change in him. Not strength, exactly—but readiness. Like he’s standing at the edge of something and has finally decided to jump.

“Jason was…” he goes on, pain clear in his voice.

“He was strict. Controlling. But only when Rhett wasn’t around.

I thought—” he pauses as if trying to find the right word, “—I thought that was normal . That alphas acted differently when their pack alpha wasn’t there.

” His voice drops, flat and quiet. “It started with grabbing my wrist too hard or a slap when I said something he didn’t like.

I told myself he was stressed. That he loved me.

That if I could be better, it would stop. ”

My stomach twists, and tears sting the corners of my eyes, but I don’t say anything. I let him talk.

“Then it got worse,” he continues. “He’d find any excuse to hit me—but only where bruises weren’t obvious.

My back, my chest. He even convinced me that Rhett knew.

That Rhett approved of how he was treating me.

” His face tightens, a mix of pain and fury.

“He told me Rhett thought I needed the discipline.”

“Rhett didn’t see the bruises?” I ask gently—no judgment, only a need to understand. I know Rhett. He’d rip apart anyone who hurt Myrick.

“He was working crazy hours at the time,” Myrick says.

“And even though a part of me believed he really did know, I still tried to hide it. I wore long sleeves. We only had sex in the dark. And if Rhett did notice a bruise, Jason would laugh and say it was from fucking ,” he says the word like it’s poison.

“I’m so sorry,” I whisper, wrapping my hands around his forearm. He’s still holding his glass of water, clutching it like it’s the only thing keeping him upright.

“Jason…” his lip curls, like the name itself is foul. “He’d always hit me. And then he’d… he’d…” His voice breaks. Tears well in his eyes, and my heart splits down the middle.

“Myrick.” I squeeze his arm, gentle but firm. “You don’t have to keep going. It’s okay.”

“No,” he says, sniffling. “You deserve to know. You’re pack. We should share everything .”

All my secrets pound at the back of my mind like fists on a locked door, reminding me that I'm a horrible person. But I force them back and listen to my beta. This is his moment. Not mine.

“Jason would abuse my penis,” Myrick blurts out, like he’s tearing open a wound, and I freeze with shock.

“He’d squeeze me so hard or twist it while he fucked me.

He’d tell me that real love was sometimes violent, and I eagerly believed it, reminding myself of how rough Rhett was sometimes.

Even though Rhett never actually hurt me.

He’d spank me or handle me in ways that made my skin tingle, but Jason…

” Tears drip from the edge of Myrick’s jaw, falling onto his silky robe.

“It got to the point where I didn’t want anyone to touch me.

” He shakes his head, like he's thankful he got the worst of it out. “I’ve been working on it in therapy, but…” He exhales sharply.

“…I still feel so stupid, I let that happen to me for so long.”

“Oh, Myrick.” His name is a whisper on my lips as I curl into his chest. I hear the soft clink of the glass as he sets it down, and then his arms come around me .

And suddenly, everything makes sense. The way he never let me touch his privates. The way he’d flinch when I tried. He wasn’t rejecting me . He was drowning in trauma.

“I’m so sorry, my love,” I whisper, pressing my cheek to his chest. “I wish I could take all your pain away.”

Myrick kisses the top of my head, and I can feel him smile. It’s small and weak, but his hold on me tightens, and I can feel some of his strength returning.

“Rhett almost killed him,” he says, a quiet edge of pride in his voice.

“Yeah?” I lift my head, resting my chin on his chest.

He smiles down at me, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear.

“He came home early one day and caught Jason hurting me. He lost it. Right here, in this kitchen.” Myrick glances around like the memory gives him something to hold on to.

“I barely remember any of it. Jason gave me a pretty bad concussion—I kept blacking out. I spent a few days in the hospital after that.”

He draws in a deep breath, as if relieved to have said it out loud.

“I think Rhett still blames himself. He says if he hadn’t been working so much, he would’ve seen the signs. Noticed the bruises. But… I don’t think he would’ve.” Myrick gives me a sad, knowing smile. “I was too good at hiding it.”

I let his words sit for a moment, thinking it all over. “Do you think that’s why he’s selling the company?”

“I do,” he says without hesitation. “That guilt—it’s been eating him alive ever since.” Silence stretches between us, heavy but safe. Then, without meaning to, I hear myself say, “I ran away from home.”

Myrick blinks, stunned into stillness. “Oh,” he says softly, surprised I shared anything. Honestly, I’m surprised too.

“Yeah.” I step back slightly, out of his arms, but not away.

“When I was at Beechworth, they held these garden parties. Fancy things with linen-covered tables and flower archways. They were designed so we could meet potential packs.” I give a tight, nervous smile, fighting the instinct to run away.

“When you’re young, the staff doesn’t pressure you into accepting anyone.

They told us we could wait until we were ready.

” I square my shoulders, then force myself to continue, “I was twenty when I met Tallen Montgomery.”

Even saying his name makes my throat tighten.

“There was something off about him,” I say.

“He was... oily. Like he was trying to sell me a life that I knew he had no intention of giving.” My eyes narrow into the distance as I remember his leering looks and sharp teeth.

“He always came to the parties alone. He never brought the rest of his pack. It felt like he was hiding something.”

Myrick touches the side of my arm, squeezing gently, reminding me that I’m here with him and I’m safe.

“It was strange,” I go on, shaking my head. “The school never let suitors officially court an omega without their packmates present. But Tallen—he wouldn’t let them come. He was too controlling.”

Myrick’s eyes soften. He nods, as if he understands more than anything. “What happened?” he whispers, voice coaxing but gentle.

“Earlier this year.” I shake my head, stunned that it’s only been that long. It feels like a lifetime. “Right before I turned twenty-six, the admins at my school had a meeting with my parents. They told them I had to take a mate soon, or I’d be committed to a home for older omegas.”

The words still sting .

“It was a scare tactic,” I say bitterly.

“The school wanted my family to pressure me to take a mate before it started to affect my health. They told my mother that if I didn’t find a pack soon, I’d be shipped off to a facility where I’d wait to die.

” I pause, throat tightening. “My parents panicked. They were…” I clear my throat roughly, trying to get through this, “they’re betas.

They didn’t really understand omega dynamics or how any of this works. They thought they were helping.”

I bite down hard on my lower lip, grounding myself. “Anyway, I don’t know how Tallen found them—but when I went home for a holiday weekend…he was there. Waiting. My parents essentially sold me to him. So I ran away.”

I end that part of the story abruptly, too cowardly to tell Myrick anything else.

“Things were hard and I was homeless for a few months, living on the streets. It was almost impossible to hide that I was an omega.” The memories flash in my mind.

The cold alleyways I slept in, the constant fear, and the bone-deep hunger.

“One day, a group of alphas chased me all the way to the docks. I slipped and fell into a loading bay. Broke my arm. But a beta found me almost right away. Thankfully, he sold me to the Morder.”

“Thankfully?” Myrick’s eyes widen, disbelief written all over his face.

“Yeah.” I laugh softly, not because it’s funny, but because it’s true.

“I know omegas aren’t supposed to want to go to the Morder.

But honestly? The idea of finding a real pack—someone who could care for me…

it was the only thing that kept me going.

And I was tired of running.” I let out a heavy sigh, relieved to have gotten through my shitty story.

“The Morder was a risk. I knew I could be claimed by so meone worse than Tallen, but I wasn’t going to survive on my own much longer. ”

Something possessive and passionate flashes in Myrick’s eyes.

His long fingers curl around my upper arms as he leans down, looking deep into my eyes.

He looks so serious. “I want you to know that I will never let an alpha manipulate me like that again. Ever ,” he says the words like a pledge.

“I was incredibly stupid for letting Jason hurt me for so long, and I’ll never let that happen in my house again. ”

I open my mouth to protest, but he keeps talking, not allowing me to interrupt.

“I know that alphas sometimes show affection with violence.” His expression softens slightly as he reaches for his mating bite.

He lovingly caresses the edge, a small smile playing on his lips.

“I mean, they shove their fangs into the people they love the most.” He laughs like it’s a little bit silly.

“But I promise.” He cups my face, serious again.

“You are safe with me, Autry. And I’ll kill any alpha that tries to hurt you. Including Rhett.”

I smile—surprised and touched by his words. “Talk about a violent love.” I giggle, trying to lighten the mood, and thankfully, he smiles.

“And I mean it, though.” He presses his forehead to mine. “You will never be hurt again, omega.”

My heart soars, and I fall back into his arms, letting my beta hold me.

Some of my guilt is gone, but not all of it.

Myrick bared his soul. He gave me everything—his story, his pain, his trauma. And I could only give him half of my truth.

He has no idea what kind of monster he still lives with.