Page 96 of Toxic Revenge: Part Two

“As soon as there’s no more danger from feral alpha bullets or my insane bondmate, you should bring it up to him,” I said. “I don’t want to promise anything, but I think?—”

“He’ll accept it,” Violet cut me off confidently. “With some typical West grumbles, but he won’t try to talk me out of it. And that’s because of you, so… thank you.”

I flushed. “Don’t thank me. He’s figuring his own shit out. I was only an extra push.”

Violet clasped her hands in her lap. “He needed it.”

That, I wouldn’t deny.

I finished the rest of my scone, watching the clouds part outside. A few rays of light shone through, artfully illuminating frost-kissed grass and brown, leafless trees.

When I brushed the crumbs off my lap, Violet awkwardly cleared her throat.

“How much has West told you about what happened to me?”

The question pierced the peaceful veil like a knife.

“Nothing. It’s pretty obvious he feels guilty about it, but I’ve never asked for any details.”

“Do you want to know the story? My side of it, anyway?”

I shook my head. “That’s yours to tell or not. I couldn’t ask you for that.”

Would it help me understand where West’s hesitance came from? Yes. But I didn’t need to know. It was her past. Knowing how difficult it was for me to talk about Benjamin right now, I didn’t want to push her.

“Don’t worry. I’m alright telling you,” she said softly. “It happened a couple years ago, and I’ve gone through it in therapy at least a hundred times.”

“If you’re sure…”

“I am.”

Violet stood up, moving over to the bed and climbing into her nest of pillows. Her cheeks had a light flush to them, and she wouldn’t look me in the eyes. “Um, if you don’t mind, would you come sit with me up here while I tell you about it?”

I grabbed the familiar leaf-shaped pillow from the couch and took it with me into her nest. The blanket Violet draped over us was cool to the touch; fresh and ready to warm up with us.

When I was settled, she cleared her throat. “Thank you. I’ll probably end up whispering some parts, so it’s better if you’re close, and the nest is my safe space.”

“Of course.”

I waited for her to start talking, but she took a while to work herself up to it. She started with a whisper but became more confident with each word, until she was speaking normally.

“If you get uncomfortable, let me know. It can be… hard to hear.”

If she could live it, I could hear it.

The omega articles I’d read online came to mind. Tales of hope and horrors. I’d cried my way through but read every word.

Then again, that was before Benjamin and the bite mark.

“West and I didn’t grow up together, you know,” Violet began. “I grew up with my mom, and he had his. We shared a dad, but I was the child of his mistress—I wasn’t supposed to exist, and for our father, I never did. My mom, she…”

She paused and took a deep breath. Without thinking, I placed my hand on top of hers, and she smiled weakly at me.

“My mom was abusive. I always knew I had an older brother, but I never met him because he didn’t know about me. When I revealed, I couldn’t stay with my mom anymore. She’d said things when I was a kid, about selling me off if I was an omega, finding me an alpha husband to keep me in line. I didn’t want her to find out, so I ran away from home.”

“And you went to find West? Not knowing if he was going to be just as bad as your parents were to you?”

That was more trust than I would have had.