Page 80 of Want It All

‘She’s asleep.’

I looked down to see Rose’s eyes closed, her lashes shadowing her cheeks. Her lips were slightly parted, her cheeks stained with dried tears.

‘She must have been exhausted,’ Sebastian added, his voice hoarse. It was understandable; he wasn’t used to purring for any length of time, and he’d been shouting with pleasure before that. I made a mental note to brew him some tea with honey.

I shifted, careful not to disturb Rose, and studied him. He was pale and tired-looking, but his eyes were bright with emotion as they fixed on his mate’s face.

This must have been what a heat was like, a pack giving their all to keep their omega from the cramping pains, working to keep them satisfied. ‘What do you need, Seb?’ I said softly.

‘What she needs,’ he answered. ‘Byron back.’

Pain rent my chest once more, but I nodded, slowly pulling away. Rose murmured in her sleep, shivering. Sebastian cuddled her close, and I draped another blanket over them.

It was difficult to leave the nest, too difficult. Everything in me fought against it. I should have been with my omegas, keeping them warm, purring to help them sleep peacefully. But if Rose needed Byron, then it was my job to make that happen.

I called him from the kitchen; he didn’t answer. I waited, listening to the ring tone, tapping my fingers on the smooth, cold bench. It went to voicemail. I tried again; this time, the call cut off instead, as if he’d hung up. I dialled a third time; the same thing happened.

I sent him a text.I’ll come to your room if you don’t pick up.

He answered immediately when I called again. ‘What is it, Grace?’ he said wearily.

My throat went tight. He sounded exhausted –ruined, even. ‘You need to come back.’

‘Yeah, that’s not happening.’

My nostrils flared. ‘I didn’t take you for a coward, Griffiths.’

‘Fuck you,’ he said, but there was no fire in it; perhaps he didn’t have the energy for anger. ‘You don’t know me.’

‘This isn’t about you,’ I snapped. ‘It’s about Rose. So alpha up and get your ass back to your omega.’

He was quiet for a moment. ‘I can’t,’ he said at last, and I could hear his heart break in the words. ‘I’ll hurt her.’

‘Byron, the sky would fall down before you’d hurt Rose.’

‘You saw the video. I can’t risk that.’

The video of Byron turning another alpha into a whimpering mess of bruises and blood.‘This is not even remotely the same,’ I said impatiently. ‘You’re in love with her. You want her. You want her for yourself, and you want her for your alpha. She thinks you rejected her. And if you don’t come back, you’ll make it true.’

There was another silence, one so long that I began to feel triumphant. I’d convinced him.

‘I can’t,’ he said, and hung up.

I stared at my phone.

‘No,’ I said to it, softly.

It buzzed, as if in response. I opened my messages immediately, hoping against hope that it was Byron and he’d changed his mind.

Instead, the message was from an unknown number.

9pm beneath the clocktower, it said, followed by a banksia flower emoji.

I inhaled in shock.

I hadn’t heard from the Revels since the day they’d abducted me in the maze. I’d assumed I hadn’t done enough, that I hadn’tcompromised the omegato their standards.

It seemed I was wrong.