Page 32 of Your Wild Omega (The Feral Actress #2)

Chapter twenty-six

Rickon

I jolt awake before my alarm goes off, heart pounding. For a moment I think movement downstairs woke me, but the house is quiet. Eerily so.

Callisto’s gone.

I sit up, carefully tucking the duvet around Red’s back so she doesn’t get cold.

Neither she or Zack like being cold, I think as a result of the trauma they’ve been through.

Red’s lovely brown skin calls to me, but I resist the urge to touch.

Zack kept us awake for hours so she needs every minute of sleep she can get this morning.

And not even Red could soothe the empty ache in my heart right now.

Swinging my legs over the bed, I rock unsteadily to my feet.

Between a mild hangover and only a few hours of rest, my head thumps like someone’s playing a drum inside.

I brace one hand on the wall as I stagger to the wardrobe and pull on fresh underwear, a T-shirt, and a pair of sweatpants.

Warm woolen socks protect my feet as I slip out into the hallway and set the central heating a few degrees warmer.

Callisto’s room looms at the end of the hall, and I pad silently over to it, slipping inside the door.

His full-blown cherry wood scent fills the space, as if he left only a moment ago. I never allow myself to come in here, since he’d be able to smell my presence, but now I cross to the king-size bed and sit down.

Done in a palette of grays, the bedroom reflects the tidy, efficient man.

A set of bookshelves line the back wall, custom-built around the bedhead, and filled with classic literature and a few mementos from his childhood.

Behind me, a huge panoramic photo of lightning in a desert hangs on a pale gray wall.

The contrast to city life is so extreme I wonder if it has meaning for him.

Shining brilliantly? Leaving your mark on the world like a blaze of light?

Who knows.

I rise and open the floor-length white curtains which match the bedspread.

Morning light streams through, making me wince.

This side wall, made of glass, opens out onto a private balcony overlooking the city, with a chair and a plant tucked into one corner—made of plastic because Callisto’s never home long enough to keep a real plant alive.

I snort softly to myself and return to the shelves, running my fingers over the memories.

A trophy from the senior baseball team championship.

A plaque from a summer English extension program.

I remember when he went to that one, because I’d recently moved into the Wren home and I missed his presence.

Strangely enough, this room might be the only one that doesn’t contain a trace of his legal profession, as if he’s denied entry to anything work related. When he sleeps, he sleeps.

I turn slowly, scuffing my feet in a thick gray rug. The room speaks of elegance, wealth, and success.

And it’s so bitterly empty.

A lump catches in my throat. Even if I wasn’t seeing Calli every day due to our combined hectic schedules, at least he was around, his scent refreshing semi-frequently and the covered meals disappearing from the refrigerator.

But now it all stops. The mood was already icy between Zack and Callisto, but all that tension has finally come to a head.

The part I hadn’t considered was that Red might’ve been uncomfortable with Callisto’s courting.

How deeply his initial rejection must have scarred her.

But if anyone can understand the pain of rejection, it’s me.

She’ll move on, the razor-sharp edges of loss healing until she can live without trouble.

But the denial itself never fully goes away.

The whispers that maybe you aren’t worthy of a family. Maybe you’re flawed. Those thoughts stick like burrs.

My fingers graze over something glossy and I move a book to investigate, discovering a strip of three photo booth images underneath.

A lump lodges in my throat as I look down at a younger version of Callisto and I, grinning and throwing peace signs.

I sink onto the bed, gripping the pictures.

We took these at the school’s annual festival.

My vision blurs as I stare at the bottom photo, where Callisto playfully rests his chin on my shoulder. For years he had my back, fighting off bullies and reassuring me I wasn’t a waste of space . . . even when my parents couldn’t stand being around me.

The first tear rolls down my cheek, ice cold and stinging. I clutch the glossy strip to my heart as if I could cling to the man pictured within. Then the floodgates burst open, and I curl up on the bed full of my first love’s scent, sobbing.

He’ll be back, sleeping in these sheets or burning the midnight oil in his office, the light shining under the door in the dark house.

Red will open her arms to him, ask if he’s learned a lesson about rejection.

We’ll be a family like I always dreamed, sharing a bed and sleepy kisses in the mornings.

Unable to resist the allure of his smoking hot omega, Callisto will stay home more.

Naked and writhing in bed, we’ll accidentally touch while pleasuring Red.

Zack will manhandle us over each other, sweating bodies slipping into the most erotic positions.

And then, inhibitions blown away with haze and pleasure, Callisto will slide his hands down me, touching and exploring, lazy at first, but then turning desperate as if to make up for lost time as he realizes what my eyes have been saying for years.

I want him.

My breath catches, the vision combining with the sweet timber scent in the room to make my cock hard.

Not pack.

Agony lances through my heart and I whimper. Gingerly I reach out and drag a pillow over my mouth to silence the broken sobs that shake my whole body. The dream is gone, forever out of reach. Zack himself said pack exists always, not later.

And Callisto shredded that possibility for us all. The damage has been done.

“You stupid man!” I rasp, the pillow smothering my frustrated roar.

“How could you, Calli? Just once, I needed you to choose us over work. Just once.” My voice cracks and I arch on the bed, the inner pain so overwhelming I can’t remain still.

Tears soak the pillow, refusing to stop, no matter how much I squeeze my eyes.

I don’t blame Red for turning him away, and I can’t blame Zack, not when he’s got a direct feed to our omega’s emotions. He sensed something that Red herself was struggling to put into words.

Maybe what hurts most is that Callisto didn’t turn my way last night. He didn’t look my way, didn’t beg me to help him.

Given the alpha aggression Zack was putting off last night, I know Callisto had to keep his attention on the dangerous one, but I’m the man he’s known longer.

If he’d turned my way and asked for help, I could’ve intervened. Could have said it was a topic to discuss when we weren’t all tipsy and strung out.

Then maybe I wouldn’t feel like my heart is shattering now.

The sobs echo, compounding with the throbbing in my head until it feels like an earthquake’s shaking the building. I force myself to stop rocking and lie still, quivering, gripping Callisto’s sheets tight enough to break something.

But it’s me that’s breaking as a stupid, long-cherished hope gasps its last breath and disintegrates—the hope that Callisto and I would be together someday.

Before I met Red, Callisto was the only person in my life who didn’t throw me away like unwanted trash.

So for him to be gone too tears away a spiritual scab on an old childhood wound, one I’d rather never address.

Every memory I have of him will take on a new meaning once I leave this room. Instead of a slow lead-up to the future we could’ve shared, they’ll fade into the background, bright spots in a painful childhood where love was scarcer than gold.

My phone tinkles with the first alarm of three I set to ensure I woke up on time today.

I shake my head on the pillow and pull away, my tears leaving dark stains in the material.

Gasping for breath, I pat at my eyes, but the tears continue to fall.

I roll over enough to reach for tissues on the side table and clean my nose and face, hiccupping a few times.

“Stupid Rickon,” I mutter, blowing again. “It was only a pipe dream, anyway.” I shut the alarm off with a huff.

But with the phone in my hand, all I can think of are the countless calls and texts with Callisto.

I thumb over to my messages and look down at his profile photo.

The picture’s an old one from several years ago, but it’s so clearly him.

Small obsidian eyes, neatly trimmed black beard. Polished and professional.

I sniffle again. I know he regretted what he did.

Callisto might be an idiot, but Red is his scent match, and I can’t even imagine how much he must be suffering after being denied entry to the pack.

If it was me, I couldn’t bear the pain—to the point where I don’t think I could keep living.

But Callisto wouldn’t do something stupid, would he?

I drift my fingers across the keypad, typing and clearing a message several times. What do you say to your long-term crush after an alpha throws him out of his own house? It all sounds too insensitive. But I have to say something.

Hey, Calli. Damn. Bloody rough night. I just wanted to check you were safe.

I hit send, feeling like an idiot.

A shot of adrenaline pulses through me as a reply flashes up almost immediately.

Yeah. I stayed at a hotel but wound up at Mom’s house for breakfast. You don’t need to worry about me, but thanks for checking in.

He’s added a thumbs-up and a 100% emoji.

I drop the phone onto the bed with a sigh of relief, staring mindlessly out the window.

I cried so hard I drained my energy and now I struggle even to stand.

But at least I know Callisto’s in one piece.

I’ll take something for my headache and shower before waking Red.

We’ve got an important appointment today, so I can’t fall apart.

Footsteps pad down the hall and pause by the door.

I turn to find Zack peering inside. “Morning, Zack,” I murmur, wiping the last traces of tears from my eyes. “Did you come to find me?”

Zack grunts, gaze sweeping the room before coming back to rest on me. “Ri. White Mine,” he says simply.

I manage a half smile and lurch to my feet. “Yeah, handsome. And you’re mine too, don’t forget.” Even if I feel empty and alone, I’m not—Zack’s claimed me as part of his pack.

I switch the curtains closed, sending the room back into darkness. Instinct tells me Callisto won’t want to sleep in a place dominated by another alpha, so this room will stay empty.

Well, it’s not the first time I’ve come home to an empty house.

And from now on, Red and Zack will be by my side. I won’t be greedy anymore. The pack I have is more than enough for a guy like me.