Page 44 of Your Wild Omega (The Feral Actress #2)

Chapter thirty-six

Rickon

Shame floods through me, stealing the strength in my legs.

Why now? Why today, when I’m already wrung out and at my limit?

The sky tilts. Shock blooms in Red’s face as both Callisto and Zack lunge for me.

Somehow I don’t hit the concrete, but a phantom impact runs through my body from my knees to my chest. Winded, they call this.

My birth mother steps forward with a gasp. I hold up my hand, silently begging her not to do this.

“Stay where you are,” Callisto growls, menacing alpha speak darkening his voice.

Zack snarls near my ear, but I have no way of knowing if he’s reacting to Callisto or the unseen threat. Even if he attacks someone, I have no power left to stop him. Not today. Not facing them .

Red kneels in front of me, taking my cheeks in her cool hands. “Rickon, stay with me. I thought you said you had no parents?”

And I wanted her to believe that for eternity. “I said I lost my parents,” I grind out, my chest feeling like it caves in around the words. “Not that they’re dead.”

Her eyes shutter, confusion seeping into her expression. Fuck! If she learns the truth, will she hate me too? I guess I can’t hide it any longer, but fear steals my breath at the risks ahead. I couldn’t bear to live if Red turned away from me in disgust.

One lost family is more than enough for a lifetime.

Red leans into me and I curl my hand around her slender wrist. “Yeah, I lost them. I got lost . . . We lost . . .” No, that’s not right either. I’m not the one who got lost. I swallow down the sharp-edged lump in my throat. “They abandoned me.”

That’s the truth. My parents fucking abandoned me like a piece of unwanted luggage when I was twelve years old.

My eyes burn, and I squeeze them shut. I don’t want to cry for those screw-ups, yet the tears won’t stop. Reliving my intimate months with Hudson during the court case stripped my armor away piece by piece, and now I’m defenseless.

The woman who gave birth to me steps forward, hands wide in supplication. “Honey, we missed you so much. We thought—”

“Shut up!” I shout, shaking all over. “Haven’t you done enough? Why bother showing up now?” As the words leave my mouth, a camera flashes and the realization hits me. A guttural moan pours through my throat. Of course they’re only here because my pack became famous.

“We tried to reach out,” my sorry excuse for a father says, faking a weak smile. “We wanted to see you.”

“How dare you?” I hiss, clenching my teeth, trying to find my footing. “So now your son’s on the front cover of a magazine, you think you can muscle back into my life? Have you no shame?”

His eyes widen in shock. “We lost you, son—”

“Don’t you dare!” My voice cracks, just like my heart.

“Do you think I couldn’t find you? That the Wrens didn’t have the resources to track you down?

I knew where you were, but why would I want parents who threw me away like crumpled trash?

” I’m clinging to someone and squeezing the life out of them, but I’ve lost control of my body.

And my mouth. “Go back to the zoo where you left your twelve-year-old son!” I fling my trembling hand toward the street, my index finger flexed.

“Go back there if you want to find him!”

They both open their mouths, but I don’t want to hear another word. Fury bubbles up in my chest, thick and violent. “Go back!” A roar I’ve never heard before vibrates in my tone, and those two bastards stumble backward, grabbing onto the shining silver handrail to stop themselves falling.

A heartbreaking whimper pierces the momentary quiet and I look down to find Red huddled in the fetal position at my feet, clutching her head.

Tears run down her cheek, making me flinch.

Red only ever cries during her heat, but she’s not due.

Is this because I’m shouting, or because she hears my voice in her head?

Or does she just hate me because I didn’t tell her the truth?

Fuck.

I glance at the two spiteful pricks who caused me to lose my temper. The woman, slender and pale-skinned like me, and the taller man with my natural dark-brown hair and big, overeager eyes. Greedy eyes.

I want to kill them. Tear them to pieces with my own hands.

Zack vibrates, his newly healed arm turning white under my grip. He’s snarling too. It takes all my fragmented willpower not to ask him to attack. He’d do it without hesitation too, which makes it more tempting.

No, I need calmness, not more savagery. I need the man who knows what I went through all those years, grieving for parents who took me to the zoo and told me to wait under a tree until they came back—but never did.

“Callisto,” I rasp out, not trusting my own words. “Help.”

He steps forward immediately, covering my eyes. The people who ruined my life disappear from sight, and I can finally suck in a broken breath.

Callisto’s authoritative voice, strong and sure like in the courtroom, rings out. “Zack, your omega needs help. Carry her.”

Movement brushes against my leg and my hand jerks, pulled with the bigger alpha’s movements. My balance tips as strong arms dip under my knees and behind my back, Callisto grunting with effort. His cherry wood scent fills my throat, blocking off the screams that want to pour out.

“This is not the time or place to so shamelessly intrude into my client’s life.” Callisto’s words float over me, seeping gradually into the maelstrom of rage within. “Any future contact will be through me, his lawyer.”

I hang suspended, as the world moves around me.

“Red?” I call, blind to everything except pain and the knowledge I hurt my omega.

I shouldn’t have lost my temper, no matter what.

Those fuckers aren’t worth the effort. And I should have told her before they reappeared to eat at my new life like mold.

“She’s okay. Zack’s got her,” Callisto tells me, voice tight. “Just breathe.”

I chuckle weakly, thinking about how I’m the one who gave him that advice when he had a panic attack. Looks like we’ve gone full circle. Though this isn’t panic. It’s fury.

Agent Josef’s voice drifts over me. “Anything I should know?”

Callisto adjusts my weight, suppressing his anger as he answers.

“It’s a personal matter, but I don’t think they’re dangerous.

Though, if they show up unexpectedly, Zack might flip out.

For now, they won’t know Rickon’s moved into my place so there shouldn’t be any intrusion.

” His voice drops and he clicks his tongue like he’s said something wrong.

He hasn’t, though, because it is his apartment.

The idea of those two stalking me to find where I live sends more tears cascading down my cheeks. A sob catches in my throat.

Callisto growls under his breath and his grip tightens. “I won’t let them near you, Ricky. You deserve so much better.” For a moment, pressure like lips rests on my head, but it’s gone so fast I might have imagined it. “I’m sorry.”

I squeeze my arm around his neck and bury my face in his chest, not caring if my makeup stains his shirt.

Was it the shame of having a son with an underdeveloped alpha characteristic?

Or because makeup fascinated me? Or maybe a more complex reason, like hating the lack of freedom that came from being parents?

I never knew. All I understood was the people who were supposed to take care of me gave up and dumped me at a zoo among the exotic animals—as if to say that was where I belonged.

Whatever the reason, it derailed my life and gave my bullies another reason to ridicule me as a discarded al-mega . Who’d want me if even my parents didn’t?

By the time Callisto’s rocking strides stop, I’ve cried enough to feel stupid. The good news is, it’s bled a lot of my anger away. “I can stand,” I whisper.

Callisto lowers my feet to the pavement and steadies me as I get my balance. I laugh wetly as he hands me a linen handkerchief, because of course Calli is the sort of guy who carries one, and it’s strangely beautiful at this moment.

Red’s arms come around me and I hiccup. “I’m so sorry, Biscuit. Did I hurt you?”

“No,” she murmurs, trembling faintly. Her palm presses against my chest and she flashes a wobbly smile. “I knew my alpha had a dangerous bark in there somewhere.”

I fold her into my arms. “No, not normally. I just lost my temper.” Not even sure what that thick, bubbling sensation was, but I hope never to feel it again. It was too intense to bear.

An engine noise cuts through our conversation and a sleek black car pulls up to the curb, drawing my gaze. We cluster on a narrow walkway in the shadows between the courthouse and its neighboring towering buildings, meaning Callisto brought us to a back alley.

“I called my car service. Hope you don’t mind,” he says, still gripping my shoulder firmly.

I grunt, feeling too drained to talk.

He leans over and opens the door, and Red slides in. Zack gives the lawyer a long, cold look but then follows her. I stand on the curb, the dry, metallic grunge of the alley clashing with Callisto’s scent on my clothes.

“Are you going to be okay?” Callisto asks.

I nod.

“You should tell Red the truth, if you can manage it.” He reaches over and tilts my jaw until our eyes meet. “She won’t abandon you, Ricky. She’s too tenacious for that.” He smiles, the corners of his eyes wrinkling faintly.

He’s right. Only selfish jerks throw their relationships away without a word like my parents did. I step forward, driven by impulse to throw my arms around him. “Thank you for today,” I mutter against his collar. Their intrusion cast a cloud over our victory against Hudson.

Callisto pulls me close, one hand locking me against his chest and the other cradling my head. How many years has this man been my tower of safety? Frigid and unfeeling at times, and at others, my whole world.

“Come on, Rickon,” Red calls softly. “Let’s go home.”

I draw back with a nod.

“Call me if you need to debrief,” Callisto offers, pasting on his professional smile. My tears soaked his white shirt so much his skin tone shines through above his vest edge. It twinkles with silver eyeshadow and black mascara stains.

“Will do.” I slip into the seat and Red takes my hand, interlocking our fingers. I breathe deep. My tower of security has morphed now.

I close my eyes and lean back as the car accelerates and Callisto slips away.