AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It would be a special recipe just for Landon, River, and Vincent.
My inner Omega grows devil horns.
I meet Vincent at a table in the corner, taking the seat opposite from him. His massive frame barely fits in the chair, and it’s almost comical how he has to squeeze himself into the corner.
“You really miss this place,” he observes. “Your entire face lit up once we walked inside.”
I nod. “The café has always meant so much to me,” I reply. “And after what happened earlier, I wanted to go somewhere familiar.”
“Your house is familiar,” he counters.
I nod. “Yes, but I’m still trying to make it feel like a home. Which I never thanked you for, by the way,” I say softly. “I saw what you, Landon, and River did to my house. I don’t know how to explain how much that meant.”
At the compliment, he glances down at the table. “It wasn’t enough,” he murmurs. “You deserve more.”
I frown. “You genuinely believe that?” I ask softly. “After everything the three of you have done for me, you think all of this isn’t enough?”
His gaze hardens and his eyes snap to mine. “It will never be enough,” he growls. “Nothing we do will be worthy of you.”
My mouth falls open, and words fail me.
Arguing with him won’t do any good, so I just stare at him as he continues.
“I think about our first conversation a lot,” he admits to me. “And how I was to you, how I behaved toward you. It was fucking heartless of me. You came to me with hope in your eyes, and you even smiled at me when you saw I liked the cookie you gave me,” he says, shaking his head. “And for some reason, I couldn’t handle it. I hated that Landon and River had you. I couldn’t deal with the light that shone in your eyes as you begged me to help you.”
I blink. “You were jealous?”
He frowns and takes a sip of his coffee. “I didn’t know what it was at the time,” he says. “All I knew was that you were special to Landon and River, and on my good days, I hated River. I only agreed to speak to you so he would leave me alone. But then I scented you, and I’d never despised River or Landon more.”
“Why?” I whisper.
He shakes his head. “It reminded me of the years I wasted, alone in my apartment,” he says quietly. “That there was a possibility that if they could move on after what had happened, that maybe I should have been able to, too. That I was a coward after all, just like River thought I was.”
I nod and wait for him to continue, but he doesn’t.
“I think,” I say finally, “that it’s time for you to tell me exactly what happened. Tell me why you hate River so much, and why you’re only beginning to get along with Landon again.”
He tenses. “Skylar?—”
“I see the way you are around him,” I add. “And I…I feel things for you,” I choke out. “And I care about him. This tension, this loathing that you two have for each other—it has to stop.”
His lips pull into a thin line, and his scent darkens.
“I know,” he says finally. “I know.”
“Vincent,” I say softly. “Tell me what happened. Please.”
His eyes flick to mine, and his gaze darkens.
26
VINCENT
Her eyes are still red from crying. Her scent is muted and only slightly sweet, and it activates every Alpha instinct in me to protect her.
I want to take her home and place her in her nest.
The nest I helped make for her.
