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“Well Bella, I am going out to the forest tonight regardless of what you say. But I will give them a call just to get them to stop feeling guilty. If I don’t see you again -” my voice cracked as I realized I might lose my first real friend here, “then I want you to know you are an amazing, incredible, loyal friend and I know you’ll find the best pack ever.” She hugged me, starting to sob as I patted her back. But I had to find out for myself if this world was right for me, and if there was a way back to my own. I left to gather my camping gear. When I got inside my own room, I braced myself and pulled out my phone. There were dozens of texts and voicemails from all three of them. I took a deep breath and called Declan. He was the most calm and level-headed of the three. He answered immediately, his voice slightly panicked.
“Piper? Oh gods, we were so worried about you. Are you ok?” I smiled despite myself. He was a good guy through and through.
“I’m okay, Declan. I just wanted to call and say I appreciate that you helped me through the heat. All of you. But I… I don’t think I’m right for your pack. And I don’t want to cause any of you more pain than you’ve already been through.” I heard his breath hitch through the phone.
“Piper, please reconsider. We are all three in agreement that we want you. Piper, you're ourmate.” There was that word again - hearing him say it soothed me like a balm. “And Dominic told me what he said to you before. It was a mistake. He’s a complete dolt, and he’s kicking himself now. He smelled your scent weeks ago when you were out and immediately recognized someone out there was his fated mate. He just didn’t know until your heat that it wasyouhe was looking for this whole time.” I sat down, my head spinning as my whole world rocked. Dominic had smelled me before? “Please Piper, he hasn’t been himself since you left. None of us have. Aiden hasn’t slept, afraid he’ll miss your call. Dominic’s taken a leave from work to be available for you if you need us. We just want to talk about everything, and make sure you know we are all in. We’ll do anything for you.” Just then I heard Aiden’s voice in the background.
“Is it her? Let me talk to her!” His growl was audible through the phone. My stomach ached with the knowledge that they could be mine, that maybe this was all a mistake. But was it?
“Declan, I have a lot to process. This whole thing has been overwhelming for me, and I need to take some time to figure out what’s real. Just so you know, I lov- I really appreciate you all. In case I don’t see you again, I need you to know you’re the best men I’ve ever met. Goodbye.” I hung up and turned the phone off. I needed time to think. Going out in nature had always helped. I grabbed my things and got ready to sneak out of the Omega House. I needed to get to the forest and clear my head now that I had all this new information.
I crept out through the back door of the kitchen, escaped through the gate, and walked down the street to hail a rideshare. Just as I turned the corner, I saw something and gasped. In front of me was a large, bedraggled, and still devastatingly handsome alpha stopped in his tracks and staring at me in awe. It was Dominic - although he looked like he needed a shower and a nice long sleep.
“Piper!” He started toward me and I stepped back, startled at his intensity. He stopped, his eyes softening when he realized he scared me. Then something completely unpredictable happened. He dropped to his knees, right here on the sidewalk, and looked at me with his hands clasped together. “Please Piper, give me a chance to apologize, that’s all I want. Then I promise I’ll leave you alone.” I was too stunned to speak, so I just nodded. As tall as he was, when he kneeled he was still so large that he was almost looking at me eye to eye. “Piper, I was so wrong. I never, ever should have pushed you away. I wasn’t understanding of your hesitation about a pack, and worst of all, I never realized you were the one for me - you were in front of me the entire time. I scented you out weeks ago, thinking my mate was out there. I just didn’t realize it was you. And what I said to you on our date - it was cruel. Unforgivable.” He shifted a bit on his knees, and I realized it was probably uncomfortable on the pavement. “My pack and I - we want you. More than anything. A bite, a house, a whole country, we will give you anything you want. We just want another chance. I really, really messed up.” My eyes were misting over at his words.
“Were you… camping out here this whole time?” It was the only explanation as to why he was outside the Omega House with a bundle of clothes and a thermos near the bushes. He scratched the back of his head, looking down. I had never seen him look embarrassed or vulnerable before.
“Uh, well yeah. I tried to get in to see you, but you know their policy on letting in alphas. So, I waited out here to see if I could catch you leaving for work. I couldn’t live with myself if you didn't know how I felt.” He gently reached for my hand, waiting to see if I would take it before continuing. “Please Piper, you’re my mate. I didn’t even believe in fated mates before. But now all I want is your happiness.” I looked down, suddenly realizing something was in my hand.
“What are these?” I held them up. They were tickets, lots of tickets.
“These are VIP passes to all the Gritty Growl’s concerts for the next six months. I realized it was you who was out that night at their concert when I scented my true mate. I figured you like the band?” His eyes were hopeful. “I also got some other tickets for similar artists in case you don’t. Piper, I’ll take you to every single concert you want. Just name it. Or anything else you want. I never want you to feel bad or unwanted ever again.”
I swallowed, overwhelmed by his admission and what he had done for me. I guess they realized it was me who caused the ruckus at the Gritty Growl’s show. His eyes were pleading, greener than they had ever been, although it could be because they were slightly bloodshot with tiredness. “Dominic, first of all, you can stand up.” He looked stunned for a moment, then nodded and stood. “Secondly, this is all a lot for me. I went from thinking you didn’t want me at all, that there was someone else,” his eyes flinched at my words, “to now knowing that I’m your fated mate, and that apparently means we are bound to each other in some way. Which, by the way, is something we don’t have where I’m from. So forgive me, but this is all a lot to take in.”
I looked at the tickets, again surprised at what he had done. It was more of an apology than I had ever received from any men who had done me wrong in the past. But still, I needed to think about it. I looked up at his hopeful eyes. “Dominic, I can’t lie and say it’s been easy for me here. I went through a lot of changes quickly, and I’m still learning every day. But I can say the best part of my time in this place was spent with you and your pack.” He started to smile, but I went on. “The thing is, I’m not sure I belong here. I found out there might be a way I can get back to where I’m from. And as much as that would pain me, I need you to know that there’s a chance that I might not want to stay.” His face broke, and it somehow broke something inside me as well. He looked down, his throat moving. Then he looked back up, his face stoic.
“Piper, my mate, all I want is your happiness. If that means you find it somewhere else, or with someone else, all I can do is be glad that my mate is choosing what’s best for her. So if that’s what you need, I will let you go. I will help you get to wherever you are happiest, even if it breaks me. But I will never, ever love another. If you ever need anything, ever, I will be there for you. No questions asked.” I almost dropped the tickets at his admission. He was willing to let me go for my own happiness? It was all too much. I had to think it all through.
“That means more to me than you’ll ever know. For now, I have to say goodbye. And I don’t know for how long.” He nodded, and stepped aside, looking away before the tears I saw forming in his eyes fell. My chest heaved with pain, but I had to do this to know for sure. I was too emotional to make a decision to give them another chance. I turned and walked away, each step hurting more than the last. Pulling out my phone, I called a rideshare to take me away until the last of his cocoa spice scent faded and all that was left was a hollow ache.
Chapter 36
Dominic
I watched her walk off, possibly for the last time - the girl who I could have had. If only my heart hadn’t been so closed off. I hadn’t felt this way since Alexis had torn my heart out, but this was worse. Way worse. This was mymate, an omega who genuinely tried to get to know our pack, understand our dynamic, and wanted only us. It was obvious now. We were the only ones courting her, the only ones she had on her emergency contact list for her heat. But because of my blind arrogance, I had lost her. Everything, every little miscommunication, every hurt feeling, could have been worked out if I had sat down and thought it through. If only I had just gone to counseling, fixed my heart, and healed my past wounds before getting into a new relationship. It was all so simple looking back at it now. But her feelings were hurt, maybe beyond repair. Omegas were so sensitive to rejection, and her omega side must have known that it was her own mate rejecting her that night of our date, even if Piper didn’t understand at the time. Something like that would be devastating for any omega, even more so for one who was still coming into her own designation.
The only thing I could do now was respect her choice. I told her the truth - that I did want her, that we all wanted her. But would she ever want us back? Did she deserve a broken alpha like me? Maybe her home world was better for her if it kept her safe from the heartbreak I caused. Either way, the pack was going to rip me a new one when I went back to tell them what happened. It was bad enough that I had missed out on part of her heat when I had to wait to heal my injuries from the fight.
I headed home in a daze to shower off. I probably looked like a mess, and I was one. Truthfully, Piper deserved better. She deserved a mate who could have given her his whole heart, not a guarded one. A mate who would have known immediately that she was the one. I was too stupid and prideful to realize she was ours.
When I arrived back, I walked in and immediately saw Declan’s downcast face. He got up from the couch slowly, reaching out to envelope me in a hug as I stood there, breaking down. I hadn't cried like this in years. “She left.” His arms ran up and down me, trying to give me the comfort I didn't deserve. “She left. She left.” How would our pack survive this?
Aiden walked in, looking as bad as I did. “Did you see her?” I sighed, knowing his alpha side wasn’t going to like what I said next.
“I saw her. I told her everything.” They waited, their eyes pleading for me to tell a different ending, even though they knew from my face what had happened. “She said she’s not sure she wants to stay in this world. She knows of a way to return.” Aiden’s growl filled up the room. He barreled toward me, Declan jumping to hold him back.
“You let her go?” He roared, still coming toward me, dragging Declan along with him. “Our mate! We might never see her again!” I sighed, waiting for him to reach me. He could tear into me all he liked. It wouldn’t hurt at all compared to the pain in my heart.
“What was I supposed to do, Aiden? Bite her in and force her to stay with us?” He stopped, his face in agony. “Trust me, every second that I don’t run after her and command her to stay tears me apart. But if we really love her, if we really respect her, we can’t force her to choose this world. I don’t even know where she went.” He stopped, then dropped to his knees, his head in his hands as he let out sobs. “You know it’s true. Even if she is our mate, she has a whole other life. She needs to be the one to decide which world she wants.” Aiden knew I was right. It was why we didn’t bite her in during her heat haze. She had to choose us, as much as we chose her. I turned toward the couch, slumping into it as I buried my head into a pillow. Our pack was damaged even before Piper - now we would never be whole again.
Chapter 37
Piper
I had the rideshare drop me off at the corner store that I had walked into when I first arrived in Haven. I didn’t go in - I didn’t want the clerk to recognize me. I just headed the way I came when I had first arrived from the forest. I was hoping I could find the spot I had been in last time and camp out there, holding the coin overnight. Is that how the magic worked? Maybe this whole idea was crazy, maybe I had hit my head too hard and dreamed up this whole world.
I walked further, veering into the forest and making my way up. It took a while, but eventually I found the general area I had woken up in that morning so long ago. I took in the calm serenity of the forest, enjoying being away from the world for a bit and feeling normal again. But what was normal to me now?
