“Who are you?” he asks, nostrils flaring as I step closer, and I catch his sour lemon scent, no doubt intensified by his worry. “You’re…an omega?”
I move closer, keeping my voice low so nobody else can hear me. “I am, I work at Thornfield Asylum with West and my alpha, Sam.” His eyes widen in alarm as I point to Sam, who is now stepping out of the car. My voice lowers further as I reach out and place a hand on his arm. “So, like I said, we really need to speak with you.WithoutWest’s parents.”
“Thornfield?” His eyes nearly bug out, an incredulous look on his face. “What? Why—”
I shake my head and meet his eyes. If they even so much as mention what we’re here to do to Isaac, he could tell Xavier, and then Adela will be back in Thornfield faster than we can blink.
Something passes between us. Something silent, but no less immense. An understanding. From one omega who fought their designation too long to another.
“Okay,” he nods once, “West, Sam, and…” he looks at me.
“I’m Jo.” I give him a small smile.
“Jo.” He takes a deep breath. “You guys come inside with me. Christopher and Whitney, I need you two to wait out here.”
Whitney rolls her eyes. “Sure, sure. We don’t have anywhere to be.”
We sit next to what looks like a suspiciously large nest.
We’d barely sat down when he demanded, “What do you mean Thornfield, why would my baby girl be there?”
West’s brows shoot up. “Adela was under the impression that you sent her there for being pregnant and refusing to ‘get rid of’ the baby.”
Roland’s face morphs first to shock, then to heartbreak. The kind that you can’t fake. “She…no, of course I didn’t. I…” He chokes on his words, shaking his head as tears fill his eyes. “She…there’s been a mistake somewhere. Xavier said—”
“Xavier?” The word comes out sharper than intended.
He sniffs, nodding. “Xavier Bowen. Addie is with his son…he’s the father of the baby.”
“What did he say?” West asks gently.
“I...I was at work when she called and left me a voicemail about…being pregnant, but when I tried to call her back, she…she never answered me. Xavier reached out, telling me that she found out about my real designation and that she’s…disgusted with me. That she never wanted to see me again. I tried to tell him I wanted to hear it straight from her, but she never returned any of my calls. I showed up at their house, but they wouldn’t let me in. Xavier came out, saying that seeing me would be too distressing in ‘her state’ and that I needed to let it go. That she was only six months away from turning eighteen and then…he handed me paperwork for…emancipation. A judge had already signed it, and I figured she had to be in good health if someone like that signed off on it.” He scoffs, shaking his head. “I feel like such an idiot. I should have tried harder, demanded to see her—”
My hand lands on his back in a comforting gesture, and neither of my guys make a peep as he lets out a shuddering breath. Something about him being an omega means that they know I have some sort of kinship with him.
“I could only take the rejection for so long,” he sniffs, wiping his nose. “When my suppressants began to fail not long after, I figured I’d just…disappear like I never existed. They can’t expose my designation and ruin my daughter if I don’t exist.”
My heart breaks for the man in front of me.
Sam curses, and West frowns, pulling out his cell phone. “But she…” Roland looks around. “She thinks I’m the one who sent her there? Is shestillthere?”
“Not anymore…” I frown. “When she turned eighteen, Vander came and got her out. But now Xavier is threatenin’ to send her back.”
“What?” He shoots to his feet, fury written all over his face. “Why would he do that?”
I sigh and exchange a look with Sam and West. He needs to understand just what is at stake here, and to do that, he needs to knoweverything.
Sam gives me a grim nod, and West sighs, running a hand over his face before he launches into an explanation. He details everything from my mission to find my sister, to my friendship with Adela, to how they made us fight, sent me to the Cathedral, and how my guys rescued me. Every admission from Brooks, Senator Pierce, and Xavier himself.
I watch as Roland’s face morphs from confusion, to disbelief, to outrage.
“Experimentation?” Roland is pacing in front of his fireplace, trying to process everything we’ve just told him. “Designation nullification? This is crazy. IknowIsaac. He may have hated that I was an omega, but he—”
The door to the cabin opens, and Whitney and Christopher stand in the doorway, serious expressions on their faces. Christopher runs a hand over his face. “He is exactly the kind of money-hungry elitist who would do something like that.”
West shoots to his feet, his expression panicked. “Mom, Dad—”
“We came to check on you, since you were taking so long, and we caught some of the words you were saying…well, we listened.” Whitney looks physically pained. “West, how could you not tell us what was really going on? What our home is actually being used for?”
