“Yes. Her name is Olivia. She’s one of the outcasts, too. But not as much as me. She was able to get hired and keep a job. Most of the omegas in the trailer park were friendly toward me, but they couldn’t really be friends, not the way you four are. It’s always been a thing that if I get too close to someone, my bad luck rubs off on them,” she said, her voice low.
I winced. “You mean since we bullied you, your friends ended up as targets as well?”
Jasmine gave me a stiff smile. “Since you want to put things bluntly. Yes.”
“So, you haven’t had anyone?” Renz asked.
“It’s not like I was completely alone. Like Olivia, I’d say we’re friends. She’s helped me in some difficult situations. The others have, too. I haven’t been completely shunned by the entire pack. It has been more difficult since my grandmother passed away,” she admitted.
Owen shifted in his seat, his jaw tightening. I thought it was a good thing for him to hear her story. It was good for all of us to know how our behavior had affected her. To know the true cost of the harm we had caused.
Killian took her hand and squeezed lightly. “You were raised by your grandmother, weren’t you?”
“I was.” Jasmine’s face lit up with a smile. “She was the best. We didn’t have a lot, but she always made sure to make me feel like I was special. We used to work in the gardens together, and even when she was tired, she insisted that we work in the community garden every day. She said since we didn’t have much to share, we should share our time and knowledge. Ilearned everything about plant care and herbs from her, and she—”
“Was a thief,” Owen burst out.
We all jumped. Owen glared at Jasmine, his hands bunched into fists as he leaned forward. “Your grandmother was a liar and a thief. She stole valuable property from my father and framed him for crimes he didn’t commit. She was your typical omega, and you’re just like her.”
A stunned silence fell. I stared at him, not knowing what he was talking about, nor how to respond. What did he mean by that? What exactly had her grandmother done?
Renz got to his feet slowly, glaring at Owen. “You’re such an asshole.”
Chapter 10 - Renz
Jasmine pushed away from the table. “Excuse me. I don’t think I should stay…”
“No—” I started.
She held up a hand toward me. “Please.”
I stepped back, nodding reluctantly. If she didn’t want to be a witness to this fight, then I should let her go. Seeing her head around the lake, walking swiftly to get herself out of earshot, my wolf growled.
Owen glared at me, leaning his hands on the table. “Oh? By speaking up and not letting her bamboozle you all?”
“You’re double the asshole for using the word ‘bamboozle’ like that,” I responded dryly.
“You’re so annoying!”
Normally, it was kind of funny when I could get under Owen’s skin. Normally, it was because he was taking something too seriously, and after a bit of light teasing, he relented and could see where exactly he had gone off the rails. Not today. Not when it was about Jasmine.
She had finally started to open up to us, and what did he do? He shut her down by insulting someone who clearly meant a lot to her. I’d ask what the fuck was wrong with him, but I wouldn’t get an answer. He’d only go back to blaming Jasmine for it all.
I wanted to know, genuinely. We all just followed after him when he started tormenting her, and I wanted to know why. Now that I saw things so much more clearly, I needed to have a good reason to tell Jasmine.
“You can’t just keep attacking her like that,” I said, a rare moment of trying to be reasonable. “She is our wife. Our mate. She’s going to go into heat soon. How is she supposed to trust us with her body when this keeps happening?”
Owen folded his arms. “So, my feelings don’t matter? You’re just assuming that it’s fine for her to have my body even though I don’t trust her?”
I opened my mouth to say it wasn’t the same thing, but stopped myself in time. He was right. In marriage, it was a natural thing for the alphas to make their mate the center of their concerns, but we couldn’t lose sight of each other, either.
Jace cleared his throat. He’d lingered nearby, arms folded. “If you have concerns about sex, you need to address those concerns instead of attacking her.”
Owen’s jaw tightened. I could practically see his head getting harder as the stubbornness set in.
“I’m going to find Jasmine,” I said. She’d disappeared from around the lake. “You might have better luck without me around.”
Owen sent me another furious look but didn’t protest. Jace rounded the table and started speaking to him in a low voice. I hoped that it was going to work. If anyone could coax Owen into actually saying what was bothering him, instead of continuing this stoic, angry schtick, it was Jace.
