Reed turned immediately, body angling between me and the doorway. “Kitchen’s occupied.”
“I know,” the man said calmly. “I just—I’m Pierce. I just wanted to talk, it’ll be quick.”
My eyes burned, all I’d wanted was my bunny and a nap, and now I was face to face with aStellar.
My heart kicked hard in my chest, instincts screaming louder than logic. Stellars didn’t talk. They took. They collected. They decided where omegas went and what they were worth. I curled in on myself without thinking, hands fisting in my cardigan as my scent spiked with fear.
“Back up,” Reed warned.
And Pierce did.
“I don’t think you guys remember me, the last time I saw you, you were just kids.”
“Get to the point, grandpa.” Reed snarled.
Pierce nodded.
“Your mom and dad used to come over daily to paint for us,” he continued. “Murals, portraits, anything the family commissioned. You kids always smelled like oil paint and linseed oil by the end of the day.”
My breath hitched, because that was too specific to be a guess.
Pierce glanced at me, then deliberately looked away again, keeping his body angled toward Reed instead.
“You used to sit under the tables with sketchbooks while the adults talked money. Violet never liked the loud rooms. Reed always did the talking for both of you.”
Reed stilled.
“I…” Pierce paused like he wasn’t sure what to say. “Logan was obsessed with you, and—well, I don’t smell him on you, at all.”
My stomach dropped.
“What I’m trying to say is—did he get to you?” Pierce sounded somewhat sheepish.
I pulled my hands closer to my body without thinking, fingers brushing the ring on my left hand. The metal felt cold against my skin, grounding and awful all at once. The mark sat hidden beneath it, faint but permanent, pressed into a place no one ever thought to look. No neck. No wrist. No claiming bite that announced itself to the world.
He wanted me pretty and flawless. And, while he had bitten me, I’d never consented, so our bond was only half complete.
“That’s not your business,” Reed said flatly.
Pierce’s eyes drifted to the ring on my left hand as his face fell slightly.
“…Oh,” he said quietly.
He didn’t look at me after that, not that he had to.
“Look, I’m sure you know Vinny’s a Rossi, and I’m not gonna tell him his new omega is technically a Stellar. That’s not why I’m here.”
“Then why are you here?” Reed pressed.
Pierce hesitated, jaw tightening like he hated every word he was about to say.
“Because Logan is looking for her.”
My eyes widened as I forgot how to breathe.
“He’s tearing through the city and asking questions he shouldn’t know how to ask. He knows you ran, and that you're still out here.”
Reed swore under his breath.
