Okay, I agree. That sounds awful. Good luck.
Jackass.
“There’s no pressure right now. Just questions that do not need deep answers or explanations. Shall I continue?”
Zayden nodded his head, painfully. “Yes.”
“Then, I’d like to switch over to discussing Juliana.”
“I change my mind.”
She smiled and tapped her pen against her notebook while Zayden considered jumping out the window. Here, he thoughthe would handle therapy with much more openness and dignity than he was currently showing.
“Your pack went through quite the scandal with the rising actress, Juliana. The tabloids were running every story possible. However, Juliana is not my client, and I do not run my business on rumors. I want to know your story. Tell me, how did you first meet her, and what was your thought process to initiating a meet and greet with your pack and her?”
His story with Juliana?
An hour wasn’t long enough to cover the chaos that she embodied.
It felt wrong to think about Juliana when he had his omega, but Dr. Burdough was right. Juliana was only a part of his life for four months, and yet it felt like she took up half of his life.
Her scent was nothing like Sonnet’s. Juliana’s scent was dark, rich, like walking into a luxurious perfume store. Luxurious was definitely the perfect word to describe Juliana, and that was what first drew him to her.
The pack had only been a pack for two years, yet everyone was desperate and ready to find their purpose; their mate. Zayden was feeling that pressure, especially when every girl his pack met before her was an automatic no. Kai was the worst out of everyone, saying no for any small reason. No one would know it now, but he was the biggest hopeless romantic.
When Zayden met Juliana at the club, she was the first omega whose scent didn’t make him feel anything, and at the time, he convinced himself it was a sign. He didn’t believe they’d find a Link match, and he wanted that for them. He wanted that so bad. God, he was so blind to everything.
“She bought me a drink,” he said softly, folding and unfolding his hands together, staring at all the ink covering his knuckles. “She knew right away what I liked. Said alcohol was a hobby of hers, and when I brought her to our house a week aftermeeting her, she brought each of us a bottle of something she thought we’d like.”
“And did they?”
He flinched.“No.”
“How did they react?”
“They were polite,” he rushed. “They tried hard to like her. I planned three dates and they all willingly came and willingly tried.”
“What changed?”
“I, uh…”
I took advantage of their willingness to try.
After that third date, all three of them told Zayden how they felt. They knew Juliana wasn’t the one, and they didn’t want her to be, and they all had valid reasons for it, and yet… Zayden took advantage of them. Four more dates he made them go on before Felix and Jude sank into contentment, and he took advantage of that, moving Juliana into their house without even asking for permission because he knew what they would say.
I knew.
“How did you feel about Juliana?” She asked, her pen scribbling.
“Fine. I mean, she’s a beautiful girl with high taste and a love for the spotlight. The opposite of who I am, but at the time, our band was still new. We were all playing a part, a character, and I felt like Juliana made that feeling of pretending a bit better. Worth it, almost, if it meant having a mate.”
“Ah, I see. What was it about having a mate that made you make the decisions you did?”
“My pack. They were ready to have an omega to bond us together.”
“And you?”
He looked up, guilt lodged in the center of his throat. “To be honest, I just wanted a mate to make me feel secure in my position as lead alpha.”
