“You’d be one to know,” Kai growled. “After all, how many months later and you’ve still got an opinion on us?”
“A woman scorned will always have opinions, Kai, baby. I’m sure, miss... Sonnet, was it? Knows all too well.” Juliana sidestepped Zayden towards Sonnet, who tried not to be intimidated, but the way Juliana held herself made it hard not to shrink in her presence. “I thought the pink hair was a rumor, but it really does look like bubble gum. I dye my hair, too. It’s no secret. Although,” she sneered, “I suppose I have a bit more mature taste.”
Was that an insult? She did NOT just insult our hair!
Sonnet smiled softly. “I think you’ve got me all wrong. I don’t know what it’s like to make a smear campaign on my exes,and I don’t prefer to change my appearance so that I look like all the other girls.”
In the past, when it came to confrontations, Sonnet just took the beatings. It was always Scarlett or Summer who had to come to her defense. She’d never been the one to defend herself before, but these were her alphas now, and if they were uncomfortable, she couldn’t just stand there.
She also didn’t want to fan the very awkward fire. “You are very beautiful, though. Do you have a designer or stylist?”
Juliana tilted her head, as if trying to pick apart every piece of Sonnet, before laughing. “Aw, you are like a cute little puppy. Which, let me be the first to congratulate you all on your puppy. Buying a pet together is very big and exciting.”
“How the fuck do you know we got a puppy?” Kai growled, stepping slightly in front of Sonnet.
Jude and Felix got closer, as did the crowd, everyone looking with greedy curiosity.
This was no longer a fun evening.
“Ah, cussing at a charity event? Not very cool of you, Kai.”
“Answer him,” Felix growled, a sound Sonnet hadn’t heard from him before.
“Oh, please. The paparazzi write cheap stories for a reason. They jump on any word they can find. The real journalists wait and watch, and I just so happen to know one of them who spotted your arrival home withher. Your sweet little omega. And fated mate I’ve heard? Well,” she clapped her hands together, “I’m sure you’ve all spilled your little secrets since you’re such a perfect match. The boys have told you about all their little red flags, I hope? Oh, girlie. It would just hurt my heart to hear if they’d never been open with you.”
“I’m sure it would,” Sonnet whispered, squeezing Kai’s hand and resting her other on Felix. “However, we’ve all been happilytransparent with each other and have worked really hard at building a healthy foundation for the success of our pack.”
“Transparent? Would you really use a word as big as that one?”
“What do you mean?”
Juliana shrugged. “Nothing, girlie. I’m sure these alphas have opened up. After all, their history is, as you’ve said,smearedall over. It’s hard to be mysterious. Although I think mysterious would be a perfect word for you.”
“Me?” Sonnet felt her stomach tighten.
What is she getting at?
I don’t know, but I don’t like it.
“Playing dumb is so high school. After all, you must know how secretive your past is. I know, I know. Snooping is so high school, too, but can you blame an ex for being interested?” Juliana looked at the crowd, some of them rejoining the festivities, but others lingered to get the scoop. Having people watch them seemed to turn her on, and her eyes glowed with an intent Sonnet didn’t like. “At first, the only thing I could uncover was that you were abandoned by your mother, left to the care of your father, who already had a wife and family of his own. I can’t blame you, however. Being an affair baby is a heavy burden.”
Guests around the room gasped, their eyes widening.
This wasn’t fair. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Tonight was about their pack, about the charity. It shouldn’t be aboutthis.
Sonnet lost her voice.
If Juliana knew this much, what else did she know?
Nothing! She can’t know about our birth mother. Dad erased all the history.
Nothing can be erased 100%.
Her omega said nothing, but her heart felt heavy before dropping into the pit of her stomach.
None of this was supposed to go this way.
Jude’s hands rested on her hips, but what Sonnet really wanted was to disappear.
