Page 130 of Lyric & the Heartbeats

Lyric groaned and shook her head.

Desi chuckled softly. “Lyric… whether you’re ready to hear it or not, whether you can believe it… you’re their omega. They’d do anything for you.”

“I’m not just an omega,” Lyric growled.

“No. You’re Lyric Ceran, who’s got three alphas and a beta wrapped around her finger.”

She chuckled. “Just one beta?”

Desi waved her hand in the air. “You need someone to be impartial. Consider me the voice of reason.”

“You’re the voice of reason?” she teased. “I really am in trouble.”

Desi hummed thoughtfully. “Why are you so against ever finding a pack anyway? It’s… family.”

Because it’s everything I’ve been fighting against my whole life.

If she threw out every one of her rules scribbled in moments of desperation on the inside of her brain, what did that mean? It felt something like giving up, like letting her mother win. Becoming the pampered omega she always wanted Lyric to be.

Becoming the pampered omega she always wanted to be.

Because every grudge she’d held against her mother suddenly seemed cruel, even silly, if she made a one-eighty and settled down with the first set of alphas who she trusted enough to let her guard down around.

But they’re more than that. Don’t belittle them because of your own issues.

For once, Lyric listened to the voice in her head.

Even if she didn’t want to admit it… Emerson, Adra, Henry, and Nohen had come to mean so much more to her than she’d ever thought possible. They’d somehow whittled away at the walls she’d stacked between herself and the world, snuck past her defenses, and rooted a home in her heart.

“The only family I ever had tried to mold me into something I’m not,” she admitted.

“And what was that?”

“The perfect omega,” she bit out, bitterness shading her tone.

Desi scoffed. “I’m a beta, so I’ve never really had to consider it, but if you asked me, I’d say there’s not really a perfect way to do anything. Have you ever considered maybe… that there are different ways to be an omega? It’s not all nests and serving platters and palm leaves.”

Her cheeks flushed, because Desi’s description was a little too close to the caricature she’d drawn in her own mind.

But the bottom line was… all omegas were dependent on their alphas. Even if Lyric didn’t need their monetary or physical support, she’d depend on them for something a whole lot scarier.

Her happiness.

Her heart pounded at just the thought.

Lyric had thought that by living her life avoiding the steps her mother had outlined that she’d moved on, moved past her mother. But instead… she put just as much thought and energy into not becoming the person her mother wanted her to be that Lyric didn’t even know what she wanted.

“You asked what this all looks like at the end. I think to figure it out… you probably need to be more open with them about where you are emotionally.”

Which meant she needed to put everything out in the open… be completely honest with them.

“I know you’re right,” Lyric admitted softly. She sent Desi a fragile smile. “I need to organize it in my head first. Is that okay?”

Desi wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “You don’t have to ask me, silly. Take things at your own pace, but don’t leave them in the dark.”

“This must be why Amber’s totally head over heels for you, isn’t it?” Lyric teased.

A sound choked off in Desi’s throat, and Lyric glanced up. “Do you think she is?”