Page 11 of Chasing Dawn

Talbot came over, handing her a remote to her bed. “Do you want a drink or something to eat first? You can make the bed go up and down to whatever level you feel comfortable with. Some of us are worried about your comfort,” he said, shooting a glare at his twin.

“What happened?” I asked.

“Franklin kissed Dawn without permission. I booted him out, but he must have snuck back in.”

I glared at Franklin, who had the good sense to look ashamed. I’d deal with him later.

I lowered my head at Dawn. “Apologies, Omega.”

She swallowed hard. “Don’t call me that. Just call me Dawn. Being an Omega has never brought me anything good.” She shook her head. “It isn’t a point of reverence. It’s a curse.”

Her body vibrated with tension, and I nodded. “Of course, Dawn. I’ll make sure Franklin watches where he puts his mouth from now on, unless he wants my fist in it.”

Franklin looked abashed again, and while I was pissed, I understood. Franklin had pined for the wolf. I suspected there was something more than instantaneous lust between them, but I never asked.

They would work that out in their own time, or not at all.

Dawn’s face was a little pink. “It’s okay. I… Well, it wasn’t bad.”

Talbot grinned. “Wasn’t good either. Franklin kisses like a sucker fish on the bottom of the ocean. All lips.” Talbot sucked his cheeks in and made a fish face, and Franklin tried to whack him in the head.

They just never grew out of some shit.

When I looked back at the bed, Dawn’s lips were curled into a smile, and I forgave them once more.

Her smile gradually fell, like the setting sun, until the world settled back on her shoulders.

“I should probably start at the beginning.”

CHAPTER 6

DAWN

Three sets of caramel eyes stared down at me. I’d had this dream once, where they all crowded around me, but instead of concern in their eyes, it was love and more than a little lust.

“You have to remember, wolves aren’t like bears and other shifters. There are a lot of us, and we aren’t about to go extinct anytime soon. Because of that, our society operates differently than that of bears.” Her eyes moved to Talbot. “And that includes how Omegas are viewed, as well as kids. They aren’t… revered like they are here. With you guys.”

I sucked in a deep breath. “It was just after we met at the gathering. It was the first one for my pack, and we’d basically been ordered to go by the Shifter Council—or else. They even offered to pay because we’d put them off for so many years, telling them we were poor, so we went, and Alpha Derrick made everyone come on the Shifter Council’s dime.”

I gave them a lopsided grin. “It was the best day of my life. I’d never been to anything like that before. All the other shifters, the sounds, and the atmosphere. Plus, I met these two amazing bear shifter twins.” I couldn’t help the wistful note in my voice. “Best thing that ever happened to me. My Alpha said all the right things, even if they were an out and out lie. Pretty sure he would have left me at home, except someone had let it slip that he had two Omegas in his pack, and he was required to bring us.”

The old Omega had died in a horrific way not long after, but I left that part out. I wouldn’t need that story as evidence in a moment, and I didn’t want to bring that brutality to the front of my brain either. “It was probably partially my fault for being too happy and stepping out of my place. The Alpha noticed me, and not in a good way. On top of that, despite his best efforts not to seem like the mean, backwater hick he is, the Shifter Council found a reason to reprimand him about the pack’s financial stability. Good for the pack, but not so good for me. He decided it was time to work out his Alpha aggression, and I was the most convenient punching bag.” I sucked in a deep breath through my nose. “I probably could have taken that. After all, the old Omega told me that was our role now in the pack, but then my aunt’s cubs had revealed their designations—an Alpha boy, a beta girl, and a tiny Omega. You see, Derrick and his enforcers had also been making connections at the gathering too, and they noted the interest other shifters had in me, an Omega. I know they are all but extinct in most other species. Ours is the only one that can churn them out with any kind of reliability, I guess. I’m kind of mad at the moon goddess for that,” I told Talbot, whose explanation about us being gifts from the goddess kind of stung when it was measured against reality.

“So he came up with a plan and kept it to himself for nearly five years—or at least within his close circle of fucking assholes,” I growled. “His first step was to marry me off within the pack. Stephen was everything you’d want an enforcer wolf to be—big, strong, and as dumb as a box of rocks. When he fought, he did so until the other person never got up again. What my Alpha didn’t know, though, was that Stephen was actually fucking sweet as hell to me behind closed doors. I think his beast was a little… feral, too strong, and with me, it relaxed. So being with Stephen wasn’t so bad.”

It wasn’t love, but it wasn’t the worst thing that could happen. I didn’t tell that to the three men watching me though.

“I got pregnant almost straight away. I also lost it immediately. It took my Alpha a little while to remember that he couldn’t beat me and use me as a baby making machine at the same time.” A low growl made the whole room vibrate, and I swallowed hard and continued. So far, no one had interrupted me, though the anger in the room was rising. “Stephen eventually put his foot down and made the Alpha stop lashing out at me, at least when I was pregnant, and the Alpha did. He stopped.”

The air in my lungs felt like it was made of acid as I forced out this next part. “Once again, I got pregnant. There is no such thing as wolf birth control. It was going fine. I was seven months along… then the Alpha sold the pups.”

“What?” Franklin whispered.

“My aunt’s pups, the little Alpha, beta, and Omega. I’d taken too long to produce what he wanted, so he sold his own children. One day they were there, the next, some other kind of shifter—I’m still not sure what—appeared as night fell, bundled them into the back of his van, and drove off.” My heart was cracking in my chest, or maybe it was a heart attack, but it didn’t matter, because I had to get this next bit out. “They were crying and… I couldn’t believe he was doing it, you know? My aunt was screaming. I could hear the pups crying, and I just started beating on him. He’d ruined my entire fucking life, and now he was selling the pups into whatever kind of fucked up situation. The Alpha didn’t take it well. This time, he didn’t pull back so he didn’t kill me. He was out of control, until Stephen grew some balls and pulled him off. I thought he was saving me, but it turns out, he wanted to save his pup. They thought I was as good as dead, so Stephen got a knife and—” Bile rose in my throat at the memories. “He tried to cut the baby out. It was too small to survive, even as a shifter baby, so in the end, I was gutted, my baby was dead, and they threw me in the woods like I was yesterday’s trash.”

I shook my head, tears rolling down my cheeks even though I said it all so neutrally. The shock was still like acid in my stomach. “They probably expected me to be picked off by cougars or something, I guess. It took me thirteen days to heal enough to move, and another two to crawl to the cave where I stashed the letters you sent me and the ticket. Another two days were spent in that fucking cave, thinking I was going to die. Eventually, I made it to town, onto a plane, and then to your doorstep. You know the rest.”

The silence in the room was loud. I was basically panting, my emotions threatening to choke me, and one of the guys was still emitting a low, rumbling growl that made all the hair on my body stand on end.