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Hardass: I know you don’t want to talk to Mom, but she’s on a rampage, demanding we find your number.
Me: Please don’t give it.
Princess: She’s trying to steal our phones.
Mother Hen: Make sure none of you have her contact listed under her name.
Hardass: Aww, you remembered my advice.
Me: I’ll text her from our burner phone. Thanks for giving me a warning.
Hardass: Anything for my sister.
Cyan sends a couple of black heart emojis, and I show Dominic the string of text messages about my mom. I was hoping she’d give up on her bitchiness. It’s been nice not having to worry about her texting me since we all got rid of our phones and got new ones in case Chaz was tracking us that way.
“I’m sure she just wants to ask us for more money or something,” I say, playing with my hair. “It probably drives her crazy that she doesn’t have direct contact with me now that she’s been cut off.”
Dominic rubs his lips together, not responding right away. He stares at my phone and the conversation with my sisters for another moment. “I hope it’s only that. You know we’ve been a bit disturbed by Chaz’s threats.”
Damn. I tried pushing those thoughts from my mind. I don’t want to think about how he tried to assault Jonah with a baseball bat. How he’d have probably run us over or killed him if he had the chance. The amazingness of having my alphas support me through my second heat had suppressed all of the bad shit. I was hoping it could stay forgotten forever.
“I’m sorry, Lettie. I didn’t mean to upset you,” Dominic adds, rubbing his fingers on my cheek.
I blink my burning eyes, not realizing that a tear spilled on my face. I can’t help the cresting emotions. It’s as if just the mention of my mom shattered the wall I built around myself to protect my mind from her trying to mess with me. She has caused a lot of emotional damage, and I’m only starting to really process and heal from it now.
I blow out a breath and shake my head, getting myself in control. “You didn’t upset me. Promise. And you’re absolutely right. Chaz is still on the run, and he could try something insane. He has it in his head that I’m supposed to be his or whatever. Fucking stupid.”
A knock on the wall startles me, and I whip my attention to look at Adrian standing just outside of Dominic’s room.
My heart sinks into my stomach at the sight of him. He runs his fingers through his blonde and silver hair, messing up the strands. It’s as if he’s aged in the past few minutes, his forehead wrinkling and crow’s feet pinching the corners of his blue eyes.
“We need a pack meeting. Immediately.” Adrian doesn’t explain anything, turning on his feet and striding back toward our small living room.
I grimace, meeting Dominic’s gaze, and he shrugs his shoulders and presses his palm to my back, getting me to follow behind Adrian.
I shuffle into the living room, meeting Jonah, Ezra, and Leo’s gazes as they all sit together on the couch. I make my way with Dominic to the recliner, and Adrian sits on the coffee table, completing our circle.
He doesn’t speak right away, scrubbing his face, his usually well-trimmed beard longer than normal. I wish there was something I could do to help ease the stress. I know he’s been keeping things to himself to not worry me.
Obviously, something happened.
I slide off Dominic’s lap and onto Adrian’s, hugging him closely so he can feel my body and my support. It’s enough to get him to release a ragged breath. He snuggles his face against my throat, inhaling and exhaling as he composes himself. Silence fills the room, and I listen to Adrian’s rapid heartbeat. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so frazzled. He’s usually stoic when it comes to the world. He only exposes his tender side when we’re alone.
“You know you can tell us anything. We’re a pack, and if something is wrong, we’ll face it together.” I graze my knuckles across Adrian’s cheek, getting him to meet my eyes.
His blue irises glow against the redness in the whites of his eyes, and I can’t help wondering if he had been crying. He never shows such a thing in front of us. A part of me breaks, wishing I could somehow kiss him and make things easier. I don’t have that sort of magic, though. Not the way he can do such things for me.
“I know, Scarlett. I’m just...I feel as if I’ve failed us as a leader. Things have grown more complicated. This was supposed to be the easiest time in our lives. We have worked so hard to earn respect, ensure financial stability, and solidify ties to the most powerful within Pack Clearwater. And it seems that all it takes is one god-awful person to say something negative to send everything crashing down.” Adrian closes his eyes, summoning the strength of his pack mates.
My stomach twists as sickness rolls through me. I already have a suspicion about what he’s talking about, but I don’t know to what extent. This has to do with the summons from Pack Carlisle. He said he was going to make a phone call, and he probably got answers.
“Does this have to do with my mom? My sisters said that she was harassing them. She was even trying to take their phones.” My mouth dries, my words sticking on my tongue, my voice hoarse. I hate that all the current problems our pack faces are because of me. I’m the root of all their issues, but they would never blame me. I don’t really blame myself either, but it doesn’t stop me from feeling bad.
Adrian tips his head up, thinning his lips, and scrunching his brows. He eyes the others in his peripheral vision, but he doesn’t take his attention away from me. “Partially, yes. It seems that she is not satisfied with our current arrangements despite everything that we have done. She has gone so far as to go to the leader of Pack Carlisle and accuse us of withholding information. She claims that we didn’t immediately disclose the error when we found out your age. She has deemed us unfit to be your pack and has requested that we send you home to be appropriately betrothed to a younger pack.”
Leo slams his hands down on the coffee table, shaking it. “Are you fucking kidding me? Scarlett could be pregnant. We have already claimed her. We have paid the dowry, and it was accepted. She can’t just twist things around and take her back. She is not a possession. They don’t own her. We didn’t buy her from them. We paid the dowry to prove that we were serious and nothing more. It’s illegal to buy or sell omegas. It even makes it clear in the contract that this isn’t anything other than a gift.”
Adrian clenches his jaw. “That’s exactly what she’s betting on. She’s claiming that Scarlett is still part of the Steele family since it’s illegal to buy an omega. She is using our extra support to twist it around, claiming that we were buying her off, leaving out the fact that it was part of her demands.”
