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Luckily, the guys had been too focused on their conversation to see my mini existential breakdown. “Maybe it’syouwho doesn’t want her to go back to Anchorage, amongst strangers, amongstotherAlphas?” Will said, his eyes flicking between his brothers.
Xander’s shoulders were stiff. “We left for a reason…”
“That reason doesn’t matter anymore.”
“Of course it fucking matters. It matters more than ever.”
They all started talking over the top of each other, arguing in half-sentences and unsaid secrets until I was tired of it. I put my fingers in my mouth and let out an ear-piercing whistle, smiling as they all glared. Damn, I hadn’t done that in years.
“If you’re all done deciding my fate, I’d like to have an opinion of my own? Or does being an Omega somehow make me mentally deficient?” Victor waved a hand at me to continue, glaring at his brothers, daring them to interrupt. “Great. I agree with Vic, that if I can stay in Last Chance, and do my course by correspondence, that would be the best outcome. I’m not in a hurry to put myself back in the crowd, especially when this is all so… new.”
And especially since the scent of Alphas was throwing me into a hornball frenzy where I wanted to double fist them, like they were free booze at a frat party.
“If you guys don’t want me to stay here, I’m cool with that. I’ll get a room at the Stop ‘n’ Stay. Miss Elizabeth still owns it, right? She’ll give me a good rate. That might even be better.” I wouldn’t be faced with temptation every damn day.
“Don’t make stupid choices just because you’re being stubborn. You’re an unmated female Omega, the most highly trafficked subset of the population globally. I think offering yourself up on a platter isn’t the best course of action. You’ll stay here,” Xander snapped, like the decision was made.
Oh. My patience was done. “Stupid choices? You want to talk about shit choices—how about taking my virginity and then fucking off out of town the next day, never to be heard from again? Want to explain to me how that was the ‘best course of action,’ asshole?”
Yeah, I might’ve still had some unresolved emotions when it came to that night, no matter how hard I’d tried to just bury it forever.
“You didwhat?” Will demanded, staring at his brother. Victor just stared at me, his mouth hanging open.
Oh, had Xander kept it a secret? This was going to be good.
They said that revenge was a dish best served cold, and if that was true, I was going to make sure Xander Yale licked up every drop.
CHAPTER SIX
The guys did that triplet thing where they had a silent argument, raining on my revenge parade, so I just went to bed early. I texted my roommate, and was relieved when she mentioned a note I’d left her, telling her I was going home.
Omega blackout me was oddly thoughtful.
Also odd was that I’d parked my car at a secondary trailhead on the edge of the mountain where I’d dug my den. Just thinking about that mud hole filled me with Omega panic. That was what I was calling it. Because there was nothing logical about longing for a dirty hole in the ground, even if my Omega argued it was a nest.
I’d left my window slightly ajar, and when I woke the next morning, McKnight was asleep on my chest. So at least there was that. He was currently washing himself at the end of the bed, leaving a large dirt mark on the guys’ spare bed comforter.
I started to feel guilty, but then I remembered Xander had kept me his dirty little secret and was an asshole. Besides, I doubted I’d be able to wash McKnight, but I might be able to brush away the worst of the dirt and give him a flea and worm treatment. I made a mental note to pick up supplies when I grabbed my car.
When I made it downstairs, it was quiet. Had they left without me? Why did even the thought of them leaving me behind make me want to cry?Get your shit under control, Zaley.It wasn’t much of a pep talk, but it would have to do. Fucking Omega hormones.
I drifted from room to room, until I discovered Xander in his dad’s old office. I guess it was his office now. His eyes snapped to my face, running over my features like he was reading my body language. So I flipped him the bird.Read that, asswipe.
Instead of pissing him off, it just made him laugh. “The guys had to go open up the bar, but I’ll take you wherever you need to go.” He looked down at my sweats and hoodie. “Starting with clothes shopping, somewhere outside of Last Chance.”
I barked out a laugh. “Can you imagine the gossip if I turned up in men's clothes with you? We’d be married off before dinner and expecting an illegitimate love child before breakfast tomorrow.”
If only that was an exaggeration.
“Sounds about right. We’ll stop at that outlet center over by Pelly, if you’re ready. Also, we can go pick up your car.”
He was being nice, and I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re going to make me talk it out, aren’t you?”
Despite the fact that Xander was a bit of an asshole, his mom had instilled in all her ‘miracle children’ the idea that you needed to talk out your problems, and if that didn’t work, then they could beat sense into each other. So many times in our high school years, when the guys were mad at each other, they’d force themselves to sit at a table and discuss theirfeelings.Sometimes it was a symbolic gesture, filled with accusations and tension. Like when Will had kissed Veronica, Victor’s brand new girlfriend in the seventh grade, because she’d kissed him first, thinking he was Victor. Or so she said.
Symbolic or not, they always tried, for their mom. They’d loved her. I had loved her.
Unaware of my trip down memory lane, Xander nodded, giving me a quick grin. “Yep. Let’s go.”
