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“They are gone,” Ashton admits, his reluctance clear, and yet, I’m grateful he’s the one who breaks the news.
“I tried calling my brother,” I say, furrowing my brows in worry. The uneasy feeling in my gut intensifies. “He didn’t answer.” I blink away the threat of tears.
Lex is my rock, the one man who’s always been there for me. He’s my brother, always checking in, and somehow, he always knew when I was in danger. Now, with my heat over and my mind clear, I’m certain he’s in danger. Through the bond I nowshare with the guys, they can feel my alarm. Each of them reaches out to touch me.
At the center of all this chaos is Thea, my cruel, deranged sister. She orchestrated this. How she did it, I can’t fathom, but I know it’s her doing.
“We need to get out of here,” I say, the urgency to find Lex burning inside me, making my legs itch and my body buzz with discomfort.
“I thought you might say that,” Avery says, sitting up so quickly the blanket flies off him. “Shower, all of you,” he orders, giving everyone a pointed look. “You all smell like spunk and a sex fest. I’m going to hike to the shed and dig out the snowmobiles.”
“You can’t use your bathroom,” Ashton finally adds, glancing between his brother and me.
“How did you get into the bathroom?” I ask Avery.
“I rappelled down from the attic and broke the window,” he replies with a shrug, as if it wasn’t the most extreme action he could have taken.
“Excessive,” I murmur.
“Hey, we reinforced that door for safety,” he points out, gesturing to the bedroom door. “And breaking that window did us all a favor. It shattered way too easily. Now we can replace it with reinforced glass.”
“As soon as the storm eases up, I’ll get it replaced,” Devlin announces.
“I’m going to shower,” I announce, even though it’s the last thing I feel like doing. I attempt to extricate myself from Devlin’s arms, but his kiss on my neck sends a wave of arousal spilling across the room, drawing their gazes to me.
Despite my rising need, I just can’t.
“Want help in the shower?” Avery offers with a wag of his brows.
I flash them a soft smile at Avery’s playfulness, but it’s one I don’t feel completely. “No,” I state as firmly as I can muster. “I can’t until... My trust is gone.”
I sense their collective sigh through our bond. While I mostly forgive them and understand their decisions, there’s a part of me, the omega side, that yearns for them to grovel, to beg for my trust again.
“We understand,” Devlin says, pressing another kiss to my neck. “Use my bathroom. One of us will watch the door.”
Safety—that’s what I need right now, and Devlin offers it to me. I’m unsure where this day will lead, but one thing is clear—Thea is at the heart of this chaos.
CHAPTER 32
Seraphina
I can’t enterthe omega suite, not even to grab clothes after my shower in Devlin’s room. As I emerge, wrapped in a towel, I find a change of clothing on the bed. I sink onto the end of his bed, my mind whirling relentlessly.
Usually, my best thoughts emerge in the shower, but today, my memory is foggy. I barely recall scrubbing their scent off me, washing my hair, and cleansing my face. It’s all a blur, my mind struggling to navigate the day’s events.
Entering this heat, I was brimming with hope, and I haven’t allowed myself to mourn the shattered image I held about my heat. At the sanctuary, they ingrained the sacredness of our heat in us, defining our essence as omegas. It’s what sets us apart from those who don’t experience it.
This should be the time when we feel most loved, most cherished. A part of me suspects Thea might have sabotaged it. Throughout my youth, she constantly undermined my joy.
Back in elementary school, long before we knew her designation, she spitefully told the only friend I ever made that I secretly thought she’d be a beta and befriended her only because I deemed her the ugly friend.
Her words were cruel and heartless. No matter how vehemently I denied it, the damage was irreparable.
This drove Lex and me even closer. We were each other’s sole confidant, and until Thea left for the sanctuary, it was just the two of us. To this day, we receive odd glances. Even at the institute, when we visit Thea, people look at us strangely if we walk in with linked elbows or if I lean on him for a hug or support. To them, we don’t act like typical siblings, like twins.
Growing up with only each other forges a bond unbreakable by anyone else. Lex isn’t just my sibling or twin or oldest friend, he’s my anchor in this constantly changing world.
If Thea hurt him...
