Page 129 of Puck & Her Blades

How could anyone tear a baby away from their own parent?

Shit, his Omega mom has been trapped in that place all these years.

When Zev picks up the mug, his knuckles are white around the handle. His nonchalance isn’t convincing, as he strolls back to the bed and passes over my tea.

“Here, this’ll be good for your throat.” He sprawls next to me. “Get that down you.”

Doesn’t he want to talk about this anymore?

I don’t want to push Zev.

I can feel his unstable, conflicting emotions through the bond, and his deep, long buried pain.

It’s tearing him up.

I get why Zev and Jackson held off choosing a female Omega now.

No wonder this situation is hard for Zev.

But he needs to face it.

Has he ever truly been able to talk about this?

I take a sip of the hot, zesty tea, before sighing. It goes down smoothly, soothing my throat. I see why Cygnus advised it.

I take Zev’s hand in mine. “Did you manage to find your Omega mum?”

Zev’s expression clouds, before he shakes his head.

He stares down where our hands our joined.

My chest tightens. “I’m sorry.”

“They deliberately erase all records, as soon as a kid is born there. They don’t want any cases of another pack claiming the Omega and then challenging for the kid. They hide even what Omegas were there, only giving them numbers and not names. The ironic thing is that my pack were all about numbers and statistics. They constantly made me feel dumb. I was the jock and I never felt like I fitted in. I like to think that my Omega mom was a badass jock like you are.”

“I bet that she was, and you’re not dumb. I know the feeling though. Cygnus is tutoring me.”

Zev laughs, playing with my hair.

I shiver, loving the way that he curls one strand around his strong finger.

“He tutors me too,” he mock whispers. “But don’t tell anyone because—"

“…it’ll damage your bad boy rep…?” I burst out laughing too.

Zev rolls his eyes. “You appear to have worked me out, love.”

“Not even close.”

Zev’s gaze is warm. “Then we’ll have a lot more fun, figuring each other out.”

“Like how you got taken under the Blades’ wing, if you’re already from a wealthy pack…?”

The light dies in Zev’s eyes. “That’s simple. I was scouted at my elite college for my hockey playing. Dad told me that if I played professional hockey, then he’d disown me. My pack traditionally didn’t do anything as vulgar as play sports for a living. At the same time, I found out the details about my birth and truly realized that I’d never be able to find the Omega who gave birth to me. So, hell yeah, I took the Blades’ offer. My pack disowned me. And Jackson was a true bro to me. I was broken, when I first came to Blade House. Self-destructive. I felt like I’d lost everything: my family, identity, and pack. So, I tried to lose myself in the noise, whether that was music, drink, or sex. It was easier because I could forget then. I didn’t have to feel.”

I place the tea down on the bedside, dragging Zev into a desperate hug.

He holds me for a moment, stroking my back. He takes a deep breath like he needs my scent to ground him.

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