Page 29 of Talk About… History

I nodded, unable to look up right away, waiting until his chair scraped back and he stood, his footsteps heading down the hall.

“Are you okay?” Hailey asked, then let out a hollow chuckle. “I hate asking that. I know this is awful to re-live.”

“It is, but I just want this all over with. To move on with my life,” I said with a sigh, finally glancing up. “I just hate that in some small ways, they broke me.”

“You’re not broken,” she said, reaching over and taking my hand. “You’re a strong omega.”

“I am, but just sitting on that cozy chair I had to get up again, it reminded me too much of a nest and that just brings me back to that apartment. No pack is going to want an omega that can’t nest.”

“You don’t know that the feeling will last forever. And any true matches you find will understand.”

“They will,” Arden said. I hadn’t heard him approach, but hearing it from an alpha, not just another omega, had some of the fear draining.

Maybe they were right. I might not be the easygoing omega, but I was still an omega. I deserved a pack and a life I wanted, one I had a say in.

I couldn’t imagine Cohen running because of that. Maybe the others I would find would be just as gentle as he was in their own ways.

Until then, I had plenty to keep me busy here in Rockwood Valley. And if anyone treated me with anything other than the respect I deserved, I had three alpha brothers who wouldn’t hesitate to remind them of my worth.

Arden

That omega was my mate. I knew it the moment I stepped into the hall, then stepping into the room with her was pure torture.

I had to keep it professional. She had no idea because of our required blockers and air filters, but I now had that scent etched into my very soul.

She. Was. Mine.

I was an inferno of anger on the inside. They had hurt her, just hearing and seeing the pain she relived but giving us the minor details she did, told me this went so much deeper.

They ruined one of the very basic things an omega craved. She couldn’t fathom a nest because it was too overwhelming, a reminder of that betrayal.

I stormed into my office, door slamming closed behind me as I sat. The notebook hit the hard surface with a thud and I tried to will my breathing to calm down.

My alpha was ready to maul these men, to track them down and kill them. I don’t know if she realized just how serious this was. They used biology against her, turned it into a manipulative weapon to get what they wanted.

Fucking disgusting.

There was a brief knock before Hailey was storming in, not waiting for an answer. Her face was twisted in a rage and she sat heavily in the chair across from me.

“We have her permission. Call this lawyer. Now.”

“I’m trying not to go to my car and drive to him and this joke of a pack myself,” I told her, my face so serious that her eyes widened.

“Okay, what’s going on? This isn’t like you. Mad, sure? This livid? Not so much,” she accused. Hailey was sharp as a tack and didn’t miss a thing. She was like an annoying little sister some days and I knew there was no point lying to her. “You also passed her on to another doctor.”

“She’s my mate.”

“Why didn’t you say something?”

“Professionalism… in part. She was here for help, I couldn’t throw that at her, too,” I pointed out.

“And the other part?”

“I don’t want to scare her. I want her to realize it herself and she doesn’t trust doctors. She’s going to hate me,” I admitted, putting to voice the very insecurity that struck me cold.

She may never want me.

And who could blame her? An anti-omega doctor was working within the Network and effectively scarred this omega for life.

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