Page 70 of Talk About… History

I was hit by their scents first, a blend of earthy and fresh, my body heating up the moment I breathed them in. Heat pulsed between my thighs and my mouth went dry, an automatic reaction to mates.

“Hello, Avery. I’m Travis, this is my packmate Brad. We come here fairly often and noticed you. When your scent hit us, we knew you were ours, but you never looked our way.”

I opened my mouth but no words came out. They were right, I never saw them before, but how could I deny what I was feeling now?

The interaction was quick and they rushed me outside. A red flag I could recognize now knowing they likely had on pheromones that would affect other omegas, too.

Disgusting.

I’d believed them then, taking their numbers and letting them court me. It was fast and a whirlwind, I thought I was happy.

How could I risk that happening again?

Maverick cleared his throat, forcing me out of my head. My eyes flickered to his and I knew he could see every bit of fear there.

“Don’t do this to yourself. You have to let your guilt go, Avery. All of it. What those men did to you doesn’t define your entire life. Maybe talk to someone about it, get your mind on track.”

“I’ve looked into that,” I admitted. “Lance helped me set someone up locally that I can do phone calls with.”

“Good,” he said. “Talk to them. And I hope it helps you realize that you’re worth more than this. Give them a chance to be pack for you.”

“I’ll try,” I said, meaning it this time.

“And you aren’t required to live here and no one will fault you if you don’t. The land is yours regardless and a few minutes drive won’t make a difference to us. We’re family.”

With that, he snatched a cookie from the tray and walked out, leaving me stunned.

Maverick wasn’t usually the brother I got advice from. As far as I knew, he didn’t date, was closed off, and had very few close friends.

Maybe there was more to him than I realized.

Comparing me to Cameron was like a bucket of icy water over my head. Was that what I was doing? Pushing them away?

I just spent the night with them. Though, I slept alone on purpose.

Mason and I connected, but it was just a taste.

Honestly, I didn’t need some long-winded explanation of how I wasn’t doing this… I damn well knew I was holding back and not quite trusting them.

What I needed was closure, the assurance my exes were dealt with, and the ability to know that I’d never let anyone treat me like that again.

As if he knew I needed to hear from him, Lance’s number blinked on my screen, the phone ringing shrilly in the silent room.

I clicked speakerphone as I went about putting the cookies away. Keeping my hands busy was apparently my only coping skill today.

“Hey, Lance. Any news?”

He chuckled. “I thought you might need some good news. The doctor has been suspended, of course. The Network did not take this accusation lightly and actually had a new team of unrelated doctors reach out to his clients. They were asked to come in without their packs in the room. When alone, it seemed that they found at least five more affected omegas. We just have to find this asshole’s records, link the packs to those pheromone manipulation sprays, and we’ll have one of the biggest cases in current history.”

“Holy shit,” I breathed out. Of course, I hated that anyone was going through the same thing, that they’d been betrayed so deeply. But it was nice to know I wasn’t alone, that maybe I shouldn’t keep blaming myself. I reacted like any omega in that situation would. Just because those men tricked me into thinking they were mine, doesn’t mean my actual scent matches would betray me.

Everything about the two packs couldn’t have been more different. Travis and Brad did the bare minimum to keep me content. They took away my individuality and disguised it by buying me expensive clothes and lingerie. They never saw me as a person.

The men I have now are different. They each have their own lives, but make sure that I’m content and happy when we’re together. They don’t tiptoe around their own personal lives, they’re open about them.

I feel at the center of our pack, a focal point that they celebrated instead of suppressed. They’d be happy to show me off to the world and are fine with me going out on my own whenever I wanted. I didn’t have to answer questions or ask to do what I wanted.

Now I knew why they didn’t take me out often, it was too risky with their pheromone sprays.

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