Page 54 of Toxic

After a moment, I showed him the piece of code and gave him some instructions.

To my surprise, Skye got to work, and I watched his progress over his shoulder. He worked for an hour while I lay quietly beside him. I was pleasantly surprised that he did everything correctly without needing constant guidance.

He finished and showed me the result.

"Thank you, everything looks okay." I swallowed, feeling stupid. "Send it to this guy, here’s the address."

Skye's face seemed to freeze for a second as he stared at my director's name: Winter Nolan. But he made no comment. He did as I instructed and sent the code to my boss, then put the laptop aside.

"I’ll make you some tea," he said, noticing the electric kettle in the room.

I didn’t say anything, feeling increasingly foolish. Why was he doing this? Why was he being so kind… when there was no future in it, I knew that without a doubt. Someone so handsome and kind—a catch—that all the omegas wanted. I’d seen their looks at him more than once and wanted to slap their faces hard.

He placed a cup of hot tea on the table next to me, then returned to the bed and hugged me again.

With some relief, I nestled into his warm, inviting chest. I knew the worst part was starting. I knew I would really need him now.

A wave of pain shot through me. It was a strong cramp, and I groaned in pain, clutching Skye’s shirt, feeling something wet dripping on my thighs.

A warm trickle… Blood. I squeezed my eyes shut, hating this so much, just wanting this day to be over.

"Please," I breathed out. "It’s happening. Tell me a story… something that’ll take my mind off this."

He hesitated and slightly furrowed his eyebrows.

"Well… I can tell you a story that will certainly distract you. It's a big secret in my family."

"Sounds intriguing…"

"But you have to swear that you won’t tell anyone, ever. Never, ever."

That caught my attention and cut through the rising pain.

"Wow, that serious?"

"Yeah, it’s… about the death of two people. Bad people. But you have to swear. Swear you won’t spill it, like ever."

Excitement really decreased my pain. "Tell me. If it’s about bad people, I won’t spill. I swear."

"It’s about the death of two rapists."

"Even better. I’ll keep it to myself. I promise."

Skye sighed.

"My dad was always stunningly beautiful. When he was eighteen, he got bought at an illegal auction by two degenerates. They abused him. My uncle Van… by the way, he’s the father of Gabriel Nolan, whom you probably know, a sophomore student here. Anyway, Uncle Van was a cop back then. He helped my dad and took him to my father’s house to give him a safe haven."

I felt a chill run down my spine. "God, I’m so sorry about what happened to your dad. Illegal auctions are horrible…"

"Yeah, it’s awful. But luckily, my father helped him, and they fell in love. Turned out, they were True Mates, so my dad found happiness and love beyond anything he ever dreamed of."

A tingle of joy hit me for him, but there was a bittersweet feeling in it for me. As a beta, I wasn’t destined to find my True Mate. That wasn't in the cards for us.

"So… you’re a child of True Mates?"

"Yeah. But there’s more to the story."

"Yes?"

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