Page 68 of Talk About… Rivalry

My voice was practically a plea, begging her to trust me. I wasn’t sure about this whole pack nonsense, especially with Leo being part of it. I couldn’t stand the thought of trying to share a life with someone who was risking everything I’d worked so fucking hard for.

Yet, I never doubted Sidney for a second. I may have been stupid, though. This was proof that I shouldn’t have pushed her away, that I should have been a fucking man and just told her how I felt.

Maybe this was my chance to fix that.

I’d already texted the group chat that Bennett created. I told them that she needed them, and I meant it. I was never an alphathat was good with words. She needed a beta, and probably her omega, to get her settled.

She still hadn’t managed to speak but I refused to let her go. Her body was quivering like a leaf in the wind. When she would peek up at me, her eyes were swimming with tears, fresh ones falling every few minutes as another wave of pain hit her.

The fact that we were in the parking lot of the Omega Network Clinic was only amping up my anxiety.

What had the doctor told her that had caused this sort of reaction?

Then I remembered what Leo said about catching a glimpse of her scent.

Had she done the same?

She was too far gone to realize the others were walking up. Leo was the first to reach us, and for once, I was relieved to see him. He sat next to me, his thigh pressing into mine as he sat close enough to pull her out of my lap and into his.

She looked at him, almost startled.

“What are you doing?” she questioned. God, even her voice sounded off. It was strangely raspy and vulnerable, a whisper in comparison to her usual strong cadence.

I always considered Sidney outgoing, one of those omegas who could command a room.

Maybe it was just my attention that she always commanded.

I knew when she walked into a room. I heard her laughter in a crowd. My eyes were drawn to her like she was a magnet and I couldn't resist her pull.

Leo gently wiped away her tears with his thumb before tucking her hair behind her ears. Every movement was gentle and reassuring.

I still didn’t know how to process that.

“Look, I’m going to be really honest here, Sidney. I thought that I was going to feel the same as I did back then. That Iwas going to want nothing to do with you. Then I got stupidly defensive on Taylor’s behalf, but it was unfounded. Last night I realized that everything I knew about you was wrong. That’s something we can talk about later and then I will apologize all over again, but I want you. We want you. Don’t shut us out.”

She didn’t speak, just looked at him. After a few beats, he rushed ahead.

“You’re mine, Sidney. I’m here for you. Always.”

Another sob broke free. “That’s the fucking problem. I’m no one’s.”

“You’re very wrong about that,” I said my voice was low and gravelly a growl that had her eye snapping my way. “You’ve been mine for a long time, I’ve just been too stupid to speak up.”

Now her eyes were wide, shock washing over her features.

“I’ve tried to keep my distance from you, Sidney. At first, I didn’t understand this thing between us. I figured that we weren’t scent matches or that you didn’t feel the same way I did. You know better than most that I’m shit with people, I always have been.”

That had a wet chuckle escaping. A flash of pride hit me. I did that.Me.

“You’re gorgeous, you’re smart, you’re independent, you’re outgoing, and you’re a lot of the things that I could never be. That date, I just wanted you to say something, to stop me, and when you didn’t I thought it was a sign I needed to move on.”

She winced and I continued, not wanting to make this worse. Fuck, I wish I was better with words.

I couldn’t lose her.

Sidney was everything.

“I fucking hated every moment of that date. She wasn’t you, and that was all I could think about.”

---