Page 97 of Talk About… Rivalry

It was like the entire world had gone quiet and she was center stage, giving us the performance of a lifetime.

One I knew I’d never forget.

“Mom, please,” I managed to choke out.

When she looked at me there was no softening gaze of a mother that loved her child, instead her lips curled into a sneer.

“You look just like him, Sidney. I can’t do this.”

With that she slammed the lid closed, securing the buckles on the outside before grabbing it off the bed. She wavered for a second under the weight of it, but no one made a move to help her.

My mother wasn’t a large omega, she was petite, maybe a little too thin.

Even though I was watching this through the eyes of me as a child, my brain recognized so much more than I had back then.

“This is just a dream,” I said out loud.

Yet, every emotion was real. The pain cracking open my chest stole my breath. The hurt at the words she hurled at me, the self-hatred that was embedding into my bones, it all was too much. It settled in me, intent on torturing me for the rest of my life.

There was no goodbye, no fanfare. She simply walked down the stairs and slammed the door behind her.

Then she was gone. The sound of her tires turning on the gravel deafening in the night.

“Go to bed, Sidney.”

I went to open my mouth to argue like I always did in this dream, but stopped cold when the scene shifted. My father was gone and replaced by my pack.

Taylor, Bennett, Leo, and Maverick all stared down at me, their faces mirroring the same hatred mother showed me.

“We found a scent match, Sidney.”

“No,” I breathed out, shaking my head and backing down the hallway, refusing to believe it or let those words sink in.

They promised me that I was theirs. That they wouldn’t leave me.

This couldn’t be happening.

“No,” I repeated again, my voice growing louder as I shouted it over and over again, screaming until it drowned out the ugly words they were saying to me.

I jolted awake in my bed, sweat making my oversized shirt cling to me.

The room was so dark that I had to give myself a second to acclimate before I swung my legs out of bed and stood. My hands searched in the darkness for the glass of water by my bed and I drank it all in one go.

Only, it didn’t settle me. I was too keyed up after a dream like that. It was an old nightmare, one that I’d relived time and time again since the day she left.

Now, it had changed.

I’d finally let someone in.

Not just anyone, but a pack. One that could tear me apart until there was nothing left of my heart.

Nausea churned in my stomach as I snatched my phone from the nightstand and stumbled out of the room and down the stairs.

The house was quiet, everyone else asleep still.

Somehow I managed to fight my way to the front porch, closing the door softly so I didn’t wake them before sinking down into the cushioned chairs.

It was dark out here, peaceful. The sound of crickets usually calmed me.

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