Page 87 of Scent of Home

“Agreed!” Bray snaps.

Finn nods. “Of course, not.”

Shane makes a sound of assent. “Where is he?”

“He’s in the bedroom, he thinks we’re all going to hate him.”

“Idiot omega,” Bray snaps and stalks to the bedroom. I follow, glancing back to see Shane and Finn coming to.

Bray kicks off his shoes and flops onto the bed, pulling Locke into his arms.

“I’m never going to leave you,” Bray whispers. “You can leave me, but I’ll always be right behind you. You just need to look. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Same!” Shane growls and sits down on the other side.

Finn wraps his arms around me and watches our alphas with our omega.

“Are you going to stay?” he murmurs.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen now, but I know that I can’t go back. I sent an email to my bosses requesting more time. They have agreed. I have another month to decide what to do.”

Finn hums in agreement and walks us towards the bed.

Shane and Bray are talking quietly to Locke. Murmured words that turn the stiff omega into a relaxed and vulnerable young man.

The feel in the room transforms to hope, and when vanilla blooms in the air, I know we’ve reached him.

I grab Finn’s hand and drag him onto the bed.

I can’t go back. But he’s not going back, either. I’ll do anything I have to before I let anyone hurt my omega again.

Chapter twenty-five

Finn

Locke glares at me.It’s unpleasant, and I want to fix it straight away, but I can’t figure out how. I open my mouth and excuse myself away from Henrietta Chowder and her pampered poodle and turn to Locke with a tense smile.

“What?” I ask when she waddles back into the line of people.

The diner is crowded this morning, full of people talking and gossiping about the festival and its success. The extra decorations are being taken down, and it’s returning to its normal off white, cozy hangout.

So, why do I feel so guilty?

You know why,my inner voice hisses.

In the days since Locke’s revelation, we’ve been busy. Shane and I have been tasked with making sure Locke feels secure and is able to be himself, while Erin and Bray have been doing a deep dive into Locke’s life, the band, Jason Woods, his manager, and Alpha Labels. It’s been hard to find a balance, but we seem closer.

Or we did until today.

“Bray and I are the same, you know. People think I’m a negative influence. I have a bad reputation, so they treat me like shit. Sometimes not to my face, sometimes it’s just a vibe I get from a group of people.”

“It’s not the same,” I protest. “He’s not a good-”

Locke raises his eyebrows, his expression pure fire. “You sound like a dick right now, Finn. I’d like you a hell of a lot more if you’d stop repeating the crap this town says about him.”

With that, Locke whirls and vanishes out of the diner, leaving me standing there alone, feeling ice cold. He’s wrong. He is wrong, isn’t he?

I’m so tired. The loud conversations of the people around me crash into my head. The stress of Locke’s past, the fear of losing him, Shane, Erin. I haven’t slept properly in days. Bray, I haven’t even seen him sleep. He dotes on Locke, but he’s pulled back from me, and I resent it. I’m angry at him.

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