Page 12 of Who We Were

I shake my head and declare, "I'm done eating. I'd like to go back to the room. What did you want to talk to me about?"

I'm just so damn tired. If it's not one thing, it's always going to be another. I won't ever be the omega who can stand up for herself without crumbling a bit each time.

I want to lie down and drift away. When I opened the door a bit ago, I was filled with energy and confidence. Some firm words and a comment on my eating has drained me.

Weak.

"We can talk later," Paul murmurs dejectedly.

I don't wait for further dismissal. I've proven myself incapable of eating a damn meal. Of course he wouldn't want to have a conversation with me now. Maybe it's for the best. I don't want to hear about how much he didn't want to bring me here or the expectations he has while I'm living in his swanky apartment.

Maybe later I'll be up for rejection, but right now I have a date with a closet and dreams of a life that will never come true.

9

EMMETT

“Don't be a twat, Sam!"

A low growl rumbles the wall between the living room and my office. "Turn it the fuck down, Oliver!"

Annoyed, I crack my neck and try to focus on the paperwork that needs to get done. It's a Saturday and I should be hanging out with my pack, but I just can't today. Samuel woke up on an even worse side of his fucking bed today, and Oliver is, well, he's Oliver. Notoriously spazzy, and quite frankly, my beta is chaotic as fuck.

So no, I'm not surprised Oli has Katy Perry blasting in the living room while he plays video games and yes, it is awfully common for him to piss his older brother off. Not only common, but pretty damn frequent.

"Oliver, I swear to fuck!"

My beta's booming laugh echoes through the walls next. Between his teasing humor and Samuel's sheer irateness in the pack bond, I'm about to flip my shit too. Thankfully, my mate bond with Oliver drowns out Samuel’s constant boiling anger at the world, but it's taxing none the less. Not to mention, Oliver being constantly spastic and alwaysongets to be exhausting too.

One might think being the levelheaded alpha of the pack means I would be less overwhelmed, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Sure, I can mask my feelings and compartmentalize like my life depends on it, but the truth is, our pack of three is fraying more each day.

My relationship with Oliver is strong and my love for him grows with each passing minute. It's impossible to keep our mate bond separate from the pack link.

I hate to say it, but a lot of it comes down to Sam and his depression that he refuses to face. It's like a festering wound that has only worsened since the day we presented. I don't know how to help Samuel anymore. No matter what I say, no matter how much space I give him, it's not enough to drag him from his pit of misery.

Wearen't enough, me and Oliver. I'm his childhood best friend and Oliver is his brother, but life with us seems to only get worse for Samuel. It's not all our fault necessarily. No, that's an entirely different matter. One that dates back five years.

Amaya. The name which is not to be spoken.

We wereallhurt by her abandoning us. Honestly, I doubt it would have broken Samuel as much if she weren't our scent match. Alas, we scented her a few hours too late.

Samuel was there that morning. Knocked on the door like usual to drive her to school. All that greeted him was her mom and the fresh spring and lavender scent of our mate. Not only that, but Sam had to hear the explanation that she left us all by himself.

He didn't show up at school that day. My best friend presented as an alpha in the worst way possible; complete devastation that his mate left him. Left us. I wasn't far behind when I went to her place later that day. Rejected before I even knew she was meant to be mine, I fell fast into my alpha designation as well.

What's worse? Sam and I were immediately separated from Oliver for a year while we went to the designation academy in Baltimore.

Seventeen and separated from the sixteen-year-old boy I was falling in love with and reeling from the news of my mate ditching us for her daddy's money. I barely stood a chance; then Oliver was deemed a beta and came to study with us when he turned seventeen that next year.

It's uncommon to present as an alpha or a beta later than the age of sixteen, so Oliver was back in my arms before long. Being the calmest and most rational of the three of us with my beta at my side, I think I was spared a lot of the turmoil that runs through Samuel.

Oliver shows his struggle in his humor and playfulness. He's like a never-ending loop of distraction.

I don't know if I can blame Amaya. After her nana died a few years before she left, she seemed to retreat into herself more and more. Her mom was a piece of work from the minimal information I gathered, so her taking the opportunity presented to her makes sense.

I just wish she would have come to us. And if not us, then one of our parents. We found out from Oliver and Sam's parents after she left that she and her mom were struggling financially.

Why would anyone want to live like that if they have a rich dad to take them in? I understand her motives for leaving town to be with her dad, but why would she cut us out of her life?

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