Page 27 of Who We Were

If I truly am theirs, then they will come for me, right?

No matter where I'm being taken, it won’t lessen what we are to one another.

‘Mates will come’, the voice whimpers and burrows deeper into their scents still wrapped around my clammy skin.

I follow the voice, tearing myself from my body. Something tells me it's the only way I'll survive; in the memories I share with my mates.

20

VINCENT

One more goddamn sniffle and I'm storming the fucking table.Beckett's warning glare only makes sense for so long; of course I know she needs space.

From what he's told me, Amaya has stopped responding to Kate since she and her dad went to that office building. I knew it was bad when I watched my mate walk out of those doors.

I knew. Iknewthe omegas at the academy were sold and thrown away by their families, but I hadn't really let myself think about everything Amaya has been through. But witnessing her tears and hearing her story from the booth behind her is completely different.

Amaya is beyond struggling; she's losing her will to live. I long to hear some anger in her tone, but her dead voice is laced with utter sadness.

When I find this Samuel guy, he will be fucking lucky if I keep his spine intact. Prison is too good for her mother too. And don't even get me fucking started on her dad.

"I'm alone," she whimpers, head still bowed. "I just didn't think I would be aloneforever."

Yep. I'm done.

I shove myself out of the booth and swallow the growl trying to free itself from my chest. Sucking down her delicious lavender scent for the past forty-five minutes has me teetering on feral.Need to hold her. Wipe her tears.

Beckett's eyes widen before he too jumps out of his seat to intercept me before I can introduce myself to my mate without his signal.

"What if I told you that you weren't alone?!" Kate blurts.

Amaya sighs dejectedly. "They don't want me, Kate. Nobody wants me. Not even my parents."

That's it!

I had my pheromones on lock-down in an attempt to keep her from scenting me too soon, but it was inevitable that my control would snap. Shoving Beckett out of the way with a muted snarl so as not to scare my little mate, I step forward just as my alpha rises.

I will forever remember the moment my mate catches my lemony scent. It starts with a slight cock of her head, then a twitch of her dainty nose. Her teeny self stiffens before melting right as her mouth pops open on a watery gasp.

As if the stars are aligning for the first time, her golden eyes find my blue ones. Everything is right in the world. The kink in my neck from sleeping on a hotel bed for weeks eases, as does my headache from holding back. Just by being noticed by my mate, my tiredness fades, the scabs on my knuckles no longer itch, and the previous anxiety of being away from her dissipates.

I'm here now. Nothing else matters. Nothing will remove me from her side.

"It's you," Amaya whispers, eyes leaking and hand grasping her chest.

I don't know what she means, but it feels like it might be a good thing. "It's me?" I croak and kneel in front of my beautiful girl.

Her brown hair is a little dull today, but the long braids it's woven into are pretty. I can't help myself; I reach out and touch one of them. The realization that I'm touching my mate for the first time makes my chest vibrate.

"You-You're purring for me," Amaya whispers, her hand reaching for me before it drops into her lap.

"You can touch me, little mate. Anything you want," I rumble, leaning toward her even further, really hoping she takes me up on the offer.

Kate clears her throat, and it takes everything in me not to snarl at her for breaking our moment. "Amaya, what do you mean,it's him?"

Well, at least she's asking the right questions since I forgot about that.

"Oh!" Amaya jumps a little and her cheeks pinken.Adorable. "I-Well…" She swallows and straightens her shoulders. "Before we were all separated that first day for rehab, I smelled him. Lemony Febreze. The kind my nana used to spritz around the house."

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