Page 25 of Violet

“I have a family I need to take care of, Stephan.” He shakes his head, then refills his drink as he brings his long legs in and leans forward. “Five sisters. Can you even fathom that? Five pretty Omegas to find proper mates for, who will look after them and not use and abuse them. I can’t let Mom handle all that.” He stands. “We should take this inside.”

Heath picks up the bottle, and I follow him inside. The Gardener home has always had a mix of scents to it, such as beeswax and lemon and fresh flowers. What you imagine Spring to smell like. But this time, the floral scents are more overpowering than I remember, fogging my senses.

I must be too used to the blockers people wear to hide and dull their own scents in Emporia.

This is much nicer,more…evocative.

We head down the hall and into his father’s meeting room, where deals were done, important business guests entertained. But I know what it is. A private gaming room. Where high stakes poker and other card games were played. The dark woods and gold and claret décor are like most gentlemen’s clubs, a step back to another time.

This one’s small, and the bar’s well-stocked. Heath puts on some post-grunge music as I go to haunt the bar.

“This whole island is full of double standards.” I pour a healthy bourbon.

“It’s the same everywhere, Ashford. Don’t pretend it isn’t.”

“But all these rules. The strict hierarchy… It’s crap.”

“The hierarchy is part of us. It’s part of our core nature.”

I glare at him and down half my drink. “It shouldn’t restrict you on who you can mate with. Sure, things tend to fall into Alpha and Omega, but if a Beta falls for a Delta or an Omega or even an Alpha, then whatever. But here… Jesus.”

“I don’t make the rules, Stephan. Besides, if you hate it so much here, why did you come back?”

“Would you believe it if I said I missed our small talk?”

He huffs out what could be a laugh. “I’d believe it more if you said it was my liquor cabinet.”

I raise my glass in a toast to that.

“It doesn’t matter what I think about it. It’s the way it is here. My sisters…” He stops, shakes his head.

That’s the problem with this fucking microworld of Sabine. Rich and powerful and full of old money, old ways. It’s the headquarters of the Council. And they make sureOmega girls are brought up to be innocent. A whole bunch of virgins who pant for babies and the right mate as if that’s their whole world. The answer to everything.

They don’t have life experience. They probably don’t even know what a dick is.

“You’re playing into the system,” I say.

He slams his glass on the bar. “Don’t you think I know that? I get the double standards, the pressures on people to play the part, but my father left us broke, Stephan, and the only hope now is to play by society’s rulebook. Keep my sisters sweet, pristine, and all that shit…” He shakes his head wearily. “And now Violet’s not only making her debut, but the Monarch has picked her as her Luxe Omega.”

“No shit, really?” Maybe I need to meet this sister…thisVioleteveryone keeps talking about. The battle-ax doesn’t pick just anyone to be her Luxe. This Omega must be special.

“This can be her chance to make the perfect match. For all of us,” he says.

“That’s a lot of pressure to put on your sister.”

He groans and rolls his eyes to the ceiling. “I know. And she knows. She’s ready for the responsibility, but she doesn’t like being the center of attention.”

The Luxe will definitely be that. Once word gets out, Stitch is going to explode.

The door clicks and partly opens. A girl’s head pops in but she gasps, surprised to see us in the room, and quickly shuts it again.

I wasn’t able to get a clear look at her, but her scent wafts in, filling my nostrils with a faint clean and floral scent.

That scent.The same flowery one that haunted my memory since the boathouse.

But how…?

Heath’s eyes cut to the door. “Sorry—my sister was about to barge in.” Then he raises his voice. “Whose ears must be burning.”

---