Page 78 of One Wild Omega

If he had a brother and a best friend in his corner, maybe he wasn’t completely down and out.

“Okay, so this study possibly explains your reaction to him.”

“Which we won’t know for sure unless Tanner goes off hisScentex.”

“So… you and Bellamy? TheScentexsituation doesn’t explain why you did that.”

Fitz cringed. “First off—I didn’t know Tanner was mine. No idea. Had I known, I seriously doubt I would’ve made a play for Bellamy. Secondly—when Bellamy first started working in the building next to me, he borrowed some of Tanner’s clothes. I scentedsomethingthe first time I met him. It wasn’t strong, but it was enough to make me think Bellamywasmy omega.”

“Ahhhh,” Raimy said. “You chased after him because you thought he was hiding the fact he was your omega.”

“Exactly.And by the time I learned he truly wasn’t… I’d developed feelings. As far as the heats—it started as an accident. Wrong place, wrong time. But he needed my help… so… I helped. Withoutanyidea that I was hurting my omega. If Tanner had simply told me the truth, then a lot of this could’ve been avoided.”

“Please tell me you are not blaming him,” Raimy said, lifting a brow.

“Not at all… but if I’d known… things might’ve been different.”

“Or maybe not,” Raimy said. “What if you knew… before you learned about theScentexreaction? You probably would’ve called him a liar. Or worse, with that anger you felt. Considering the way you treated him, I can understand why he wouldn’t tell you. He was afraid. Afraid you’d hurt him.”

Fitz winced. “Ihatethat I instilled fear in the one person I should protect above all others. But now he knows… that things could be different between us. And he’s still denying it. I don’t know what to do. I can’t push him… not right now with everything going the way it is for him. Yet at the same time, I can’t abandon him, either. I feel like this moment in time, when he’s at his lowest—what I do matters. It could make or break whatever might come next.”

“You need to give him some time to get over this loss. You haven’t earned the right to be there for him right now,” Raimy said. He glanced at the truck’s bed. “But this is a good thing you’ve done here. This is how you support him for now. Until he’s ready to move on past this pain.”

Now that Fitz knew the truth, his inner alpha screamed for him to claim what was his… but he heard the truth in Raimy’s words.

Bellamy wandered out before Fitz could reply. He’d been feeding the baby when they’d arrived, but opened up the near empty garage for them to get started. He smiled as he approached. “I just got Carter down. Anything I can do to help?”

“We’re just about done,” Fitz said. “Thanks for letting us use this space.”

“Of course,” he said. “No thanks necessary.”

“Bellamy?” Raimy asked.

Bellamy turned to eye the omega. “Yeah?”

“I’m sorry I’ve never been warmer to you,” Raimy said.

Bellamy wore a confused smile. “It’s… okay.”

“No. From that first night that I blamed on you… to me being jealous of the time you spent with Tanner… to assuming you had done something terrible with Fitz… I’ve not been fair to you.”

Bellamy stared back and forth between them. “So… does this mean… Fitz… and Tanner? Is it true?”

Fitz nodded.

Bellamy collapsed against the side of the truck, leaned over and put his hands on his knees. “Fuck.” He looked up at Raimy, tears shining in his eyes. “I mean… I sensed it could be true after seeing you two together, but hearing it’s real. That he knew you were his…” Bellamy shook his head. “Why didn’t he tell me?”

“I just found out a few days ago myself,” Raimy said. “I mean, I knew he’d met his alpha. Hell, I was there that first night—and again the second time he met Fitz. But after three years, I didn’t recognize him. I’d only got a quick look at him that first night.”

Bellamy’s gaze spun to Fitz’s. “You met Tanner before I introduced you two?”

“Three or four years before that night. I didn’t know it was him when I met him the second time,” Fitz answered.

Raimy sighed. “It was Tanner’s twenty-first birthday. He was wasted and dropped in Fitz’s lap at a bar.”

“And I unceremoniously pushed him out of it,” Fitz said, cringing.

“Fitz!” Bellamy cried.

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