Page 36 of Toxic Revenge: Part Two

Or would he have stayed away, keeping that comfortable distance he was so good at maintaining?

“What if I want it to be you?” I whispered.

Mercer looked at West, crossing his arms over his chest. Conrad was leaning against the doorframe, one hand casually pushed into his pocket but a determined set to his expression.

West cringed at the attention from his pack. He grabbed my wrist, gently prying my hand off of him. I swallowed down mywhine—if he really didn’t want me, I wouldn’t coerce him with needy omega sounds, no matter how involuntary they were.

“They’ll be better at caring for you,” he mumbled. “I… can’t.”

“Who said you can’t care for me?” I asked.

“No one had to say it, Talia. It’s just the truth.”

“Well, I disagree.”

“You disagreeing doesn’t make me any less fucking useless.” He loosed a frustrated growl, taking a few steps away from me.

Why did he think he was so useless? He’d been by my side through the worst heat of my life, making everything better. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, but by the time he got here, nothing could have made it any better than he did.

I didn’t want to fight with him, but I didn’t want him to leave either.

And I couldn’t let him think that his packmates were a substitute for him, because they weren’t.

“Fine. You can leave then,” I said. “All of you.”

My chest tightened, but I tried not to let my discomfort show on my face. West’s eyes widened. “Conrad will stay?—”

“No. I want you, and if I can’t have you I’ll make do with no one.”

“Talia, you’re being difficult.”

“So are you,” I shot back. “Now leave.”

West glared at me. “We can’t just leave you alone while you’re still fragile.”

“That’s exactly what you were going to do though, isn’t it? Leave me? Why are you doubting your choice now?”

“I was going to leave you with one of my packmates.”

“And they’re not the same as you. They can’t give me the same comfort as you. I asked for you, and you’re going to leave, so just fucking leave, OK?”

Mercer grabbed West’s shoulder, tugging him in the direction of the bedroom door. “Our omega has spoken, and you know better than to argue.”

“She can’t be alone,” West said, trying to resist Mercer’s leading.

“I trust her to know what she wants,” Mercer claimed. “Now get going, unless you’ve changed your mind about staying with her like she wanted?”

I watched West’s expression carefully, noting how it flitted between concern, panic, and dismay. His body slumped, and he turned to stalk out the door without another word. It hurt, like a shard of ice jabbing my heart, but I saw a hint of the ‘why’ in his hesitation. I just didn’t understand it, not yet.

Conrad blew me a kiss as he followed West and Lavinia out the door, and Mercer hung back for a second.

“He’s scared,” Mercer said. “I can’t tell you what happened with Violet because it’s not my place, but you should know that he blames himself. No one else blames him, but he’s always blamed himself.”

“I can tell,” I murmured. “I just hope he’ll explain it to me soon, because I don’t really want to be alone.”

Mercer didn’t offer to stay. He probably guessed my reason for why I’d refused him and Conrad—to show West he wasn’t so easily replaceable. “We’ll be back soon,” he promised. “Mira will come check on you.”

Mira would want all sorts of dirty details about everything that happened, so it might be enough to keep my mind occupied even without one of my alphas around. I smiled in a way I hoped came across as reassuring. “I’ll be fine.”

---