Page 69 of This Fate That Guides Us
“I know,” I rasp out.
“I’m sorry, little omega,” Nebula says from across the room. His voice still tense with anger.
“Are you okay?” I manage to ask, though I’m not sure he hears me with how quiet the words come out.
“He has a personal hatred for Pastor Montgomery,” Cal tells me.
“Not just the Pastor. There isn’t a single soul in his entire family who has any redeemable quality. They’re all repulsive, anti-designation liars who commit atrocious crimes and use their followers to cover them up.”
“What crimes?” I swallow thickly. My heart is somehow both racing and sinking, like a motorboat driving directly to the bottom of the ocean.
Cal’s eyes soften as he glances back at his alpha. A mixture of sadness and concern lighting up the dual-toned orbs. I don’t want to know the answer, not really, because I have a feeling whatever reason Nebula has to hate my family will shatter everything we’ve been building between us.
“Benjamin Montgomery is the alpha who rejected Elizabeth.”
The glass plate shatters against the wall less than a foot away from where I stand. I keep my eyes on the floor, not flinching or reacting despite the small shards now sticking into my skin. I learned long ago what happened to kids who cry and whine in this house.
“An omega! Not only did he start releasing alpha pheromones in the middle of a public campus, he laid with an OMEGA!” my father roars. Another piece of the pretty china my mother sat out for dinner is tossed across the room, thankfully landing farther away this time. I will be lucky to escape with only the tiny cuts on my arm as a remnant of his anger. “I’ll end their life myself before I let an omega into this family.”
“He let his instincts control him,” my uncle grunts, his voice full of disgust. “Says he rejected her as soon as he came to his senses though.”
My heart aches for the poor omega who has been scent matched to my older brother. Rejection is rough for anyone, but it is especially hard on omegas.
“And where is my bastard son now?” My father’s words come out in a feeble attempt at a growl.
“With Doctor Harrison.”
My stomach rolls, the small dinner I ate threatening to resurface with my uncle’s words. Doctor Harrison is NewHampshire’s very own mad scientist. A beta obsessed with finding a ‘cure’ for the different designations. One of his so-called ‘cures’ is to perform black market surgeries where he attempts to remove alpha knots. He also recently started illegal and unethical trials for hormone treatments to eliminate omega traits, including heats and perfumes.
Even though I dislike my brother, I still wouldn’t wish for him to experience whatever treatment he is seeking from the madman. Especially not when I know he will still have to face our father’s punishment when he returns home.
“Mmmm.” My father finally seems to lose the fatal edge to his anger. He doesn’t share my concern for my brother’s safety. In fact, he seems thrilled with the idea. I suppress a shiver when his dark brown eyes turn to me. “Make yourself useful, and clean up this mess.”
I rush to do as he asks, gathering the broken glass in the bottom of my dress and carrying it to the kitchen. My hands bleed where the shards cut into my skin, so I quickly rinse them. I’ll have to sneak into the bathroom later to grab some bandages. The dining room is still quiet and tense as I slip back inside and return to my spot against the wall. I won’t be excused to my room until Father decides he’s finished tormenting me.
“Mary,” my father snaps at my mother. “Call Governor Pierson’s wife and invite them to dinner this weekend. It’s time to arrange Sarah’s marriage.” I didn’t hear him move and barely manage to stop myself from flinching as he towers over me. “Before she can become a disappointment like her brother.”
The sound of the guys’ conversation is a muffled buzz in my ears. Their scents fade into the background. Like a breakerblowing, I can feel all of my emotions shutting down. I’m left numb. Frozen to the spot as Nebula’s words and my memories merge to become some twisted nightmare inside of my head.
But this isn’t a nightmare.
This is real.
I was so close to a happiness I never imagined myself capable of finding and now it’s all going to be ripped away in the blink of an eye. There’s no way Nebula and the others will accept me as their omega once they learn Grant Montgomery is my father. Hell, my brother is the man responsible for Nebula’s sister’s rejection. That alone will be enough to convince them to reject me.
I have to go. I can’t stay on this bus with them when my heart is being demolished by the weight of this revelation. “I–” A sob cuts off the words, but I swallow it down. “I think I need to go back to my bus. To my nest. To center myself.”
Nexus jumps to his feet to approach me, worry lining his brows, but I put out a hand to hold him off. I also step out of Callisto’s hold. As much as their presence soothes me, I no longer deserve their comfort. I’m a Montgomery after all. Just another child tainted by my birth father’s ideology.
“I need my nest.” I repeat the words aimlessly, unable to convince my body to cooperate. My instincts are urging me to go to them. To let their soft words and sweet touches take away the insane amount of stress my body is currently experiencing. Their shoulders fall when I manage to choke out the words, but they don’t argue.
Callisto offers to walk me back to my bus and I accept so none of the alphas will offer in his place. I don’t know how much longer I will be able to maintain control of myself without giving in to my body’s instinctual demand for their comfort.
When we get to my bus Hendrix looks shocked to see me, but he quickly opens the door. It seems like everyone is ready toleave now, so I barely made it off of Primordial Covenant’s bus in time. Bea sees me from where she’s lounging on the couch and calls out but I don’t respond. I bypass everyone and dive straight into my nest.
Only when I’m buried deep beneath my blankets, wrapped in a consuming darkness, do I let the tears flow. Heaving sobs wrack my body as all of the pain and fear reaches a fevered peak.
I never should have agreed to work this stupid fucking tour.
