Page 21 of These Bonds that Unite Us
“What time do we need to leave?”
Bea and Foster both seem grateful for the change of topics, so I offer them small smiles. We can deal with their argument later when we don’t have a night out to enjoy.
The concert venue is already packed when we arrive. Thankfully, Bea managed to snag us balcony seats so I won’t have to spend the next several hours on my feet.
Foster grabs us drinks from the bar on this floor, non-alcoholic since his alpha isn’t with us. Neither of them was willing to leave Hannah and my niece Kaitlin unattended for the evening, even with my father behind bars. Noise from the crowd grows as the stage lights up in cotton candy pink and royal purple. Since the show is in their hometown, and is a one-night event, they don’t have an opening act. We get to jump straight into the badassery Candy Courage brings to the stage.
Bea shrieks in excitement when the band’s lead singer Azalea dances onto the stage, her wavy blonde hair bouncing with each step. She’s sunshine personified. A personality contrasting with her killer pipes and guttural screams. “Hello Camden, are you ready to ascend to a saccharine haven?”
I chuckle when Bea’s cheers nearly drown out the sound of the crowd below us. If she wasn’t feeling the pull to Shiloh, Lex, and Ridley, my best friend would be jumping at the chance to shoot her shot with the female alphas getting set up to rock the venue.
We get lost in their music. Letting the grim lyrics and melodic instrumentals bring a moment of peace to our weathered souls. I even manage to dance alongside Bea and Foster for several songs before I grow winded and collapse back into my seat. A smile is plastered to my face and I make a note to thank my bestie later. Attending a concert was exactly what I needed to help dull the sharper edges of my mental funk for the evening.
“Guess what?” Iris, the band’s bassist, purrs into a mic. Her bubblegum pink hair is nearly as long as mine, but she’s pulled hers up into two half-up, half-down pigtails with sparkly neon ribbons tied through the top. “We have a very special surprise foryou tonight! Some friends of ours asked if they could come to our show and perform with us. Apparently, they owe one of you one hell of an apology.”
Bea sucks in a sharp breath beside me, her eyes wide with a hint of panic in the dark orbs.
“You want to do the honors, Zale?” Iris looks at her bandmate as she speaks into the mic, their faces nearly brushing from how close they are standing.
“YES! Please welcome, our close friends, a band you may recognize from our last tour–Primordial Covenant!”
My chest feels like a jackhammer pounds against my ribs as I watch the four men I once hoped to call my own walk onto the stage. Bea and Foster are whispering heatedly beside me, but I can’t comprehend what they’re saying. Nothing filters through my tumultuous thoughts except the pain and longing vibrating through my body.
They’re here, only a few yards away, yet it feels like a lifetime still separates us.
Nexus steps up to the mic beside Azalea, drawing my eyes to him. His costume is different. The mask is the same, but he now wears a dark hooded cloak that twists and curves, feathering down his body like wings wrapped tight around him. Sleek black pants painted with tiny galaxies are paired with armor-esque boots. He truly appears as a harbinger of sensuality as he grips the mic stand in his palm.
Heat flares in my core as my eyes roam over him, but it fades beneath the pain their presence causes. Nexus made his choice. They all did.
And they didn’t choose me.
With sharp pangs lancing through my chest, I rip my eyes away from him. Callisto’s costume looks the same, but his mask is different. It’s been reshaped and elongated, with an additional set of eyeholes to create an eerie celestial look.
Nebula leans against the beta’s side, his bass hanging around his waist as they wait for Azalea to finish their introduction. He still wears the same obsidian mask, but he’s donned a leather jacket decorated with silver runes to add a splash of color. Even hidden, I can sense his eyes roaming over the crowd. They’re all searching, trying to find me, so I sink deeper into my seat hoping the bars of balcony railing will hide me.
When I feel heat crawling slowly up my neck, I know I’ve failed. No one points me out or says anything about our broken connection, they just begin to play.
Dark, melodic notes float through the air. Each one settles against my soul like a weighted blanket, offering me a comfort I had forgotten existed in my bleak world. Nexus’ sensual voice rings through the venue when the first verse begins, wrapping around me like a warm blanket. The same way his amber and oud scent feels when I’m in his arms.
I let their lyrics soak into my mind, attempting not to read into their meaning. Internally scolding myself each time my thoughts start to stray toward the mirage of hope on the horizon.
When Callisto’s voice joins Nexus my jaw drops. In all of the times they’ve played, he’s never sung on stage before. I’d heard him sing once, outside of their bus late at night, and he has a lovely voice. Much softer than Nexus’ smoky timbre. More ethereal. He compliments his alpha well.
After the first chorus Azalea joins them, hyping up their nearly rabid fans. The beat drops as she screams and it feels like I’m flying. Soaring through the depths of a thunderstorm. Lightning strikes illuminate the darkened pieces of my soul for a few brief seconds before they’re plunged into oblivion once more.
I can barely breathe, my lungs burning as they refuse to work. Foster smacks my back hard enough to force me to take a deep breath. He looks as concerned as I feel when I’m finallyable to focus on something that isn’t the stage. I shake my head, offering him a dull half-smile.
When the show comes to an end, Bea tries to guide me to the exit, but there’s no point in leaving now. And honestly, I don’t want to. I owe it to myself to meet my mates face to face and tell them all of the things I kept hidden from them during our time together on their tour.
I’m already a broken omega, what do I have to lose?
Sitting in a meet and greet with the girls of Candy Courage should have been a heavenly experience. I may not be as obsessed with them as Bea is, but I’m still a big fan. It’s impossible to focus on the conversation in the green room when I can feel the missing pieces of my soul lingering in the hallway outside.
As the other fans with VIP passes slowly trickle out, my heart starts to race. I’m not ready for this. To face the mates who rejected me. They must have seen the livestream of the confrontation with my birth father. A misplaced sense of responsibility is the only reason I can imagine to explain their presence. What can I say to assuage their guilt? I forgive you for slowly killing me by abandoning me for a situation out of my control?
My panic grows as the room clears. One of Candy Courage’s security staff opens the back hall door and I’m immediately assaulted with the comforting scents of my Fate matched mates. Why do they have to smell so damn good? I have to tense every muscle in my body to stop from throwing myself across the room to get closer to them. To feel their skin against mine.
Titan walks in first. His dark tattoos on display beneath the smeared silver paint on his chest. Sadness seeps into my heartas I trace over what I can see of the designs. I never really got to explore them, to learn what they mean and why he chose them. His pink pepper and leather scent sours as he freezes across the room, eyes blinking rapidly.
