Page 60 of The Twelve Knots of Christmas
Not bothering to do up my boots, I put my hand on the doorknob. “Lucian, can you please drive me home?” I didn’t even wait for his reply. I opened the front door and braced myself against the blast of cold. “Artemis, come.”
Artemis came racing to me and didn’t hesitate barreling into the snow outside. I followed, slamming the door behind me.
There was no truck warmed up and waiting. Either Balthazar had lied to Jasper about it, or they all knew what was going on. They had to know. They were a pack, and they’d said repeatedly they kept nothing from each other.
Artemis rubbed against my legs and I crouched down to hug her. At least she would always be there for me. My faithful silent companion.
A sob lodged itself in my throat, but I sucked it back. No one here deserved to see my tears. Not all family bonds could be mended, and some Alphas were lying bastards.
I was an Omega. To them, that made me an unwanted daughter and a mate meant for breeding.
Screw them all.
I was Mariska Belmont, and I was going to California to help save the goddamn world. Broken families and Alphaholes included.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR - Mariska
The urge to cry lessened as Lucian slowly drove us into town. He’d put chains on his truck as it warmed up, but it was still tricky on the roads less traveled. Once we were in Fond du Lac, the roads were better as they’d been plowed and salted.
Balthazar had run alongside the pickup at the farm and shouted apologies. I refused to look his way. Both he and Jasper sent me dozens of texts, but I only looked at my phone in case it was Lyla, Emberlee, or Miss Eloise. I didn’t read any of their messages. Maybe later when I cooled off, when I was in California.
Lucian had thankfully remained quiet through most of the drive, but as we neared my neighborhood, he glanced my way and spoke in a voice that was as raw as mine had been. “I’m so sorry things went the way they did.”
“You and me both.” Yet there was nothing to be done about it now. My heart hurt more than my heat pains ever had, but I’d cut all ties, vehemently and permanently.
“We’d thought we could make things right. While it was Balthazar’s idea, we all agreed to it. We wanted to be your heroes…” Lucian rubbed his eyes as we stopped at a stop sign and ran a hand through his mussed hair. “I should have known better. Out of all of us, I should have said something and put a stop to it. But we didn’t know how your family…”
“I’d told the truth about them. All of you knew, but none of you listened.” I shook my head. Just like at work and school, no one wanted to listen to an Omega. We were always treated as children to be guided and protected. I’d thought the pack would be different.
“You did, and we heard you, but…” Lucian swallowed thickly and turned onto my street. “No. There’s no excuse for what we did. We should have respected your privacy and minded our own business. That goes double for me. I’m the only one in the pack who doesn’t have contact with my family. Bal and Jasper have awesome families, but… not me.”
I ached to slide over and hug him, to make everything good again. Maybe because of his past or the fact he’d been the one to trigger my heat, I wanted to forgive him. I hated to see him suffer, but I couldn’t let him in again. If I did, there was no going back. My heart didn’t want to let go.
Lucian pulled up in front of Primrose House. The driveway, porch, and sidewalk around it had been shoveled. Lyla was putting her energy to good use. My Jeep was in the drive next to a truck I didn’t recognize. Perhaps one of the neighbors who haven’t shoveled yet needed a place to park.
Artemis whined at me to open the door so she could go home. I gave her a scratch behind the ears and peered over her at Lucian. “Thank you for the ride.”
He dipped his head and ran his hands along the top part of the steering wheel. “I can take you and Lyla to the hospital, so you don’t have to drive.”
“It’s probably not a good idea.” While I had my Jeep, I’d been planning on calling for a ride share. I didn’t have chains on my wheels and they were necessary today.
“It’s not a problem. It would settle my nerves to know you and Lyla got to the hospital safely.” Lucian turned in his seat and gazed at me with those gorgeous gray eyes. “Allow me to do this one last thing for you. Please.”
Fuck. He was being the overprotective Alpha, and I didn’t want to send him away yet. “All right. Let me bring Artemis inside and get Lyla. It might take more than a few minutes…”
“That’s fine.” He offered me a relieved smile.
I found myself smiling back. “Okay.”
Opening the door, Artemis launched herself out and ran like a crazy pup up the drive and sniffed around the strange truck before peeing on one wheel. I hopped out and shut the door. I hadn’t brought any of my stuff. Not that I had a lot of it at the farmhouse. I still had on Lucian’s thermal shirt. I’d have to change and give that back to him.
Or not. I could say I forgot.
I hugged myself as I hurried up to the door. Long and deadly icicles hung around the porch, and Santa and Mrs. Claus were popsicles in their chairs. I dug my keys out of my pocket and opened the door.
Artemis was fast inside, and I made her sit to dry her off with the towel I always kept by the front door. Once that was done, I wiped my boots and went into the kitchen to put out water and food for my dog.
It was a disaster area. Pots and pans and dirty dishes everywhere. This was absolutely not like Lyla. Was she stress cooking trapped inside by herself? There was a huge stack of fruitcakes and packages of cookies. So she had definitely been baking.
