Page 65 of Verses and Blooms
He sat down beside me and pulled me close, not exactly answering, just giving me a reassuring squeeze.
“You know, before you came here, I used to have nightmares all the time.”
“Really?” I asked. “You’ve never mentioned that before.”
“Back then I still wasn’t sure what to make of this whole pack life thing. I always assumed I’d be alone, that no omega would want an alpha with a dominant gene.”
“You didn’t hear any complaints from me during my heat, now did you?” I teased.
He huffed out a laugh. “No, those were definitely screams of approval.”
I laughed softly. “So, what were the nightmares about? Tell me about them,” I suggested, crawling into his lap and settling back against his chest.
“My dads, mainly. Them yelling at me like they did in real life. They were always disappointed about something. As much pressure as society put on me, they were so much worse. It was always the same. I couldn’t do anything right, wasn’t strong enough, looked at an omega. They were miserable bastards who wanted everyone else to be miserable, too. When they couldn’t force me to care about their opinions anymore, they sent me off.”
“What was the school like?” I asked. I was officially invested now. This was a deeper glimpse into what turned Rydell into the alpha I knew.
His hands brushed over my arm, caressing it gently and covering me in his scent. I breathed it in, the plum, dark floral, leather, and ink were fitting for the alpha.
“At first it seemed fine there. My dad’s name held weight, so people left me alone and it was a chance to get away from them… until the other alphas decided I should be taken down a few pegs.”
“What changed?”
“They banded together, eager to prove they were stronger than I’d ever be. Funny that the only way they could do that was by grouping together. Logic wasn’t their strong suit.”
“I don’t know if you know this about yourself,” I said with a smirk, “but you are a complete unit of an alpha.”
He chuckled. “Well, they didn’t stand a chance the first few times.”
“What was the rest of the school like?” Ansel asked as his pencil scratched gently over the paper. It was a fresh piece now, his eyes drifting from us to the paper.
“The teachers weren’t so bad. Like I said at the house, the cook there was nice. She’d let me hide out when I needed to,helped me keep sight of what was important. Sometimes she’d make comments about my future pack, and I’d shrug it off. She’d never let me get away with that, though. She teased me about the omega I’d find someday, said she’d be smart-mouthed and would refuse to let me give up on myself.”
“Look at that, she was psychic,” I teased.
“I think she might’ve been,” he agreed, giving me a gentle squeeze. “She’d be horrified to know what became of me, but would adore you.”
“Did they kick you out before you could graduate?” Ansel asked as he settled back against the glass wall of the conservatory. He was comfortable around our alphas now more than ever.
“I’m not even sure,” Rydell admitted. “I was kicked out before graduation so I’m sure they didn’t bother to count the classes I’d aced.”
“I never considered the fact that I didn’t get a chance to attend or even think about college. Thank god I at least have my high school diploma, because that’s about all I’ve got going for me.”
“What were your plans before everything happened?” Rydell asked.
“There was a music school,” I said. “Not exactly famous, but the woman who ran it was an incredible violinist. She didn’t just play classical music, she played everything. Anyone who wanted to study music wanted to learn from her.”
“Were you accepted?” he asked.
“I was,” I admitted. “But even if I wasn’t kidnapped, I wouldn’t have been able to go. My parents put a stop to it. It was an ‘unnecessary expense,’ in my mother’s words. Because of course, it was. How could she control me if I was thousands of miles away?”
“Have I mentioned how much I hate them?” he asked with a sigh.
“A time or two,” I said with a small laugh. “Now that I know they were involved in that place, I hate them even more.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Ansel muttered in disgust. “Maybe we should ask Ledger about some of his good old-fashioned karma.” There wasn’t a single hint of amusement in his voice.
“I thought you were the sweet omega,” I joked.
