Page 84 of Isla

Isla

Rylanwasanomega—a male omega.

My chest caved as I let out an exasperated breath as my brain caught up with his words and settled. “You would never have claimed me. All I was going to be was your breeder. The omega who gave you and your lover children. And the omega who would hold your arm at functions, so your father could see you were doing the right thing in his eyes.”

“I was going to claim you,” he whispered. “I had to.”

I leaned down to him and hissed against his ear, “Had to, so I was the sacrificial lamb for you to get what you wanted.”

A blast of cold air shot through the restaurant at the same time as his large hand quickly wrapped around my lower arm. His fingertips dug into my flesh as he squeezed. “You are going to marry me, you are going to give me children and you are going to smile on my arm when it is required. In return, I will give you anything you want: clothes, jewels, cars, everything, and once you have given me children, we can find you a beta lover.”

I tried to ignore the way he was looking at me. It was as though he expected me to agree. Like he was offering me everything I needed, everything I wanted on a plate. Yet, the only thing he wasn’t giving me was his heart. He never did. He reserved that hardened organ for his genuine love.

Why did I not realise Rylan was an omega?

“He already lives with you,” I stated, dragging my arm away from him.

I already knew the answer. Everything suddenly made sense. Why I couldn’t move in with him until we married? “Are you bonded with Rylan?” I whispered.

His eyes widened before looking at the table. His wrist resting on the table as he nervously clicked his thumb and middle nails together.

I reared my head back and laughed. “You really were trying to deceive me. I am so fucking stupid. I cannot believe I fell for you or worse, that I didn’t see you for who you were.”

Cutlery hit a plate behind me, and before I knew it, hot breath was on my neck. “Keep your voice low and get on with your job,” my boss hissed behind me.

“I need the bathroom,” I said, glaring at Noah one last time before I turned and walked away. I wanted to run, but I kept my calm and strolled away from him, not looking back as I opened the door and leaned against it as it shut.

But this wasn’t helping. I needed to go home. A new job was in order and I desperately needed fresh air.

But more than anything else, I needed to be alone.

I rushed from the bathroom to the staff room, hurried to put on my coat, and grabbed my bag and umbrella. My heart was beating too rapidly to be safe for an omega, and I knew I needed to calm down with a walk home in the rain. Time to work out what I now wanted.

I left the restaurant from the rear exit so not to risk Noah following me. The rain was heavier than earlier. I pushed up my hood as I stepped outside and opened my umbrella.

My feet rushed down the side of the restaurant and I let loose a sigh as I stepped onto the main street. It was a sigh of relief at the lucky escape I had, not from the restaurant but from the marriage. Not that it would’ve been a marriage. I knew that now. Once I gave Noah what he wanted, I would be nothing but the person who lived in the same house and gave birth to his children.

I was blind to him.

So needy for my wish for a child that I never saw Noah for what he was. An alpha in love with a male omega.

I should have seen the signs that he never wanted me. His excuses to not see me and always too busy to meet my friends; the lack of genuine desire around me.

I only realised that when I was with Harrison, Finn and King at the resort. How they were desperate for me to accept we matched scents, how they made me feel. I was... cared for, maybe... loved.

I rubbed at my shoulder again. It’d been aching for these couple of weeks and with not having King to tend to the wound as an alpha should, I had to cover it in antiseptic cream and a lint bandage.

I laughed lightly to myself. Noah hadn’t noticed I smelled different. Hadn’t scented another alpha’s bite on me. Tears laced my eyes, not at knowing he was bound to Rylan and him to Noah, but at my stupidity.

The sound of the rain against the fabric of the umbrella was comforting, helping the tears slow by the time I turned right to head down the last street to my home.

I was going to be fine.

Who the hell was I kidding? But somehow I would make it work.

“Isla!” a deep masculine voice hollered behind me, and I spun as Noah slammed the door to his car. “We need to speak.”

“No, we are over forever.” I strode faster to my apartment block as his footsteps got louder and faster behind me.

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