Page 26 of Omega's Virtue: Part One (The Hartwell Sisters Saga 2)

“Good,” my parents said simultaneously.

“Stop it. Do… You cannot believe he would reject me?”

“Darling. What if… What if we told you that he is the one who said he was unworthy? That he left to make his fortune? And once he can support you, he will return? Would that make it easier? Would you listen to us if we told you he thought he was unworthy of you? That he left… because he could not be worthy of you.”

Present

I had fainted when my father had told me he’d thought himself unworthy. What sort of lie was that? Never once… The only thing I could imagine was that he could not afford my omega price. That would hurt his alpha pride. But whenever I challenged them for knowledge of my mate, they both assured me that I could do better, that he was unworthy, and I would meet an alpha who could give me the world.

I collapsed against the door, my heart caught on the other side—my mate. In all honesty I had never dreamt of meeting him again. Even with foreknowledge of his arrival, I could never have anticipated the rush of slick when our eyes had met. Or how his rough kiss had made my body sing with anticipation. My omega betraying me now that her mate was near. He’d left me, and my omega could not care less for she persisted to believe him worthy. Leaving me weak at the smell of him, the sight of him. He looked so much more alpha. Ten years had matured him, and Goddess how I wanted to feel this new harder, stronger body against mine. My mate—

No, nothing could have prepared me for meeting him again.

But what now?

Lord Paxton and my mate, friends. Lord Paxton, who gave no indication of changing his mind, who wanted to obtain me, add me to his hoard. Jack—the name suited him much better than John—too seemed determined to claim his rights as my mate. Were they planning on sharing me? The thought had never occurred to me. Shared by multiple alphas. Controlled by multiple alphas…

I dropped to my knees, closed my eyes, and tried to pray.

“Goddess, in your wisdom, you granted me free will and thoughtful reflection.” I grimaced since reflection was not a virtue I took much pleasure in. “I call to you, ask for your guidance. I vowed to take a quieter path. To support my family. Be a dutiful daughter… You aren’t listening. Or if you are, you know I don’t believe in you or your power… But… I appreciate the concept of a divine? Does that count? If we are agreed that I am neither very fervent, nor are you very forthcoming, then please… Please can I have the strength to ignore these alphas. For once in my life, I choose security and serenity. Why did they have to know each other? If it was Tod himself, I could understand. Even hear his excuses. But Lord Paxton is an oaf, with so little to recommend him. His face and his lips, perhaps, but what good is a face when you have to listen to what comes out of it? Goddess if you grant me patience, I promise to eat my vegetables and not complain about the heat.”

The Goddess, if she did hear my prayer, no doubt howled with laughter. I looked up through the ceiling to the heavens and smiled. “I was born under a mad star, wasn’t I? Or what did I do to earn two alphas so… wrong for me?”

I knew myself too well to expect that I wouldn’t be drawn like a moth to the twin flames of these alphas.

Jack

“Stop!”

The room went quiet. There stood the Duke of Orley, a bruiser himself, glaring at the company collected in the White Hawk public house as if we were nothing but dirt. I grinned, my body aching with each breath.

“Everyone out!” he barked. They moved fast, dragging the wounded after them. “What are you doing?”

“Bleeding,” I shot back. I pinched my nose to stem the bleeding. “I don’t think it is broken. Might’ve broken a rib. Still have all my teeth though.”

“Would serve you right if you lost a couple. What were you thinking? I know you threw our fight but not why… And now I am sent to put you back on your feet as if I was not Duke and master of all this place.”

I rarely shared. I didn’t like revealing my feelings. But Orley was different. A steady presence who loved his wife—my mate’s sister. If there was an alpha of my acquaintance who’d understand the wildness that came with not being in control of the person you loved, it would be him. “The reason I let you beat me? I had heard about what was happening in France. The great unrest in Paris. Instead of doing my duty and knowing that she was at risk, I was preparing for an exhibition match against an aristocratic brute.”

“You wanted to be… To be beaten up to make yourself feel better?” he frowned. Perhaps I was wrong, and he didn’t understand. “You’re a fool to think this will help you win over Beatrice.”

My laugh sounded more like a hacking cough—one of my ribs was almost certainly broken. “I don’t need to win her, Orley. She isn’t a prize or an object. If she were? The streets would run with blood as alphas battled me and Pax for her.”

“That’s new. Six months or more you’ve ranted against Beatrice Hartwell… What changed? And I hear you had a mate. I didn’t know before, but Paxton told me…”

“Enough,” I snapped. “My apologies, Orley. I best get back and put a sirloin on this so that I don’t frighten the ladies… Never mind, the Hartwells won’t care. A more sanguine yet bloodthirsty lot I’ve yet to meet, including those on the battlefield.”

My host was not amused. I couldn’t help but be. The beating I’d taken had not calmed me. Quite the opposite. My alpha rode me hard. My mate was near. It was all in my imagination, but I scented her here in this place which stank of stale beer and the sweat of laborers.

“Get cleaned up for dinner. My wife’s family might not mind violence, but I am not so sanguine, as you put it.”

The ladies turned towards us as one, when Pax and I entered the room less than an hour later. He’d not spoken to me about the state of my face, but I knew he’d not stay silent on the subject.

Mrs Markham, closest to the door, was the first to notice the discoloration and swelling around my eye.

“Colonel Fordom… What happened?”

“What’s this?” the duchess asked, her eyes sparkled with martial mischief. “Did you really make a general challenge in the White Hawk? Oh, I wish I could have seen it.”

---