Page 77 of Our Deceptive Heat

Digs clears his throat. “We were young and excited, and we didn’t read the contract. One of the fine print conditions is that we won’t have an omega or be connected with one. No one expected Typhor Raines to hate omegas. The breach of contract conditions would have destroyed us financially. They still might. Plus, we would have lost Fate’s Choice.”

Ryn looks seriously ill and hurt. I want nothing more than to pull her into my arms and kiss her until she forgets everything we’ve just told her.

“We can afford it now, maybe. But it’s just better to shut Sita up and get her to retract this if we can,” I growl and pull a jumper on.

“So, you're not going to deny it?” Ryn asks.

“We can’t,” Tyr says bluntly.

I wish I could kill him. Sometimes, like right now, I hate him. The look of horror and pain on her face is there and gone. I’m not sure anyone else saw it.

“Do you have an omega or not?” Ryn asks, and the room falls into sudden silence. She’s frozen, her eyes darting between the four of us. “Just tell me the truth!”

I swallow hard. “It’s not what you think.”

“Do you have an omega or not?” Ryn shouts. “It’s a simple question. Is there an omega with your bonds waiting for you?”

Tyr closes his eyes, looking at me with regret written all over his face. “I fucked up. I’m sorry.”

Digs reaches out and pulls Ryn into his arms. She doesn’t even try to get away from him. “We have an omega. But it's a long and complicated story, and they know about you and are fine with it. We are always, always open with our omega. They love you, too.”

Ryn pulls away from him and then shoves him back for good measure. “Are you out of your minds? So, you just have some omega hidden and locked away?”

“No! It’s not like that. This is their choice! They don’t want to be a famous omega.”

“Who is she?” Ryn’s voice is shrill. “How can you be with me and…” she trails off, looking like she’s going to throw up.

“They know about you, and they fully support this relationship, Ryn. I can’t tell you more because there are other things at play, but trust me. Our omega is fine with this.”

“Fine with you seeing me through a heat?” she shrieks.

I grab her face and hold her still. “Yes. Fine with seeing you through your heat. Fine with us fucking you. Fine with all of it.”

She tries to get away, but I cage her up against the door, leaning in so I can whisper in her ear.

“You trust us or you don’t, Ryn.”

“You have an omega.” Her voice is agonised. “How could you…” she stops, shaking her head.

“Trust us. We would never hurt you.”

She hesitates and then stiffly wraps her arms around herself. “You need to deal with all this, and I need to think.”

“Okay. Okay. We might need to fly out, but just remember that you know us. We would never hurt you. Please,” I murmur, hating every single second of this.

She’s so closed off, her face has reverted to that mask that I hate.

“I’ll meet you at your next show,” Ryn says softly and steps back from me. The distance, a single foot, feels like a thousand.

It takes everything in me to let her go, to step back and watch as she turns, unable to look at any of us, her pain saturating the air. To stay still while she flees breaks something inside me.

“I’m going to murder Sita!” I snap.

“Tyr, what the actual fuck?” Envy shouts and shoves Tyr in the chest. “What the fuck were you thinking? Why would you say that to her? If you’re going to tell her that, the whole truth would have been better!”

Tyr just looks lost. He doesn’t even try to fight back.

“Why would you tell her that? She’s never going to come back. Fuck!”

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