Page 43 of The Rejected Omega

“I ran into the woods. I didn’t want a stranger.”

“Shit.You could have fucking died, Lana.”

“I came close.”

“Fuck, this explains so much. At the end of high school, you just fell into this hole. I knew there had to be more to the story. That you wouldn’t give up on me—on us—for that one fuckup.”

“I was working through a lot, after the ceremony.”

“Yeah. I can imagine.”

He tugs his hands through his hair. “You know, as tragic as this all is, I’m a little relieved. You don’t understand how much it’s plagued me—trying to figure out why I lost you.”

I bite my cheek until I taste blood. I’ve given him absolution he doesn’t deserve.

“I didn’t want anyone to know. To pity me.”

“The supps—they help with a broken bond like that?”

I nod quietly. Part of me hates that he believes me so easily. That it’s such a remote possibility in his mind that I’m his mate. Does he even know his scent was on that table?

I don’t expect Connor to try and verify my story—who would make something like this up? But if he does, Mac has sway with the elders. What happens at the ceremonies is sacred, secret. They won’t tell him the truth without my consent—not after what he did.

I get out of the car and lift my face to the rain. The passenger door opens and closes. He crosses to my side of the car and leans against the door next to me.

“I’m so sorry, Lana. If I’d known?—”

White hot rage flares inside me. “If you’d known, what? I’d earn a spot on your weekly rota of hookups? You would’ve left Cassandra? Would’ve asked her for a ‘pass?’ How magnanimous of you.”

“Yes! For you, anything.”

“That’s just your guilt talking.”

Connor lets out a heavy sigh. “You can’t suppress forever. You know the risks.”

“Stop trying to make it your problem, Connor. It’s not.”

He shakes his head. “You need help. I can see why everyone else is so blind to it. You do a decent job of pretending you’ve got it all together. But you don’t, Birdy. I see through your bullshit.”

I glance at my watch. “I need to go.”

He nods, pensive. “Stop the supps. I’ll know if you don’t, and then I’ll scour Crestwood until I find out who’s dealing and go straight to your source.”

I stomp my foot in the puddle on the ground, immediately regretting it when I’m splashed with cold water. “God, you’re such a fucking alpha.”

Connor moves off my car, and I jerk the door open.

“We’ll go to Kanata as soon as I can get you an appointment. And Birdy?”

I slide into the driver’s seat and refuse to look at him. “What?”

“Thank you for telling me the truth.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

I geta text from Connor the next night.

We’re going to see Kanata tomorrow morning.

---