Page 73 of Shades of Scars

Wren

“Boss, your sister’s wanting a word.” Gus pokes his head through the crack in my office door, and I look up from the pile of paperwork I’m pouring over. Tension brackets the corners of his eyes, but that’s his only tell that he’s bothered by something.

Scrubbing a hand down my face to try to expel some of my lingering exhaustion, I wave a hand to the bouncer. “Let her in.” The last fucking thing I want to do is deal with my enraged sister, but the sooner I get it over with, the better.

Gus looks like he wants to object, but he disappears without protest. Hardly a second passes before Raven is kicking the door open hard enough to send it crashing into the opposite wall. I keep my expression passive as she stalks in, her dark, icy eyes like sharp shards of glass. She has her long, white blond hair pulled back from her face in a tight French braid, dressed head to toe in skin tight leather.

Her cheeks are rosy from the wind, which can only mean she rode over here on her bike. That, and she smells like sea salt and rain. It’s been raining since the day before, but that’s never been enough to stop my sister from getting on her bike.

“Raven.” I greet her with a slight incline of my head. Her nostrils flare when she comes to a stop about two feet away from the front of my desk. Her eyes narrow on me.

“You smell like her.” She pulls her lips back in a sneer, and I sigh, reaching up to scrub a hand down my face. I toss the pen I’d been holding while marking up the paperwork I’d been working on back on the desk, and then lean back in my chair.

“She’s my omega. Of course I smell like her. Is that the reason you are here?” I don’t really have the patience to get into this again with my sister, but if I have to put her in her place, I will. I won’t have her speaking ill of Scarlett, regardless of her issues.

Raven is clearly upset. “I’m not here to talk abouther.” She says that with so much venom, that it immediately gets my hackles up. “I was just pointing out how you smell like someone else’s whore.”

“Enough!” I bark, slamming my fist down on the top of my desk. “You are precariously close to pushing my buttons too far this time, Raven. I won’t warn you again. If you can’t respect my omega, then get the fuck out of my officeandmy life.”

She looks like she’s seriously considering pushing her luck further, but then she must think better of it. She shakes her head. “I want to know what you plan on doing about Ant. I could give two shits about the leftovers you keep around.”

Anger sparks like a cut live wire inside of me. If she were anyone else, I would have ripped out her tongue with my bare hands by now for daring to speak about my omega this way. It’s my foolish heart that still holds a special love for my older sister that I can’t quite shake. My sense of duty when it comes to her. To make up for all the shit my very existence put her through.

That fragile understanding of her that I used to have, though, is quickly coming to an end with each insult spewed from her lips directed at Scarlett.

“The shooter is going down for his murder, and his family is being compensated generously.” I’ve known of my sister’s fondness of the deceased alpha for a while now. I also know just how messed up she’s been since his death. I have no doubts thatthe reason she’s spewing so much hatred right now for Scarlett has everything to do with losing Ant.

A muscle in her jaw flexes when she clenches her teeth. “That’s all?” She demands, and I arch a brow at her.

“Considering I paid for the best funeral and all other expenses his family needed, on top of a monthly stipend for the rest of their lives? I’d say that’s plenty. I barely knew him. What more do you expect from me? If you’d like to make a donation from your own monthly stipend, be my guest.”

She bares her teeth at me. “I have plenty of fucking suggestions, but you’re too foolish to even hear them.” She sneers, and my eyes narrow at her then. I know what she’s getting at, but I want to hear her say it, anyway. Even though I know exactly where it will lead.

“Well don’t be shy.” I gesture to her. “You’re not one to back down when you really want something, Raven.”

“More people are going to get hurt or die the longer you delay giving your new pet back to her rightful owners. What’s going to happen when it’s Caito, Apollo, or Lark? Me? Are you seriously willing to sacrifice everything for one little omega? If so, you’re an even bigger disappointment than I originally thought you were.”

At her harsh words, I feel my heart freeze over in my chest. I suck in a sharp breath, no longer feeling like I can breathe properly. I stare at her for a long moment as my brain struggles to process what she’s just said. “She is my scent match. How could someone like you possibly understand the depth of a connection like that? If it hadn’t been for Ant, I would have started to believe that you were incapable of loving anyone other than yourself.” I seethe, knowing my words are going to have the desired effect that I want them to have.

Raven flinches.

For the first time in over fifteen years, my sisterflinches.

Then she gets pissed. “I fuckinghateyou.” She snarls, taking a step towards me, but her venom doesn’t cut me nearly as deep as I think she intended it to. “You ruined my life the day you were born. I will never forgive you for that.”

“I know.” I say, because what the fuck else am I supposed to say? “You can hate me all you want, Raven, but you don’t get to decide who I keep in my life. Leave.” I flick my wrist towards the door, and then Gus appears like magic. It’s like he knew what I needed without me having to summon him. He’d probably heard the entire argument.

She tilts her chin up, and I can tell she wants to say more, but thankfully she doesn’t. She snarls one more time at me, her teeth snapping in fury, but then she twists around and stalks back out of the door. Gus turns to watch her storm down the hall, but he doesn’t move from the doorway.

After a moment, he turns back to me with concern clouding his eyes. “Anything I can do for you, boss?”

I shake my head. “Close the door, please. I have work I need to finish up, and then I’m heading home for the night.” Gus only hesitates for another heartbeat, and then he does as I’d asked.

Once the door is firmly shut, I lean forward and cup my face in the palms of my hands, elbows resting on the top of my desk. I take a few deep breaths in and out, working to calm myself so I don’t go do anything stupid.

The confrontation with Raven wasn’t anything I hadn’t been expecting. If I’m being honest, I’m surprised it’s taken this long for it to happen. I’ve always known, deep down, that there would be nothing I could do to change the way my sister felt about me. Part of me has always hoped that showing my love in devotion would be enough, but it never has been.

At this stage in my life, I can’t afford to keep blinding myself to the truth. I can’t keep allowing my guilt and desire to makethings right with Raven to cloud my judgment. I am starting a family with my pack. That is what matters now.

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