Page 6 of Cost of Courting

“Selene, you can’t still be-”

I slam my fist into Edric’s pretty face.

“Get the fuck out of my neighbourhood.”

I turn and stalk back the way I came, pausing only long enough to grab my coffee before slinking into my house and slamming the door.

I want to scream; I want to howl, but I can’t. They’d hear it, and I refuse to give those two-faced assholes any satisfaction.

Luna takes one look at me and runs. I’m just with it enough to see she’s got her work stuff with her, so I ignore her. Instead, I walk out the back. We have some cracked pavers, a fence that is leaning both directions, and a couple of tufts of green weeds in amongst the dirt.

Memories slam into me, but I shove them violently away. I do not want to remember them. I don’t want to feel anything. Certainly not any of the pain I thought I was done with.

Just seeing them hurts. I lean up against the back of the house, tilting my head up, staring at the bright blue sky. Oh, yeah, it all came back. The pain, the betrayal, the agony of loneliness when they disappeared.

When they left, I thought I was going to die. It never occurred to me that I could live through pain like that. I knew this wasn’t going to be a wound that would heal. I just knew it.

Those assholes.

It’s been seven years, eight months, and twelve days. I was eighteen when they all left. All my dreams shattered, all my hopes disappearing in a crappy blue van. My heart was dust floating away in the summer wind.

No, I’m not over it. I don’t want to see them. I don’t want them here, and I certainly will never forgive them.

I pull myself together and go inside, getting changed quickly. I grab my keys, wallet, and phone and rush out of the house, ignoring them as they pause and watch me leave.

The street is strangely quiet today, but I’m guessing they are all waiting for the inevitable showdown.

I just catch the sounds of pursuit and spin, catching Mael before he can grab me.

“What do you want, Morrow?”

He grins with nostalgia. “You used to call me that all the time.”

“That was then. This is now, and I just want you to go away.”

“We should have some sort of peace. We don’t need to make these people choose between us.”

I’d forgotten how soft and low his voice was. Mael hardly ever raises his voice. He doesn’t need to. He’s too damned dangerous this way.

I step closer, sneering. “I don’t want peace, I don’t want war, I just want you gone.”

“We don’t always get what we want, Sel. Sorry, but we’re back.”

I grind my teeth. “Then let’s pretend you don’t exist.”

He frowns and steps back. “Fine.”

“Fine.”

I leave before he can find anything else to say to me or before I can lash out and get myself in trouble I can’t take back.

As soon as I’m clear of the street and witnesses, I start to run. My feet pound the concrete, but it doesn’t matter how hard I push myself, I can’t escape the truth.

The omega inside me that I thought died when they left had burst back to life when they surrounded me.

My designation, which has been relatively absent, is suddenly back. It’s infuriating.

It’s terrifying.

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