Page 28 of Omega's Refuge

“No. I… I had no choice. You didn’t care what I needed.”

I gritted my teeth. “Is Tony giving you what youneed?”

He let out a harsh breath. “This is about us, Tanner.”

“Yeah, only you ran off with another omega, so now it’s about more than just us.” The more we talked the more it became clear we were finished. Done. He wasn’t coming back and I didn’t want him even if he did. He’d betrayed me for the last time, and hard as it was to say goodbye, I had to do it for my sanity.

When I didn’t speak, he asked, “You still there?”

“Yeah.”

“I still love and care about you, Tanner—”

“Save it,” I grated. “I don’t want to hear it. Your actions tell me all I need to know about how much you love and care about me. My car better be parked at my apartment when I get back, or I’m calling the cops. And make sureallof your shit is out of my place. You have till the end of the week.”

“You’re not coming home?”

“No.”

“You’re staying at the ranch?” His voice was harsh.

“Yeah, I think I might.” I met Rex’s enigmatic gaze. “The vacation is paid for. Why waste the money? This gives you time to get all of your stuff without us having to run into each other.”

“Let me guess.” His voice was ripe with jealousy. “Cowboy Rex is going to soothe your broken heart? Did he talk you into staying?”

I gripped my phone, hoping Rex couldn’t hear anything Steve was saying. “It’s none of your business how I get through this. You left. End of story.”

“You can be so cold sometimes, Tanner.”

I bit my cheek so hard, I tasted blood. “How can you dare say that to me after you abandoned me without any warning? I took you back. You begged me to give you another chance, and like a fool I did it. And you repaid me by running off with another omega and leaving mestranded. But I’m cold?”

He fell silent.

“You have nothing to say?” I demanded.

He didn’t speak, he simply let out a shaky breath.

I cleared my throat. “Anyway, I’m going to hang up now.” I had no idea how to eloquently end the conversation. What did you say to someone you’d known for half your life, but didn’t plan on seeing ever again? How did you casually say your final goodbye to the alpha you’d thought you’d spend the rest of your life with?

“I’m sorry, Tanner,” he said softly.

My heart hurt and my eyes blurred with tears at the pain and sadness in his voice. In that moment, I believed he did love me, but it didn’t matter. He didn’t have what it took to be loyal. He didn’t have the qualities needed to be a good alpha. It didn’t matter that we loved each other or how long we’d known each other—we didn’t make each other happy.

We seemed to do the opposite.

“Bye, Steve,” I said gruffly and hung up.

I sat in silence, staring at my phone for a few moments. Rex didn’t speak, but when I finally looked up, his expression was pained, as if he was hurting for me. “Well, that’s that,” I mumbled.

He shook his head. “I’m sorry.”

I shrugged, trying to hide how devastated I felt, but my bottom lip trembled.

He clenched his jaw and said, “What do you want to do, Tanner? You want me to drive you to Livingston where you can catch a bus to Billings?”

I just stared at him, numb and broken.

“Hell, I’ll drive you all the way to Billings, if you want. I’d love to tell Steve and Tony what I think of them.”

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