Page 151 of Bliss & Her Idols

He says it like it’s a surprise.

Or a realization that’s sinking in.

Cricket rests his head on Torin’s chest. “Does that make me easier to hurt or protect? I’ve survived living with four vicious Alphas and being rejected by a brutal pack. My size hasn’t saved me. And it hasn’t broken me.”

Torin slides his palm up Cricket’s right leg, squeezing.

“I could break your leg without even trying.” Torin’s expression is shuttered. I snap upright in panic. But Cricket doesn’t pull away. “Yet you’ve never been scared of me. Why do you trust that I’m not bad?”

Cricket cups his Alpha’s cheeks with a deep tenderness. “I feel it in my soul. How many broken bones do you think I’ve suffered? Bruises? Busted lips? I know when I’m in danger. I’ve been threatened with death. I’m not frightened of it anymore. While I’m alive, I simply want to be loved. And I love you. But why do you think you’re bad, Charming?”

Torin’s jaw clenches. “I’ve spent five years feeling nothing but bad.”

I edge closer on the couch. “Why?”

Cricket strokes Torin’s cheek in comfort.

“In Ireland, they hold fun carnivals and dances regularly.” Torin’s expression is tight. “Fiddlers and pipers play, whileAlphas and Omegas laugh and dance for days. Betas serve Guinness, whiskey, and hearty stews. Everybody joins in. Apart from the pack’s outcast. I was forced to watch but stay in the shadows at the back of the room. Nobody spoke or danced with me. I couldn’t even drink to get through that hell. Christmas or Easter, any big event was the same. I was the ghost. I was forced to be present but was made an example of.Excluded.”

I hiss out a breath. “How could your pack do that to you?”

How could any pack?

Torin bites his lip hard like he’s trying to stop himself from showing any emotion. “My distant cousins didn’t want to take me in. They weren’t overjoyed to be sent abad Alphafrom America. My sister wrote them a letter. My Irish cousins have a tradition, where an Alpha outcast starts their journey toward redemption in a pack throughshame. I was made to stand on a wooden stool in front of the entire pack, while the Head Alpha read out the letter that Mena had written.”

I’m vibrating with fury.

Philomena is cruel to have done that to her younger brother simply because he was in love with a Beta Idol.

He shouldn’t have been made to feelshamefor that.

No one should be shamed for their love.

How could anyone do that to their sibling?

Thinking of my younger brother, Piper, I’d burn the world down to keep him safe and happy.

I feel sick at the thought of punishing him by sending him to another country, where he’d be treated like Torin was.

“I had to stand there,” Torin’s voice drops to a whisper, “while the Head Alpha read Mena’s words to everyone. She called me aselfish, worthless whore. That I was abad, rebellious Alpha who broke the pack’s rules and didn’t deserve the family name. Then she begged my cousins tostrictlymake sure that I understood the importance of becoming a better Alpha becauseI only had five years towork on myselfor I would be sent to the Alpha Centerpermanently.”

I stand up in shock. “Tor, you idiot.”

Torin blinks. “I’ll be honest, I expected you to be more comforting than that.”

I twirl to him, while tears chase down my cheeks. “Send you to the Alpha Centerpermanently? All those terrible things that Philomena said about you are bullshit. You’re an amazing Alpha. You shouldn’t have been sent away. Any pack who could ignore one of their members like that for years isn’t a true pack. I want to show you that you can be loved just for who you are. How very fuckingseenyou are. But what we’re doing now is going to make your sister kick your ass.”

“Likely.”

Torin’s eyes are as deep and cold as his glacier heart.

I’d thought that I could melt it, but has the mistreatment of his family made that impossible?

I take a step back.

Suddenly, I shiver, feeling frozen inside.

“You always knew that this would end in you being locked up for the rest of your life in the Alpha Center,” I accuse.

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