Page 55 of Broken Harmony
I say nothing, in fear I might break down.
“How are you?” he asks, sitting down next to me.
I huff out a laugh, shaking my head, but say nothing.How am I? I’m fucking miserable, thanks for asking.
“Ally, look...”
“I know,” my voice cracks when I finally speak. “I know, okay? You don’t have to rub it in.”
“It’s not like that,” he insists.
“Really?” I look over at him. God, he looks so sexy, even with ruffled hair and a sleepy look. “So, you're going to tell me this changes everything? Because you helped me through my heat, you can finally admit I’m yours and do something about it?”
His jaw clenches, eyes casting downward.
“Thought so.” I laugh, but it’s not humorous. “Whatever, Liam. I know you did what you had to do. I know this changes nothing.” Even though it changed everything for me. I love Liam.I’m so deeply in love with him it fucking hurts so much I can’t breathe.
I want to scream at him to pick me,chooseme. That even if I find my scent matches, I’ll never leave him. That he can be a part of our pack. That if he finds his scent match, I’ll welcome them as long as I can have him too.
But I don’t. Because I know I can’t promise that. And I know he’s right not to start something up because in the end, it could hurt so much more than it does right now.
Still. I hate logic. I hate doing the right thing.
For once, I just want to be happy, to feel safe, to feel whole. And that's how this man makes me feel. But I can’t have him.
And I can’t have the only other person in my life to make me feel that way either.
I swear it’s like I’m destined to be alone forever.
At this point, is it even worth continuing in this career? Part of me wants to leave this life and start over, far away from all of this.
But I know I’d miss the guys. I’m not sure if I can live without them in my life. I don’t want to find out what it would be like to lose another person in my life who means the world to me.
So, I’ll stay.
“It’s not that easy,” Liam insists.
“I know,” I mutter. “It never is.”
We’re quiet for a long time, every second with him hurts more and more.
“A few years ago, back when I was attending Calling Wood University, my old pack and I signed up for the program they have. It’s meant to help Alphas and Omegas find their packs. It seemed like a great idea at the time. We met a few Omegas before finding one that fit with our pack. We fell hard and fast, courted her to the point that we were sure this was going to be official, that we would become a real pack, that she wouldbe our Omega. We were ready to give her our mate marks and everything. Until one day, all it took was for her to get the scent of another Alpha, and it was over. It was like the time we spent together meant nothing. She was destined to be with another pack and left ours broken. I don’t blame her; scent matches are powerful and life-altering. But it hurt so fucking bad to know someone I was falling hard for could so easily leave me to be with another pack.”
My heart hurts for him as he tells me this story.
“It crushed us, you know? But after a while, we tried again. Met another Omega. Same thing happened with him. It got to the point where it fucked with our heads. Drove them to the point of doing unthinkable things. While I was hurt by the stuff that happened in the past, it was never enough to make me want to hurt someone else.”
So this is what Skyler was talking about when I first hired Liam.
“Did they really kidnap an Omega?” I ask.
He nods his head slowly, his face looking grim. “We found out that the pack the first Omega, the one we fell hard for, accepted another Omega into their pack, so they ended up having two. The guys were hurt and pissed because how could she drop us after everything, but so openly accept someone else? Why couldn’t our packs join? It’s what I questioned for a while. Now I see that it all happened for a reason,” he huffs. “Anyways, they got so enraged that they believed the other pack didn’t deserve the second Omega. That our pack should have him. I didn’t know the guy, never had a conversation with him before. I didn’t agree with their mindset. So I told them I didn’t want anything to do with trying to steal this guy away from the pack.”
“Did you know they were going to go so far as to physically take him?”
“No.” He shakes his head. “At first, I thought they meant to flirt with him, try to hang out with him, convince him to join our pack where he would be the only one, all the attention on him, you know? But that wasn’t at all the thought process they had. It was so much worse. By the time I knew what was going on, it was too late. But I did do everything I could to tell the other pack and help get him back to them. Still.” He swallows hard, his face haunted by the past. “That poor guy’s life will forever be changed. The things they were going to do to him.” He closes his eyes and shudders. “I left the pack after that, cut all ties with them. They went to jail. Thankfully, the other pack was understanding enough to know I had nothing to do with any of what happened. So I wasn’t involved in being charged or anything. Still, it fucked with my head. All of it. Since then, I don’t really want a pack. Or an Omega.” He shrugs, and fuck that hurts.
“I thought you didn’t want an Omega who wasn’t your scent match?”
