Page 37 of Forbidden Taste
Tonight might be the end of what I used to call home. A few years ago, I’m not sure how I would have dealt with the rejection but if in a few hours I decide not to look back, I won’t hate it. Because I have two other someones more than happy to have me as I am.
My gaze snags on Benjamin’s car in the driveway, my stomach churning at the thought of finally confronting him after all the chaos at school. It had to happen at some point and even though I knew it was going to be tonight, it doesn’t make it any easier. I knock on the partition between me and the driver. It rolls down, the driver’s calm eyes meeting mine in the rearview mirror. “I hate to ask you this but can you wait for me? I don’t think I’m going to be here long.”
“I’m in no hurry, Mr. Hart. Take your time.”
I nod back, slipping out of the car and head for the front door, straightening my shirt with careful movements before pushing inside. My mother stands in the entrance, a champagne glass poised in her manicured fingers, mid-sentence with my father. Her eyesflick to me, the disappointment immediate, her gaze lingering on my shirt, the dip below my neckline, Leo’s bite obvious against my pale skin.
She doesn’t say a word, just gestures to the dining room table with a tight smile. I take my usual seat, right beside Benjamin but refuse to give him my attention, my eyes following my parents as they sit across from us.
There’s several moments of silence as my mother takes another sip of her glass and then speaks. “It’s rude not to greet your Alpha.”
I clench my jaw, my hands curling into fists on my lap, swallowing down words I want to say before choosing the right ones. “I wanted to come here and set a few things straight,” I say, meeting her gaze, then my father’s, ignoring Benjamin’s huff beside me. “Ben is not going to be my Alpha. He never was and I don’t know why everyone’s trying so hard to make it happen. I’m not doing that extra program, and it has nothing to do with an Omega or love or anything else. I want to enjoy my music, but everyone keeps forcing me into this mold, and I don’t want to fit that. I never did.”
My mother opens her mouth, her lips parting for some sharp retort, but I hold up a hand, cutting her off. If I let them start speaking, I’ll never get out what I want to say. “I just came to say that I thank you for all the hard work you’ve put into my schooling and my career but the plans you have for me are not going to be my future. Everything you critiqued and pushed, all those professors who demanded excellence until my fingers cramped, and the times they had Ben ensure I practiced? That made me hate my own music, made me hate the very thing that makes all this shit bearable.”
Benjamin snorts, breaking the seriousness of my words, his voice dripping with venom. “What Rileymeantto say is that he stupidly let an Omega mate him, and now he’s under the influence.” Gaspsripple around the table but I don’t flinch beneath my parents’ disapproving stares. Instead, I turn to Benjamin, finally giving him my attention.
“You’re wrong. He’s my mate and he’s a Zeta. I’m in love with him and I’m about to go spend his heat at our Alpha’s house.” Dead silence falls, the air sucked out of the room. “I mated a Zeta at school. It’s been both the best and worst experience in the entire world because people can be so damn mean. I had every intention of coming here and sharing the news, hoping that someone might be happy I’m making my own decisions—finally choosing something for myself.”
My father lets out a sharp laugh, shaking his head. “Son, you’re ruining your goddamn future making a fool out of us in front of your Alpha.” He gestures to Benjamin, his smirk twisting into something uglier.
“No,” I snap, pushing out of my chair. “I’ve told you time and time again that I’m not going to end up with Ben. I’ve pleaded, asked you to call it off, and every time you just find ways to weave him tighter into my life. But you have no idea what it’s like with him around. He demands excellence in a way that stifles my creativity—every note I play, every breath I take, judged, measured, never enough. And when he doesn’t get what he wants? He threatens me.” I glare at Benjamin, daring him to try that bullshit again. “My mate stopped him from hitting me the last time, and I’m not waiting around for it to happen again.”
I turn to leave, Benjamin’s hand jutting out to wrap around my wrist. He’s on his feet, growling in my face, demanding my submission. “I didn’t attack anyone, you little shit. However, your little stunt put me on probation and that flimsy Alpha of yours thought it was cute to threaten me. But none of them planned onthe fact that you’re all mineoffcampus.” He yanks me closer, aiming for my seat and missing.
I stumble, my knees hitting the floor, pain jolting up my thighs. My mother’s there in an instant, her hands on Benjamin, pulling him off me. “Enough!” she yells, shoving him back as I stand back up, brushing myself off. She turns to me, her eyes glistening with all of the emotions I wish she had shown me over the years but it’s too late now.
“No one in this house cares about me—Riley Hart. Just the idea of this golden Omega you’ve built up in your heads. No one asks me how school is, how I like my professors, or if I ever figured out that one piano piece.” I pause, catching my breath so that the next words come out strong. “For your information, I did. I’ve been stunted for months—blocked, suffocating—and one night with Leo changed all that. He unlocked something in me, and then my Alpha was there, and I picked up the violin.”
My father frowns, a mixture of awe and surprise forming in his expression. “You haven’t done that in months.”
“That’s the point,” I spit out. “None of you asked. It doesn’t matter to you—so long as in the end, you get what you want: me, packaged up, perfect, Benjamin’s Omega. But I finished it because I allowed myself to truly feel—to love, to have everything I wanted. It felt amazing, so real. And Mom, I can see that guilt as you realize what I’ve been dealing with, but it’s not enough to play the parental figure now. If you want to do something for me, call this engagement—or whatever the fuck it is—off. I have somewhere to be.”
She steps closer, her voice breaking, a soft plea that falls on deaf ears. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“But that’s the problem.” I step out of her reach, refusing her touch. “You did know. I told you so many goddamn times—aboutBenjamin, about how he made me feel, about what I wanted—but you never listened. I don’t need your pity or worry now—not when it’s too late. I just want to be with my mates, finish school, and figure out my last year.”
Without giving them a chance to respond, I head back outside, not able to crawl into the backseat of the car fast enough. The driver glances back, a smile playing on his lips. “Where to?”
“Home.”
I know Hawk’s apartment isn’t exactly that but for right now, it’s where the heart is.
twenty-six
LEO
Everything Hawk kept pressing on the screen is now at the front door, piled high in offensive plastic and cardboard. Hawk’s hauling in the last of it, unwrapping dark, fluffy things—blankets, pillows, throws. I’m flushed, my skin hot and prickling, my cock full and aching in my pants, pressing hard against the fabric.
I shed my shirt a few minutes ago—tossed it somewhere after sucking Hawk off, my throat still raw from his taste, his groans echoing in my ears—then kicked off my shoes, my socks, pacing barefoot on the cool floor, but it’s not enough. I need more—need him, need Riley, need something to stop this restless, gnawing ache—and I’m pissed, irritation simmering under my skin because Hawk said he had to get something, leaving me here.
My attention shifts, drawn to the pile, my instincts telling me that it’s mine. So, I stalk over, leaning over Hawk’s back to surveythe haul. He twists around, that warm smile on his lips from earlier. “Hey, baby, do you want any of these things?”
For a moment, I just stare and then I snatch a pillow, nearly as large as me, its plush weight sinking into my arms. I stalk back to the couch and set it at the foot before dragging the coffee table out of the way, a rough grunt escaping me as I clear space.
Slowly, I start bringing bits and pieces from the pile—another pillow, a fuzzy blanket, a thick quilt—situating them around the floor, my instincts urging me to build, to make it right. My gaze catches on a small basket by the hallway, tucked next to the kitchen, and I lurch toward it, fingers closing around a shirt, Hawk’s scent flooding my nose as I stuff it to my face. My cock twitches, slick pooling in my boxers, and I grab a few more—another shirt, a scarf—clutching them tight as I bring them to my nest, tucking them in, weaving his scent into the chaos.
Hawk watches, leaning against the wall, mild amusement glinting in his eyes. “Baby, I can give you clean clothes.”
