Chapter 14

Fourteen

LACY

R yder's large frame rested next to mine as he sat next to me on the round, fluffy cushion. I could see the gold watch on his hand flashing as he tapped his knee, watching me silently. We sat for a few minutes in silence until he cleared his throat.

I sniffled, and he handed me a napkin. I grabbed it roughly and blew my nose.

"I'm sorry, Lacy," he said simply. "You've destroyed your nest honey. Why did you do that?"

"Singing is my dream," I said. "You have no idea what you did to me."

"Your hand," he said, grabbing my hand, and we both stared at the line of blood leaking. He licked my palm, and I gasped at the roughness of his tongue. The feeling sent desire flowing through me immediately at the impact. He grabbed another bandage from his pocket and quickly taped me up again.

"Why do you even care?"

"I would rather you stay alive than end up…"

"End up dead? I'm paying you money anyway," I said, gripping the tissue in my hand as I stared at the pattern of the cushions.

"I'm not doing this for the money," he said slowly.

I looked up and saw that he was lost in his thoughts as he played with a piece of feather on the ground.

"Then what is it? Why do you care?"

"Because I care about you," he said. "And it's for my sanity."

"What do you mean?" I sighed.

"Years ago," he started. "I was supposed to guard an omega from her family. She wouldn't tell me why."

I couldn't imagine why an omega would want to be protected from her own family. I was lucky my family would literally die for me if anything happened.

"What happened?" I asked, my curiosity piqued.

"I walked her to her college, but when I came back to pick her up," he said. "Reyna was gone. I found out her parents had auctioned her off. I don't know what became of her. I wasn't strict enough on her."

"Oh," I said as chills went through me. This was when Omega Auctions were legal, which had now been outlawed. "I…that's horrible. Did you have…feelings for Reyna?"

"I did not. And I don't want anything bad to happen to you," he said, gazing at me with a dark expression. "If anything happened to you, I would go mad. I never felt more inadequate than after that day and tried to leave my job. But my boss wouldn't hear of it. Imagine someone trusting you with their life, and then you disappoint them. I have no idea what became of her."

I bit my lip.

"I'll try my best, Ryder," I said finally. "I'll try to cooperate, but I can't keep doing this and disappoint my fans."

"I understand," he said. "It's not something that will happen a lot, I promise. We just need to be cautious."

"How about tomorrow then?" I asked. "There's a baby shower I have to go to. I already bought presents, and my cousin is coming over tomorrow to go with me."

"That's fine," he said. "I don't have a problem with that, and it's indoors."

"Well, thank god," I said, and he wiped a tear from my cheek with his thumb.

"I don't like seeing you cry," he said. "You should feel happy, protected, and safe with me."

"I feel safe but definitely not happy."

"Don't be a brat, Lacy."

"I'm not," I pouted, throwing a pillow at him with all my force. Some of the feathers stuck in his hair, and I tried to keep a straight face. He sat there looking momentarily shocked, unable to believe that I dared throw a pillow at the pack leader.

But he wasn't my leader.

"Why did you throw that at me?" he said simply, unmoving as he watched me calmly. But I could see the brewing storm behind his eyes.

"This morning, you pretended I didn't exist. What the hell was that about?"

"I didn't want to confuse you," he said.

"You're not making any sense."

"I want to keep things professional because you would never want to be with a bodyguard like myself," he said. "We don't belong together. You're a celebrity, and what am I?"

Butterflies swirled in my belly at his statement. He was fighting his feelings.

But he had feelings .

"You're right," I said in a low voice, not wanting to make things awkward. I didn't want babies or anything like that, so I needed to keep things professional, too. But at the same time, I saw nothing wrong with us wanting to be together if we wanted to. Sure, it'd create a splash on the news, but I didn't care.

He touched the small of my back and hugged me from the side. I leaned into him, feeling his warmth on my body and wishing he didn't make so much sense all the time. He wasn't a bad alpha. He was trying to protect me. To protect my feelings and my physical well-being.

And I respected him for it.

"It's for the best little omega," he whispered.

The next day, I was sitting quietly as everyone chattered away at the baby shower. I was still bummed about missing out on my singing gig. And when Ben told me about getting booed on stage, it upset me.

"Lacy, why don't you take part in the challenges?" asked Alana gently as she sat next to me. Her belly was round with her third child, and her eyes glittered with excitement as she watched the crowded room. She looked beautiful in her flowing emerald dress with the braided shoulder straps, complimenting her golden skin. "Is something the matter?"

"No," I said, forcing a smile on my face.

"Do you want your bodyguards to leave my house? I can kick them out for you, don't worry. I can see you looking at them, annoyed and all."

"No, it's okay. I'm just a little hungry, that's all," I said.

Alana and I reconnected after her wedding. For years after high school, Alana didn't speak to anyone and even avoided me. I attributed it to life getting in the way and everyone going down different paths in life. But I did wonder what happened to her, and she finally told me after her honeymoon. I felt sad for her when she told me about her attack, but I was glad she had found her men who'd do anything to protect her.

"Oh, okay! Have some snacks then," she said, patting my arm. "There's a table full of them."

"Sounds good," I said, getting up. But as I stood up, her two-year-old son Jay barreled towards me and wrapped his little arms around my knees. His round, amber-glowing eyes and dark hair were a stark contrast against the paleness of his skin since his father was a vampire. "Jay! I missed you."

He laughed with delight when I picked up him and walked to the snack table with him. He pointed to the green jello in a cup, and I grabbed it for him in a heartbeat. Whatever he wanted, I gave him. I considered myself an auntie to him and his twin sister, June, who was napping.

"Yummy," he said when he clumsily stabbed the jello with the plastic spoon. I craved to have a baby of my own one day, especially when I spent time with him. He brought out the baby fever in me even though he was a handful.

While he was on my shoulder, I made my own plate, trying not to bump into people. I just threw a few cookies on there to look like I was doing something. I felt off today and didn't feel like celebrating anything. But it was Alana's special day, and I needed to get it together.

I released Jay, and he ran toward his mother with the jello cup in his hands, and I smiled. Maybe that was what I needed to feel better about yesterday.

"Game time!" shouted Olivia. She had helped Alana a lot with arranging the baby shower.

There weren't any males in the room except for my bodyguards. There was a row of chairs and a table in front of it with baby dolls. Diapers were sitting next to them. "The first one to successfully put a diaper on a doll wins the game! Who wants to come up?"

I looked at my bodyguards and saw Ethan whispering to Ryder with a smirk on his face.

"They can do it," I said, pointing a finger at them.

Ryder's eyebrows went up as he rubbed his head nervously. Ethan shook his head.

"Nope," said Ethan. "We're only here to guard ya."

"I think that's a fantastic idea," said Olivia, winking at me. She knew how annoyed I was last night, and this was the perfect revenge. Ryder seemed to notice this when he gave me a dark look as he sat on his chair. Ethan shuffled his feet, but he reluctantly took a seat next to Ryder. "Here are your blindfolds."

I watched, giggling as they were blindfolded by the vicious Olivia. Three more contestants sat at the table to join.

"Is it time?" asked Ethan, reaching for the diaper.

"Not yet," Olivia snapped at him, and my smile grew wider. The way they were all smug guarding the doors of my home to block me from leaving wasn't something I could get over easily.

Surprisingly, Ryder was deft with his hands and quick when he quickly put the diaper on the doll. Ethan fumbled and managed to wrap it around the doll's head, to everyone's amusement. The timer dinged, and they all took off their blindfolds. Ryder smiled triumphantly at me, holding the doll up like a trophy. I rolled my eyes.

"Looks like I won. What's the prize?" asked Ryder cockily.

"You'll be the first to choose the flavor you'd like to try for the baby foods. It's guess-the-flavor game next," said Olivia.

"Hmm, I'll pass on that one," said Ryder, trying to be polite. "Listen, we need to take a walk around the premises. It was nice meeting you all."

"It was nice meeting you, too," said Olivia, smiling widely.

"We'll be outside waiting for you, Lacy," said Ethan, hastily getting up as well. At that, they both flew out the door.

I laughed, taking a bite out of the giant cookie.

"Well, that got rid of them," said Alana.

"You're a genius, Olivia," I said.

I walked into the kitchen to throw away my plate and saw Olivia's mother, Jade, and Alana's mother, Tiana, speaking in hushed voices in there. Their whispers were hushed and urgent. I tried not to be obvious as I eavesdropped. I was always the nosy one among the kids when we were young.

Oh, they were talking about another omega gone missing …

Damn. Things were really serious.

"Hello, Lacy," said my aunt Jade. "Long time no see."

"Hey, Auntie," I said. I had known them since I was little, and they were like second mothers to me, so I was comfortable talking to them. "I couldn't help but overhear you talking."

"Yes, it's so sad," said Tiana, shaking her head. "There's someone or something out there targeting omegas."

"I mean, it isn't new," said Jade. "Over the dawn of time, we were targets of alphas and every creature alive."

"Be careful out there, Lacy," said Tiana, earnestly grabbing my hand. "The world is not as rosy and pretty as you think it might be."