Chapter 15

Fifteen

ALEX

" A re you sure you're ready to move on with a new omega?" asked Laurent.

"Of course I am," I said, shaking my head and slamming my drink on the kitchen counter. "Why does my pack underestimate me?"

"It's not that," said Laurent. "You're not trusting our new omega. I saw what I saw."

"Mind your business," I said, looking at the untouched food on the dining table. "Why is she taking forever?"

"Probably scared her off already," muttered Blade under his breath.

"I can hear you, jackass."

I swung around the table and sat on the couch in the living room. Looking up at the painting with red squiggles, my chest tightened with pain. My daughter Lisa drew it when she was two. I shook my head, dispelling the bad memory before I sank deep into my damn emotions.

It wasn't the time now.

I had a mission with my new omega. I couldn't wait to plant my seed inside her. To watch her belly swelling with my child, month after month. To kiss her pregnant belly and to feel the baby kicking.

"Score!" shouted Mason and Blade as they watched a game of alpha basketball on the TV. Our team, the Four Claws, were losing but catching up fast. My mind wasn't on the game. I needed to find a way to make our omega more comfortable. Maybe it would help if I was a little kinder. The poor thing was shaking when she stripped before me.

They looked over at me, and I raised my eyebrows in question.

"Go get our girl," said Blade, his tongue as sharp as the curved blade he carried everywhere on his side. "Before I fucking do it. And be nice to her, Alex."

"Why don't you do it?" asked Mason, smirking. "Does the hot little redhead intimidate you?"

"A little," admitted Blade with a wry smile. "Having an omega in the house again feels weird. It's been five years since our last one."

"It has been," I sighed, not wanting to get into it right now. "I'll get her."

Walking to her room, I knocked on the door.

Not hearing an answer, I opened the door and didn't see her anywhere. Had she fallen asleep? Looking at the bed, I didn't see her there either. Spotting the half-open closet door, I slowly made my way over there.

Opening the closet door, I heard a bump and a shout- realizing she was lying behind there the entire time. Flicking on the light, I saw her huddled on one of our blankets on the ground, holding a shirt tight against her chest.

Her hair was curled into a tight bun high above her head, showing off her neck. Her sweet scent was heavy in the closet as I took in a deep breath. She was staring at me with watchful eyes. On guard. Like any omega should be when they were in a house full of alphas who could think of nothing but to fuck her.

I sniffed a second scent in the air, and it made my hackles rise.

"Who's shirt is that?" I demanded, ripping the shirt from her hands.

Tears fell down her cheeks as she gazed at me.

The scent was strong, and it reminded me of something from the past. Someone I disliked.

"It's Jack's shirt," she whispered. "Please give it back."

The name rang a bell in my head. Fuck that kid. No matter how many times I beat him up in our teens, the omegas gravitated toward him. Hell, even my own girlfriend from high school was obsessed with him.

"Did he use you and throw you to the auctions?" I asked, gripping the shirt tightly in my hands, wanting to rip it apart and call it a day. But she was visibly shaking and perfuming profusely, her omega scent thick with desperation and sorrow. It was unsettling to me. Something or someone had hurt this beautiful omega. Her strands of hair had come loose around her neck as she sat up on her knees, watching me. I knelt in front of her and gently placed the shirt back in her hands.

"No, Jack would never do that to me," she said adamantly, hiding the shirt behind her like I couldn't get around and grab it again. I hid my smile.

"Did you belong to his pack before? What happened?"

She shut down at my questions. So I decided to try a different approach.

"You said you had a baby once. Where is your baby?"

"I can't talk about it now," she whispered, looking down at the floor. That's when I noticed how puffy her face had gotten and her red eyes from probably crying.

"I had a daughter once," I said, settling down to sit next to her on the floor in her handmade nest.

"You did?" she looked surprised.

"She passed away when she was three," I said, my chest tightening again. I willed myself not to panic. Stay calm Alex . I had never spoken out loud about this to any living soul. Not even my own pack. We just didn't talk about it. "Lisa was playing in the ocean, and her mother wasn't watching her. She was busy on her phone, doing her nails. I was at home fixing up the floorboards until I heard her mother screaming outside."

"I'm sorry," said Vanessa, her face crumpling at my pain.

My breathing quickened at the memory. Don't have a panic attack . As if she could read my mind, Vanessa laid a calming hand on my shoulder. My eyes burned with unshed tears as I took in a huge breath.

"Our ex-wife couldn't handle that I blamed her internally. I never said it out loud, but I made it clear that I didn't have the same feelings as I had before," I explained.

"That's horrible," she said, leaning her shoulder against mine, resting her head against me. It made me wonder even more what her story was. What brought her to the auctions?

"Will you eat dinner with us?"

"I don't have much of an appetite," she said.

"I will not let you starve here," I said adamantly. "I'll bring the food here to your nest then."

"Fine, I'll come," she sighed. I helped her stand up, her grip heavy as if she was dragging her body to do it. Did we somehow obtain a depressed omega? Did she not like it here?