Chapter 40

I'm so fucking furious, so tightly wound that if someone even so much as fucking looks at me the wrong way, I will snap. And there"s a good chance someone will get hurt, making this whole shit storm a hell of a lot worse.

We've spent the past two hours working with Jordan to try and see if we can clear some of this bullshit up.

It took everything in me not to lose my mother fucking mind, knowing that the whole fucking world has seen my omega naked. They've heard the sweet sounds she makes as she cums, along with the look on her face when she falls apart for her alphas. And that is unacceptable. Only we have the privilege to see her in that vulnerable state. And whoever sold that video to the media fucking violated all of our privacy.

Not to mention the fact that the whole world knows the guys and I are together now. We don't care, we're not ashamed, but this wasn't how we wanted it to get out. It wasn't something we ever felt the need to even tell people about.

What we do is our own business. Our relationship might not be conventional, but it's what works for us. We liked it how it was. And again someone took that fucking choice away from us.

We don't care what the world thinks about us—they can all go suck it for all I care, but what I do care about is my omega's safety. That Chelsea-bitch is going to be hearing from my lawyer.

Calling my omega a gold-digger, the audacity. What she needs to do is get a real job and stop fucking with people's lives as if we're not human beings with fucking feelings.

As of right now, Jordan is doing what she does best, and all we can do is wait. As for the rest of the tour, it's been cancelled. I don't fucking care. Everyone can get their money back, and venues can pull out. What matters is my omega. It will always be about Jade.

And all I want to do now is to go back to our rental and pull her into my arms, to tell her we're going to make sure everything is okay and that she has nothing to worry about.

Everett and Griffin get out of the car after me, their moods just as foul as mine. We just had the best few days of our lives with our omega, helping her through her heat and then life goes and throws another pile of shit at us.

I get it, being in this line of work isn't easy; we're constantly in the public eye, but why does everyone have to get in our business? We're just fucking people. Just let us live and leave us the fuck alone.

"You okay?" Everett asks me, and I snort out a humorless laugh.

"Far fucking from it. How about you?" I reply, shooting him a glare.

"Same."

"I just want to scream," Griffin growls. "Like who the fuck does this shit?"

"Pathetic losers with no life and too much time on their hands," I mutter.

"Or heartless people who only care about money," Everett adds.

When we get into the house, I find Calvin standing by the window, the screen door open, allowing a cool breeze to flow into the villa.

"Where's our girl?" I ask him when he finishes up the call he's on. I don't see her, but when I'm about to head back toward the room, Calvin speaks.

"She's not back there."

"Then where the fuck is she?" I demand. "I'm not in the fucking mood, Cal. I just want my omega, okay."

His face falls, and he gives me this pitying look that puts me on guard. "She's not here."

"What do you mean she's not here?" Griffin demands. "Where the fuck is she?!"

He lets out a heavy sigh as he runs a hand through his hair. "She knows about everything. She overheard us talking, and saw that Chelsea-girl"s bullshit news channel."

"Fuck," I growl, worry coursing through me. "She shouldn't have seen that, she shouldn't even know about it. It's not her burden to deal with."

"But it is," Calvin argues. "We said no more secrets, no more lies. She deserved to know all about this. It's her body out there for the world to see. Do you really think you could have kept something this big from her?"

"She doesn't have a fucking phone, and we could have disabled her internet!"

"Be real for a moment," he scoffs. "She's not a child. She's a grown woman. We don't get to make her choices for her."

"Where is she, Calvin?" Everett asks in a low, dangerous tone, bringing back the fact that Jade isn't here.

"Calvin," I snarl. "So help me God, you better tell me where my fucking omega is!" I roar.

"She's on her way back to the US."

Everything goes quiet, my body locks up and my brain goes blank.

"There are death threats all over the internet. People knew where she was, they said they were going to find her and get rid of the problem. It wasn't safe for her to be here anymore. I sent her back to High Roller."

"You. Did. What?" The question comes out almost dead like.

"She was scared. She didn't want to go, though. I made her. This is about what"s best for Jade, Zane. Not you."

"We didn't even get to say goodbye," Everett says in an utterly crushed tone.

"You wouldn't have let her go. And she needed to. It was the safest option. We have shit to deal with here before we can go back."

"That wasn't your choice to make!" Griffin sneers. "Damn it!" he shouts, spinning around to punch the wall.

"Fuck you!" I roar, and then I snap. She's gone. She's not in this room, in this town, or in this fucking country anymore. He sent my omega away. She's the only thing that can tame the darkness within me.

I'm so enraged, murderous to the point that I black out. When I come to, my chest is heaving, my eyes are wild, and the whole villa is trashed. The TV is broken, glass all over the place, couches and chairs tipped upside down, and there"s even blood dripping from my hands onto the stone floors.

"Zane!" Calvin roars. "Enough!"

I've never had an alpha bark used on me before, and I fucking hate how powerful his is. It's strong, strong enough that it makes me freeze. Only long enough for my mind to snap back into place, though.

"You had no right!" I scream. "She's our omega. You sent her away!"

"It's not forever," he explains. "Just long enough for us to fix this fucking mess! It's not just people not liking her, Zane. They want her dead. Your crazy ass, over obsessed fans want her fucking dead!"

"Who wants who dead?" Gianna asks, a voice none of us wants to hear right now.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" I snarl, feeling more like a feral beast than a man. "After the shit you pulled the other day, you have some fucking nerve showing up again when you"re very clearly not fucking wanted!"

She steps into the house, inviting herself in without a fucking care in the world and gives me a hurt look.

"I wanted to come check on you guys. I heard about what"s going on, and I wanted to make sure you"re alright."

"You have got to be shitting me," Everett sighs. "Gianna, just leave."

"You want to know if we're ‘alright'? What the fuck do you think, Gianna?" I seethe, getting in her face. "There"s a fucking sex tape out there of our omega. No, none of us are fucking alright."

She flinches, fear flashing in her eyes. Good.

"Is that all you're worried about? What about your career, everything we worked so hard for!" She raises her voice. "First, you miss concerts because of her heat, now this!"

"None of that matters," Everett tries to explain. "Not if it means Jade's safety is at risk."

Her lip curls and her whole demeanor changes. It's like watching someone get possessed. "The whole fucking world doesn't revolve around that bitch, you know! She's the reason why all of this is happening. She ruined your life, your career, and yet all you guys care about is her. Are you fucking pussy whipped? Is her omega cunt that fucking good that you"re willing to throw your whole life away?"

"Watch your fucking mouth with how your talking about my omega, Gianna," I snarl, my fist clenching as a new wave of fury hits me. No one has the right to talk about my girl like that.

"No!" She stomps her foot like a child who isn't getting her way. "I worked too long, too hard, only for that bitch to ruin everything!" Angry tears fill her eyes.

"Stop calling her fucking names!" Griffin shouts. "And what the hell do you mean by that?" Griffin asks. "What did you work for that she ruined?"

"Everything!" she screams. "Years of making sure you never found her. Making sure she was blocked on everything, so you weren"t able to contact her. Paying those shady foster parents to lie to you. I did all of that to keep her out of your life, only for her to worm her way back anyways. She ruined everything. I hate her. I hate her. I hate her!"

She stands there, sobbing her eyes out as I look over at the guys. They have the same matching shocked look on their faces.

"You"re the one who kept us apart?" I ask her in a calm voice.

"Yes," she cries. "I had to. I had to keep you away from her. You were meant to be mine. Mine! I was promised I'd get to be your omega, but that couldn't happen if she was in the picture," she confesses.

"You"re not even a fucking omega!" Everett yells.

"I could be!" she screams back. "I could be your omega. I could be everything you could ever want. All you have to do is give me a chance. Please. I would do anything you wanted, be the perfect omega," she begs with pleading eyes.

"You"re fucking crazy, you stupid bitch," I growl, lunging forward. I wrap my hand around her neck, shoving her against the wall. She gasps as my palm tightens around her neck. "You kept Jade away from us. We spent six years thinking she hated us. Because of you, we were fucking miserable!"

"Because of me, you became stars!" she chokes out. "I made you what you are."

"You"re fucking delusional. We don't want you." I laugh cruelly. "Why would we when we already have the perfect woman. You"re not an omega, you"re not Jade. You took the only good thing in our lives. We lost so much fucking time with her. You ruined everything."

Her eyes widen as I start to choke her. Fear for her life swims in her gaze. "Please," she croaks. "Please." She claws at my arm, nails digging into my skin. "He said I could have you."

"Zane!" Calvin barks. "Let her go."

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. "Fuck off with the alpha bark!" I snap as I feel my hand loosening.

"Thank you," she gasps, looking up at Calvin as if he's her savior.

Wrong person to turn to, sweetie. No one can save you now.

THIS IS SO FUCKED UP. I knew Gianna had a thing for the guys, but this? This is a whole new level of crazy.

"Who said you could have the guys?" I ask Gianna as she scrambles to her feet, her neck showing a red handprint from Zane's grip. I would have let him kill her, but I have a feeling there"s a lot more we don't know about.

"Your father. He told me if I was a good girl and if I didn't tell anyone what we did when we were alone, that one day I'd get a pack of my own."

My stomach lurches. "How old were you when he made you that promise?"

"Why?" she asks, brows furrowing. There's something really not right with this woman.

"Answer the question."

"My fourteenth birthday. Henry came to me and said I could have everything I ever wanted... as long as I gave him something."

"What did you give him?" Griffin asks, eyes widening in horror.

"My body," she says, raising her head as if she has nothing to be ashamed of. "He was nice to me. Made me feel special. And because I was a good girl and kept our activities between us, he was going to make all of my dreams come true." She smiles lovingly at the guys, but I just stare at her in pity. This girl. This girl was assaulted by my father and fed lies.

"And when you guys signed on to the label, he came to me and said he found the perfect pack. All I had to do was make you guys big. And when he was pleased with your success, he would give you to me." She laughs. "You see, you guys were always meant to be mine. Henry said so. But Jade..." Her lips curl with disgust. "She would have ruined everything. So Henry helped me, made sure she wasn"t an issue. We tried to get those foster parents to sell the little bitch, but she ran off before we could find out what she was. Shame, they would have made big bucks off her."

"You're fucking crazy!" Griffin shouts. "Do you even hear this bullshit coming from your mouth? What is wrong with you."

"I'm not what"s wrong. She is." Gianna laughs like a lunatic. "I thought if I showed the world just how much of a dirty little slut she was, you would come to your senses. The world doesn't like you with her. They hate her. They want her dead."

The smile that forms on her face is straight from a horror movie. "And I plan on giving them exactly what they want. Once Jade is gone, we can be together. It can be how it was always meant to be."

"Do you hear yourself?" Everett questions in disbelief. "We will never be yours. We love Jade. We want Jade. It will always be Jade. I'm sorry someone said you could be with us, but it was a promise that was never going to happen."

"Shut up." She shakes her head. "Shut up!" She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a gun. We all freeze as she points it at us, her hand shaking. "I'm not crazy," she screams so loud and hard that her face turns red. "I'm not crazy! I'm not crazy!" she repeatedly screeches.

But she's cut off as a bullet rings through the room. With her lips parted and eyes wide, she drops her gun. Then she falls to her knees as blood pours from the bullet wound between her eyes.

She falls forward with a thud, her dead body laying on the ground.

The whole room is quiet for a long moment before I look over to see a feral Zane, arm raised, chest heaving as he stares at her. "No one fucking harms my omega," he says in a low tone.

"Holy fucking shit." Griffin starts to freak out. "She's dead. You killed her."

"I think I'm going to be sick," Everett says.

The two of them start to freak out, but for me, this isn't new, sadly. I walk over to my brother and take the gun from his shaking hand. "I had to," he tells me, this desperate look in his eyes. "She was going to hurt Jade. She wasn't going to stop, Calvin. I couldn't let her hurt our omega."

"Hey," I coax, tucking the gun into my back pocket as I put my hands on his shoulders. I'll be asking where he got that gun later, but right now I need to focus on making sure my brother isn't going to fall apart.

"It's okay. You did the right thing." Well, no not really. I was thinking more of locking her up and getting her some mental health help, but this works too.

"They were the reason we lost our Jade for so fucking long." Zane shakes his head. "Why? What did I ever do to him? Why would he do that?"

"Because he doesn't care about anyone but himself. He will do anything to get what he wants. He's a sick man, Zane, and we will deal with him, that much I can promise."

"I want Jade."I've never seen Zane look this lost. It's like he's this broken little boy right now and it fucking crushes me.

"We will see her soon. We need to deal with this now," I urge looking at Gianna's body. Blood is pooling around her face. This is going to be one hell of a clean up. "We can't clean this one up. We will have to get the cops involved. We will tell them what she did and that she came here to kill all of you if she couldn't have you. And before she pulled the trigger, you did it in self-defense, okay? Once we're cleared, we will head back home and go get our girl."

I'm glad Jade is on a plane on her way home right now and away from all of this. Would Gianna have hesitated to shoot Jade if she was here? No, sadly, I don't think she would have. She wanted Jade dead, I could see it in her eyes.

He nods. "Okay."

"Everything is going to be okay. You"re not alone. I'm here. I got you," I tell him and pull my little brother into my arms. He doesn't cry, but his body shakes violently. I can hear Griffin freaking out and Everett puking in the background, but all that matters is my brother right now.

This is going to haunt him for the rest of his life. I never wanted him to have to deal with something like this, but I'll be there to help him through it all.

And I know Jade and the guys will too.

As for my father... that man is going to wish he was never born.