16. Leo

Ijostle awake with a start, aware of an overwhelming coldness in the room behind me.

Belle.

She has gone…

Jumping up to my feet, I burst into her room, tugging the still-made, unruffled bedsheets aside. Then I peek under the bed, cursing out loud.

When my eyes find the open window, I rush toward it, hands gripping the windowsill until they"re bone white.

She jumped out the window. And how had I slept through the whole goddamn thing?

"Shit!" I shout, storming downstairs.

I stop suddenly, picking up on the strong scent of caramel. I follow it to the kitchen where I find her at the table, gazing guiltily at her plate of scrambled eggs.

Jeremy fries her some bacon.

She peers up at me, smiling shyly with hunched shoulders, and I spy the scratches on her cheek.

A growl escapes me, and I move to her side at once, reaching my hand toward her so I can tend to her scratches.

They look bad, and all I want to do is make her feel better again.

I hate seeing her hurt.

Belle freezes when I reach toward her, and I stop, watching her curiously.

Something has happened.

Yesterday, she was a little more open, and she even let me pull her onto my lap and comfort her.

But today, she is different.

Subdued.

She barely eats her eggs, poking at them carelessly as Jeremy finishes, dropping down two pieces of bacon onto her plate.

"Thank you," she mutters, the sound barely audible.

Jeremey cocks his head sideways, a small glint flashing in his eyes at her thanks.

"You"re welcome, cupcake."

I scrunch my face at the nickname, meeting his gaze.

He shrugs and empties the grease of the pan into the sink.

Now Belle pokes at her bacon, and we can"t have that now…

Where has that ferocious appetite gone?

Grabbing her plate, I scoop up the eggs with the fork, bringing it to her lips.

Her blue eyes find mine, and there I spy her uncertainty.

She pretty much ate from the palm of my hand yesterday, making me hard whenever a deep groan of pleasure escaped her plump lips.

But today, she doesn"t seem to want to eat.

Even when I offer to feed her.

She shakes her head, and I drop the fork, disappointment washing through me.

What has happened to her?

In fact, now that I think about it…

How did she get here?

I"d thought she"d escaped out the window. She definitely didn"t pass me on the landing because I would have woken the moment the door opened.

Had she jumped out the window?

Would that explain the scratches?

I point at the red marks on her cheek. "Here, let me clean those up for you."

She doesn"t protest when I grab the first aid kit, and now she sits like a perfect statue when I dab at the cuts with an antiseptic wipe.

When she flinches, I purr softly, and finally, she relaxes, shutting her eyes.

Jeremy doesn"t breathe a single sound as we never take our eyes off her.

It appears we"re both too afraid to make a sound in fear of scaring this precious little thing away.

If she had jumped out the window, then… what brought her back?

My eyes find Jeremy.

The Alpha catches the question in my eyes, and I nod, smiling at him in thanks, grateful that he was there to stop her.

Jeremy has a certain way with words. It"s a part of his job to convince Omegas to stay in one place, and only the gods know how many he actually doomed in the end.

I like to think that all Omegas are taken care of and that they find a pack that has their best interests at heart, but I"m no fool.

I know that isn"t always the case.

Not all Omegas find their soul mate.

I glance at Belle. Could she be my soul mate?

She does tame the inner monster in me.

When I finish cleaning and dressing her scratches, she looks up and smiles at me, and holy fuck…

Now that is a smile worth killing for…

Unfortunately, her good mood vanishes the moment Rian and Troy step into the kitchen, reeking of sex, and just like that, Belle is withdrawn.

I glare at Troy.

Of course.

No wonder she tried to run away.

This is all his fault.

And to think, that I once considered him a friend.

Well, not anymore.