Chapter 8

Chapter

Eight

Irolled my eyes as I finally sat down on the couch with the rest of them constantly pacing like imbeciles. I leaned back into the cushions and wished they could swallow me whole. At least that would be better than having to listen to more of this conversation that wasn"t going anywhere but around in circles.

This wasn't how it was supposed to go. Any of it.

And I didn't want to say it, but having this happen was so typical of Cal.

The hair-brained beta was ours, mine. But damn, he is good at bringing messes to our doorstep. Not only that but rarely did he ever have to clean up afterwards. No matter how much he looked in pain over what was happening, it was nothing like the need of my alpha riding me to bolt up the stairs right now against every bit of good judgment I had.

My alpha wanted to growl and fight to attend to the omega holed up in our guest room, likely in pain and confusion. He screamed at me to protect and provide and whenever she got too close with her scent, so sweet and fruity and all out of whack.

I hadn't felt that for anyone in years, not except for Cal. Now my trousers were tight and making it particularly hard to hide my hard-on for the gutter rat of an omega he"d been screwing around with.

My heart clenched at my insult.

How dare you say such a thing about our omega, my alpha chastised.

I clenched my jaw, biting into my cheek until I nearly bled.

She wasn't our omega.

I barely even considered her a worthwhile beta when I first laid eyes on her the other day. Or the other day prior when I ran into her in the science building for my meeting that day without realizing it.

"We don't need to have this discussion and make any decisions yet," said Demetri, ever the problem solver of our group.

He was right, of course, but none of us seemed to quite be in the right state of mind to fully agree with him.

She was upstairs in our guest room right now.

I shook my head. "We might as well talk about it. There is only one way this can go."

"No," said Cal.

"You have to turn the omega in. She"s not ours and she isn"t going to be right for us."

Cal nearly snarled as he looked at me. "No!"

I blinked at him, my heart hesitating in my chest at his venom.

Demetri shut his eyes. Finally, there was a crack in the facade of Mr. Perfect he started to put on ever since we bought the townhouse here in the city and he finally gave into the role his father had wanted him to fall into all his life. Mr. Perfect Prestford he used to revolt against ever since we met each other at stupid society dinners, commiserating about how terrible our home lives were because of them making school at least somewhat bearable.

"Yeah, we don't want to get ahead of ourselves and almost bond ourselves to some omega-bitch we barely know," I said.

Demetri seethed and looked away, taking a step back towards the doorway leading to the main hall.

"This isn't like that."

"Like what?" I clarified, wanting them to say it. "Like how the last omega we let into this house just based on our feelings thought she could tear us apart and keep the pieces–excuse me– alphas, she wanted? Let alone the fact that this one upstairs barely seems to care that she"s an omega let alone how to act properly like one."

Marko shrugged, his hazel eyes locking on mine. "Don't see why what happened before bothers you, brother. She wanted you."

I rolled my eyes.

"Because unlike everyone here apparently, I'm looking out for us all. The rest of you are happy to just leave one of us out whenever you want and do whatever you want even if it means tearing this pack apart," I snapped loudly.

Everyone froze.

"Fuck," I muttered, lifting my hand to my forehead, massaging my temples.

Demetri stared at me. I expected him to say something, but he didn't.

If anything, from the stagnant emptiness through the bond between us, it was clear that everyone was seeing the space between us all too clearly. The want, between us for each other and more than that, to take care of someone who wanted us to take care of them when we were all so focused on trying to fix each other for no reason other than to have that purpose after so many years we craved.

But we had to do it right this time. Nothing was going to screw up our chance to have a family and be happy again. Especially not me.

Marko glared at me. He never said much, but with that look, I wanted to immediately apologize or explain more to make this somewhat better. But I wasn't the one who made things better.

So I held any words of apology back.

I remembered his earlier words about the omega he told me when I first brought up my concerns. You don't know her shit.

He was right, I didn't. But I knew that we probably couldn't handle it, especially not if it went wrong. This pack had handled enough for a lifetime and now it was time for us to be happy and stop fucking it all up even if that meant finding a traditional omega to fit our traditional lives that I and Demetri were born into and revolted against until now.

Especially after last time.

"We can't just take the risk for us and from Omega Services and keep her like some pet," I said. "We were supposed to do this right and find the omega best for us if there is one. No risks."

"Like I said. We aren't making any decisions about what is going to happen with her right now," Demetri said again, steady no matter how tired he looked. "Plus, I believe she deserves to be a part of any of these conversations. For now, our only goal is to make sure that she is safe and that she knows that. No expectations."

Marko grunted in agreement.

"You just need to get to know her," said Cal, his voice tired compared to before. "I think… I think she would be good for us. You just need to get to know her even if she turned out to?—"

"Have lied to you?" I asked. It was clear I hit another nerve. "You haven't even been up to her since you brought her here."

Cal looked down at his feet, chewing on the inside of his cheek. A sense of sadness bled through the bond again even if he was trying to block us out. He was too in his head to be doing well for some reason.

With a deep breath, he turned around and headed towards the front staircase. His footsteps pounded up to the second floor.

"I didn't realize that you felt abandoned when we left you here, Liam," Demetri spoke up after a moment, breaking the silence between the three of us. "Didn't know..."

I didn't say anything as I looked at Demetri. I didn't want to talk about it, but that wasn't going to happen. I didn't want them to know just how much it hurt over the past few months to come home to an empty house without my pack– without anyone. I'd gotten used to the noise.

I got used to the comfort.

I shook my head and shrugged.

"Uh, guys." Cal's upset shot through me as he rushed back down the stairs, standing in the entryway of the living room. His eyes were frantic. "She's gone."

"What do you mean she's gone? I thought the head honcho of security here was keeping the omega under lock and key?" I said, waving a hand towards Marko.

Cal's mouth fell open, looking back and forth. "She's gone."

Demetri pushed off from where he was standing, heading towards the kitchen where he left his phone and laptop on the counter. "We need to call Omega Services immediately and anyone else to make sure they find her before someone else does."

Looks like our pet decided for us. At least she was good at helping us do one thing already.

"No. Not yet," Cal stammered, rushing towards him. "She'll be back."

"You think that?" Demetri asked.

We all turned to Cal. He paused and we all knew the true answer, feeling the bitter fear through the bond as he answered declaring it a lie. "I do. She'll come back. She knows it"s dangerous, especially now. She said so."

The rest of us stared at him, trying to calm down the rising panic in our beta.

"Okay," said Demetri. "We'll give her a few hours to settle down. If she doesn't come back though, we'll need to call Omega Services to report her."

"She'll hate us," Cal said, jaw clenching, but he didn't disagree.

"She'll be safe."

From what? What in the world could they possibly think this stupid omega needed to be safe from but her likely insane thoughts? That was a possibility they also clearly didn't see.

What kind of omega would run away from what they were?

Marko took a deep breath, already moving back towards the steps as if he were going to try and retrace where she could've gone.

Cal nodded as if he understood.

He fished his phone out of his pocket, likely trying to call her. "I'll go check the security cameras– voicemail... Ella, it's me, Cal. Please just pick it up, beautiful. I want to make sure you're safe."

Demetri moved as if he was headed to look for her as well. He headed towards the back of the house leading outside as if she decided that she wanted to go for a dip in the pool and we didn't hear the splash.

I took another deep breath, unable to move from where I sat on the side of the couch.

There was nothing to be done. Perhaps this was a good thing that she left. There was nothing to fight about now. She decided for us.

The guys passed me a few times, not saying anything as they paced. If anything, they tried to stay out of my way. Alone again.

After a few minutes, my phone buzzed in my back pocket.

Reaching for it, my brow furrowed at the name on the caller ID.

"Hello?" I snarled into the phone, listening to the deep tone on the other end of the line. With a huff, I stood up, looking for anyone. When I didn't see them, I shook my head again. They were already so screwed in the heads for this girl.

I reached for my keys off the hook and headed to the garage on my own. "I'm already on my way."

Maybe Cal had a point about learning more about her, the corner of my lips quirked at the thought, slightly amused.

I was already learning.

Our omega wasn't any good at hiding.