Mira and her bodyguards crowded out the door. “Lavinia is working with Emilia and our dads to find out everything we can about Benjamin. You can come get updates when you feel up to it. Violet’s letting us sleep on her couch, so I’ll camp out in her suite.”
Talia gave her sister a small smile, and then the door to my room closed with only the four of us inside.
The woman I wanted to make into my mate, and my two packmates who were probably massively pissed off at me.
“Tell me how you’re feeling.” Talia didn’t waste time before bossing me around.
I kissed her forehead but refused. “No. I’m fine, but I need to know what happened while I was out.”
“I’ll explain,” West said. “Talia, if you want to leave so you don’t have to hear it again?—”
“No, I’ll stay.” She cut him off. “You explain, but I don’t want to leave him.”
Neither West nor Mercer looked overly pleased about that, but they didn’t complain. Mercer laid on the bed on the other side of Talia, while West went through everything I’d missed.
My omega had been through hell and back, and I hadn’t been there to save her.
I’d been part of the reason she’d ended up in that situation to begin with.
I could never, ever forgive myself for that.
Chapter
Twelve
TALIA
Conrad shrunk away from me more and more as West went through everything that happened. His autumn leaves scent soured and the wrongness of it made my stomach turn.
He didn’t want me anymore.
That had to be why he was moving away. This bond that Benjamin had forced me into—maybe it would truly ruin my life after all.
I chewed anxiously on my bottom lip, hating the emptiness I felt as I ended up with less and less skin-to-skin contact with Conrad.
By the time the explanation was done, only our thighs were touching.
It wasn’t right to be this far from him, but I couldn’t force him to want me. Not when we might never have a bond.
“Can you tell me how you’re feeling, now?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Fine. I’ll recover.”
Conrad wouldn’t look me in the eyes. Mercer rubbed my back in gentle circles, but it wasn’t enough to distract me from the rejection.
My alpha didn’t say anything else, either, leaving it with ‘I’ll recover.’ It was obvious he didn’t want me here, so I needed to leave.
Sliding out of Mercer’s comfortable hold and down to the base of the bed, I cleared my throat. “Um, alright then. I should probably leave you to rest.”
Ask me to stay.
I needed him to ask me to stay. There were tears threatening to start streaming down my face if he didn’t, but I couldn’t guilt him into wanting me. That wouldn’t be fair to him at all.
I took a few steps backward, and he still wouldn’t look at me. West caught me before I could turn around and flee into the hallway. “Conrad, I think you probably have something to say to Talia.”
Conrad cursed, crossing his arms over his chest. He finally lifted his face so he could look at me, and what I saw in his lucky green eyes wasn’t what I expected.
They were full of guilt and dismay, brimming with tears just like mine were.
