Now, I was hoping I hadn’t misjudged Conrad, Mercer, and West. Would they continue to stand by me when things were hard? They could use me for their own gain, since they knew my family name. It had never been like that between us, though.
We’d been drawn together time and time again when we’d all thought it was impossible.
It had to be meant to be.
Grabbing a pillow and hugging it to my chest, I sighed. “At this point, I just have to hope my pack isn’t being torn to shreds by Nico.”
“If they were, you would know. We’d be able to hear the screaming.”
She was joking, but I took a second to listen intently anyway.
No screaming.
Regardless, maybe it was time to go peek in the meeting room and check on them?
Chapter
Fifteen
WEST
I stalked down the Residence halls, my scowl scaring off anyone who might have tried to speak with me.
I would have been better off staying in that meeting room, talking shop with Talia’s fathers. If she was having a hard time without us, I wasn’t the one who could comfort her. I’d told them all that when I refused to stay with her earlier.
Clenching my fists painfully at my sides, I glared ahead, no focus to my annoyance.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to see Talia.
Every second apart from her had me more anxious about how she was doing and if she was comfortable. I was desperate to wrap her in my arms again and drench myself in her cranberry rose scent.
I just wasn’t what she needed. I didn’t deserve to see her when I couldn’t help or keep her safe.
And why had I fucking left her this morning? She’d wanted me, and I’d refused. Hell, I knewwhyI hadn’t stayed—I mighthave made things worse if I had—but my reasoning felt like an excuse.
Had leaving hurt her more than staying would have?
Guilt and shame ate at me, making fine friends for my annoyance at Mercer.
Trying to shake off my visible agitation, I pushed open the nesting room door. No omega waited in the nest for me to return, the door of the bathroom wide open and revealing no one inside.
Momentary panic kicked up my heart rate, but when I inhaled deeply, I caught the scents of magnolia, cherry blossoms, mint, and citrus. All fainter than Talia’s scent. Her sisters had come to spend time with her—they must have gone out.
I was half tempted to settle in and wait for Talia to come back, but I couldn’t. My task was to check on her, and if I couldn’t even do that without fucking it up, Mercer might as well just kick me out of the pack.
She could be in distress, and we wouldn’t know from a distance because she wasn’t technically our omega. She wasn’t connected to our pack bond.
I had to see her before I could trust that she was alright.
I rushed off down the hall to scour the common areas. The long hallways were familiar, but different. New paintings had been put up on the walls. A few areas had new paint colours.
Violet’s home had moved on without me, changing while I wasn’t here to see it. I tried to shove down those thoughts, but they ate at me.
What kind of brother was I?
What kind ofmatewas I?
I’d left my sister and I’d left my omega, and they’d both claimed to want me to stay.
