the wall of the pit, and so mindless to reason that I thought I could do the impossible and choke him out. “What if something happened to me?” I snarled. “What if I never come back?”
“You fucking left her. You fucking left me! When I needed you to be here! I’m not good with this shit. She wasn’t sleeping, asshole. Was having nightmares. Not eating. I could see her losing weight!”
Tears streamed down his face. “You left, and I needed you fucking here.”
One minute I’d been trying to kill him. The next my hand closed over the back of his neck, and I’d pressed my forehead to his.
“I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.”
Then I was hugging him… like I used to do with my younger brother before he’d been ripped from me. Only my brother had been a Beta, whereas Ryker was an Alpha. He was also built like a tank and stiff as a board, so it was more like hugging a rock.
There was a brief struggle before he relaxed.
And, damn if it didn’t feel good. “You’re a fucking maniac, but I love you,” I muttered—someone, shoot me now. A few catcalls came from above, but I could hear sounds of them dispersing.
Ryker chuckled. “Is this you cracking? Because I’m pretty sure I cracked a while ago, and it’s only fair you get a turn.”
I punched him without any heat. “Tell me you love me, dickhead, or I’m going to crack a rib.”
“So fucking needy—” He wheezed when I thumped him again “—Fine, I love you, although I’m not sure it counts if it’s coerced.”
Leaning up, I put him into a fake headlock as we headed for the exit, ruffling the top of his sweaty head roughly.
“Now you’re play-fighting with me,” he grouched. “That’s just fucking insulting!”
Lilly
After all the trauma surrounding Ethan’s operation and subsequent return, I understood that he and Ryker needed to resolve their differences. Also the apartment was a mess.
The last few days had gone a way toward healing.
It still hurt. I thought it would hurt for a long while. But being without Ethan wasn’t an option.
Today, it was time to leave my nest and return to the real world.
I was so excited to see Verity. Being in her presence and catching up for lunch again, injected normality into these crazy times. We’d first met when I’d counseled her through the Omega program back on Tolis. She was only eighteen then, yet to reveal her dynamic and struggling with an abusive home situation.
She’d thought revealing as an Omega might save her from that terrible experience. In a way, it had, and then Woodrow entered her life.
Empaths were not allocated to the war. They were far too sensitive, and their skills offered nothing useful to a combat situation. It made them very attractive to the elite Alphas, who could court them as mates.
Woodrow was twenty years her senior. The kind of Alpha who stopped at nothing to get what he wanted, and he really wanted Verity. With her shock-induced white hair and deep, brown eyes, she was an unorthodox beauty that reminded me of a mischievous fairy princess. She hadn’t smiled a lot when I’d first met her, but she smiled a lot now. How she and Woodrow ever found a balance was beyond me when all the power felt so heavily in his hands.
Something had happened that fateful night when the Uncorrupted attacked Tolis, and she all but shone with inner strength.
Ethan had insisted on collecting her and dropping us both off at the mall together. We’d remained very circumspect with our conversation until we were alone. Once they pulled away, we both hugged and laughed. “I’m so excited about the baby,” she said. “I want one so desperately, but Woodrow thinks I’m not ready. Like my age makes any difference? Also, he’s old, and we need to consider that.” She smirked. “He was not impressed with me when I pointed that out.”
I laughed again. Every time I saw Verity, a new aspect of her personality revealed itself. The polite woman who had entered the program, against all probability, had bloomed into this new confident one, and with Woodrow as her mate no less.
We browsed the shops, chatting about the baby and my recent appointment with the specialist. Given my blood’s unique nature and the fact I still flushed, it was inevitable that my pregnancy would warrant a great deal of interest. Verity wanted all the details. I had a strong suspicion that she would be