Page 22 of Shattered Trinket
Ma chuckles and Pops joins her.
“Not really. It took a bit for them to warm up to two new alphas coming into what they’d thought was an alreadyestablished pack, not to mention how odd it felt for Jackie and Aiden because the others had been with each other for years. While they had to get to know their omega, they also had to get to know the rest of her alphas. I suppose it helped them all accept the change because of how obvious Rya was with her feelings towards them all. The power of an omega, eh?” Ma says, waggling her brows.
I don’t say anything to that, and Pop’s eyes me.
“Is that something you think you’d be capable of doing if it turns out there’s someone else out there meant for her?”
Zeke doesn’t even think about it, immediately saying yes, but I keep quiet because the truth is, I don’t know.
Biting her lips, I watch as Ma seems to contemplate before releasing a shuddering breath. Pops hugs her tight to his side, squeezing her arm gently, and she gives him a watery smile before looking back at Zeke and me.
“I’m going to tell you two this only to help you understand Cozy a little more, especially with this new enlightenment. I only found out before she came home, but Cozy was a late bloomer. Not only that, she’s also the daughter of two beta parents, from a community full of betas. She’d been living as a beta before she perfumed, hadn’t even left the town she’d grown up in. She didn’t know anything about being an omega or much about alphas when Victor Travis found her. And the things he taught her about alphas and omegas, the ones that I know about at least, are…despicable. We’ve been working to teach her that nothing he told her was true, but it’s been hard for her to forget what she was taught after… after what he did to get her toobey,” Ma spits out in disgust, and I clench my hands in my lap. “You need to take care if you’re going to pursue anything with her. Don’t hurt her, baby boy.”
The more I learn, the tighter my chest feels as a rage unlike anything I’ve ever experienced engulfs me on Cozette’s behalf.Neither Zeke nor I know what to say after that, and when we leave ten minutes later, declining to stay for dinner even though we both want to, neither of us says a word on the way home. Zeke is no doubt lost in thought about the broken omega my parents have taken in, while I’m still trying to simmer the burning anger in my gut and figure out how I’d feel if our pack grew by more than just an omega.
Eight
Cozette
I find myself tossing and turning when I crawl into bed after dinner, unable to fall asleep as thoughts of two new alphas invade my brain.
When Mama Valley had come back in, following the two men to the front door, I’d hid around the corner and watched like a total creeper. But I couldn’t stop myself. I felt drawn to the two, much like Jeremiah and even Micah. Like a moth to a flame, something about them called out to my shattered soul, tugging on it in a way that decimated the fear of being burned.
I knew they’d been out there talking about me, and as much as it sucked to know they were hearing about some of what I’ve been through, I couldn’t fault Mama Valley for letting them know about me. It was obvious when I walked into the kitchen and we saw each other that they had no idea who I was or what I was doing in their parents’ house.
When I found Damien, I’d just sat in the chair across from him in a stupor, albeit a little shaken. I was dumbfounded that I wasn’t losing my mind over not only meeting two new alphas, but that instead of being overcome with fear when the big one had grabbed my hand, I’d been… flustered. Their scents of spiced gingerbread and ooey-gooey cinnamon rolls had infiltrated my brain, completely overtaking my senses. I felt at ease in their presence, the way that I am with Jeremiah and Micah, and that confused me.
Ripley had talked to me about her siblings, told me about them all and their packs, but meeting her brother in person for the first time wasn’t like anything I’d been expecting.
The first thing I noticed about Ridge was that he’s almost an exact replica of Shep, but with Valley’s black hair and eyes that match Ripley’s pretty hazel. He’s shorter than Jeremiah by several inches, but still much taller than me thanks to me only being four foot ten. Being so close to him, it was impossible not to catch his spiced gingerbread scent that did funny things to my senses, drawing me in more.
The stunned look in his eyes when he’d turned around to find me behind him had made my belly flip, and when his pack brother, Zeke, had shoved him out of the way, those flips turned into somersaults.
Zeke is, for lack of a better word, a giant, much like Jeremiah. But unlike Jeremiah, Zeke’s energy felt softer, more playful and outgoing. Like me, he’s pale, with freckles everywhere I could see. His wavy, fiery red hair that reached down to his shouldersmade my fingers twitch, and the urge to touch it to see if it was as soft as it looked had been difficult to ignore. I couldn’t help but find him endearing as I compared him to an energetic puppy with the way he smiled at me, his dark green eyes shining as they met mine. He smelled like cinnamon rolls, and I found that fitting because… well, to be honest, he looks like a giant cinnamon roll of an alpha. It also might have made my mouth water, but I can’t for the life of me figure out why.
When he’d grabbed my hand and kissed it with the sweetest smile, calling me an angel, my heart had crawled up my throat.
I don’t think anyone’s ever called me an angel before.
Nobody mentioned their sudden arrival at dinner, and because I wasn’t completely sure what I was feeling, I was okay with that. But now, I feel the need to talk to someone. To have someone help me understand.
I grab my phone from my nightstand, seeing it’s after ten at night and wondering if it’s too late to call Ripley. In the end, I find her name in the contacts and click on it, picking at my bottom lip anxiously as I sit up. The phone rings for what seems like forever, and I can’t help the sigh of relief that escapes me when she answers.
“Cozy? Everything okay?”
“Um… No? I mean, yes. I’m fine. I just…”
I bite my lip, unsure of what to even say. Her voice is muffled for a moment before I hear some rustling and a door shut on her end.
“Okay. It’s just us girls. Now tell me what’s got you calling me so late, or I’ll worry and have to drive over just to make sure you’re really okay,” she says teasingly, but I don’t miss the hint of concern underneath.
I blow out a breath and get up, moving over to the window so I can look up at the night sky. Clearing my throat, I work through my thoughts.
“I met Ridge tonight. Zeke, too,” I finally say, my voice hesitant to my own ears.
“Oh? Oh! Oh, no. Did they scare you? I’ll go to their house right now and kick them in the balls if they stressed you out! Just say the word and their nuts are toast!”
I can’t help but giggle because I can tell she means it. Crazy omega that she is.