Page 69 of Shattered Trinket
“We don’t want to hurt her, baby sister. We’ll fix this, I promise. If she loves him, then that’s all that matters. Isn’t that right,hermano?”
As he utters the Spanish word for ‘brother’, his clenched teeth add an edge to his words, and I can’t help but react to the tension in his eyes that seems to penetrate my very being. When Zeke joins us on my other side, I clear my throat and notice an unfamiliar expression on his face, one that I’ve never seen before in all the years we’ve known each other. His lips are pressed together tightly, his eyes refusing to meet mine, and I can feel a lump forming in my throat as I try to swallow.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath.
“If she trusts him,loveshim, then I guess I’ll have to give him a chance to prove me wrong.”
Ripley smiles and leans her head against River’s chest.
“Good. Then go fix this mess so they can get back out here and everyone can get to know Micah and Jeremiah. If she doesn’t come back out with a smile on her face, I’m kicking you in the balls,” she huffs, narrowing her eyes, and I know she means it, which makes me wince at just the thought.
With me leading the way, my brothers and I make our way inside. As we enter the kitchen, Ma and my dads turn their heads to look at us. Letting out a sigh, I approach Ma and plant a loving kiss on her soft cheek.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not me you should be apologizing to, sweetie.”
I nod and say, “I know. I’ll fix this. I promise.”
We leave them in the kitchen and ascend the stairs, the sound of our footsteps echoing through the otherwise empty house. As we reach Ripley’s old room, I notice that the door is slightly ajar, but the absence of any sound makes me tread carefully. Cautiously, I push the door open, my entrance into the room deliberate and unhurried. As soon as I step inside, I can’t help but to breathe in deeply, inhaling Cozy’s familiar scent that’s become embedded in every area of the room. Her bed is a chaotic mess, overflowing with pillows and stuffed animals, and the image of her sleeping there, buried beneath it all, brings an unbidden smile to my face.
I search the room, but there’s no sign of her or the two alphas in the room. When I glance towards her closet, I notice that the door is wide open, their scents strongest there. Looking inside, my eyes are drawn to the door at the very back, triggering memories of Ma’s words about the special nest Dad built for Cozy. I approach the closed door and gently tap on it, and when it opens, the resonating sound of Cozette’s sorrowful cries fills the space, momentarily diverting my attention from the intimidating man glaring at me.
She’s in the most impressive nest I’ve ever seen, so packed full of clothes and blankets that it’s practically a fort. Micah holds her tightly in his arms, murmuring calming words as she curls into a protective ball. Despite his efforts to ease her, her sobbing persists. With each passing moment, her cries grow louder, her small body shaking with visible tremors, her flawless face now a deep shade of red, stained by the trails of her tears, and I can’t help but feel a sharp pain in my chest. The need to force my way inside and pull her into my arms so I can apologize and take away her hurt is impossibly hard to ignore, but going inside without her permission would only make things worse.
I can feel my brothers’ discomfort at my back, and I know it’s just as hard for them not to barge through the opening to get to her, her cries distressing to us all and like a rusted knife to the heart. Eventually, I pull my eyes from the sight of the omega that my instincts scream is mine and look at Jeremiah.
“I suppose you won’t be the only one apologizing today,” I sigh, running my fingers through my hair. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have attacked you, I just…” I pause, blowing out a breath. “There’s no excuse, really. I let my anger get the best of me and I hurt her with my actions, which is something I never want to do.”
The longer his piercing gaze lingers on me, the more my chest tightens in response to Cozy’s incessant cries. Finally, he lets out a long sigh, his face easing into a relaxed expression as he shakes his head.
“Get the fuck in here and fix what you broke or I can’t promise you won’t walk out of here with something of yours broken to make shit even,” he rumbles out, and he doesn’t have to tell me twice.
I visibly deflate and climb inside after kicking my shoes off, dropping to my knees the minute my feet touch the foam floor. I crawl to where she is until I’m at her front, and then I lay myself out until we’re face to face, laying my head on my arm as I let my eyes take stock of the damage I caused.
Tears cascade down her cheeks and across the bridge of her nose, falling onto the blanket beneath her. She hiccups when she sees me, her lower lip trembling as even more tears escape, each one breaking a piece of my heart. The mingling scents of her own fragrance, as well as Micah and Jeremiah’s, fill the surrounding air, and what surprises me most is how… at ease their scents make me feel, despite not knowing them.
“Cozy?” I whisper, and she turns her face until it’s buried in the blanket clutched in her hands, making my throat constrict.
“You’re killing me here, Smalls. Please look at me. I can’t stand that I’ve made you cry. It’s breakin’ my heart,Beautiful.”
“I-I’m n-not s-small!” she hiccups out, turning to narrow her glassy eyes on me and making me smile, which seems to aggravate her even more as she growls through clenched teeth.
“There she is,” I murmur, slowly reaching my free hand out to cup her cheek, swallowing around the lump in my throat when she flinches.
My initial instinct is to withdraw my hand, but her throat emits a distinct sound, causing me to reconsider. I gently place it back and proceed to tenderly wipe away the tears that have left trails on her lovely, freckled cheeks using my thumb.
“I’m so sorry, Cozy. I wasn’t thinking, and I let my anger get the best of me. I’m already screwing this up with you, and we’ve barely even started.”
My eyes flick all over her face, memorizing the way she looks right now so that I never make the same mistake again. I don’t ever want to be the cause of her tears, of her pain.
Slowly, her tears stop flowing, her eyes puffy and red, and she sniffles, wiping her nose on the blanket with a grimace.
“I understand if you’ve all changed your minds. If you-if you don’t think you can-,” I place my hand over her lips, stopping her from going any further with a shake of my head when her eyes fly up to mine.
“We haven’t changed our minds. If you trust him, then we’ll learn to trust him too. In fact,” I pause, glancing over at the door where Zeke and Manny are still standing, unsure of whether they should come in or not. “We’d like it if you’d come stay with us. All of you,” I say, glancing at Micah at her back and then at Jeremiah, who’s still standing guard at the door.
I didn’t exactly run this by the guys, but I can feel their support and anticipation building as we all wait. We need her to say yes. For all of them to say yes. If they all come stay with us, we’ll havemore opportunities to bond and build stronger connections. It’ll also show us if we can function as a cohesive unit, with no barriers or divisions among us. If Micah and Jeremiah are hers, that means they’ll become family and my brothers, just like Zeke and Manny.