CHAPTER 4

Jamie woke before the sun.

For several seconds, he didn't know where he was.

He stared at the ceiling, breathing slowly, listening to the silence of his apartment.

Then he remembered.

The engagement party.

Ryan.

The garden.

The bond.

His eyes dropped to his wrist.

The silver mark was still there.

Faint now.

Almost invisible.

But still burning.

Jamie touched it with the tips of his fingers.

Pain shot through him.

He immediately pulled his hand away.

“No.”

His wolf stirred.

Mate.

Jamie squeezed his eyes shut.

“Don't.”

Mate.

“I said don't.”

He rolled onto his side and dragged the blanket over his head.

It didn't help.

Ryan's voice was still in his mind.

You're not getting away from me.

Jamie remembered the way Ryan had looked at him.

Not with disgust.

Not with anger.

With certainty.

As if the answer had been obvious.

As if Jamie had been lying to everyone except himself.

Jamie hated that certainty.

He hated the bond.

He hated the strange warmth that had spread through his body when Ryan touched him.

Most of all, he hated the tiny part of himself that had wanted Ryan to touch him again.

Jamie sat up abruptly.

“No.”

He ran both hands through his hair.

He couldn't think about Ryan.

He wouldn't.

Because there was someone else he needed to think about.

Someone who had been there long before Ryan.

Someone who had known him before he learned how to hide.

Ethan.

Jamie reached for his phone.

There were six missed calls.

All from Ethan.

A message sat beneath them.

Ethan: Please tell me you're okay.

Jamie stared at it.

His chest tightened.

He hadn't answered.

He should have.

He knew Ethan would be worried.

Ethan always worried.

Even when Jamie told him not to.

Especially when Jamie told him not to.

Jamie typed:

Jamie: I'm fine. Just tired.

He stared at the message.

Then deleted it.

Typed again.

Jamie: Sorry. I needed some air.

He sent it.

The reply came almost immediately.

Ethan: You scared me.

Jamie smiled faintly and placed the phone facedown.

He couldn't call him... No matter how much he wanted to.

Not yet.

Because if he heard Ethan's voice, he knew he would break.

And Jamie had spent six years learning how not to break.

----------------------

Six years earlier, Jamie had believed home was permanent.

He had been sixteen.

Young enough to believe his parents' love couldn't disappear.

Old enough to understand when it did.

The day everything changed had started normally.

School.

Homework.

A test he hadn't studied enough for.

His mother had promised to make his favorite dinner.

Jamie had walked home thinking about it.

He remembered smiling as he opened the front door.

“I'm home.”

No answer.

Jamie frowned.

The house was too quiet.

His schoolbag slipped from his shoulder.

“Mom?”

Still nothing.

Then he heard voices coming from the dining room.

His father's.

His mother's.

And something else.

Something in their voices made Jamie stop.

He walked toward the dining room.

His father was standing beside the table.

His mother sat in a chair, crying.

Jamie froze.

“Dad?”

His father looked at him.

There was something in his eyes Jamie had never seen before.

Disgust.

Jamie swallowed.

“What's wrong?”

His father didn't answer.

Instead, he asked:

“When did you know?”

Jamie frowned.

“Know what?”

His father slammed a sheet of paper onto the table.

It was the results of the last series of evaluations they had done. The one that determined their designation in the pack... In other word, a report sheet for pack hierarchy.

Jamie stared at it.

His name was printed across the top.

JAMIE VALE.

Below it in red was a word that changed his life.

OMEGA.

Jamie stopped breathing.

There had to be a mistake... most Omegas were girls.

His mother began crying harder.

“Jamie,” she whispered.

His father stepped toward him.

“How long?”

Jamie couldn't speak.

“Answer me.”

His father's voice rose.

“You've been hiding this?”

“I wasn't hiding anything.”

“You knew your capabilities all along.”

“No. That can’t be right... I'm the fastest wolf in the pack.”

“Fast yes, but still the smallest in the pack.”

Jamie backed away.

“Dad, please.”

His father looked at the report again.

“An Omega.”

The disgust in his voice was unmistakable.

Jamie felt something inside him collapse.

“I didn't choose it.”

His father laughed.

“You think that makes it better?”

His mother stood.

“Please.”

His father ignored her.

“Do you understand what this means?”

Jamie shook his head.

“It means our family name will become a joke.”

“Dad—”

“An Omega son.”

His father spat the words like they were an insult.

“Do you know what people will say?”

Jamie began crying.

“I didn't do anything.”

“You were born wrong.”

The words stayed with him.

Even after six years.

Even now.

His mother finally stood between them.

“Stop.”

His father looked at her.

“You're defending him?”

“He's our son.”

“Not anymore.”

Jamie stared at him.

His father's expression didn't soften.

“Pack your things.”

His mother's face crumpled.

“Please don't do this.”

“He cannot stay here.”

Jamie couldn't move.

“Dad…”

“Pack your things.”

“Where am I supposed to go?”

His father looked away.

“I don't care.”

That was the moment Jamie understood.

His father meant it.

He wasn't angry.

He wasn't bluffing.

He was done with him.

Jamie ran upstairs.

He packed everything he could fit into one backpack.

Clothes.

His schoolbooks.

His phone charger.

A photograph of his family from when he was ten.

He stared at that photograph for a long time.

Then he put it back.

He didn't know why.

Maybe because some part of him still believed they would come after him.

They didn't.

Jamie walked out of the house alone.

His mother stood at the door crying.

She didn't stop him.

His father didn't even look at him.

The door closed behind him.

And Jamie stood on the pavement with a backpack over his shoulder, realizing he had nowhere to go.

----------------------

He went to school because he didn't know where else to go.

It was almost evening when Ethan found him.

Jamie was sitting behind the gym.

His knees were pulled against his chest.

He had been crying for so long that his face hurt.

Ethan stopped when he saw him.

“Jamie?”

Jamie wiped his face quickly.

“Go away.”

Ethan frowned.

“No.”

“I said go away.”

Ethan sat beside him.

Jamie looked at him.

“I don't want company.”

“Too bad.”

“Ethan.”

“You're crying.”

“No, I'm not.”

“You have mascara under your eyes.”

“I don't wear mascara.”

“Then you're definitely crying.”

Jamie almost laughed.

Almost.

Instead, another tear slipped down his cheek.

Ethan's smile disappeared.

“What happened?”

“Nothing.”

“Jamie.”

“I'm fine.”

Ethan looked at the backpack beside him.

Then at Jamie.

“Why do you have your whole life in that bag?”

Jamie looked away.

His silence answered the question.

Ethan's voice softened.

“Did something happen at home?”

Jamie couldn't speak.

Ethan didn't push.

He simply sat beside him.

Five minutes passed.

Then ten.

Finally, Jamie whispered:

“My parents kicked me out.”

Ethan's entire expression changed.

“What?”

“They found out I'm an Omega.”

Silence.

Jamie waited for the disgust.

For the awkwardness.

For Ethan to move away.

Instead, Ethan asked:

“Where are you staying tonight?”

“I don't know.”

“Okay.”

Jamie looked at him.

“Okay?”

Ethan stood.

“Come home with me.”

Jamie blinked.

“What?”

“My house.”

“I can't.”

“You can.”

“Your parents—”

“Will be fine.”

“They won't want—”

“My mother already loves you.”

Jamie shook his head.

“I can't just live with you.”

“Then don't.”

Ethan picked up Jamie's backpack.

“Stay tonight.”

Jamie stared at him.

“And tomorrow?”

Ethan shrugged.

“We'll figure out tomorrow tomorrow.”

That was Ethan.

He never promised solutions.

He simply promised that Jamie wouldn't face things alone.

----------------------

Sarah Hale opened the front door that evening.

She took one look at Jamie.

Then at the backpack in Ethan's hand.

Her expression changed.

“What happened?”

Ethan answered before Jamie could.

“Jamie needs somewhere to stay.”

Sarah immediately stepped aside.

“Come in.”

Jamie hesitated.

“Mrs. Hale—”

She shook her head.

“Come in, sweetheart.”

He did.

That night, Sarah made him food.

She didn't ask questions.

She didn't demand explanations.

She simply placed a plate in front of him and told him to eat.

Later, when Jamie was lying in the unfamiliar bedroom Sarah had prepared for him, there was a soft knock on the door.

Ethan entered.

He sat on the edge of the bed.

Jamie stared at the ceiling.

“You don't have to stay,” he whispered.

Ethan frowned.

“Where else would I go?”

“I mean…”

Jamie swallowed.

“You don't have to keep taking care of me.”

Ethan was quiet.

Then he leaned back against the headboard.

“You're my best friend.”

Jamie looked at him.

“And?”

“And that's what best friends do.”

Jamie's eyes burned.

“I don't have a family anymore.”

Ethan's expression softened.

“You do.”

Jamie stared at him.

“You have us.”

A tear slipped down Jamie's cheek.

Ethan wiped it away.

“You don't have to be alone.”

Jamie closed his eyes.

For the first time that day, he let himself breathe.

Then Ethan made the promise that would stay with Jamie for the next six years.

“I'll never leave you.”

----------------------

Jamie opened his eyes.

Morning had arrived.

He was still sitting on the edge of his bed.

Six years.

That promise had shaped everything.

Ethan had kept it.

When Jamie had his first difficult heat, Ethan had stayed nearby without crossing any boundaries.

When Jamie struggled at university, Ethan had helped him study.

When Jamie got sick, Ethan had sat beside his bed.

When Jamie had nightmares, Ethan had answered his phone.

When Jamie felt alone, Ethan had been there.

Ethan hadn't simply become his best friend.

He had become home.

And that was why last night hurt so much.

Jamie had spent six years loving the person who had saved him.

And now that same person was engaged.

To someone else.

His phone vibrated.

Jamie looked down.

Ethan: You’re coming over.

Jamie frowned.

Before he could reply, another message appeared.

Ethan: Don't argue.

Jamie sighed.

“Of course.”

----------------------

An hour later, Jamie was back at the Hale estate.

The engagement party had mostly emptied.

The house was quieter now.

Staff were cleaning glasses from tables.

Flowers were being moved.

The evidence of celebration remained everywhere.

Jamie walked through the garden.

He needed to clear his head.

He heard footsteps behind him.

“Jamie.”

He stopped.

Ethan.

Jamie turned.

Ethan looked exhausted.

His tie was loose.

His hair was slightly messy.

He looked less like the confident heir everyone admired and more like the sixteen-year-old boy who had once found Jamie behind the gym.

“You disappeared.”

“I told you I needed air.”

“For six hours?”

Jamie shrugged.

“I lost track of time.”

Ethan approached.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

“Jamie.”

“I am.”

Ethan studied him.

“You're lying.”

Jamie looked away.

“I'm tired.”

“Did Ryan say something to you?”

Jamie froze.

Ethan noticed.

His expression immediately darkened.

“What did he say?”

“Nothing.”

“Did he scare you?”

“No.”

“Did he hurt you?”

“No.”

Ethan stepped closer.

“Then why did you leave?”

Jamie couldn't answer.

Because the truth was impossible.

Your fiancé is my fated mate.

How could he say that?

How could he tell Ethan that his wolf had recognized Ryan?

How could he explain that the universe had apparently chosen the worst possible moment to rewrite his life?

Jamie looked down.

“I just…”

His voice broke.

He cleared his throat.

“I'm happy for you.”

Ethan stared at him.

“I know.”

“No.”

Jamie looked up.

“I really am.”

Ethan stepped closer.

“You don't sound happy.”

Jamie smiled.

“I'll get over it.”

Ethan's eyebrows pulled together.

“Get over what?”

Jamie immediately looked away.

“Nothing.”

Ethan reached out.

His fingers touched Jamie's cheek.

The familiar gesture nearly destroyed him.

It was the same way Ethan had touched him six years ago.

The same gentleness.

The same warmth.

The same person.

Jamie couldn't hold himself together anymore.

His eyes filled.

Ethan froze.

Jamie quickly turned his face away.

“I'm sorry.”

“Jamie…”

“I'm just tired.”

Ethan didn't answer.

Jamie felt a tear slip down his cheek.

Ethan's thumb gently caught it.

He stared at the tear on his fingertip.

His expression changed.

The smile disappeared.

The confusion disappeared.

Something deeper replaced it.

Something almost frightening.

Ethan looked back at Jamie.

His voice was barely audible.

“Jamie…”

And for the first time in six years, Ethan looked at him as though he was finally seeing something Jamie had spent his entire life trying to hide.