Chapter 2

Odessa POV

“You’ve been gone for a week because you were getting married!” I hissed at my Mom in the safety of the kitchen.

“He took me on a spa getaway. I knew you would be fine,” she said, filling her glass with champagne.

“I’m always fine,” my voice cracked.

I cleared my throat so she wouldn’t notice how her abandonments over the years hurt me. It had always been the two of us for as long as I could remember. Boyfriends came and went, but at the end of the day, it was just us. I understood Sienna’s resentment towards me because my Mom and I were encroaching on her sacred space. Change was never easy, but I didn’t plan to be part of their big, happy family.

“I know that. Odessa, you’re the only reason I’m still alive. You’ve taken care of me your whole life.”

“Yeah,” I sighed.

She put her glass down and smiled at me. My Mom Arline had chestnut-coloured hair with honey-brown eyes, while I had deep red wavy hair and hazel eyes. She gave birth to me young and often referred to me as her best friend more than her daughter.

“Odessa, our lives won’t be the same. I gave up our apartment this morning.”

“You did what? Without telling me?”

She nodded. “Of course. I hope you packed that bag because we’re not going back.”

“What about our belongings?”

“Hello! Have you seen this house? I’ve lived in that apartment for over twenty years. I’m never going back, and neither are you as long as you’re my daughter, understand?”

I blinked a few times. That was one of the rare times she used an authoritative tone with me. It was terrifying when she pointed her finger and narrowed her eyes.

“Okay…”

She sighed and wrapped her arms around me. “You’re the best friend a girl could ever have. We’ll be fine. It’s still you and me against the world, honey.”

Tears threatened to cloud my eyes, but I pushed them away.

“Yeah. Go enjoy your party.”

She squealed, grabbed her glass and pranced out of the kitchen. The kitchen felt like the only safe place in this house. I heard the music and the laughter, but I couldn’t bring myself to join them.

I settled on a bar stool and buried my hands in my hair.

“Mate…”

I snapped my head up, and my eyes nearly popped out of my head.

“No, no, don’t say that!”

I rushed to stop Gage from speaking further. He planted his hand on the kitchen island and curled his fingers inside his fist. Veins bulged on his arms and neck. His gaze rendered me helpless and fearful.

“Don’t say that? It’s already done!” he snapped.

Why did it have to be him? He was Sienna’s boyfriend. Before my Mom started dating Barnette Sienna, all her friends didn’t know we breathed the same air, but the second I set foot in this house, everything changed. Sienna didn’t want me around, nor did she like how nice her Father was to me.

“Who the hell are you?” Gage asked. “Why did you have to show up now?”

I swallowed. “Odessa.”

“And you’re an omega. Shit.”

I bit the inside of my cheek. Omegas weren’t common in the Daciana Pack. There was a population of fewer than fifty of us. We were the lowest rank in the Pack. Omegas weren’t allowed in the army or the Pack council. The highest honour an omega could get in the Pack was to work in the Pack House. The only reason I wouldn’t work there is that Mom worked there when I was eight, and Maverick made my life miserable. Besides, I was in my third year of my physiotherapy degree. Working at the Pack House would be too time consuming.

Gage rubbed his face. “Sienna is furious about her Dad’s marriage and now this!”

“Please don’t tell her. We’ll figure this out.”

“How?” he barked.

“Look, I know you don’t want an omega for a mate…”

“I’m not superficial, but I’m not stupid either. I’m not going to date someone because of the mate bond, especially when her Mother’s a gold digger.”

I crossed my arms. “Neither would I, especially if he’s an airhead.”

Gage ground his teeth. Despite the rage rolling off him, his scent was intense. I smelled his desire and his primal instinct to mate. It was intoxicating, but we couldn’t.

Not here.

Not now.

“We don’t have to do anything,” I whispered.

“Easier said than done, don’t you think? I’m going back to my girlfriend, and I don’t want to see your face tonight. Is that clear?”

“Crystal.”

Gage tore his heated gaze from me. I didn’t want to see him either. They didn’t know me or my Mom. What do I do now? I promised not to return to the apartment. If Sienna has her way, I’ll be sleeping in the garden tonight. For now, the dimly lit kitchen was my only refuge.

My stomach rumbled, and the only place with food in this house was the living room where the party was. Luckily, I carried my homemade cake.

“No one wants it anyway.”

Their loss, I make really good cakes. I almost have enough money to start my own business.

“Isn’t it little Odessa Sloane?”

I shut my eyes and exhaled.

“She finally did it, didn’t she? Married a rich sucker.”

Alpha Maverick leaned on the wall a foot away from the island. I backed into the sink. When Maverick was younger, he had a habit of luring me into the storage room and kicking me into the bags of flour. He graduated from flour to trapping me in his Mother’s garden and turning on the sprinklers. He was a bored little boy with an ugly sense of humour.

“You know nothing about her.”

He chuckled. “I don’t? I was old enough to remember how she threw herself at every Beta in the Pack House. Did she have to choose my best friend’s Dad?”

He’s one to talk. His Mother married his Uncle so she could keep the title of Luna, and she had a child with him, but I wouldn’t say that. Maverick has a difficult relationship with his Uncle since his Father was… murdered. Besides, he was an Alpha. He could kill me, and no one would question him.

“You don’t care, Maverick.”

He took a step, and his cologne hit me in the face. I could only imagine the scent of that cologne mingled with sweat and blood after every football game. Despite being the Alpha, he was the star quarterback and the town’s pride and joy.

Maverick Campbell could do no wrong, even when he changed women as often as he changed his underwear. He picked fights with rivals off the football field and opposed the Pack council’s every move, but as long as he scored a touchdown every game, he was as good as a saint.

“I care if it affects my friends. Storm’s worried his Dad will lose everything he’s worked hard for. I’m worried you’ll get too comfortable.”

I scowled. “Leave me out of this, I don’t plan on staying.”

He chuckled and took another step until our bodies were inches apart.

Every fibre in my body told me to run, but my mind knew not to show an Alpha fear.

“Don’t try to be innocent, Odessa. I know you’re just as bad as your Mother. Watch your back. No one messes with my team and gets away with it. Got it?”

My limbs trembled, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing me defeated.

Maverick didn’t wait for my response. He made his threat and left. 

That’s how I became tangled with the Daciana Wildcat’s Fab Three.