Chapter 179: Since When Were They Close

Torin

My jaw set so tight my back teeth ached, my eyes must be deceiving me, cause there is no actual that I am actually seeing what I am seeing right now. Lorali was holding a massive bouquet of deep red roses, her face flushed, her eyes bright and alive in a way I hadn’t seen in months. And standing right in front of her, leaning casually against the concrete pilar with a smooth, knowing smile, was Erin.

Since when do these two know each other? They can’t know each other!I didn’t even know they had ever met. Since when were they this close? Look at them, talking quietly, stepping into each other’s space, looking completely buddy-buddy.

It was infuriating. I was her fated main Alpha. I was the one who she had somewhat of a relationship with (even if it was a toxic one) the one who had shared a room with her once upon a time yet never once has she looked at me the way she is looking at Erin right now, even when she was pretending to like me. I never got that look.

"Torin, we should get moving," Oracle murmured gruffly beside me, his broad shoulders rigid in his suit. For some reason, he didn’t seem surprised to see how close Erin and Lorali are, which means he knew and he didn’t tell me.

"Not yet," I grumbled out through clenched teeth. "Come on." I straightened my jacket, stepped out of the shadows, and strode down the corridor with Oracle trailing behind me. We caught up to them just as Erin was handing my omega yet another gift.

"Oh, hi," I chimed in, forcing my smooth, charming public-relations voice into the chilly hall. "I didn’t know that you guys were this close."

Lorali didn’t even turn her head. The moment my voice echoed off the concrete, her smile vanished like it had never existed. She completely ignored my existence, her brown eyes remaining fixed on her roses as if I were nothing more than a draft of cold air passing through the hallway.

Unbelievable, I thought, blood boiling under my collar. She literally treats me like an invisible ghost but she was smiling at the man on the hour a few moments ago.

I turned my head toward Erin, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, Erin... since when are you even interested in figure skating?"

Erin flashed me a smile, that pissed me off, the jerk looked at me like nothing was wrong with this entire situation. "Oh, I’ve always been interested in skating, Torin."

Lorali’s head snapped up. Her dark eyebrows pulled together, her sharp eyes flicking back and forth between Erin and me, she looked as though something had finally dawned on her. "Oh, you two... you two know each other?"

I puffed my chest out slightly, stepping forward. "Oh, yeah! We are childhood friends! We’ve been close since... like, forever." Lorali stared at Erin, her lips parting slightly. "Really? That’s... that’s so interesting. I didn’t know that."

"Well," I said, offering her a tight, triumphant smirk, "now you do." I looked between the two of them, trying to bridge the gap and widen the space between the two. "How about we all go out to celebrate this great victory at a restaurant? What do you say, Lorali? My treat."

Lorali looked at me like I had just offered her a plate of fresh garbage. "Um... no, actually," she said flatly, pulling her dark coat tightly around her shoulders and tucking her roses under her arm. "I have other things to do. Good night."

Before I could say another word, she turned on her heel and practically ran down the hallway, her shoes clicking loudly against the concrete until she vanished around the corner toward the exit. My instincts screamed at me to chase after her, to grab her arm and demand to know where she was going, but I forced my feet to stay planted on the floor.

It’s useless, I admitted to myself bitterly, staring at the empty hallway. Chasing her right now, in front of everyone, will get me nowhere except another viral headline.

I slowly turned my whole body toward Erin, my eyes narrowing into razor-sharp slits as Oracle walked past me probably going after Lorali.

"What’s up, Erin?" I demanded, dropping the polite facade entirely. "How do you know Lorali like that?"

Erin stopped leaning on the pillar, standing up straight and crossing his arms over his chest with an infuriatingly relaxed expression on his face as if he was completely oblivious to my attitude. "Well... I donated some money into the Falcons ice rink, Torin. And, well... one thing led to another, and I met her. Since you were taking so long to introduce me to her yourself."

A cold spike of paranoia pierced my chest.

He donated money to her rink? I questioned silently, my pulse quickening. Without telling me? Erin has never cared about sports in his entire life! The man hates anything that involves sweat and a chance of dislocating your shoulder. He would never.

"Okay," I said, my voice dropping into something tight and controlling. "But why didn’t you tell me about this? It’s like... weird that you guys are this close and I didn’t have a single clue about it."Erin looked at me for a long, quiet second, his eyes flashing with a sudden confusion mixed with hurt.

"Why are you being so weird about this and asking me so many questions, Torin?" Erin asked coldly, pushing himself off the wall. "There is nothing that is off here. Nothing at all." Without waiting for my reply, Erin turned around and began walking away down the corridor, towards the exit.

Something is up, he is avoiding me, a heavy knot of dread forming in my stomach. Something is seriously wrong here. Something is up with Erin.

An hour later, the madness of the arena had settled.

All the post-match interviews, press conferences, and official photo sessions were finally wrapped up. Lorali left with Oracle to go somewhere and I didn’t put up much of a fight because I didn’t want to make a public spectacle out of her at the arena, especially not on the biggest day of her career. I wasn’t a total terrible person; she had earned her moment.

So, I went home alone.

When I unlocked the front doors of our penthouse, the thick, heavy silence of the house hit me immediately. The rest of my pack were home, I could smell it, and the atmosphere was dead, quiet, and suffocatingly low. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what had happened across town. Augi had clearly lost his hockey match. The Falcons had been crushed again, just like everyone expected.

I took off my coat, tossing it over the entryway chair, and strolled into the kitchen to grab a glass of water. As I rounded the island, my eyes caught sight of a large, beautiful white-and-gold bakery box sitting right in the middle of the counter.

I stopped, frowning. "Whose cake is this?" I called out toward the living room. Keion, who was sprawling lazily on the sofa watching TV on mute, shifted his head toward the kitchen. "Oh," Keion called back, his voice flat and exhausted. "Walter bought that for Lorali to celebrate her winning first place."

I stared at the pristine cake box, a heavy, tired sigh escaping my lips.

This whole effort Walter is putting in is just sad, I shook my head with a mixture of pity and irritation. He thinks a expensive bakery cake is going to fix his relationship with Lorali.

I knew for an absolute fact that if Lorali walked through that front door and saw this cake sitting on the counter, she wouldn’t smile, she wouldn’t even thank him. She would blow a literal fuse, scream at the top of her lungs, and probably smash the cake into his face.

Without hesitating for another second, I lifted the heavy bakery box, stepped over to the trash can, opened the lid, and tossed the whole thing right into the garbage. I don’t want to be back at New Hope before this night ends, the council is already on my ass.

Keion walked into the kitchen right as the lid snapped shut, opening the refrigerator to pull out a cold bottle of water.

"Good call on throwing away the cake," Keion noted dryly, unscrewing the cap and taking a long sip. "I’m pretty sure if Lorali saw that, she was going to throw it right into Walter’s face, rip his stitches off, and shove the frosting straight into the open wound."

"Yeah," I agreed heavily, leaning my palms against the cool edge of the island. "She definitely would have."

I straightened my posture, looking at Keion with a serious expression. "You know... Walter’s not my Omega, Kei. You’re the one who is bonded with him and everything. Can you please try to talk him out of constantly trying to befriend Lorali? Because every single thing he does is just pissing her off more."

Keion let out a dry, bitter laugh, shaking his head. "Dude... he’s hell-bent on earning her forgiveness. I’ve tried talking to him three times this week. He won’t listen."

"I wish he wasn’t trying," I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck as the exhaustion of the day finally settled into my bones.

I leaned closer to Keion, lowering my voice. "Do you even think this therapy stuff is working? Because honestly... I’m starting to think this therapist lady is making things a whole lot worse. And it’s going to be a very long time before the Omega Council gets off our backs, Kei. I’m finding it way harder than usual to set myself or this pack free... I can’t even find someone to bribe inside the Omega Council offices. They are airtight right now.""

Keion stopped drinking his water, looking at me with a skeptical, tilted head. "I think therapy is working, Torin. I mean... that lady really doesn’t know what she’s doing, but at least we’re forced to talk."

"I’m not worried about our therapist, Kei. I’m worried about the person who comes here to do wellness checks."

He paused, narrowing his dark eyes as my words registered in his brain.

"Wait..." Keion said, setting his water bottle down with a sharp clack. "What wellness checks?" he echoed, his throat going dry. Keion took a step toward me, his brow pulling into a deep, furious line. "An what do you mean ’the Omega Council is on your back’?! What are you talking about, Torin?!"

Panic flared in my chest. Dammit, I said too much. I immediately patted my jacket pockets with an exaggerated, frantic expression, stepping away from the counter. "Oh! You know what? I think... I think I left my car keys in the car!"

I turned on my heel, making a fast beeline for the front door. "Torin! TORIN!" Keion shouted, chasing after me, his voice rising in alarm. "You know secrets only harm this pack! Stop dodging me! What did the Council say?!"

I grabbed my coat off the chair, slamming my hand onto the brass door handle without looking back at him. "Be back anytime, Kei!" I called out cheerfully over my shoulder as I yanked the front door open. "We will totally continue this conversation when I get back! Bye!"

"TORIN—!"

I stepped out into the hallway, pulled the door shut with a loud BANG, and broke into a fast jog toward the elevator, having zero intention of coming back anytime soon.