I nearly lunge for him. I’ll kick him out of the house myself. I can deal with him being a shitty brat when it’s just him putting on a persona, but I don’t want him to talk about Cyra like that. Just as I’m about to move for him, I freeze on the spot when Cyra appears behind him, her eyes wide in fury. Uh, oh.
“You think I’m a coward?” Her voice is strained as she tries to keep her fury under control. “You think I’m a coward for wanting my own life?”
Zack nearly pours the glass with whisky over himself in surprise, managing to catch it right in time before he quickly lowers it. A flash of something like regret passes over his features, then anger flares up and he jumps up, spinning in Cyra’s direction as he makes himself broader and taller than he is, using his Alpha abilities. “Yes. You can still live your own life, even without putting your body full of chemicals. You just chose the easy way out.” He towers over her, but she doesn’t cower, at all. I don’t know if it’s because his Alpha power isn’t as strong while she’s taking meds, though even I can feel my body tense from it, or if she’s really good at resisting him, or maybe she’s just pissed off enough.
Her voice drops, an edge of danger to it, an edge of anger. “Do you remember the Omega who got taken a few years back? She went to college here, just like I did. She hadn’t taken her medication one morning, and, the same day, some Alpha’s family took her from the street and mated her to their Alpha son. That family didn’t care that their Alpha kid wasn’t the true mate of the Omega, they only cared that the Omega was of a rare type. They only cared that their Alpha would mate, forcefully mate, a rare Omega. An Omega who’d been filled with horrid drugs just to make that happen, so that their body wouldn’t reject the Alpha. Do you think I want to live with that fear every day of my life? You think I want a life like that?”
Zack doesn’t look so sure anymore, but apparently can’t keep his mouth shut. “You think you’re that special? Not everyone is special like that Omega. Get over yourself. It rarely happens, you’re just blowing things out of proportion.” He turns his back to her, getting back to the couch, sitting down.
Cyra tenses, her eyes narrowing at him, at his back, as she balls her fists at her side. “No. I’m more special than that.” Her voice is cold, like ice, tightly controlled fury only a moment away from exploding. “I’m more special than all of you combined. You, a mighty hydra, you’re nothing. You don’t even make the bottom of the shortlist of ‘suitable’ mates for me, if my parents have a say. I’m a fucking phoenix.”
Zack stills, his face going pale, his eyes growing wide. While I enjoy seeing him getting put in his place, Cyra’s words take away any joy I could feel from it. Oh, no.
She takes a step so she’s right next to him, in his line of sight. “Is that what you wanted to hear?” She’s still angry, her voice tight. “That’s my big secret, that’s why I hide. I’m a fucking Omega phoenix. If people find out, they will hunt me from all over the continent, maybe from all over the world. Do you still think I’m hiding out of cowardice? I’m hiding out of self-preservation. Because nobody in the whole fucking world will care what happens to me, me as a person, if they can stick their fucking Alpha dick in me and get me pregnant. If they can turn me into their own private baby machine, giving them pretty half-phoenix babies.”
The room goes deadly quiet.
Oh, crap. Oh, fucking hell, no.
This... No fucking way. She can’t... No way... But one glance at Liam tells me that I didn’t hear that wrong, I definitely didn’t hear that wrong...
Fuck.
What she’s saying is the absolute truth. I’ve always known it, but to have her say it like this, in this matter-of-fact way, it hits differently.
Now we know this, all four of us, we’re now responsible for her. If one of us messes up, accidentally lets this knowledge slip, we’ll be putting her in grave danger.
Until now, it was just her keeping this to herself, but now that we know... Now we know, we’ve become part of it too. Because she’s right. If she’s an Omega phoenix, then there are loads of people out there who would want her, who would want her for themselves. People who really don’t care about her as a person, people who really only care about what she is, not who she is.
Cyra strides over to the table, her movements measured, as she pours herself a glass of rum. “Is that enough reason to do what I do? Is that enough of an excuse?” She takes a deep gulp of the liquor and winces a moment as it burns down her throat, before taking another gulp. “How is it that I always end up having to quantify my experiences before anyone will listen to me? Why won’t people listen the first time?”
She sighs, not as angry anymore. “But what does any of that matter? What does what I want matter? My
