Forget : A Dark Omegaverse (Unhingedverse)

Two weeks later

Mid March

Me:

Your father has business in the city today. He’s going to be busy for a few hours with Domh, can I take you out to lunch?

Usually, I would get lost in the minutiae like details of the boss’ day, but I really want some one on one time with Aisling. The guys have been dropping in on her since Valentine’s Day to bring her a treat, take her out to lunch, and Caelin took her on a date after they officially launched Omega’s Haven’s website.

I crave her presence, smile, her words, and spending time will help me remind my dick that we can wait. For her.

Aisling:

I was just thinking about how I should head out for lunch. I would love some company. Where are you thinking?

Shoulders dropping in relief, I text her the address to a small eatery around the corner. It should be quiet there since it’s later in the day and I want to be able to talk with her. Parking on the street, I walk to the restaurant, smiling as I see her headed toward me in the opposite direction.

Idly, I wonder where she parked, since it’s definitely too far to walk.

“Hey,” Aisling says with a big smile. “I’ve officially put the ad out for a managerial position. If I have to wade through a ton of resumes, then I will.”

Grinning, I decide to text my cousin about that when I get a chance.

“Look at you, asking for help,” I tease her as I open the door for her. “I’m proud of you, Princess.”

I don’t miss the small shiver at my words nor the pretty flush in her cheeks. Forcing myself to breathe, I rein in the urge to take the teasing any further. I loved watching her come apart for my pack as she claimed them during her heat, even Evan.

She’s truly our omega, taking care of everyone. I can wait my turn.

Walking inside, I nod to the hostess who beams at me. Aisling casually loops her arm through mine in possession, which makes me hide my smug smile.

That’s right, Princess. You tell her.

The hostess gazes at Aisling’s hand for a moment before whirling around and walking us toward a table by a window in the corner. I like my back to the wall, but move the chair Aisling will sit in so no one can walk up behind her. She glances at me in surprise as she sits down, while I simply shrug as I join her.

“I hope you find someone who understands what you’re building,” I tell her sincerely. “You deserve to be able to take breaks, to take care of yourself, without worrying about the haven the entire time.”

“Yes,” she says with a nod. “I hired a new grocery delivery service, and so far that’s going well, but I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. Maybe that’s pessimistic⁠—”

“It’s what you’ve been seeing daily, so it makes sense,” I tell her. “Some of it is growing pains as you find what works and what doesn’t.”

“I had an omega in Georgia reach out for possible relocation,” Aisling with a sigh. “I sent her and her daughters bus tickets. I’m going to meet her at the station in Minneapolis and bring her over. Which means, I need to also buy a van for the shelter.”

“I can see what you mean about the growing pains,” I murmur. “Caelin can find you a van with a solid price and no connection to you or the shelter. The plates will be untraceable as well.”

“Can he do it by next week?” she asks with a wince.

“Yep, I can text him now. It’ll be done by tomorrow, just because he needs to doctor the plates and paperwork. Insurance also will need to be put under an umbrella company,” I tell her, pulling out my phone to text our group chat.

“Wow,” she says as I huff out a laugh.

“Most things are easier with a hacker mate in your pack, Princess,” I say.

The waitress comes by to take our drink orders, and I order an appetizer when I hear Aisling’s stomach grumble. She sheepishly smiles as I shake my head.

“Your stomach is rioting,” I grumble. “We need to get you fed.”

The conversation is light as we chat and later order real food for ourselves when the waitress comes back with water for the table.

“This is nice,” Aisling confesses, popping a loaded smashed potato bite in her mouth. They have dollops of sour cream on them, and they’re delicious. Honestly, I’m harder than a rock simply watching her eat, though.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

“I’m not complaining, but was there a special reason for the invite?”

“I wanted to spend time with you,” I confess. “I’m trying to bide my time, let you find your way⁠—”

“Is that why you’re hanging on the fringes?” she asks.

“I want to be a better alpha for you,” I tell her. I’m going to therapy sessions regularly, making sure I don’t run into Aisling when I go. Dr. Alys said she wouldn’t tell her until I do.

Which means I in fact need to tell her. I can tell in the slight glare she gives me whenever I report that Aisling doesn’t know about my sessions.

“Open and honest communication, Aiden,” she growls every time. For someone so tiny, she sure is bossy as hell and scary as fuck.

“Aiden,” Aisling murmurs. “You really don’t think you are?”

“Absolutely not,” I confirm, shaking my head. “Listen, would it piss you off if I was seeing your therapist? For sessions, I mean.”

Blinking in surprise, Aisling’s head moves from side to side as if weighing my words.

“No, it wouldn’t,” she says. “Dr. Alys is amazing. I think it’s great for you to be going. Is that where the idea that you’re not good enough is coming from?”

“Not necessarily,” I grunt. “I’m trying to get past the fact that I felt ignored when we first met. Those feelings aren’t something you were responsible for, since you didn’t know we were scent matches. In my head, you were pushing aside both biology and fate.”

“I didn’t know,” she says. “The second I smelled your scent, I was pulled to you in a way that made me feel unbalanced and crazy. I needed to find you.”

“That’s what I’ve always been told,” I sigh. “The scent matching is instantaneous, but when you didn’t show any signs of being affected, I was irrationally angry.”

“Is that why you were being an asshole when I was packing up my apartment?” Aisling asks.

“Sorry,” I say with a wince. “I was pissed at Cian’s wife because she’s the reason you were living in that tiny apartment. You did everything you could just to survive, while she was living in your father’s house. I wish I could kill her again.”

“So that was your handiwork?” she asks with a smirk. Aisling isn’t even slightly worried that I’m a serial killer. Cian’s enemies are mine, end of story.

“Your father and I,” I confirm. “She’s making wonderful fertilizer for the garden.”

Aisling’s lips twitch as our food arrives, and the waitress refills our glasses with water before disappearing.

Aisling’s hair is wild with curls today, her ear muffs around her neck while we’re inside. She looks gorgeous in her new coat and violet dress, and I can’t stop staring at her. Obsession and love don’t seem enough to cover how I feel.

“I won’t even shed a tear,” Aisling says with a small chuckle. “Besides, Dad’s garden is beautiful in the summer. It’s nice to know revenge is the reason why.”

“You really are your father’s daughter and perfect for us,” I say with a grin.

Inclining her head as she takes a bite of her lunch, her eyes close briefly. This is a Greek inspired restaurant, and the food is delicious.

“I didn’t mean for you to feel the way you did—” Aisling begins, but I shake my head.

“I’m responsible for my emotions and how they affect others,” I growl. “I assumed and royally fucked up. End of story.”

Exasperated, Aisling glares at me but nods.

“So you have a large family?” she asks.

“Yes,” I drawl. “The thing is, the guys and I all grew up together, so there’s my family mixed with all of theirs. Family dinners are always filled with whoever can come, loud, and everyone is in each other’s business.”

“Sounds lovely,” Aisling says, looking like she means it. Even though she has her father, grandparents, and extended family, she didn’t grow up with them all.

“How was it living with your mother?” I ask, interested.

“She was amazing,” Aisling says. “Mom was patient, understanding, and worked her ass off. We moved a lot, but I always thought it was because she thought my dad was looking for her.”

“As far as I know, Cian let her go when she left,” I tell her. “She rejected him since they weren’t bonded, and while he always missed her, he moved on. I wonder if there was another reason why Bea left. We’ll never know why now, unfortunately, but it’s a possibility.”

“Mom had a lot of secrets,” Aisling admits. “It was a shock to find her dead when I came home from school, but I managed to take a few photos with me before I was kicked out of the apartment.”

“Domh may have killed Coons, your landlord,” I confess. At her wide eyes, I blow out a breath. “Okay, he definitely did. The way that you were kicked out pissed him off, and when he saw Coons hitting on someone else, he snapped.”

Standing, she leans over and throws her arms around me. Hesitantly, I wrap my arms around her waist, breathing in her sweet scent.

“I’ll thank Domh for his public service, but thank you for telling me,” she says, returning to her seat. “He was a creepy asshole.”

Smiling, I nod. “You’re welcome,” I say, relaxing. Looks like I won’t fuck this date up with my word vomit after all.

Aisling

“Where did you park?” Aiden rumbles, eyebrow raised as he opens the restaurant door.

He’s going to hate my answer. Killing time, I let my gaze trail over his heavy gray coat, navy blue sweater, and dark gray pants. Maybe that was why I decided I hated navy blue during my heat a couple of months ago…

This alpha is sexy, and by his smirk with his perfect teeth, he knows I’m stalling. Damn.

“A couple of blocks down in a garage,” I tell him. “Parking is always rough in the city.”

“I’m parked in the other direction,” he says with a sigh. “Can I walk you?”

“I’ll be fine to walk alone,” I reassure him, walking over and rising on my toes to kiss his jaw. His purr makes me sigh in contentment, and I smile up at him. “Dad gave me a high voltage stun gun the other day.”

Chuckling under his breath, Aiden smirks. “Of course he did. Always aim for the knot, Princess, or the throat. Anyone grabbing at you deserves it,” he says. “Though, the guys want to chase you once it’s warmer through the woods one night. You’d know ahead of time that it’s coming, just not when, if you’re game. I’m warning you because I prefer our men’s knots to stay intact.”

“You can’t just say that in the middle of the day!” I squeal, jaw dropping. God, why is that such a turn on?

“There are no rules for my mouth, Princess. Off you go,” he says with a lazy grin. “Have a good rest of your day. You’re sure you don’t want company?”

“Promise, pumpkin,” I tell him, giggling as I step back. His face is perfect as he wrinkles his nose at me.

Leaving him to think about that, I turn and start the walk back to my car. I have a couple of calls to return when I get back, a staff meeting, and⁠—

A hand covers my mouth as I walk around the corner of the street, while the other bands around my arms tightly. All I can smell is pickles as I gag and scream, raising my legs and kicking the alpha behind me.

“Fuck! A little help please,” Taylor snarls as he half drags me into an alley as I kick at him.

Shoving my hand into my coat pocket, I flick off the safety on the stun gun Dad gave me when I saw him for brunch three days ago. I don’t think he has any idea how perfect of a gift this would be.

Taylor shoves me toward Fredrick, who uses the momentum to backhand me across the face. Seeing stars, I use the excuse of grabbing him to hold onto him as I shove the stun gun into his knot. Grinning as I catch my balance, I spit in Fredrick’s face as he screams and drops to his knees.

“This looks like a party,” I say with an unhinged grin, looking for Harold. He’s the only one I haven’t seen yet, and they’re always together. “I think you all should have showered first, though.”

“You’re frying my cock!” Fredrick screams before I step away.

Finally seeing Harold trying to sneak up behind me, I pull my knife with my other hand and brandish it at him. Thank God for dresses with split skirts.

“Maybe you should learn to keep your hands to yourselves, friends. It’s so simple, kindergartners are even taught this,” I say condescendingly.

“You bitch, you ruined our lives,” Harold snarls. “Our parents kicked us out.”

Homelessness must be why their scents are more rank than usual.

“That’s sad, but I didn’t do a thing,” I tell him. “I’m just living my life, which is something you wanted to take away from me. The auctions, really?”

“You’re a pretty little slut, you’re going to sell well,” Fredrick grits out, trying to stand.

“Wait…” I mutter.

Did he say that as if they still plan to sell me?

“No waiting,” Taylor growls. “Emilia promised to find us good jobs if we delivered you to Madam Ophelia, so that’s what we have to do. There’s no use begging, Aisling. Though, maybe if you’re sweet to us, we’ll let you suck our cocks.”

“I’m not a whore!” I scream, my knife leaving my hand without fully realizing my intentions. These alphas are fucking delusional, and they’ll never learn unless I end their bullshit.

Taylor’s eyes bulge as the blade slides into his neck like butter. The knife Aiden replaced his with is wicked sharp, and perfectly balanced. My lips spread into a smile, happy he’s not going to be a problem anymore.

“I have a pack, boys, and they’re very protective,” I drawl, grabbing my phone in my pocket with my free hand and texting nine-one-one to Aiden without taking my eyes off of them all.

The idiots don’t even notice. Thank fuck he’s the last person I texted. “I think getting into bed with Emilia is a bad idea, though I hope she’s a good lay.”

Harold grabs my arm and lifts me with a scream as his other hand lifts me by my leg. I can’t fucking defend myself from this position as he throws me further into the alley. My body rolls as I slam into the ground, though I manage to keep my grip on my stun gun. Ugh, that’s going to leave some bruises.

“She really fucking hates you, Aisling,” Harold growls as Taylor drops on to his side. Harold looks down at him in pain before stepping over him, continuing toward me. “This is for Taylor, bitch.”

Fredrick cups his dick as he groans, slowly forcing himself to stand. “How many bruises are too many for the auction?” he asks, making me gasp as I scramble to my feet.

“There’s no fucking way I’m going with you,” I growl, hitting the button on the stun gun so it spits out volts of electricity at them. This is one of the better models, Dad said, and I shove the slider to increase the voltage. “For the record, I think this is a really bad idea. I’m packed up with some pretty scary alphas.”

My smile is bright as I talk to him, gazing at Harold as my next victim. Fredrick is walking a little funny already, so he’s less of a threat and less balanced. Harold is a fucking brick house. He threw me as if I weighed nothing. Dickcheese needs to go.

“No you’re not,” Harold snarls. “I can’t see any marks, bitch. Even if it’s true, some alphas like knowing they’re taking an omega away from their pack.”

Walking closer to me, I take deep breaths to attempt to keep the anxiety from making me pass out. I talk a lot of shit, but I’m still scared right now. My training only gets me so far in real world situations, especially when one of these alphas is way bigger than I remember him being.

Taking a step back, I make it look as if I’m going to run, even though I already know there’s no exit to this alley. Just as Harold growls and leans forward to run toward me, I take a running jump at his body, using his hair for leverage as I climb him to shove the stun gun into his neck.

“Aisling!” Aiden yells, making me gasp in relief.

“Alley!” I yell.

Thank God for Caelin. I found a tracker the other day in this coat, and decided there was no harm in leaving it. It had Caelin’s handiwork all over it. It also makes perfect sense since he always has a way of finding me.

Harold bucks and screams at me, slamming me into the wall to get me off me as I whimper and cling to him. The sad thing is that this is better than his fists. He’s not thinking well through his haze of pain, or he’d be hitting me to knock me out.

A shot rings out in the alley, and Harold grunts before falling back, unfortunately taking me with him.

Gasping, I breathe hard as I see that he was shot in his lower back, well away from me. Glancing up, I see Aiden aiming his gun at Fredrick, his eyebrow raised at me.

“Come here and retrieve your knife, Princess,” he growls, and I stand with shaking legs. My adrenaline is going to fuck with my body, I see.

“Do you want the honors of killing the asshole who was trying to flatten you like a pancake?” Aiden asks, concern in his eyes as I walk over and pull my knife from Taylor’s throat.

“Yes,” I grunt, my hands shaking as I swallow hard. My steps are all over, as I walk back, tripping over my feet, and I hear Aiden curse as he shoots Fredrick in the head.

“You had your fun with him, Princess,” he coos, quickly wrapping his arms around me as we walk together back to Harold. “Shall we do this together?”

“Ye…es,” I rasp, my teeth starting to chatter.

“You’re doing so good,” he purrs as I gasp out a breath, feeling tears beginning to sting the back of my eyes.

Adrenaline crash is an asshole.

“Do you want the knife or my gun, Princess?” he asks. “Both get the job done. Are you going to let me insult you by asking if you can use a gun?”

“Whose daughter am I?” I snarl. “Dad taught me months ago, I just prefer a knife. A gun works for this if you’ll help me stay steady. I just want him dead so I can go home. I’ll make my calls after a warm bath and maybe some whiskey.”

“Whatever you want,” Aiden promises, breathing deeply as he shoves his face in my neck.

Harold grunts as he tries to turn himself to crawl away, and Aiden kicks him.

“Stay still, asshole. You’re dying either way. Let me have my moment with my girl,” he mutters.

The way he claims me in front of Harold makes me huff out a laugh. Of course he’d do it while I’m about to blow someone’s brains out. It’s fitting somehow.

Taking my knife from me, Aiden cleans it on the back of Harold’s coat, since he’s managed to flop over like a beached whale. I’m a little surprised that the bullet didn’t paralyze him.

Putting it back in the holster strapped to my thigh, he puts his gun in my hands. We’re both wearing gloves so fingerprints aren’t an issue.

Wrapping his hands around my wrists and hands to steady me, he whispers, “You don’t even need to see the asshole’s eyes if you don’t want to. Point, shoot, and send him to hell. Thank you for messaging me and trusting me to help.”

Nodding, I sniffle as I use my coat to dry my eyes. Blinking rapidly to clear my vision, I step forward to grind my boot into the back of Harold’s neck.

“Hold still, dickcheese,” I growl. “Perfect.”

Pulling the trigger, I watch dispassionately as the bullet goes through the back of his head. The bullet is meant to leave a small hole instead of messy spray, something I’m grateful for, so I’m not wearing gray matter.

Kissing my temple, Aiden tugs me away, removing the gun from me to put it away. Holding me, he calls someone, putting it on speaker phone.

“Aiden? What’s wrong?” Dad barks, sounding panicked.

“I’m fine, Dad,” I say, my voice shaky and filled with unshed tears.

“You don’t sound fine…” Dad drawls. “Excuse me, gentlemen. My daughter needs me.”

“I need a clean up crew, boss,” Aiden says. “I would just do it myself, but Pack Dayton tried for Aisling, and lost pretty spectacularly.”

“Why would they do this, Aisling?” Dad asks.

“Emilia,” I sigh. “She said she’d get them well paying jobs if they kidnapped me and brought me to Madam Ophelia to be sold. She’s going to be a problem.”

“Fuck. I hate that my hands are bound for now when it comes to her,” Dad growls. “Are they all dead?”

“Yes,” I tell him.

“What’s wrong?” Domh asks. “Are we going to her?”

“Yeah,” Dad says. “I’ll call the clean up crew, my daughter. Aiden, just stay with her.”

“Yes, Sir,” Aiden says before putting his phone away to turn me in his arms and lift me, so that I can wrap myself around his body like a spider monkey.

“Fuck, like you could keep me away right now, Princess. You don’t even have to look if you don’t want to.”

Burying my face in his neck, I think about how lucky I am to have training and Aiden was not far away. This could have ended a lot differently.

“Do I even have to ask how they’re going to find us?” I ask, sighing.

“You know there’s a tracker in your coat pocket, Princess. Don’t pretend to be coy,” he murmurs. “Just be with me, everything else is handled.”

Relaxing as Aiden purrs for me, I let the last of the anxiety of today bleed out of me.