Page 36 of Daughter of Garnet

How am I meant to do this on my own?

I ache to look up, reach for Dominic, and spill my guts. Tell him everything and hope that he is someone who can help me understand what I’m going through.

I feel like myself, but there is something extra there that I am struggling to adjust to living with. It’s like I’ve grown another finger on each hand, and I have to relearn how to do everyday things with what should be more useful, but instead makes everything harder.

It’s as if there was a part of me hidden away, and the door in front of it has now been unlocked. Things are starting to trickle in through the cracks, and I know that, eventually, I’m going to have to take the step into the room, but I am not ready.

And am I supposed to do it alone, to make that leap without someone to hold my hand, even if it’s just the voice of a Goddess in my head that I can’t reach?

It’s overwhelming. Exhausting. I have no idea what Ilota wants from me, or why she needs me to hide who I am, and yet I am following her rules.

Something tells me disobeying a Goddess isn’t a wise decision. Except, aren’t I exactly where I need to be if I am to help her? This place is meant to help us acclimate to our designations. Wouldn’t the administration want to know that a Goddess we thought lost to us is back, and has Blessed me?

It feels like a cause for a celebration, not a secret to be kept.

But how would I prove I've been Blessed? I don’t have an beast. Or if I do, I can’t reach it to shift. There is no way that anyone would believe me.

She has chosen me, and I’m already failing her. It is hard to pass a test when you don’t even know the questions.

The loud crash of a book falling to the floor in front of me startles me out of my thoughts. “Who were you talking to, Omega?”

A shiver runs down my spine at his low tone, and I duck my head under my arms. I can’t look at him and lie to his face.

The weight of his presence presses on me, and I know, if I were to open my eyes, I’d see him squatting right in front of me. I squeeze them shut tighter, pulling my knees closer to my chest.

He grabs me by the shoulders. “What's wrong with you? Why are you talking to yourself?”A pained sound escapes me at the weight of his touch, and I try to wiggle away from it. His fingers dig into my flesh, anchoring me to him and halting my movements. A dark, rumbling sound escapes him. “Oh, little bunny. I knew this was going to happen.”

I doubt he knew that a Goddess would speak to me in my head and that I’d watch my teeth shift in my reflection.

“Your lies are catching up to you. It's only a matter of time before you get caught.” His strokes on my back match his harsh tone, but I still melt into them all the same. “It can’t be easy to hide your nature from everyone. You’re all on your own, without your own kind around you. You're not meant to be by yourself."

Warmth fills my chest as my breathing starts to slow. Just being near him, being touched by him, has me feeling better than I have since I tried on that beautiful dress, even though I can tell his motivation is more cruel than kind.

“You’re probably starved for affection, aren’t you? Aching for someone to touch you, to love you, to stroke your hair and tell you everything is going to be okay." His cedar cologne is soothing in a way it shouldn't be, and though my brain is telling me to slip away from him, to run, the presence in my chest anchors me to the ground.

His lips brush my ear as he harshly whispers, "Do you need an Alpha to take care of you?”

Another whimper that I cannot smother slips from me, spurring Dominic on. His hand migrates from my back up to the back of my head, where he grips my hair.

It’s an unkind hold, but I swoon for it all the same.

Why? What power does this Alpha hold over me that he can yank me around, and I take it without question?

"Admit that you lied to me. Come clean about being an Omega. If you're a good girl and do what I say, maybe I’ll take care of you." He drags his nose up the curve of my neck. "If you play nice, I’ll carry you to my room and pamper you. Slip my hand between those sweet little thighs and rub your worries away."

I want that. I want that so much that my stomach cramps and tears spill over my cheeks.

Dominic tightens his grip on my hair, pulling backward until I’m forced to look at him. The pain of his hold narrows my vision to where he is all I can see. He is eclipsing everything, and I am losing control of myself. I don't know how much longer I can hold out.

“Just say it, Zoe. Say you're a liar."

I open my mouth, but no sound comes out.

His voice drops into a low growl. “Admit it. I want to help you, you know. All it would take is the truth, and maybe a little begging."

This time, an unmistakable, telling whine escapes me. I almost miss his wince at the sound as he stands, pulling me with him by my hair.

“I want to help you, bunny. You need an Alpha. Just tell me the truth, and I can be that for you. Admit that you’re an Omega.”