I looked down and noticed, when the sleeves of my jacket slid down slightly, that black and blue bruises wrapped around my wrists. I rushed the cover them and shook harder.
When Elijah's hand lightly touched my leg, I automatically slapped it away. I covered my face with my hands, "sorry."
He gulped, "did he...?"
I nodded and glanced to him, "I haven't been attacked like that in a long time."
"I'm going to file a report and a restraining order on your behalf." He sighed, "can you take a picture of your wrist?"
I choked up slightly, "I guess."
I picked up his phone and took a photo before putting it back down. "How many times did he...?" He whispered under his breath where I could bȧrėly hear him.
"I lost count. Who knows what he did after I passed out." I looked to Elijah, "thank you for this."
"Consider it an attempt to begin making up for what I did."
I noticed Emit glance at Chase before he leaned down towards the kids. "Let's sit in the back row! They have TV's in the head rests!"
The twins nodded excitedly before rushing back and sitting with Emit on the isle seat. Chase gestured for me to follow him and we sat next to each other in the first row. No one inhabited the entire row beside us and behind us, making it quiet. Since I had to give up Addie's carrier, Chase held her in his arms.
As we took off, I felt Chase watching me and I tried to not shake in pain. When we leveled out, I met his gaze and saw how hurt he was.
"We need to talk this through," he whispered and I froze. "Its gonna eat you alive, Will. From what I've seen, I can figure out what happened, but you need to talk it out. And you know I'm the one who will truely understand."
I bit my lip before taking his open hand in mine and speaking from my heart, "sometimes I wonder if I gave you a safe place to exist or if it's the other way around." He gulped hard, like he was fighting tears. "I'm so thankful you came with us, Chase. You and Emit. I would've been fine with you staying but I feel blessed that you both chose to come."
He smirked, "well one of our top school choices is on the west coast, so it should work out for everyone."
"Our?"
Chase teared up a bit, "I want to talk about you right now."
I gave him a sad smile, "give me a moment of relief, kid. Tell me whatever has been on your mind for a while. I could tell."
His hand shook slightly, "Emit and I....we want to become mates."
I froze and fought not to think of the pain I was experiencing partly because of my partnership. I tried to imagine how it would be if I had gotten to choose my mate completely of my own will. Would I have this much trauma? Not if I chose the right one. But is Emit the right one for Chase? Is Chase the right one for Emit? I took a deep breath before giving him a genuine lovesick smile from my heart.
"If you both think you're ready, then I will support it. But I don't want you two to rush. You have your entire lives for this."
A tear escaped as he choked up quietly, "I love him, Will." I gulped harder as I saw his true feelings on his face, "I don't want to be without him, ever. I want him; no one else." He sniffled before I wiped his face. "I wanted to take your words to heart, Will. I chose not to sleep with Emit unless I was sure and had your blessing. We agreed to it a long time ago and I know he's the one."
I chuckled slightly, "look at you growing up." I smiled again, "you both have my blessing."
He squeezed my hand before leaning toward me. I moved closer so he rested his head on my shoulder and cuddled into my neck.
"I love you so much, Will."
I kissed his head, "I love you more than you can imagine, kid."
He was quiet for a moment before sitting up and looking at me with a knowing gaze. "Can we talk about it now?"
I nodded and looked to our joined hands, "so you could all get away, I fought with him verbally through the door until he broke it down. He forced me onto the bed and we fought more." I took a deep, calming breath to fight tears. "He plans to marry that woman because he is going to lose all of his wealth and his job if we get married. From what I understood, he planned to keep us as his family, but secretly because he thought I would wait. He tried to use our destined partnership to insist I had to be with him because....I'm HIS Omega and I can't be without him."
Chase's face began to turn red with anger as he held his breath. He let out a deep sigh when I paused, "he's wrong, Will. He doesn't own you."
I nodded, "I told him that in multiple ways, but he wouldn't listen. When he realized I planned to end our relationship, he...he just lost it. He cut my clothes and bit me before raping me. It was so much that I don't even remember how many times he did it. Then..." I choked up and he rubbed my hand with his, "he forced himself down my throat and kept doing it until I passed out because I couldn't breath." I took another deep breath, "when I woke up, he was out of the bedroom so I found a way to sneak out and ran to Marie's place."
"He's going to chase after us."
I sighed, "that might be hard without raising suspicions with his family and wife. Also, Elijah is filing a police report for me against Jayden."
Chase let out a grunt as his nodded, "at least that will solve things for a bit."
"I'm worried he might try to legally take the kids. It's almost impossible for a single Omega parent to keep their kids. Especially when it's the kids Alpha father they are battling." I leaned back slightly, "I'm just glad we got out of there. It's going to be hard for a while, but it's better than having us all in a dangerous situation." I looked to my ŀȧp before looking to Chase, "I found out something, but you have to keep it to yourself. Not even Emit can know just yet."
"What is it? I can keep it to myself."
"Elijah found a doctor that could possibly break my destined partner bond."
Chase grabbed my hand tightly, "that would change everything!"
I nodded, "but it's not for sure. There aren't many people it can be tested on."
"I hope it can happen." I nodded but looked to him as he sighed, "try to sleep for a bit. We have a long flight ahead."
I nodded and did my best to relax in the chair. It took a while, but I was slowly lulled to sleep.
Chase gently shook me awake before the plane landed and I took Addie as she whɨnėd from the air pressure affecting her ears. I rubbed her back and rocked her gently. When we finally landed, we walked together out of the gate and I noticed a young girl staring down the line of people as we walked into the terminal. She seemed to be searching for something. When she saw me, her face lit up and she began waving her hands above her head. "This way," I called before moving over towards the girl.
She jumped out of the row of seats she was on and came up within inches of me. She stared at my face more before grinning, "I knew I'd find you!"
I raised an eyebrow in confusion, "and you are?"
"Name's Wren!" She bounced slightly, "Iris is getting a drink, so I'm standing guard!"