“What?” He asked, tipping his head to the side.
“When Violet showed up at the house, did she have any alpha marks?” I asked, doing my best to not sound irritated.
This whole thing was ridiculous. Every last member of our pack had seen Violet butt ass naked since she moved in. The only alpha mark she had was theone I’d given her on the base of her neck. Where could she have hidden an extra mark? Up her ass?
I almost scoffed at the idea, but Ididn’tbecause I was a rational adult who could handle their emotions, unlike Skye.
“Oh my God, even if she did, would it change anything?” Skye’s voice cracked as he spoke, and through our bond I could feel his heart breaking ever so slightly. “When she came here she wasstarvedandhurt, you’d make her go back?”
“That’s not what I said,” Vinny grumbled.
“It is!” Skye argued, his lashline shimmered with tears. “You’re talking about marks and Stellars and Logan, it doesn’t take a genius to connect the dots. You really want to get rid of Violet?”
His deep seeded fear bled into me.
“No,” I said louder than I meant to. “No one is getting rid of Violet.”
Vinny shot me a look, but I didn’t back down.
“Everyone in this house has seen her naked, haveyouseen a mark?” I snapped, before a thought dawned. “Or areyoujust jealous she won’t letyoumark her?”
Vinny practically snarled at me. “If she’d let me mark her, I couldfeelif she has another alpha.”
“Well, she doesn’t,” I declared, before standing and coming knee to knee with Vinny. “Now give me my god damned omega.”
Vinny glared, but did as I asked, and Violet melted into me the second her head met my chest.
And, that was all it took to put me over the proverbial ledge. I was tired of Vinny raising his voice and pacing around the house like a caged animal because Violet didn’t give him what he wanted.
“You don’t get to throw another fit tonight,” I said, shifting Violet’s weight to one arm before pointing toward the hallway. “Not about a mark, or Logan, or about what Violet does or doesn’t want.”
“She’s my—”
“She is a pregnant omega who nearly got killed today,” I cut in. “And she is finally sleeping. You’re not ruining that because your pride’s bruised.”
The muscles in his neck chorded, but he didn’t argue with me.
“If you want to protect Violet, you need to respect when she tells you no.” I continued. “That includes the mark.”
Silence.
Then I very calmly added. “You’re staying out of the nest tonight.”
That did it.
“Serena,” Vinny growled.
“No,” I said, just as firm. “You can sleep on the bed in your room or your office, or literally anywhere else. Let her rest. And maybe take the night to remember that controlling someone isn’t the same thing as protecting them.”
Chapter 15
Violet
Logan’s hands were everywhere, and not in the gentle loving way either. No, his fingers bit into my wrists, pulled my hair, bruised my hips as he anchored me in place.
“I can smell the heat on you, Little Dove,” he purred in my ear.
My stomach flipped and I barely suppressed a gag. I tried to bury my face in the leather of his couch just to get away from his stench, but he used my hair like a handle and pulled me back.