Vengeful Bonds: Season One by Nolah Harker & Onley James

Author:Nolah Harker & Onley James [Harker, Nolah & James, Onley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-06-11T00:00:00+00:00

“Okay, let’s get started,” Ollie said, needing the others to focus on him and not each other.

The theater room was as large and pretentious as the rest of the house with black walls, top-of-the-line surround sound, and a floor-to-ceiling screen. The plush seats were set up stadium-style on three tiered risers with the floor-level seating swapped out for two loveseats, one on either side of the aisle. Behind each of those sofas were two rows of four overstuffed leather recliners.

Either side of the theater could have accommodated the whole group, yet both factions chose to sit apart. Team alpha sat on the left, Loch, Saint, and Binnie all in a row. While team omega plus San sat to the right, mirroring the others’ positions with Seth squeezed between Fen and Loch.

The only outlier was Deke. He’d chosen to sit on the small loveseat closest to Ollie. This morning, he’d thought Deke was only tired, but now, worry knotted in his stomach. He was pale beneath his golden tan, his skin shiny with sweat, eyes glassy. He had a blanket wrapped around him—Ollie’s blanket, pilfered from his bed—and his sock-clad feet tucked beneath him. He’d also stolen Ollie’s shirt like he wanted Ollie all around him.

Ollie hated how much the thought tugged at something deep in his core. He tried to push the feelings aside like he had every day since the two met, but it grew more difficult with each passing moment. Ollie had to get out of there. Every day he delayed leaving, the less he wanted to go. And he had to go. He couldn’t get dragged back into Cerberus’s orbit. He wasn’t sure he’d survive.

He’d told himself building up this wall would protect himself from getting attached, but he was fighting the urge to go check on the younger boy, to drag him back to their room and take care of him. It wasn’t normal. Ollie didn’t get attached to people, not romantically. Sex was fun, a good stress-reliever, but there had never been feelings attached for Ollie. He had assumed he wasn’t capable. But when he looked at Deke, he felt…something. He didn’t know how much was proximity based and how much was real.

Ollie brought Deke the remainder of his bottled water. “You okay?”

“I’m fine. I think I’m coming down with something,” Deke mumbled.

“You don’t have to stay for the meeting,” Loch said. “We can fill you in later.” He looked to Seth and San, then back to Deke. “None of you are obligated to help with this. I know Fen won’t sit on the sidelines but your staying with us isn’t predicated on you helping with this. You're still part of the…group.”

Loch wanted so badly to say “pack” and they all knew it. He wasn’t exactly stealthy in his quiet mission to make them all see his vision. Even Ollie. He’d brought it up again only a few minutes ago, asking Ollie to reconsider leaving. Maybe Loch was right about the others, but not Ollie. He didn’t fit in.

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