Next D 610

Chapter 610 

“Lynn.” I caught up with her at her door. “Do you have a minute?” 

She turned to me and nodded. “Of course.” Her eyes were wary. “Come in.” She pushed into her room, a suite just like my own. She looked longingly at her bed, and I chuckled. 

“I promise I won’t take too long. I just wanted to check on you, without anyone listening.” She turned and raised one eyebrow. I winced as I sealed the room. “Sorry.” I chuckled as I sank into a chair. “I’m tired.” 

Lynn nodded. “I think after the last few days, we are all tired.” She sat across from me. “What did you want to talk about?” 

I rubbed my face. “How are you really doing?” I dropped my hand. “We haven’t had a minute to talk alone after everything that happened at the mating ceremony.” 

Her shoulders inched up. “I’m fine.” I leveled a look at her. “I am.” She looked away from me, and her body started to tremble. “I killed him, and now everything is fine.” She sounded like she was trying to convince herself 

more than me. 

“Do you want me to command you to tell me the truth?” She whimpered, and I realized she thought I was threatening her. Lynn would never offer the truth, and this would take her emotions out of it. “I can word it in a way that you won’t feel it, just like you were reading off a list.” I leaned back. “It sounded like a threat, and I didn’t mean it to. It was an offer.” I stared up at the ceiling. “I know you don’t want to talk about it, because talking about it is reliving it.” I closed my eyes, and I was back on the table. Every cut, every burn, all the pain. I felt tears pool at the corners of my eyes. “But I know from myself that talking about it was a release. The more I talked about it, the easier it was to face.” I turned my head to find her staring at me. “I would never make you tell me anything. Not unless you gave me permission. But this way…I can take it all away and let you finally tell it. In full. Without any judgement.” 

“You will judge me.” Her voice broke, and she looked away. She growled, but I knew it was aimed at herself. 

“Never.” I reached over the small table between us and snagged her hand. “I’m going to say this once, and I need you to listen to every word I say.” She turned to face me, and she was mad. Whether it was at me or herself, I didn’t know. “You did whatever you had to do to survive. Everything that you did to come out alive was justified. End of story. What was done to you…that is on Derek. What he did-” 

“It wasn’t just him.” Her voice was barely a whisper. I almost missed the words. I froze and leaned in to hear her 

better. 

“What?” 

She took a deep breath. “It was mainly Derek…but Vince and Brandon took part too. Even Morgan did some of it.” She pulled her hand out of mine. She took a minute, but finally her eyes met mine. “You don’t have to command me.” I saw a tear fall. “Just…promise me you won’t change your opinion of me.” 

“I swear on the Goddess that what happened to you will never change my opinion of you.” I stuck out my pinky finger and waited for her smile. “Pinky promise.” 

She hooked her pinky into mine and then nodded. “I don’t know where to start.” She rubbed her hands together, 

1/3 

working up the nerve to explain it all. I held up my finger as a knock sounded. “What’s that?” 

“Come.” I called out, and the door cracked open and an Omega rolled in a cart. 

“Alpha Amy.” Trina bowed her head quickly. “Gamma Lynn.” She bobbed her head again. “Here is the hot chocolate you ordered.” She smiled as she rolled it all over to us. “The chef also put your food in your room, but I brought the Gammas with me.” She stopped next to the table. 

“You can leave the food on the cart for now, Trina.” I smiled as I took the cup she offered. The chef outdid himself. There was whipped cream and caramel drizzle. Yum. 

“Thank you.” Lynn accepted the cup, and then Trina left us alone. “Why did she bring up hot chocolate?” 

I snorted. “I wanted something to drink, and while booze might sound good, for this conversation I figured it would be smarter to stay sober.” I took a sip. The chocolaty goodness filled my mouth, and I might have moaned a little, earning a snort. “Plus.” I put my cup down to face Lynn. “I noticed when you were stressed at the cabin, my mom would make you a hot chocolate and you would settle.” 

She nodded and then took her own sip. “My mom used to make them for me when I was a kid.” She put her cup on the table, and then cradled it with both hands, pulling the warmth to her. Her eyes flicked to mine. “I guess it started when I walked in on Shannon and Derek fucking and I rejected him…”