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A month had passed since Rumi left.
At least they think so. The passage of time made little sense to them these days. Days either going by quick or not at all, blink and it’s gone or hours dragging by like shackles weighing them down. Everything seemingly slowed to a crawl.
And wasn’t that the truth? It felt like a prison. Though the two of them, Zoey and Mira, still remained— still together— they had never felt more isolated. Their house had never felt more empty, more foreign. Had never felt so unlike home . Even in each other's arms they felt it. That loneliness. That missing piece in the shape of her silhouette.
Rumi wasn't gone. Not literally, not truly. But the way the emptiness consumed them she might as well have been. Every space she once lingered in left vacant, unoccupied. An extra seat at the table, her spot on the couch, her room. Empty. Devoid of life. Like she was never there to begin with.
In theory, if they really truly wanted to, they could have gone down the two floors that separated them from their the omega. But they couldn't. Cant. They didn't have the right. Not anymore. They refused to break what little trust between them was left. To cross that one boundary Rumi had placed.
So they stayed put.
But the distance— those few floors between them— felt immeasurable. Like standing on opposite ends of an open chasm, a gaping maw. They knew Rumi was on the other side. They knew she was there. But the distance said otherwise. The distance didn’t let them see.
It felt like they'd been robbed of all their senses.
No more of that floral scent that enveloped all that she touched, lingering in the spaces she once called home and filling them with warmth. No more waking up to the sound of their the omega already working at an ungodly hour of dawn for them to gently scold about her workaholic tendencies. No more seeing her sitting quietly while basking in the morning sun, peaceful and just existing . No more feeling her brush against them in that sweet, playful, tantalising way as she passed by.
Like a ghost in their memories she lingered at the edges of their vision. Just barely out of sight, out of reach. They could never be free of Rumi (not that they wanted to be). Not when she was so deeply ingrained in their souls (even if they were the ones that cut her out). In all that they did, everywhere they went, they could feel Rumi lingering in the gaps between. No matter where they went her shadow still finds itself in their hands. Holding them, haunting them. This ghost of their lost love.
It felt like being buried alive. Suffocating, aching, confined to nothing.
Thoughts of her lingered every night as Zoey and Mira curled into each other trying to hold each other’s broken pieces together.
Rumi wasn’t here anymore, not in this room or in this house. Rumi wasn’t here and was nowhere to be seen. Not anymore. Yet she lingered. In the dark where everything blurred together they could almost imagine her weight shifting the bed to dip onto her side, careful not to jostle them. Could almost imagine her hand, gentle as it brushes over their arms as the omega settled down next to her alphas, whispering quiet affections and goodnights.
God. They missed her. They missed her so much. They couldn't count the number of sleepless nights since she left. How they no longer dreamed without her; only darkness and nightmares remained. How they no longer wished to wake up. Not without her.
Their home was shrouded in darkness as neither alpha found the strength to so much as turn on a light.
What light was there without Rumi.
It's one of those long sleepless nights where Zoey breaks.
The grief having grown far too overwhelming as she shatters at the edges.
Zoey doesn’t know how she finds herself here, sitting inside Rumi's now empty room on her far too neatly made bed.
Devoid of life and the omega’s existence, Zoey breaks.
Breath caught in her throat, escaping in short gasps as the younger alpha clenched at her chest. Memories of times spent together in the very room she found herself in rushed to the forefront of her mind. Memories they would never make again.
Zoey breaks. Slumping over on the bed and hands scratching at her arms hoping for the pain of nails digging into flesh to ground her senses. Heaving out all the breath in her lungs, cold sweat running down her back, panting as tears stream like rivulets down her face. Her body shakes as it’s wracked with the sound of her agonized wails. Crying out to no one (to be heard). That someone may take pity on her and put her out of this misery she felt so heavily in her heart.
The empty room now filled with the sound of choked sobs echoing off the walls, eyes squeezed shut as tears escaped the edges, as if the world might finally disappear around her if she just stopped looking. Maybe then she’d see Rumi again.
Everything builds up far too quickly. All the feelings beating against her chest. The memories flood her mind of the things she said, the things she did (the gleam of her Shin-kal reflecting off Rumi’s tears). Her breaths come quick and short between her cries. Biting her quivering lip Zoey tries her hardest to hold it in.
“Zoey, please…”
A pained cry escapes her all at once and she screams . Collapsing fully as all strength leaves her body, Zoey keels over on her knees with her arms wrapped around her middle and forehead rumpling the sheets.
From the other room all of Mira's senses are stricken on edge. The Honmoon rippled and cried out in pain. Her soul pulled and screamed and cried in the direction of her mate’s Zoey's distress. Nearly breaking down the door, that's how she finds Zoey. Folded over, knees tucked to her chest, tears streaming down her freckled face as she screams into the sheets. Drowning in anguish over the broken remains of the bond they once had whole.
Their eyes meet and Mira sees all the pain and grief and sorrow in those eyes she loved.
Mira takes a step.
One.
Two.
And then she all but sprints to her mate’s Zoey's side.
Bodies crash together without grace as the force nearly topples them over, arms wildly thrown around each other as all Mira's instincts scream at her to hold Zoey close. As close as she can. Squeezing tight as if she too might slip away if Mira's grip faltered even the slightest bit. Zoey held her back just as tight with her nails digging into Mira’s back. Not a single gap between their bodies as they tried to find peace in each other.
The younger alpha wailed, crying out with her face buried in her mate's Mira's chest, an ugly soul-crushing noise that held all the grief and heartache she felt in her chest. Her hands grip the back of Mira's sweater— no— Rumi's .
Her heart breaks all over again as the revelation leaves her shaking. Breaths coming in gasps as sobs wracked her body and the smaller alpha began hyperventilating. Her once sweet scent turned stale, nearly rotten with distress and mourning.
“I miss her.”
Zoey's nails dug deeper into her back.
“I want her back.”
Choked sobs and hiccuping gasps escape her as her small frame shakes.
“It hurts.”
Throat tight, she cried and cried and cried.
“I can't do this anymore.”
The young alpha's voice cracks, unable to swallow the lump in her throat as she sniffles. Soaking the omega's old sweater in tears and snot as she cried and cried and cried everything in her heart out. Faintly in her chest they could feel it, their bond once three. They felt the jagged edges from where they had cut Rumi out.
And Mira— Mira tried. She tried so, so, so hard not to falter. To keep her and Zoey grounded. To be her rock in this storm they were stuck in with no reprieve. But God— God — she couldn't help the shake in her shoulders, how her body started trembling, how her own heart started breaking more and more.
One piece fell.
And then another.
And another.
The tears followed after, started falling one by one before it all came crashing down. A look of hurt and sadness crosses the alpha's face before being stricken with grief. The older alpha’s cries join the chorus of heartache. A gasping sob echoing alongside Zoey's. She cries all the emotions she held in her heart for all the grieving and mourning she tried to keep under lock and key.
With her hand holding the back of Zoey's head, she pulls the smaller alpha tighter, closer to her chest as her larger frame envelops them both to keep any more of their souls from escaping through the cracks left by Rumi's absence.
Their scents tangled and blanketed each other, a heavy musk of rotting wood and stale sweetness under a storm.
Sleep doesn't come easy that night either.
Exactly 1 month and 4 days since Rumi left they'd find themselves with their wish coming true, only to wish it hadn't.
“Did I miss anything?”
“Hmm…” Mira hums and looks down at Zoey's phone, eyeing the grocery list in deep thought. “No, that looks about right.”
“What about the mushrooms?”
“The last time I bought mushrooms they rotted in the fridge.” Mira raises an eyebrow at the other alpha before stepping aside as the elevator door opens.
Zoey steps in, Mira following suit. She looks up at her alpha pouting as she whines, “But I like themmm…”
“You never cook them, Zo.”
“Cooking's your thing, Mir!” Zoey argues cutely in protest.
The door closes behind them as Mira hits the button for the first floor.
It shuts finally with a ding, their bodies jerking slightly as gravity pulls them down and begins their descent. The smooth hum of the elevator provides an ambience to their conversation of whether or not to get mushrooms because no, Zoey you always say you’ll eat them and you never do.
The pair continue bickering all the way down, filling the silence as the screen above the door goes lower and lower until they reach the ground floor of their building.
“Okay, okay, okay. One, and I repeat, one pack that’s it. We can get more if you finish it but until then we aren't buying more. I am not cleaning out the fridge again.” Mira says with finality as if putting her foot down. Her voice would have carried more bite if it wasn't obvious she lost the conversation.
The younger alpha beams at her, scent high and happy at getting Mira to relent to her whims. Zoey does a little clap as she cheers, “Yay! Thank you, Mirmir.”
The older alpha rolls her eyes affectionately, scent curling around her partner tenderly as Zoey adds it to the list.
Smoothly the doors slide open.
The pair of alphas step out of the elevator ready to make their way out of the building and start their little trek to the store.
But almost immediately they're halted by a sight they never saw coming.
There they see her.
Rumi .
Rumi was there.
Rumi was standing there with her back turned to them as she brushed herself off, fiddling with her phone. She paced around from side to side letting them get a good— really good— look at her.
And by the looks of it she just got back.
The omega was dressed in her favorite black turtle neck that hugged her figure in all the right places looking so, so, so soft and comfortable. It was the one she usually wore before they were set for a photoshoot. Easy to change in and out of while still looking hot and stylish.
Her hair wasn't in its signature tight braid. Instead, it was looser, softer, free. It intertwined gently in three strands starting at her nape and going down as the strands twisted together carefully and tied together by a black tie at the end. The braid rested over her shoulder giving her this soft carefree look. Gentle, casual.
Zoey and Mira stand frozen, rooted to the spot as they see her right there standing in the lobby of their building. The pair's breaths catch in their throats because oh.
Oh .
She was ethereal .
A sight to behold.
There was no other word to describe how she looked and how it made them feel. The lights seemed to dance around her. Framing and accentuating her features. Like an oasis in their desert she was their salvation. Perfect.
Rumi doesn't notice them, not yet. Far too occupied with whatever it was she was looking at.
For now, they were free to simply observe. To take her all in knowing this might be the last in a long time. An ache started in their chests once more. Not of sorrow or pain but of pure unadulterated longing . The alphas in them whined, rolling over to show submission in hopes of coaxing the omega to them. Their souls hummed, bright and loud, calling to its other half.
It was perfect. Oh so perfect.
But perfect things never stay.
The breaths that were caught in their throats finally, finally released. And then;
An inhale.
The illusion shatters.
Those few perfect seconds where everything almost seemed to fall into place break into a million pieces.
The feeling akin to unknowingly stepping into a minefield and hearing that distinct click.
Because then, right there.
They smell it.
An unfamiliar scent clung to the omega the way an alphas would their partner.
It wasn't strong, something faintly of citrus and another smell they couldn't quite name. It wasn't strong but it was there . Why the fuck was it there .
Enveloping, wrapping, blanketing around her.
Around what was theirs .
What the fuck.
What the fuck .
Alarms rang in their heads loud and angry. Instincts jagged and on edge as if sensing danger, sensing a threat on their territory. Something ugly snarling and biting at the air inside them clawing its way to the surface.
And they couldn't help it. Couldn't help the instincts built into the core of their very beings. Couldn't help those feral parts of them that roared to be free. Couldn't help the way the alphas in them started clawing at their chests, scents possessive and sharp cutting through the air as a low threatening rumble started building in their chests. Couldn't help how much they missed her.
That— that sound and scent— that finally gets Rumi's attention.
They see it all like in slow motion. The tension in her shoulders. How she suddenly stands straighter as is electrocuted. Tight. Coiled like a spring. Eyes wide she looks around, on edge, nearly frantic, as she searches and searches until finally, finally, she sees them.
Three pairs of eyes meet for the first time in weeks.
The silence hangs heavy in the air. Suffocating.
A beat passes.
Two.
Then three.
They all stand in place.
Rumi takes a shuddering breath.
It snaps.
All at once the dam breaks.
All at once every emotion, every sensation, every feeling broke through. Crashing over them like waves in a storm. Dragging them down under. They wanted to scream, to cry, to crumble under the pressure as it rushed over them in a cold ripple.
They all felt it. The Honmoon rippled warily around them like it knew .
And Mira— Mira who hadn't seen the omega in a month, who had cried every night since she left, who had replayed every second every minute over and over again, who’s heart far too bigger than she’d ever admit, who just wanted their mate, their Rumi, their leader, their love, their soul back — breaks. Her eyes wide and frantic, scanning every inch of the omega like it would give her the answers she so desperately needed.
She moves.
One step. Then two.
She all but nearly sprints up to the unexpecting omega.
Zoey tries to stop her already knowing what was about to transpire before her very eyes. Tries desperately reaching for Mira’s hand with her own and with her scent, attempting to placate and calm ( in a way only Rumi ever could ), but could only watch as Mira marched right up to the omega, her scent flaring wildly and overpowering everything in the room and demanded :
“Who’s scent is that? Who's fucking scent is that holding you?” Why isn't it mine? Why isn't it ours? She doesn't say out loud.
Her lip trembled as she snarled. It wasn't anger— no. It was sorrow , devastation, betrayal, and begging all at once wrapped into a growl that Mira couldn't stop from escaping her throat.
Threatening.
Even if she didn’t mean it to be.
Even if it was the last thing she wanted to be.
The sound made Rumi freeze, stock still. It rang in her ears and resonated within her deep and loud. Her blood ran cold. She stood there unmoving, shaking, trembling as she was held under Mira's intense gaze and growl looking and sounding every bit the alpha she was. Her scent a mix of emotions Rumi couldn't name other than it scared her.
Face-to-face with the alpha who had haunted her nights, all of Rumi's instincts start firing at a rapid pace. Overwhelming her to the point of breaking. Tipping her slowly, slowly over the edge until it plunged her into the rocks and waters below.
It screamed at her to run. Hide. It wasn't safe here. They weren't safe.
It cried at her to run. Hold them . Fall into their arms, they would take care of her.
The back and forth ate at her mind as her breathing quickened. Conflicting thoughts fighting for dominance over her consciousness.
No. No. No. No. Don't you remember what they did?
It was an accident.
They don't want you.
They didn't mean to.
They threw you away.
They said they were sorry.
Unwanted. Unwanted. Unwanted.
Memories flashed in her mind. A blade pointed right at her chest, the moment her heart broke, the moment she felt lifetimes of lives lived together, generations of a bond threaded and woven by fate be cut from the very fiber of her being; her soul. How that gentle comforting hum in her chest died and she was drowned in silence, deafening silence.
Tears start welling in Rumi’s eyes on the verge of falling. Breaths short and quick, nearly hyperventilating before Zoey steps between them.
Zoey places herself between the two acting as a barricade. The younger alpha sternly plants her hands on Mira's chest pushing her back. Scent flaring in challenge, the soft sweetness now laced with a bite. She looks Mira head on, contesting her dominance. Telling her off. Begging her.
Mira’s wild eyes meet hers and they focus. The fire in them slowly, slowly being snuffed out until mere embers remain.
Voice shaking and scent laced heavy with sorrow now. A heavy tinge, a pressure you could feel in the air before a storm and lightning strikes.
Zoey speaks, breaking the trance the pair of them had found themselves in. The feedback loop of fear and regret.
“Mira, please. Please . We can't be doing this. We can't ." The younger alpha’s voice cracks by the end.
There’s a pained look in her eyes, features contorted in hurt and despair as she tried to stop Mira from the exact same thing her very own instincts screamed at her to do. Unshed tears left her eyes glassy, red rimming the edges.
The unspoken words lingered in the air. Rumi was no longer theirs. No longer belonged to them, with them. They had no right to demand anything of her. Not after her soul was no longer part of theirs. Not with their pack bites still burning on both wrists. Not after they severed all those ties and left her crying— begging— on her knees not to leave her. That please, please, please she was just trying to be good. She was just trying to fix everything. She could be good again. For them. So she could finally be loved. So they could love her .
Only to be met with a starlit blade pointed directly at her chest.
Only to be told she wasn’t theirs. Not their leader. Not their mate. Not their omega. Not the other third of their souls.
Not their Rumi.
She felt every excruciating sensation. The burning in her wrists where they had marked each other with sharp fangs and soft kisses, claiming each other as a pack. The severance in her very soul as she felt them take theirs away. As she felt theirs cast her out. She felt every agonizing second of the sensation of those threads of the Honmoon that once connected them wither away like rot.
It burned in her chest, left her clawing at it like she might have been able to keep their souls from slipping away from hers if she just held on tight enough. Instead it burned. Burned through her body as that connection severed, until finally— finally— she was left with nothing. An emptiness. Quiet. Quiet as she could no longer feel them through their bond.
Mira was met with that same scared, cornered expression she had painstakingly grown all too familiar with.
Immediately it sinks in, the weight of what she just did. It rang loud in her ears like a gun firing and it shot her dead.
Mira collapses to her knees, hands shaking as she holds onto Zoey’s arms who still stood in front of her like an anchor. Between them. Keeping Rumi safe from her .
The drop reverberates in her body. Bone shaking and deep. The sensation of her knees hitting the cold, tiled floor felt like electricity shot straight into her veins. Mira could feel the way her heart thudded against her ribs like a drum, could hear her own blood rushing, every beat of her aching heart loud in her own ears.
Wild eyes flickered between the alpha and omega in front of her unsure where to look.
Like being doused in ice cold water, Mira comes to her senses. Eyes wide she stares at Rumi, mouth agape, opening and closing as she tries to find the words she couldn’t say.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Again and again until her mouth finally catches up to her clouded mind and it all comes crashing down.
“Fuck. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry . Rumi, I'm so sorry. Shit, I didn't mean to— I don’t— I don't know what came over me. I’m so sorry jagi , fuck—” Rushed apologies and regrets escape her. What the fuck did she just do. She had no right. Had no claim. Not after what she did. Not after pointing her blade at Rumi's heart. And maybe she didn't strike, but that one action alone had shattered it all completely. Their love, their trust, their bond, their very souls.
Tears she didn't realize were even there started streaming down her face. Nothing in the alpha's expression changes as she kneels there crying. The moist warmth is all too familiar. Nights and nights and nights of crying had made them feel like second nature.
Rumi doesn’t speak. She stands with her arms wrapped around herself as if trying to keep all the broken pieces in place. Trembling, shaking.
Zoey looks down at her, the same pained expression still on her face as she feels her own heart breaking at the situation they had found themselves in. Both of her mates girls were crying and she couldn't do anything about it. Couldn't help them. Couldn't save them. Couldn't stop them from breaking apart.
“Mira…” Zoey croaks out her name, like it had been stuck in her throat.
The apologies and regrets don’t stop. Mira repeats them like a mantra over and over as if the next one might finally fix what she had broken. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It will never be enough but I'm sorry.
And Rumi, poor Rumi who did nothing wrong, stands there and forces the words out to explain herself.
Even when she didn’t owe them a single thing.
“I didn’t— I didn't do it on purpose,” Barely above a whisper yet they could hear the shake in her voice. God. She sounded so, so, so small. So unlike the proud omega they once knew. “It was just work. They partnered me with one of the other Alpha's for the shoot. It wasn't my choice, I swear. I'm not doing anything. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.”
Zoey and Mira’s hearts broke for the hundredth time that day.
Once upon a time they would have held the omega in their arms. Whispering quiet reassurances and hushed murmurs of love and protection.
Once upon a time.
They wanted to say something. Anything. Hold her. Tell Rumi it wasn’t her fault, that she didn’t do anything wrong. Their sweet, beautiful, caring loving omega could never.
But they couldn’t. Not anymore. They had no right to offer her peace or comfort when they were the ones who had started the war.
Once upon a time they would have had one of their pre-work scenting rituals; to ward off anyone thinking they might get lucky in catching any of the girls’ attention. The omega's gentle floral scent seamlessly combines with the taller alpha's own, like flowers in a forest clearing. The younger alpha's own scent leaves an undertone to those of her pack mates, sweet like the morning sun, like passing by a bakery with the bite of ocean air. Completing them. A vision of a quiet beachside home briefly passes their minds as they hum in content of feeling whole.
Both alphas nuzzled up into either side of Rumi's neck, rumbling in content as they nosed at their omega's scent glands, letting their own scent tangle with hers until all of them smelled of nothing but a pack . Undeniably together in every sense of the word. Not quite mates but everything more.
Once upon a time.
Instead, the three of them stood rooted to their spots in the empty lobby. Lights far too bright and the air suddenly far too cold. Shoulders shaking and tearstained cheeks.
And for the first time in months, their souls were in sync.
Not out of love or familiarity.
But of the same sorrow that consumed them.
And they knew this one truth well; There was nothing left to fix.