Chapter 136: Just Lorali and Just Erin

Erin POV

The bass in the warehouse was so loud it was vibrating straight through the soles of my shoes, rattling my ribs with every heavy drop. I kept my hoodie pulled low over my forehead, my hands jammed deep into the front pocket as I leaned my back against a rusted steel pillar near the edge of the crowded dance floor.

I shouldn’t have come.

I really, truly shouldn’t have come. I had basically dragged myself out of my room and forced myself to come here, insisting that I needed to see actual human beings before my brain completely rotted. Now I was wondering why I’d listened to myself.

I stood against one of the pillars, half-hidden behind the decorative trees, watching a sea of screaming, dancing strangers move beneath the flashing lights. The music thudded through the floor and rattled in my chest, but I barely paid attention to it. I didn’t drink, so I’d been keeping an eye out for the bar, hoping they’d at least have some orange juice.

My fingers absently curled around one of the branches beside me as I glanced toward the bar again. My chest felt tight, an empty, dull ache settling deep within my sternum that had nothing to do with physical illness and everything to do with the conversation I’d had in Torin’s office earlier today.

"Pursue the Omega you liked," Torin’s voice echoed in my head. "You deserve to build something for yourself." I let out a quiet, bitter breath, resting the back of my head against the cold metal pillar. How could I pursue her? How could I even dream of it? She was Torin’s fated. My loyalty to Torin wasn’t just because we were close; he was my brother. We literally grew up together. We’d sometimes share the same clothes we played in the fields together and we were always at each other’s birthday parties all the time together. I would rather tear my own heart out than betray him.

I turned my head to look out over the flashing sea of strobe lights, when my heart suddenly stopped dead in my chest. The music, the flashing lights, the screaming crowd, everything fell away into complete, absolute silence.

Standing right in the center of the flashing blue lasers, surrounded by a swirling halo of artificial fog, was Lorali.

My breath caught in my throat. She looked... breathtaking. Her long, liquid- purple hair was styled in sleek, cascading waves that caught the strobe lights with every turn. She was wearing a cropped black top that showed off her toned waist, flared trousers, and a wide, radiant smile that I had never seen on her face before. I stopped fidgeting with my hands as I stared at her in complete awe completely mesmerized by her. She turned, her dark eyes scanning the perimeter of the room as she caught her breath, and before I could push myself deeper into the shadows of the rusted pillar, her eyes locked straight onto mine.

Her face instantly lit up. "Erin?"

She broke away from her friend and walked straight toward me, her leather platform boots clicking against the concrete floor over the thumping bass. As she got closer I noticed she carried no scent; it was completely covered by a dissenting spray. If I didn’t know she was an omega I would have thought she was a beta.

"Erin!" she called out, stopping right in front of me with a wide, bright grin. "What on earth are you doing here? You always striked me as a person who hates loud crowds!"

I forced my vocal cords to work, my heart hammering a frantic, erratic rhythm against my ribs. "I... yeah. I needed some fresh air and I thought what better than to get that air at a party."

Lorali let out a light, melodious laugh, a sound so sweet it made the tight ache in my chest blossom into a sharp, beautiful pain. She stepped closer, leaning slightly toward me so I could hear her over the deafening bass drop. "I never thought I’d see you again after I got discharged." she said gently, reaching out with two fingers to lightly tug on the drawstring of my hoodie.

Her touch was light, brief, and completely innocent, but it sent a violent bolt of static electricity straight down my spine. I stood completely rigid, staring down into her bright, siren eyes, praying to the goddess that she couldn’t hear the deafening thud of my heart.

"You look... really great, Lorali," I said quietly, my voice sounding, raw and sincere despite my best efforts to keep it casual. "Your hair... everything. You look really happy tonight." Lorali smiled, a smooth, triumphant look settling over her delicate features as she ran a hand through her glossy purple waves. "I am happy, Erin. For the first time in a very long time, I actually feel like I’m the one holding the cards. I’m having fun."

"I’m glad," I whispered, and I meant it with every fiber of my soul. Even if her happiness had nothing to do with me, even if I was just a quiet background character in her storm, seeing her light up like this was worth every ounce of my silent heartbreak. "Come dance with me!" Lorali suddenly said, grabbing my wrist with a warm, firm grip. "Just one song! You look way too serious standing against this dusty pole!"

Panic flashed through me, but before I could pull away or make up an excuse about my clumsy feet, she dragged me a few steps out into the glowing light of the dance floor. I couldn’t dance to save my life, but Lorali didn’t care. She spun around me with her laugh ringing out over the pounding music. She took my hands, moving them in a terrible, rhythm-less attempt at a dance, completely unbothered by how ridiculous I looked in my sweater.

For those three minutes, as the heavy bass vibrated through the floorboards and the flashing lights painted her in brilliant shades of blue and violet, the entire world vanished.

She was just Lorali. And I was just Erin.