8. Torn
Torn
" T hey consider you defective." Her words echoed in my ears.
The omega sitting next to me on the bed, her dark curls barely starting to dry and pull up into their tight waves, was anything but defective.
Her honey and spiced apples scent, stronger now that she'd washed off the diesel and mold smells, was mouthwateringly good. No, there was nothing wrong with her.
Something churned in my chest at the thought of her being returned to the place she referred to as hell. "How old are you?"
"Twenty-four." She twisted her fingers together in her lap, not looking me in the eye.
"Wow. I'm shocked no one has snapped you up yet." Too late, I remembered that the omega Reassignment Center was all about omegas whose pack rejected them. Shit. She'd had a pack. I eyed the neckline of my shirt, seeing nothing but smooth skin there.
Quinn didn't respond. She just stared down at her hands, not contradicting me at all.
"Except you did have a pack, right?" I probed, too curious to let it be.
"We should go downstairs before River thinks you let me escape out the bathroom window," she said quietly, sliding off the bed.
"Okay." I decided not to push. But she wasn't leaving this house before I knew exactly what was going to happen to her.
I followed her down the stairs, annoyed that my too-big clothes hid her body. She looked like she had curves, but I couldn't be sure with the t-shirt engulfing her and the pants dragging behind her heels obscured her legs.
River was dozing off in front of the fire again, his head tipped back against the recliner.
He hadn't shaved in several days and his scruff was getting closer to being a beard.
I shook my head. This omega had him all kinds of tangled up if he hadn't shaved yet.
The man liked to be neat and tidy at all times, but here he was, sprawled out on the armchair, disheveled as fuck.
"Let's grab a snack," I suggested.
Quinn looked up at me and nodded, so I led her into the kitchen and started digging through the cupboards. We had to have something sweet in here. Omegas liked sweets, I knew that much.
Sure enough, I found a box of Rice Krispy squares in the back of the cupboard, behind the bread and dug out three. Unwrapping the first square, I handed it to the omega.
She bit into it, closed her eyes and just devoured the rest of the square. To be fair, they were pretty small. I unwrapped the next one and gave it to her and watched with a sense of pride as that disappeared, too.
"I need some water," she said, sounding dried out.
"I'll get it," I offered. The glasses were right by my shoulder, so I pulled one out. "Or would you rather have some soda?"***
She nodded and I poured her drink then handed her the final dessert.
"No, you eat it," she insisted.
My heart panged. I didn't even want to eat, I just wanted the satisfaction of watching her eat what I fed her. "Nah, I'm good. It's already open, go ahead."
Finally, she took the bar and while I poured more soda for myself, she ate that one too.
Feeling more settled and trying not to examine that feeling too closely, I let myself put a hand on Quinn's lower back, guiding her back to the living room.
River had woken up and was glaring around like the entire living room had pissed him off. He spotted us and his face relaxed a little.
"Thought you'd managed to give him the slip," he muttered.
"I have no interest in freezing to death," the omega said dryly. "And you burned my footwear, remember?"
He nodded, smiling at me. "Well, good job on getting her clean, smells much better in here now."
Rolling my eyes, I moved to the sofa, bringing Quinn with me. "Yeah, she smells like me."
Watching River's eyes narrow as he realized I was right was quite satisfying and I had to hold back a chuckle. I tucked Quinn into the corner of the sofa, closest to River and sat down beside her. Now she was safe, with nowhere to go. My entire body relaxed at that thought.
"Where are the other two?" River muttered.
"Working, I assume. We're actually here on a job, not just vacationing."
"What kind of job can you do in a blizzard?" Quinn asked, her voice quiet. Still, she'd spoken up of her own accord with River in the room.
"We install security systems. We actually got the main part of the system set up before the storm, so we're working out the computer side of the system now, making sure everything is up and running.
We'll need to go back over there and finish the physical part when the snow dies down, but for now, we can still get some stuff done and show our work to the client. "
She looking interested. "Security, huh? I thought you all worked with the ORC."
"Nope, just River. The Kade and I work for Orion's security company. Usually in town, but sometimes we end up with jobs like this. Usually crazy rich people who want the best security system money can buy."
"So, you're rich?" she asked?
"Kinda."
"She doesn't need to know anything about us," River snapped. "She's going to return to the center as soon as this snow is gone and get a new pack where she can sit pretty and be spoiled."
Quinn turned hard grey eyes on him. "Really? That's what you think is going to happen? Because that's not what I was told."
"Why would they tell the omegas anything? All you have to do is sit around and look sexy." He rolled his eyes.
She seemed stunned into silence for a minute, then asked, "What exactly do you do for the ORC?"
"I'm acquisitions and tracking. When a pack gets rid of their omega, I'm the one who goes and brings her in if they can't do it themselves. And when some idiot runs off in the dead of winter, I get the wonderful job of chasing her down and dragging her ass back."
"They pay you well for that?"
"What the fuck do you care? You're on a need to know basis and nothing about me or my pack is need to know for you."
Quinn visibly shrunk back in her seat, pressing into the sofa cushion at her back.
I gently set a hand on her knee and she gave me a startled look, but didn't flinch away, so I took it as a win.
Don't get attached , I warned myself. She's going back .
We sat in silence for a while, just the comedy show pattering on. None of us were watching, though.
"What time is it?" Quinn asked after a bit.
"Almost eight." River stretched out his legs, knocking into the sofa and jolting us both. "I'll start dinner, I guess, since those two are slacking."
"There's not a lot to eat except chips," I told him. "Maybe toss the frozen pizzas in the oven. We planned on ordering in most of the time, but obviously that's out."
He gave an annoyed grunt and headed to the kitchen.
"I could cook," Quinn said hesitantly.
"Nah, let him stew in there. It's fine. We got a gazillion pizzas. It'll keep him busy and off your ass."
She sighed and it made me want to scoop her up and pull her against my chest while I purred. That would scare the shit out of her though, so I settled for stroking the leg my hand was still resting on.
"When will the storm be over, you think?"
I shrugged. "The weather expert said what, two or three days? I'm not sure anything will be drivable at that point, though. Might be here for a couple more days while we wait for them to plow the roads."
She nodded thoughtfully. "Okay."
There was a crash from the kitchen and River yelped, sending me jumping to my feet, with the omega bouncing up right behind me.