8. Kane
Kane
I trust Charlotte, she’s an excellent doctor. Luna is in good hands. But I still find myself glancing up at the stairs every few seconds.
It’s understandable, the effect she has on me, on all of us, really, considering she’s our scent match. But this situation is far from normal.
“I need a fucking drink,” Archer mutters, opening the liquor cabinet and pulling out a bottle of whiskey.
“Well, then,” Nolan, one of Charlotte’s alphas, says, his eyes darting between all of us while his eyebrows reach toward the ceiling.
“I think I’ll just wait in the car. One of you text me when Char’s done so I can come help her carry her stuff.
I, uh, it seems like this is a rough situation. I’ll let you guys talk it through.”
As the front door closes with a thump, I scrub a hand down my face.
“Pour me a glass too,” I mutter under my breath.
“Damn,” Chase says, spinning at one of the barstools at our kitchen counter. “If you’re asking for a drink, this must be fucking you up pretty bad too. How’re you doing?”
“Fine.” Not really .
There’s just something about the little Southside omega, with her wounded eyes and battered body that calls to a side of myself I can usually keep in check.
“Is this reminding you of your mother?” Archer asks, sliding a glass of whiskey over to me.
My eyes cut to him and I grip the glass with more force than necessary, finishing the entire glass in a few swallows and relishing in the burn.
He’s right, but he doesn’t have to point it out like that.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Archer grunts.
“You’re fucking kidding right?” I scoff. “Says the man that never fucking talks about his feelings.”
“I’m just trying to help, no need to bite my head off.”
“In what way is talking about how my parents were murdered in front of me during the riots going to help me?” I spit.
“I can tell you right now it’s not fucking helping because after saying that I just feel even shittier.
” I slide my glass back over to him, nodding for him to fill my glass even more.
I know exactly why this situation is leaving me feeling so uneasy, but talking about it right now isn’t going to help any of us. This situation is probably bringing up all of our demons.
My mom was a Southside omega too. My dad, a Northside alpha, did his best to give her a good life. And it was a good life. Then the riot happened.
My father tried to protect my mom from all the evils of the world. He gave his dying breath fighting for her.
A growl builds in my chest at the thought that I’ve failed an omega I didn’t even know existed until a few hours ago. She’s been through so much pain, so much hardship. None of us had to see the bruises on her skin to tell that.
I’ll do anything in my power to protect the little omega upstairs. I can feel it in my bones.
“I’m gonna be honest, that was the last thing I expected when I heard you guys found our scent match omega,” Chase says, resting his elbow against the counter.
I’m surprised he hasn’t gotten a drink for himself yet.
Maybe in the same way this fucked up situation is driving me to drink, it’s pushing him not to.
“What are we supposed to do?” Madden asks, resting his hands on top of his head.
I’ve known him for ten years and as emotionless as he tries to present himself to the world, it’s obvious to all of us he’s full of anxiety right now.
“Are we just supposed to let our scent match go if she wants to leave?”
“I don’t actually think she knows she’s our scent match,” Chase says.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Archer grunts, leaning over the kitchen counter. “We can all obviously tell she’s ours, so why wouldn’t she be able to tell the same?”
“I’m not suggesting we’re going crazy, so don’t look at me like that. I’m just suggesting that 'cause we have no clue what she’s been through. Maybe something in her past messed with her body so much she can’t tell she belongs with us yet.”
“She has been undocumented for as long as she’s been an omega,” Madden says, slumping into one of the barstools. “And she’s from the Southside.”
“You know the best out of all of us how hard that could’ve been for her,” Chase confirms.
Archer sighs and nods. “We all saw how she reacted to us when we came into the room,” he growls. “Who the fuck taught her those sex slave poses? Those were practiced. It wasn’t like she just pulled those out of her ass.”
“Whoever they are, they’re fucking dead when we find them,” Archer grunts. “Until we figure out where she came from and what happened to her, we should err on the side of caution. We don’t know if anyone is going to come looking for her.”
“There’s no better place for her to be if we’re thinking of her safety,” I chuckle, feeling the warm buzz of the whiskey in my chest.
What happened during the riot when I was a kid helped foster a bit of an obsession with home security. The government has done its best to put in measures to prevent another riot from happening, but for the longest time, there was a lot of unease in the community.
People were made acutely aware of how vulnerable they were. Including me.
Once I finally had access to the majority of the money my parents left to me when I was eighteen, I started looking into starting a security company. At that point, I’d already met all the members of my pack, so we all poured our resources and manpower into building it from the ground up.
Even though Madden and I are the primary ones responsible for most of the operations now, Chase’s people skills and Archer’s networking have definitely gotten us to where we are now: the best security company in Riverwell.
“God,” Archer sighs, “This is just so fucking sudden. I know we’ve been talking about wanting to try and find an omega, but like this? This is crazy.”
“I mean, this is better than those stupid socials and balls your dad keeps forcing us to go to,” Madden mumbles. “I don’t mind Luna falling right into our laps.”
“I get that,” Archer says. “But we’re logistically not prepared.”
“Well then let’s start getting prepared, we’ve got an omega to take care of,” Chase says, rubbing his hands together in excitement. “First step is planning. I say we put her in that bedroom in the East Wing.”
“Don’t you think that might be too close to our rooms though?” Madden asks. “You know, considering how she reacted to us earlier. I don’t want her to be afraid being so close to us.”
“Putting her in the same wing as our rooms is the point,” Chase says. “This house is so big if we put her in one of the other wings, she wouldn’t have to be around our scents. Hopefully, if she’s around them whenever she leaves her room, she’ll get used to us. ”
He’s the most familiar with omegas, so it’s natural he’s taking the lead on this. I also have to admit I like the sound of his plans. It’ll be nice knowing she’s close by at night, that way, if anything happens, at least one of us will be there to help her.
“I can go run to the store to help pick her up all the things she’d need.” He nods over at Archer. “‘Cause you’re right. We really aren’t prepared to care for an omega long-term, especially one as special as our scent match.”
“We don’t even know if we’re going to have her long-term,” Archer says, crossing his arms across his chest. “And don’t give me shit for saying that. It’s the truth. She’s been unregistered for years. That’s going to complicate things.”
“Come on man,” Chase says. “Your dad is in charge of the Omega Center and she’s our scent match, I’m sure this is a special case.”
“I think you’re forgetting that we’re not even sure she can tell she’s our scent match and that my father is an absolute hardass who would most definitely pull the ‘it’s protocol, son,’ card should he need to.”
Chase blows out a harsh breath before spinning in the barstool again. “Fine.”
“Can one of you meatheads come up here and help me?” Charlotte’s voice calls from the top of the stairs. “And by one of you meatheads I mean the one with the biggest mouth.”
“Hey!” Chase yells, jumping up from his chair and heading towards the stairs. “I haven’t stolen your snacks in years!”
“You still fucking stole them even though you had your own!”
Chase laughs as helps Charlotte carry her case full of supplies down the stairs.
The atmosphere grows heavy when Charlotte’s expression falls at the sight of us.
“How is she?” Madden asks anxiously.
Charlotte just sighs.
“She’s getting cleaned up now, I patched her up as well as I could, but there’s a lot of stuff that goes a lot deeper than the cuts she has on her feet,” Charlotte says, giving Madden a pained smile that has my stomach dropping.
“I think I overheard you guys talking about bringing her to get registered.”
“What do you think we should do?” Chase asks.
“She should’ve been registered when she first went into pre-awakening at fifteen, or at the very least when she perfumed and went into her first heat at 18.
So basically, it’s been years. It’s obvious she’s been through a boatload of shit and a few days before getting registered really shouldn’t be that big of an issue. ”
“Did she tell you anything about her past?” Archer asks.
Charlotte purses her lips and sighs deeply. “A bit. Not a lot, but enough to get an idea. She wouldn’t tell me who hurt her, but she did tell me she just recently had her heat.”
“So it was whatever alpha she went through her heat with,” Madden growls, pressing his fists into the countertop, his dominance rolling through the room with his anger.
Charlotte’s face scrunches up in discomfort and her hands instinctually hold her belly.
“Hey stop it, reel it in,” Chase growls back, smacking Madden on the shoulder. “My sister.”
Madden jerks backward, his dominance instantly dissipating. “Sorry,” he says softly, staring down at the floor.