Chapter 15
PHANTOM
After over a year in Anarchy together, our pack had developed a routine.
Breakfast was usually followed by a quiet morning in which we’d catch up on anything we needed to do (like finishing up jobs for the Archiva pack).
After lunch, we’d head to the gym, and the evenings were spent either back in the cell, or playing or gambling with the Emerald pack in the square.
That, or we’d visit the cages for a show, to watch or participate in the fights.
If Sin was a part of the entertainment, I’d always turn in early. There were a few of Justin’s pack that weren’t as big on watching, and we’d usually head back to the cells together.
Crescent, however, threw a wrench in any routine.
It was early in the evening now—the first full day with our new omega, and I had to figure out what we would be doing from here. We’d discussed a bit more earlier in the square—as well as catching Vandle up with politics—but the main thing I could do now was wait for Sin to get that key.
And he wasn’t sharing his plans.
We needed to watch the hall even when we were in the relative safety of our cell. Coordinate with the Emerald pack to make sure someone was always on guard.
It felt wrong for me to leave the hallway for them to watch, but they swore they’d take the rest of the night in shifts until the doors locked at eleven. They had more alphas than us, so we needed the help.
So I stepped back into our room, wedging the door open a crack so we would hear quickly if there was any commotion. Karma was still carving designs into the paintings he’d done on the wall—notably near Crescent’s bed. Vandle was showering, and Sin was in his new bunk, watching Crescent intently.
My gaze sought her out, and my heart skipped when I glanced around the room to find Crescent tucking pillows around her neatly.
Nesting.
Our second omega…
My initial fear that we were never going to escape this place with two omegas (the most valuable ‘commodity’ in Anarchy) had not gone anywhere. But she was our fucking scent match, so if there was anything to fight for… this was it.
It was one of the tiny little flickers of a dream I’d sometimes wondered about—if we did get out, might we get one?
And maybe it would help Sin heal. Of all of us, he was the one who struggled most with his designation.
I’d never believed anything like this would happen to us at all, let alone before our appeal. Which sent my nerves spiralling. Just getting out of here would set me on edge—like something terrible would have to follow. But getting out with a dream on the other side?
I had to get it together. The last thing we needed to do was scare her more. She was clearly already so traumatized from the place she’d come from.
As I watched, she pulled a blanket up over her head, becoming a small omega lump in the sheets.
She shuffled—or burrowed—down into pillows, which were on her lap and arranged carefully on her sides.
Her scent of roses and cocoa was sweet in the air as she did it, and…
damn, she was purring. I caught Sin’s eye, feeling heat creep up my neck.
Uh—how was this so fucking cute?
I hadn’t asked, but I would be willing to bet they hadn’t let her nest in the Convent she’d come from.
I didn’t know much of their doctrine, but the Ascendants were radical enough that I’d heard of them.
All the scents in here were strong, but Karma’s was stronger than the rest.
I shot him a suspicious glare.
Even the pillow from my bed smelled more like him than me.
Asshole.
Stalking to stand in front of her, I reached down to grab a pillow but hesitated before I touched it. “May I?”
She poked the top of her head out from beneath the blankets and looked up at me with wide eyes, her purr cutting out—which was criminal. “I—I didn’t mean to take them all. Karma, he…”
I snatched the pillow before she finished talking, rubbing my neck up against the thin fabric before putting it back in the same position I found it.
“Karma made this entire room smell like him, is what he fucking did. He doesn’t get to be the only one in your nest.”
“Oh…” Crescent didn’t complain when I grabbed a few more pillows, marking them before giving them back. Her purr started up again, and I felt a swell of pride in my chest, until it stuttered out, and I realized she seemed to be trying to stop it, a mortified look on her face.
I narrowed my eyes. “Why did you do that?”
“It’s…” She glanced at Sin, as if he might help her. “It’s disruptive, the Sisters said it was rude…” She trailed off at the look on my face.
“You’re in our pack. You can be as disruptive as you like.”
She was hugging a pillow close, again shooting a look at Sin, then Karma.
“Little Omega, you won’t stop yourself purring—or nesting in our pack.”
Her eyes went wide as the dark bond command locked in.
I felt Sin’s gaze fixed on me, but Karma chuckled.
Whatever, what I felt from her in the bond was happiness, not irritation. And I wouldn’t have our omega feeling like she didn’t belong. In fact, she didn’t have to feel guilty about using every soft item we had in this room if it meant a comfortable nest.
I didn’t give a fuck.
It was hard not to notice that even with all the bedding in the room, it still looked pitiful. Maybe I could barter with another pack for pillows. We should probably save our leverage for staying alive, but my chest tightened to think of her having to settle.
“Do the Emerald pack have a nest?” I asked the room at large. “What do they do? Did they just trade for more pillows?”
I’d never paid much attention. There had never been a reason to. Sin had never been big on nesting.
“Actually… it’s perfect,” Crescent squeaked, hugging her pillow closer and grabbing one of the ones I’d put my scent all over.
I had to bite back a pleased growl. Vandle walked out of the bathroom, still damp and rubbing a towel down his bare chest, his sweats slung low on his hips.
The room exploded with decadent cocoa and soft velvet roses, Crescent’s lips parting on a breathy sigh. My cock went rock hard in an instant, and Karma let out a pained sounding grunt, adjusting his pants.
Vandle only looked at Crescent with a smirk, flexing his muscles as he tossed the towel behind him into the bathroom.
“Do I get to visit your nest too, Princess?” he asked.
Visit? Oh, fuck no. I mean… that was a thing? Wasn’t she settling in? We hadn’t visited, we’d only scent marked—
“Visit?” Crescent’s glittering eyes were wide, and another purr stumbled to life. For a moment, she looked nervous, shooting me a look, but she didn’t stop it this time. “If you want to.”
That bastard.
I glared at him as he slid in behind her, pulling her to his bare chest. These beds were fucking tiny—no one else was going to be able to lay down with her.
Not unless he got up, and it was obvious he was settling in for the long haul.
He was proud of himself too, for pulling one over on the rest of us. I just knew it.
He’d be conscious for half a day, and I was already clocking what a cocky prick he was.
I begrudgingly sat down beside Sin on a different bunk, this one completely stripped bare of all its bedding. Her nest was still frustrating me, almost more than the fact that my packmate had claimed the only available spot in said nest.
She needed more.
I needed to provide her more—whatever she needed. Whatever she wanted to create the nest of her dreams.
How had I never felt like this with Sin before?
I prodded him in the bond, side-eyeing him, too.
He shot me a glare as if knowing exactly what was on my mind. “I’m fine.” He grunted. “But I can see if there’s spare bedding to trade for.”
“No.” I straightened. “We’ll manage it.” That was our job—plus, he needed all his leverage open to keep us safe.
Our appeal day couldn’t come fast enough, but even with that, there was so much fucking uncertainty, and we had days to wait until the Leo pack’s appeal call.
I’d feel better once they’d successfully taken their omega to the other side.
I had to believe in that, because I couldn’t picture Crescent surviving down here for long.
I had to believe in it because we were so close, and I was sick of damp stone walls and always having to look over my shoulder.
I grabbed a book from our small shelf, but the high-stakes thriller didn’t have much appeal. Especially since I’d already read it six times. I stared at each page, seeing nothing before eventually flipping to see if maybe the next one was better.
Maybe soon I’d be able to buy books with money instead of trading for them with violence.
And there was something else that lifted my spirits.
None of the anxiety trying to hold me down changed a fundamental reality before me: I was fine.
Sin was sane. Karma was fifty-fifty—but that might change with Crescent, and something told me she might just balance him.
But most of all: Vandle was whole for the first time.
He hadn’t given any of us a chance to trade places with him in the makeshift nest, his thumb absently stroking her shoulder as he held her in his arms.
I think he was actually back.
Protecting her for a week might be the hardest task we’d ever face, but if we made it… We truly had a shot at freedom.