Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Halley
"Halley?" Everlyn's voice calls down the hallway as I close the door. The apartment is blessedly warm and my cheeks prickle as they defrost.
I hid again today. Stuffed myself back in my storeroom and didn’t poke my head out even once.
Cowardly? Maybe. Necessary? Absolutely.
But I could still smell them.
The Pack.
Their scent wafted in every time a soldier opened the door to collect gear. It clung to the air, and each inhale felt like rubbing salt into something that’s struggling to scab over.
There was also a constant feeling of being… watched. A hot press of eyes on the back of my neck, but every time I spun around to catch whoever was creeping? Nothing. Just boxes and shelves and my own reflection in a dented steel cabinet door, looking flushed and guilty.
There is a delicious smell of roast meat permeating the air of our shared accommodation, and my stomach rumbles in anticipation. I love it when Jason brings food back from the mess hall. It’s never piping hot, but on days like today when I can’t face the world, the lukewarm meals taste like luxury.
“Just a minute,” I respond, shrugging off my winter coat, scarf, and woolen gloves, placing them in my room.
The towel I used for my shower yesterday is hanging on the hook on the inside of my door. I run my hands over it and sigh. It's still damp. Things don’t dry well in this climate.
Showering in the communal bathroom down the hall was harder than anticipated.
I mean, it's never a pleasant experience.
After all, it's three unisex shower cubicles shared by far too many people.
The water is rarely hotter than tepid and doesn't last long, and the floor is always wet and covered in hair and soap scum.
No, the hard part was washing him off.
Scrubbing Viper’s scent from my skin felt like tearing something sacred away. My Omega howled in protest, clawing at my insides, making my throat thick and my chest ache.
The reminders of our time together were etched on my body.
The slow slide of his release dripping out of me.
The deep, needy ache between my legs where his knot had stretched me wide.
The bruised, swollen lips, both sets, still tingling from his touch.
"Halley! Can you come help?" Everlyn calls again.
"Yeah, calm your tits, woman. I’m coming!"
Sighing, I throw the damp towel over my shoulder. A night in front of the wood burner will dry it before it begins to smell musty.
Rounding the corner into the living space, I expect to see Everlyn stoking the fire.
Instead, the towel slips from my fingers.
No.
How did I miss it?
That toe-curling, pulse-spiking mix of scents.
My inner Omega chirrups in delight.
Four soldiers are seated around our tiny dining table.
"Ah, there she is," Everlyn says as she places a plate of roast meat in front of Knox. “Look who I ran into!”
His dark red orbs meet mine, and my heart skips a traitorous beat.
Sitting beside him, Blaze is staring at me with searing intensity.
I don’t even risk a glance at Shade. I know those sharp brown eyes will be dissecting me with surgical precision, cataloging every twitch, every breath, every flaw.
I look down at my socks, the floor, anywhere but them. I’m not ready. Not for the full squad. I need more time to prepare and steel myself against the overwhelming emotions I feel when we’re all together.
Viper is sitting closest to me, and my mouth waters. A physical, embarrassing response to the memory of his skin on my tongue.
‘Don’t run, pretty girl.’
His voice rumbles in my mind.
I freeze.
Our connection is back. His voice is in my head like it was at the waterfall when we were about to… And, now that I think about it, I could hear him again during…
“I... I…” The words trip over each other.
My brain short-circuits.
I bend down, snatching up the towel and clutching it to my chest like it’s going to shield me from the weight of four intense stares and every bad decision I’ve ever made.
The room is dead silent except for the wood crackling merrily in the fire. I can feel them exchanging looks, measuring reactions, reading the room like a battlefield.
I can’t do this.
Everlyn breaks the silence, seemingly oblivious to the rising tension, reaching out to take the towel from my hands. "Let me hang this for you."
I grip it tighter. She frowns at me like I’m acting insane, but she’s the one who’s trying to steal my last shred of control. Eventually, she tugs it out of my grasp and drapes it over the drying rack by the fire.
“Halley, don’t be rude,” she says, way too casually. “Say hello to our guests.”
My nostrils flare.
I don’t know what fracking game she thinks she’s playing, but I am not amused. I know I need to talk to them, to hash out the mess between us, but… I needed time. Time to think, to rehearse, to breathe. Not this ambush. Not this overwhelming wall of Pack scent and half-processed heartbreak.
“Hi…Hello,” I utter, my voice strained.
Everlyn exhales like I’m the irrational one here, shooting me a look that screams, pull yourself together.
And sure, from her perspective, I probably seem like a stuttering, emotionally unstable lunatic.
All she sees are the broad shoulders and smoldering gazes of the soldiers I’ve been not-so-subtly pining over since the day I arrived at this fortress, half-feral, half-frozen, and entirely out of my depth.
I mean, I’ve told her what happened.
I told her I left them, that I used my Omega Command, and forced them to stand down while I ran.
She knows the facts, but I don’t think she gets it. Not really.
Not how deep the fracture goes.
It’s not just that I walked away from the Pack.
It’s that I cracked the foundation of something fragile and sacred.
It wasn’t a clean break. None of us have healed.
It’s still raw and throbbing. A gaping wound exposed to the elements even months later, and I’m too scared to find out if we can ever come back from it.
I risk another glance at the table, and the scene is almost laughable in its domesticity.
Four massive super-soldiers crowded around a tiny dining table that is one firm hit away from collapsing into kindling… I feel about as sturdy.
Viper is looking at me with such deep yearning that it makes my insides quiver.
His green eyes are shining bright, his lips curved into a smile as if I’m the most important person in the world.
He doesn’t look at me with annoyance or disgust that I’ve spent the last two days hiding from him.
I can only see his adoration. I focus on him and his unwavering faith in me, and take a steadying breath.
‘It’s okay. I’m here. I see you and I still love you.’ His deep, rumbling voice calmly explains.
The silence stretches too long, pressing down until I snap.
"What’s for dinner?" I blurt loudly.
“Roast boar,” Everlyn chirps like we’re hosting a dinner party, not navigating emotional fallout. She places a plate at the only empty seat, right between Viper and Shade. “Jason sweet-talked the cook into saving us the best cuts. Aren’t we lucky?”
I swallow as she gestures for me to sit.
“Yeah. Lucky us…”
I still can't make eye-contact, but my peripheral vision picks up every movement like it's a threat.
Shade flashes me a smile, all teeth and smug satisfaction, the crinkle at the corners of his eyes practically shouting his amusement at my discomfort.
"Doctor Everlyn invited us," he says, like it’s perfectly normal and not at all an ambush.
Did I really think I could avoid them any longer? They’re strategic geniuses. Trained to infiltrate enemy lines.
"Been awhile since we had a meal together, thought we'd catch up," Knox rumbles, his deep voice rolling over my skin like thunder. It lands low in my belly and triggers something primal. I feel like a rabbit being surrounded by hungry wolves, and every one of them is licking their chops.
My eyes dart to the front door. "Uh... Well, there's only room for one more, so I think the host should take it. I'll go to the mess hall and—"
"Nonsense!" Everlyn cuts in brightly as she steers me into the empty seat with a little too much enthusiasm. Her hands clamp down on my shoulders, holding me there like I’m a toddler being plopped into time-out.
"Silly me. I invited them for a welcome dinner and only after did I realize I can't stay, there's a patient I need to check on. "
There is no patient, you hussy! I want to scream but settle for shooting her a murderous glare.
She meets it with wide-eyed innocence and not a single drop of shame.
Does she seriously think I want this?
For her to ambush me with my maybe-lovers, almost-mates, and definitely-broken Pack?
I don't know what she expected me to do, but acting like a socially constipated felon probably wasn't on her list of options.
She must not feel too guilty, because she shoots me a very obvious wink and says a hurried farewell.
I grit my teeth.
I'm going to kill her.
Everlyn is my friend, but if I survive this, I will get my revenge. Slowly. With the silent fury of a sleep-deprived Omega backed into a corner.
The front door shuts with a deafening thud.
I gulp.
The wind howling outside makes the silence feel louder. My heart is beating so hard, I know they can hear it with their enhanced senses.
Blaze breaks the spell.
He skips the cutlery and grabs a fistful of roast boar, and rips into it savagely.
"Manners, Blaze," Shade snaps, shooting him a glare. "Use the rut-damn knife and fork."
Blaze flips him the bird and rips another chunk free with his teeth. Juices run down his chin, his fingers glistening with fat, and he doesn’t give a single frack about it.
His eyes stay locked on me the entire time, almost as if he’s imagining it’s my flesh he’s tearing.
I want to burrow deep into a nest and only resurface when my life isn’t such a flaming trash-heap. I don't have a nest to burrow into, so I keep my head down and eat the meal even though it tastes like ash.