Chapter 20
twenty
One of our other mates.
He’ll suffer… and so will you.
My alpha… or yours, now.
The words swirl through my fitful dreams, eventually bumping me back into consciousness. I blink awake, startling when I find Finn’s warm, naked body pressed against my side.
How long has it been since I woke up to find anyone beside me? And when was the last time I actually slept with someone?
God, he really is perfect, I think, my eyes tracing the lines of his shoulders in the meager dawn light. My body reacts to the sight of him, burning and shivering in places that have been dead for as long as I can remember. Perfume and slick slide out of me, but a swell of shame follows.
I’m supposed to be leaving. Getting the hell out of the other omega’s home.
But I don’t trust myself—or the voice inside me—to follow through once the sun finishes rising and Finn pins those aqua eyes on mine again. Even now, everything inside me clamors to curl closer and surrender.
So I’ll go now.
It’s the only way, because every second I linger makes it more impossible to follow through. I still don’t have shoes, but, at this point…
Barefoot it is.
With the thin, gray light of the oncoming day streaming into my tiny guest room, I can see the strange alpha’s dog has crept back into the room.
Holy wow. It’s a good thing I had a few hours of darkness to get used to him before I was confronted by his sheer size.
I wonder if the alpha is like that too, my Omega muses. Ryker
His name shivers through me. We won’t find out, I snap, allowing the anger burning in my gut to seep into her hiding place. I cannot believe you did this.
She nods slowly, listening. Very much at peace with any reaction I have. Which is infuriating.
I give the mental equivalent to throwing up my hands in exasperation before I shut her out. She goes willingly, this time. I get the impression she’s weaker today.
That probably ought to scare me. But I’ve always struggled with one fatal flaw: if anyone is suffering around me, any regard I have for my own well-being tends to fly right out the window. Like it used to with Briar. Then, in the facilities with the scared omegas. And drugged-up alphas…
And now, here.
There’s a dull pulse of discomfort sprouting from the place where my Omega hides. I can’t tell whether it’s mine… or Atlas’s. Perhaps he can’t keep his shield all the way up while he’s sleeping. It’s possible this muted ache is the best he can do while unconscious.
And, yes, it hurts. But pain is nothing new, for me. It doesn’t matter, as long as I find a way to stop Gideon’s as soon as possible.
Across the dimly lit bedroom, my eyes land on a single object, set on the dusty surface of a large, antique trunk. My brows curve when I recognize—
My frying pan.
A rush of relief rolls through my battered body. Seeing that I have at least one possession—and one I can use to defend myself, in a pinch—gives me the final bit of strength I need to solidify my choice.
I’m leaving.
Right now.