Page 114 of Pack Fever

The voices lower, leaving us unable to hear them clearly, but they’re still there. I pull Danica close, her body trembling against mine. While they guard our door, there’s no use trying to escape, not yet anyway. I’ll bide my time a bit longer until I don’t hear them, then I’ll rip that fucking door off its hinges and get out.

“They have my friend, Casey, in here,” she hisses through clenched teeth, drawing my attention to the fire in her eyes. “They took her from the accident and want all four of us. They know who I am. Who the fuck are they? Because no way are they Nexus.” She’s shaking despite the rage behind her eyes.

Her determination and rage stir something within me, too.

“We’ll rescue her. I give you my word,” I assure her, my mind racing with plans of escape and rescue quicker than later. I start moving from one window to the second, tugging on the iron bars for any weaknesses.

“First, we need to get out of this room,” I explain softly. “Then we can find your friend and get the hell away from these lunatics.”

In the dim light of our grim surroundings, Danica’s strength shines through. She’s not completely losing her shit, and I admire her for that.

We take a seat on the floor in silence, the cool wall at our backs. Danica’s warmth seeps into me as I hold her close, trying to offer some semblance of comfort. The faint murmur of voices beyond the door is a constant reminder the guards are still watching over us.

“Thank you,” Danica whispers, her voice breaking the silence.

I shake my head. “You don’t need to thank me. I’ll always protect you,” I respond, the words more a vow than a statement.

But her gaze narrows, searching me for something else. “I don’t believe it’s always, just more recently... right?” she questions with soft words that slice through me.

“That’s not true,” I counter, even as doubt whispers through my thoughts.

She raises an eyebrow. “Reed, I like you a lot,” she admits. “From when we first met, you’ve been too stubborn to let yourself even see it, but I know you like me too, even if you’ve been pushing me away.”

Her words force a sigh from me. I shouldn’t be surprised she raised this topic, seeing it’s a time when I can’t escape from her. Me pulling away from her was something I reluctantly did more out of fear of my feelings for her. But she’s right. She deserves an explanation.

“For a long time, I believed I wasn’t the kind of person who settles down. That if I fell hard for you, I’d just leave you hurt, that I’d be like my father,” I confess, my memories still raw and vivid.

She watches me with concern in her eyes. “How so?”

The story pours out of me, feeling like a wound ripped open, and it stings like fuck.

“I still remember perfectly the day my father arrived home with news that he’d finally found his true Omega. The fucking bastard couldn’t even stop smiling while he said those words to my mom, a Beta. How he never thought he’d find someone so perfect for him.” The bitterness in my voice surprises even me.

Danica gasps, her hand clasping mine with a squeeze.

“I remember watching my mom trying to hold it together, her brave face failing to mask her heartbreak. She never said it, but she had to feel discarded.”

“Shit, how could he say that to her?”

“Well, the next day, he left us. Just like that. No goodbyes, no further explanations, just a note that he’s sorry things didn’t work out, along with a wad of cash.” The words are heavy, laden with years of grief and rejection. “My mother lost her mind, couldn’t cope. Dad walked out on both of us… So, she checked into a mental help institute one day without telling me... and I was left alone with no one at the age of seventeen.”

“Fuck.”

“He destroyed my mother and abandoned me, and I promised myself that I’d never end up with an Omega because if my father is capable of doing that, maybe I am too,” I finish, the admission laying bare my deepest fears. I’m not sure why I so openly confessed all of that. Maybe I’m tired of making excuses. Maybe I’ve finally admitted to myself that Danica means the fucking world to me. Either way… I don’t want to lose her. So, I need to come clean.

Her hold on my hand tightens a bit more, her eyes huge and staring at me with hurt.

The weight of my past, the story I’ve just shared with Danica, sits heavy between us. I don’t often allow myself to revisit those painful memories—the day my world turned upside down, the lingering agony of my mother’s heartbreak, the abandonment. It’s a wound that’s never fully healed, a scar that’s become a part of who I am.

Danica embraces me. As I hold her, the walls I’ve built around my heart start to crumble, piece by piece, because I crave closeness with her. The pain of remembering, of allowing myself to truly feel the loss and betrayal, is almost too much to bear. Yet, in her arms, I find the strength to believe that I won’t repeat history. I don’t even recognize myself right now.

Danica lifts her gaze, and her tears touch me.

“As far as I’m concerned, you are perfect as you are, especially when you open up and don’t hide your true feelings,” she says softly.

“I love hearing that so much more than you will ever realize.”

She truly sees me and accepts me with all my flaws, which is both terrifying and refreshing. Is this the happiness that a true bond with an Omega offers? Was this what my father had experienced with his Omega when he abandoned us?

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