Page 14 of Shattered Omega

“Well…” She peered around at the room. “I think we should. Do you think maybe we could sort out the nest a bit first?”

“Like… Clean up?” Dusk asked.

“No.” She frowned, wringing her hands together like she was nervous to admit something. “Well, not quite…”

As it turned out, the accurate omega translation of ‘sort it out’ meant building a massive pillow fort.

Dusk and I ended up as pillow suppliers, while Umbra—taking to the task far too easily—hurried out to the kitchen to make her tea just the way she liked it. When he finished (and the rest of the apartment had been thoroughly stripped of every pillow, cushion, and blanket) he followed us around as we built the stacks, ensuring every addition was angled differently.

It wasn’t until Shatter had finished perfecting the last of the stacks, and we were all huddled in a dim—admittedly cosy—fort that carried scents from each one of our rooms, that she nodded, satisfied with the work. Her nightshade scent hinted at a surprised delight as she burrowed herself beneath the duvets inside before poking her head out, picking up her cup of tea.

I clambered over to her while Umbra adjusted the tray on his lap, pouring a second cup before handing it to Dusk. To my relief, he seemed to enjoy her green tea. I watched Umbra eye her cautiously, but she seemed appreciative enough that Dusk had taken his serving that we appeared free from tea drinking obligations.

I was riveted by the contentment radiating from her through the bond. Her eyes darted up the chaotic walls of pillows, then to Umbra before sliding up to me. She smiled, hugging her mug close and edging further under my arm.

I could still feel her fear; it was a quiet undercurrent in the bond, but it didn’t hold the power it should—as if me, and Dusk, Umbra, and this madhouse we called a home were truly enough to make her whole.

I wanted to know how she did it. I needed to know.

I’d been wrong in my assessment before—she hadn’t just survived what the Lincoln pack had done to her.

She’d taken it and become more.

“So,” she said, clearly bracing, her determined gaze falling at last upon Dusk. “We need to make a plan.”

FIVE

DUSK

“All right,” I said, looking around at the others. Shatter was tucked between Ransom and Umbra, and I could feel her worry as we finally settled into the conversation none of us wanted to have. “They took the safe and they’re gone. We need to decide what we’re doing next.”

I was still reeling from what we’d learned last night, and the options before us were far from clear cut.

“There’s no way we can find the safe?” Ransom asked.

“It’s tracked,” I replied. “But it was offline by the time Decebal knew it was gone.”

Ransom frowned. “You think they found the tracker?”

“Or they took it somewhere the signal can’t reach,” I replied. “It happened quickly, too. The last ping came from the academy. I don’t think they’re smart enough to know how to block it or disable it, so either it was a fluke, or they may have hired someone.”

“And if they get into it, they’ll know that they can…” Umbra trailed off for a moment, eyes darkening. “They’ll know they can bite Shatter out of our bond.”

“You said it’s rigged to destroy its contents the moment it’s opened by force?” Ransom asked. “That’s a start.”

“If they have hired someone, then we can’t rely on that,” I replied. “There are ways to bypass them.”

“So I vote we leave,” Umbra said. “Go up to the cabin. No one has found it. We would be safe.”

“We can’t,” Shatter whispered. “Our baseline isn’t stable.”

“Baseline?” Umbra asked.

“You and Dusk are getting worse,” she said. Her eyes darted between us and I felt the weight of her fear through the bond. I hadn’t been able to find a way to prioritise the danger me and Umbra were in—not now that I knew how much danger she was in. Yet her fear, her concern for us—it wasn’t something I could ignore. The power she held in our pack bond was growing with every day that passed.

Umbra released a breath, as if he were fighting that fact just as much as I was. “I’m much more worried about?—”

“We all need to survive this,” Ransom cut in. “All of us.”

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