Page 8 of Shattered Omega

And I’d been about to, with the fear they’d forced upon us.

“They haven’t taken anything.”

“Shatter—”

“Dusk promised me nothing changed,” I whispered. Umbra frowned, glancing to Dusk, but I took his hand and lifted it to my chest, pressing his fingers to the scars beneath my collarbones. I knew he could feel them beneath the thin fabric of the top. “They tried to… to ruin my body, but Dusk said they didn’t steal my value.”

The words felt heavy in my throat, hard to say, as if they might burn me, but I made them come out. I clung to them, needing them to be the truth both for me and for my pack.

“Of course they didn’t, Nightshade.” Umbra’s voice was gruff, as if it hurt him even thinking I’d ever believed that. “They can never take that.”

“Then they can’t steal you. I d-don’t want them to.”

I watched his jaw clench, and his eyes drifted from mine like he struggled with that.

He had to understand.

I had to make him understand.

I slipped from his arms, standing, and trying to keep my breathing calm as I looked around the nest. A place as scarred and broken as my body.

My gaze fell, at last, on Dusk. He was watching me intently, head cocked, something curious flickering in his eyes.

A few seconds passed, and then the faintest trace of a smile curved his lips.

He stood, turning, and lifting a large piece of splintered bookshelf from the torn duvet. Then the next, and the next while Umbra and I watched. Finally, with the bed adequately clear, he stepped onto it, almost falling as a bottom corner gave out with a groan. He had to grab Umbra by the hair to steady himself, but then he was stepping through scattered pens and loose pieces of paper to the pillows at the top. There, he pulled back the blankets and settled in beneath them.

The last weight of the night lifted, freeing my chest and lungs as I climbed onto the bed after him and curled up in his arms.

It was a long time before Umbra moved, but he stood at last, surfacing in the bond as he tugged off his boots and top.

He wasn't better, not completely, but he was still him.

I smiled as he joined us and placed one possessive arm around my waist as he held me close. “Please don’t leave me,” I breathed.

I felt his sorrow at that, and his lips pressed to my forehead. “I love you, Little Nightshade. I’m not going anywhere.”

“I chose to be yours,” I replied. “They can never take that away.”

A purr rumbled to life in his chest just as Ransom turned up at the door, rubbing his eyes and staring at us in confusion. He didn’t question a thing, though, yawning as he climbed into the bed behind Dusk, shifting around until he found an angle where he could easily hold my hand.

I smiled as I realised their scents were enough to smother everything else, and the nest was mine once more.

This was the first gift my mates had given me, and no one could take that away.

And the necklace I’d lost, I think it was the same. I had their claim, Dusk’s bite on my neck, and that is what truly mattered.

I closed my eyes and slept at last, warm and safe in the arms of my pack, despite the cool air and light breeze ruffling torn pages amongst broken splinters and ruin.

THREE

DUSK

I woke to the sound of a low growl. Lily of the valley was a sudden and overpowering mist of outrage in the air around me.

I blinked bleary eyes open, trying to get my bearings and determine the source of the growl. I was first met by the sight of the ruined nest, shredded textbooks, and splinters of wood littering the floor—remnants of what used to be her desk and bookshelves. My attention was diverted by Ransom, however, who was sitting up in bed in the dim light, his lips drawn back in a snarl, his hands clutching his cheek.

“What happened?” I whispered, yawning.

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