Page 7 of Shattered Omega

Don’t think about it.

“Wait!” The tension in the room broke as Umbra crossed toward me, sudden worry in his eyes as he scanned the floor that was covered in shards of glass and splintered wood. Then he picked me up and drew me into his arms.

That strange thing in the bond vanished in an instant, and I felt a breath of relief escape me. I cupped his cheeks, needing him to look at me. His beautiful sandstorm eyes were darker than usual, their spark gone.

That wasn’t right. “Tell me,” I asked.

He exhaled, then stepped toward the bed, sitting down beside Dusk.

Yellow eyes fixed on the two of us, but his jaw had unclenched and he looked as relieved as I felt.

“I have to know what was going on,” I said.

Umbra had paled, and his eyes were still dark. “I need you to be safe,” he whispered. “That’s all.”

“I am safe. I’m with you.”

I could see the pain etched in his expression. That answer wasn’t enough. He didn’t believe it.

And maybe it wasn’t…

Dusk had told me what they knew. That the bond left both Umbra and Dusk vulnerable to Flynn…

The calm of my mind wobbled again.

Worse than that. It wasn’t secure. It didn’t protect me from the Lincoln pack’s bite—the alphas who had broken my nest, who wanted to claim me to fix themselves.

Who knew I was gold pack…

Fear rose in my chest like a wail, igniting panic in my veins, but I shoved it down.

No.

This fear—it was Umbra’s, too. And it was the poison that was changing him.

I couldn’t let it.

They’d stolen my scent match, broken my nest. Would I let them take more?

Umbra drew me closer, something so sad in his eyes. “I haven’t been what you need,” he breathed. “Not like this.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“I have to protect you?—”

“But I don’t want you to change.” My voice broke, eyes brimming with tears.

Umbra looked so broken. “They’ve taken everything, and I wasn’t enough to?—”

“No. Th-they haven’t.”

And I realised in that moment that there was more to lose. So much more…

In fact, I’d fought this battle before and survived.

Dusk had shown me the truth.

They hadn’t taken what mattered most, because those things—they couldn’t take unless I gave them up.

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