Page 91 of Shattered Omega

I tried to calm my breathing, not daring to look up at Mord’s expression, afraid of how cold it would be.

“The bond is…” I swallowed. “I can’t.”

“Either you come back here,” Gareth breathed. “Or I’ll have him hold you still.”

I bit down a whimper of fear, eyes darting around, knowing there was no escape.

But I couldn’t do this.

“No.” Flynn’s voice was low. I looked at him, relief almost dizzying. “As foolish as our scent match might be, we are courting her. We will do it with dignity no matter how little dignity she cares for.”

My breath escaped my chest at last as Gareth scowled, but he sank back into his seat.

Stranger still, I swear Mord’s muscles uncoiled beneath my grip. He was so statuesque I hadn’t noticed he was tense in the first place. I glanced up at him, unsure for the first time, but his expression was as impassive as ever, and I wondered if I’d imagined it.

With all of the courage I could find, I stepped back around Mord so I wasn’t cowering behind him anymore.

“When’s your next heat?” Eric asked. I forced back another wave of nausea. With how sickened they made me, with them, it would be never. “It was a heat you had with them, right?”

I nodded with a wince, knowing that wasn’t something I could lie about.

“A month or two?” Gareth asked. “You’ll be making it up to us then.”

The more I seemed to agree, the more they relaxed. I hadn’t realised, until now, how much they believed the picture we’d painted. This pack believed Dusk was the ultimate villain, and I was nothing to them but the prize, so desperate that I would do anything for the chance to escape.

Eric crossed the room toward me, and I saw Flynn stiffen, as if concerned.

“You will not walk into this bond thinking you’ve won,” Eric hissed. “What we’re offering—what we’re going to do to free you from the foolish position you've put yourself in—is far more than you deserve. Do you understand?”

I nodded, fighting to control my breathing.

“Say it.”

“Yes.” My whisper wasn’t enough to distract from the overwhelming horror that had been building.

I clenched my jaw, eyes suddenly burning, but I couldn’t burst into tears right now. I was so close, though. Not because I was afraid, but because of the vile truth that they were who I had come to this academy in search of. Because I was pushing every emotion I had to its limit in order to pretend for them. And I had been so close to ending up here.

Dusk, Umbra, and Ransom had been the only ones in the way of that.

“I still don’t like the fact they had her heat,” Gareth murmured, not looking at me anymore. “We’re taking their leftovers.”

I shut my eyes, trying to calm my breathing. I wasn’t going to make it. I was so scared. So scared and fucking pathetic.

“We don’t have much of a choice if we wish to honour the scent match,” Eric said coolly. “But I want fucking atonement.”

I blinked at him. He stepped toward me, adjusting his cuffs with a sickened expression on his face.

I forced myself to nod, hoping that would be enough for him. “Of course. Yes. I c-can do that.”

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and as I stepped back he glanced down at it. He did a double take, eyes scanning the screen, eyebrows shooting up.

“Were they any good?” Gareth asked. I looked back to find his gaze was fixed on me.

“Gareth,” Flynn snorted. “Come on.”

“No. I want to know. When they fucked our omega through heat did she want them to? I want to know if our omega was begging for other alpha’s knots.”

“Since she’s in a dark bond, I can’t imagine—” Flynn cut off as my breath caught.

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