Page 199 of Psycho Pack

Thirty-Five

VALEK

Ilean back in the plush velvet seat, watching the others tend to their wounds. The adrenaline is wearing off, leaving me oddly melancholy.

Not a feeling I'm used to.

And not one I particularly enjoy.

My eyes drift to Ivy as she fusses over the cut in the back of Thane's head from our captive omega's fierce attack. The way she touches him so gently, with such care... it makes something twist in my chest.

I really am feeling regret.

Regret that she may never touch me that way again.

I thought I was doing the right thing when I took her. Giving her the freedom to choose that was stolen from me in that sterile lab. But I was wrong.

So spectacularly, catastrophically wrong.

I'm not used to being wrong, either.

Lots of firsts for me lately.

I fold my arms over my chest and cross my legs, continuing to watch her from a distance I've carefully calculated. Close enough to satisfy my alpha urge to draw near to the little omega thatpulls me in like a nail to a magnet, far enough away to make her comfortable with being in the same space.

This hurts.

Having to live with what I did.

Having to watch her with the others.

Having to sit with the full understanding and knowledge that I can likely never earn back what I destroyed.

"Stop brooding," Whiskey mutters, dropping into the seat beside me. Blood has dried on his face where the statue hit him. Doesn't look like the captive omega got in quite the hit she got in on Thane. "It's weird seeing you all... thoughtful and shit."

I bare my teeth in what might be a smile. "I am always thoughtful. I simply choose not to share those thoughts with idiots."

He snorts, but there's no real heat in it. We're all too exhausted for our usual barbing.

The unconscious omega lies on one of the benches, her silvery hair spilling across the velvet. Must be Vrissian, unless she dyed it. I thought I detected a slight accent when she was yelling, but there was so much chaos, it's hard to say for certain. Wraith hovers nearby, watching her with obvious wariness even though Plague gave her a sedative when she started to stir. There's really no way she's going anywhere anytime soon.

But who can blame him?

This omega got in more hits than the guards did.

Even got me in the balls.

I have to admire her spirit, even if I want to strangle her for it. I won't, if only because she's an omega, and that goes against my fucked up little creed that guides my decisions.

But Iwantto.

The train slows as we approach our new base and I glance out the window. It's set up within the walls of a Surhiiran mine, all white marble and gold filigree just like Surhiira proper. Guardtowers disguised as elegant obelisks. Weapon emplacements hidden behind ornate sculptures.

It's entirely unnecessary.

And it's absolutely fucking magnificent.

"This is... excessive," Plague says flatly. "Sorry."

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