Page 24 of Knot Your Fated M.U.S.E.

He shifts in his seat, and I catch the slight wince he tries to hide.Bad day for his legs, then.The pain must be worse than usual if he's letting even that much show.

"Need anything?" I ask, keeping my tone casual. He hates being coddled. Hates feeling weak.

"Yeah," he says, eyes glinting with dark humor. "A new body would be nice. Maybe something without an expiration date stamped on it."

The words hit like fists, but I force a smirk.

"Nah, you'd just break that one too. You're hell on equipment."

"True enough."

We fall into silence, heavy with all the things we can't say. All the fears we can't voice. The grief we're not ready to face.

How do you say goodbye to a brother when you're not ready to let go?

You don't.

You just keep fighting.

Keep hoping.

Pretending the end isn't coming faster than anyone expected.

And when the masks slip and the pain shows through, you pick up the pieces and carry on.

Because that's what a pack does.

Even when it's breaking our hearts.

"We might have an assignment coming up," Vale says, breaking the heavy silence. His fingers drum against his thigh – a nervous tell he's never managed to shake. "Didn't catch all the details though."

I arch an eyebrow.

"Didn't catch them, or didn't want to hear them and almost got caught by Atlas?"

A weak chuckle escapes him.

"Option two. You know how he gets when he catches us eavesdropping. That disappointed father look could freeze hell."

"Could've been worse. Could've been Dante catching you."

"Please. In his current state, I could tap dance behind him and he wouldn't notice." Vale's attempt at humor falls flat as we both remember Dante's earlier episode. "Besides, Atlas was too busy muttering about facility layouts and security protocols to notice much of anything."

My interest piques.

"Another cleanup operation?"

That's what we call them now – these missions where we storm facilities that treat omegas like lab rats. Where we put down the monsters in white coats who think having a degree gives them the right to play god.

"Probably." Vale shifts, wincing slightly as he adjusts his position. "Seems like that's all we do these days. One fucked up research center after another."

He's not wrong.

The past year has been a steady stream of similar missions.Infiltrate. Eliminate. Extract any survivors.Avoid the acknowledgment of seeing the horror in their eyes.

Pretend we don't hear their screams in our dreams.

Sure. I was betrayed by an Omega and have a pretty strong hate to give another one a chance, but to treat these women like the bottom of scum is beyond irritational.

---