Page 18 of Omega Alliance

I add the bandage, then raise her finger to my lips and give it a quick kiss. “For luck,” I tell her, catching my mistake too late.

“Please don’t touch me,” she says softly, almost as if she's afraid to speak the words.

I back up to put some space between us, to help her feel safe. “I’m sorry. Force of habit.” It’s how I would act if she were Dani, but I realize now I was too intimate too fast. Even small things are huge to someone who's never experienced them.

She watches me for a moment before rising to her feet and moving across the room, adding even more distance between us. It makes me ache for her and whatever’s going on inside that beautiful head of hers. I hate that I’ve made things worse when I was only trying to help. I can be so stupid sometimes, so thoughtless.

I wish I knew what to say. Wish I was more like brainiac Jax or charmer Kieran, but no. I'm the biggest and dumbest alpha of them all. The only way I can show Sin I care is through my actions, but right now she needs words. And I fucking hate words.

“Is there anything I can do to help you feel more at home?” I ask as she continues to watch me closely, the prey keeping tabs on the predator. She doesn’t know I’d never hurt her. I still have to earn that trust.

“You said your pack is called Thorin.” Her voice is soft but curious.

“Yes, Jax picked our name. Dude’s a giant nerd. Chose the name from some old fantasy novel, then the rest of us were stuck.” I smile and wait for her to join me with one of her own. She doesn't.

Sin casts her gaze toward the floor and mumbles, “He’s the one who made the dress that helped me escape.”

“He’s the one who makes everything, including most of our money if I’m being honest.”

Her head snaps up and she examines me carefully. “Then what do you do?”

“I keep us safe. I’ll keep you safe.” Thank god, I had an answer for that.

She thinks about this for a moment, then shakes her head. “And Kieran?”

“Kieran is our lead alpha. He makes most of the decisions, handles all the social and political bullshit so that the rest of us don’t have to.”

“But Jax chose the pack name," she points out, then tugs her lower lip into her mouth shyly. How I long to do the same, to claim those lips in a ravenous kiss, but simply pressing my mouth to her fingertip sent her scampering for cover. I have to be more patient than that.

“That was back before he realized he didn’t like being in charge, and now we’re kind of stuck with it.” I chuckle, and even Sin gifts me with a small smile of her own. Finally I feel like I just may be doing something right.

“How did you come together?” she asks after a beat.

Yes, this is good. Ask me for facts, facts I know. I can talk about facts.

“We were assigned to each other at birth. More and more that’s the way it works now. Some packs can still form on theirown, but the state likes to match us based on a matrix of genetic predeterminations… or something like that. Each pack should have a leader, a provider, and a protector. All their research says it works best the way, makes for the most stable society and brightest future… yada, yada, yada. There's a lot of science behind it, but fuck if I understand what any of it means.”

She tilts her head to the side, like a curious feline. I worry she's going to ask for specifics, force me to admit that I don't know. Instead she pinches her brow and asks, “You didn’t get to choose?”

I see an opportunity and decide to reach for it with both hands. “Jax and Kieran actually did switch roles early on, but I was always meant to be the protector. And we chose Dani. We’d like to choose you too, Sin. If you’ll let us.”

“Okay,” is all she says to that, and I don't press her for anything more.

nine

SIN

One by one, the members of Pack Thorin wake for the day. I’m glad to no longer be alone with Levi. He intimidates me more than the others, partially due to his enormous size and partially because he always seems to be thinking hard about something that he chooses not to share, least of all with me.

He was also there in that room with the three alphas from Pack James as they forced me to put on a show for their pleasure, a fact which makes me feel excessively vulnerable in his presence.

The worst part though? Is how my inner walls clenched in need when he pressed his lips to my finger. His touch threatened to make me lose all sense, and I need my wits about me to survive this new life on the outside.

I try to put Levi out of my mind. Try to distance myself from the feelings of today, my memories of yesterday. I lived in a different world then. I'm safe now, here with Dani. Maybe if I keep telling myself that, I'll eventually believe it.

“Hey, there. How’d you sleep?” Dani asks when she finds me sitting on the old leather couch in the living room with my legs curled up against my chest.

“Fine,” I lie, the way I’ve been taught. I should never let anyone watching suspect that I’m unhappy, even though I usually am. I'm not unhappy now, not exactly. But without the director's prompts, I have no idea what to do or how to feel, and it scares me.

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