Page 51 of The Omega's Bloodlinem: Part Two

“I’m sorry I’m leaving this all to you.”

“Don’t be. We all have to be prepared to step up when the time calls for it.” She pulled me into an unexpected hug, tears sneaking up on me. “I don’t pretend to understand the allure she holds for all of you, but I’ve accepted you’re all goners for the witch. I’ll do what I can to make things easier.”

“Thank you.” She and I had never been close, a fundamental difference of personality. I was annoying to her and she was a stick in the mud to me, but right this second none of that mattered. “Are Yelena and Kendrick okay?”

“Minor physical damage, but emotionally they’re crumbling.” Shakti gave me a firm squeeze before stepping back. “I have to say, I wasn’t expecting them to be the ones to break during all of this.”

“I know.” I swiped at my eyes, mopping up the tears with the edge of the blanket. “Yelena is so steady, and Kendrick, for all his bullshit, has never attacked anyone in the nest.”

“Yelena is too protective for her own good. The witch doesn’t need a bodyguard.”

“They’re mated. Pretty sure rationality goes out the window a little bit in that regard.”

“It does,” said Caden, drawing our attention. “Knowing that Logan can handle herself doesn’t do a damn thing to make you feel better about letting her do that.”

Shakti pulled up a chair to sit with us, snatching one of the cookies off the tray. “It’s hard to think she’s sturdy. I forget that non-shifterscanbe.”

“She’s got a core of stubbornness and steel,” Caden told us. “I don’t think she’s ever been browbeaten in her life. Once she gets an idea into her head, there’s no stopping it.”

“Do you think Kendrick was an idea that got into her head?” Shakti asked.

“I can’t imagine why else she would defend him,” I replied.

Shakti rolled her eyes. “Not everyone dislikes him as much as you do.”

I shrugged.

Shakti let out a bitter laugh. “She’s making her way through all the Protectors. This might be the first time I’m actually grateful to only be attracted to men.”

“It’s my fault everything is happening so fast,” Caden said, dropping his gaze to the floor.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Logan was always meant to have a pack, but I didn’t know or understand that before. I knew she loved Seth for years and wouldn’t let anything develop. If I had been more secure, maybe fate could have moved at a different pace.”

“You had good reason not to want me around Logan,” Seth defended. “The timeline might be a little fucked, but that doesn’t mean it won’t all work out in the end.”

I was about to ask for a little history lesson about the panthers, but the door to the infirmary swung open.

I bolted to my feet. “How is she?”

Sarah pulled in a shaking breath and my mind tumbled down into panic.

“She can’t die.”

She won’t, Haru assured me.

“You don’t know that. “

The carpet was being remarkably resilient against my pacing, but I had already discarded my toothbrush after it suffered through multiple rounds trying to scrub away the taste of Logan’s blood in my mouth.

The part of me that wasn’t steeping in despair wanted to rip Kendrick’s antlers off his head.

Haru herded me to the bed and climbed his fluffy body on top of mine to stop my nervous movements.They’ll come tell you when there’s news.

“I feel like I’m failing at everything. I’m not being a good Protector or a good mate.”

Logan knows the consequences of getting between fighting shifters.

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