Page 14 of Omega Shattered
"Not here. This is just a temporary stop before I get dumped back in hell. At least for another two weeks."
"What happens in two weeks?" He shoved the suitcase onto the floor and sat down on the bed, patting the mattress beside him.
I'd fallen asleep on the guy, sitting by him wouldn't hurt anything. I crossed the room and hopped up on the bed, sitting cross-legged. "I get sent to the heat dens."
"Your heat?" he guessed.
"More like no heat. I've had one heat in my life. Apparently, if you're in the center for a year without having a heat, you're marked defective."
Archer stared at me, obviously shocked that I was heatless. "One heat? How old are you?"
Chapter 8
Torn
"They consider you defective." Her words echoed in my ears. The omega sitting next to me on the bed, her dark curls barely starting to dry and pull up into their tight waves, was anything but defective. Her honey and spiced apples scent, stronger now that she'd washed off the diesel and mold smells, was mouthwateringly good. No, there was nothing wrong with her.
Something churned in my chest at the thought of her being returned to the place she referred to as hell. "How old are you?"
"Twenty-four." She twisted her fingers together in her lap, not looking me in the eye.
"Wow. I'm shocked no one has snapped you up yet." Too late, I remembered that the omega Reassignment Center was all about omegas whose pack rejected them. Shit. She'd had a pack. I eyed the neckline of my shirt, seeing nothing but smooth skin there.
Quinn didn't respond. She just stared down at her hands, not contradicting me at all.
"Except you did have a pack, right?" I probed, too curious to let it be.
"We should go downstairs before River thinks you let me escape out the bathroom window," she said quietly, sliding off the bed.
"Okay." I decided not to push. But she wasn't leaving this house before I knew exactly what was going to happen to her.
I followed her down the stairs, annoyed that my too-big clothes hid her body. She looked like she had curves, but I couldn't be sure with the t-shirt engulfing her and the pants dragging behind her heels obscured her legs.
River was dozing off in front of the fire again, his head tipped back against the recliner. He hadn't shaved in several days and his scruff was getting closer to being a beard. I shook my head. This omega had him all kinds of tangled up if he hadn't shaved yet. The man liked to be neat and tidy at all times, but here he was, sprawled out on the armchair, disheveled as fuck.
"Let's grab a snack," I suggested.
Quinn looked up at me and nodded, so I led her into the kitchen and started digging through the cupboards. We had to have something sweet in here. Omegas liked sweets, I knew that much.
Sure enough, I found a box of Rice Krispy squares in the back of the cupboard, behind the bread and dug out three. Unwrapping the first square, I handed it to the omega.
She bit into it, closed her eyes and just devoured the rest of the square. To be fair, they were pretty small. I unwrapped the next one and gave it to her and watched with a sense of pride as that disappeared, too.
"I need some water," she said, sounding dried out.
"I'll get it," I offered. The glasses were right by my shoulder, so I pulled one out. "Or would you rather have some soda?"***
She nodded and I poured her drink then handed her the final dessert.
"No, you eat it," she insisted.
My heart panged. I didn't even want to eat, I just wanted the satisfaction of watching her eat what I fed her. "Nah, I'm good. It's already open, go ahead."
Finally, she took the bar and while I poured more soda for myself, she ate that one too.
Feeling more settled and trying not to examine that feeling too closely, I let myself put a hand on Quinn's lower back, guiding her back to the living room.
River had woken up and was glaring around like the entire living room had pissed him off. He spotted us and his face relaxed a little.
