Page 25 of Omega Shattered
I shook my head. "No, thank goodness. They would have torn me to pieces. There were six of them, and they never even pretended to like me. They were just waiting for me to go into heat again so they could rut me."
He settled on the bed beside me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "I'm sorry. For your father and the pack. I guess they rejected you, huh?"
"They tried to induce my heat, but it didn't work. And I ran away when I thought I was feeling warm one day." I shivered, remembering the punishment for that. "They caught me a few hours later. But the next time, they didn't catch me for ten days."
Archer pulled me closer, and I let myself revel in his scent. It calmed me, and when he started to purr, my entire body relaxed against his side.
Amber surrounded me as I closed my eyes, letting my mind drift. What if I did have an alpha like Archer? Someone to help me through my heat and soothe the pain that came with it?
Reality rushed in when the scent of bitter coffee wafted under the door. Kade must have walked by.
Even if Archer wanted me, none of the other alphas in his pack did. They smelled amazing, but they were basically assholes.Especially River, with his determination to return me to the center. No real alpha would do something like that, not with their need to actually protect an omega.
A shudder ran through me and Archer rubbed his hand over my upper arm. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Just wishing life was different."
"What would a different life look like?" he asked curiously.
"I wouldn't have heats and I could do what I wanted in life," I responded bitterly.
"What do you want to do?"
"Help people. I wanted to be a nurse or doctor before I presented."
"You had your first heat late, why didn't you study before that?"
"We didn't have enough money and my older sister was already studying to be a teacher. My father needed someone to stay and work on the farm, so that was me."
"What about finding a pack? If you found one that would treat you well, would you want them?"
I snorted. "Alphas that treat an omega well? You've seen how your pack is. They're vicious and cruel and they don't even want me . . . imagine if they actually did?"
Archer hummed into my hair, resting his chin on my head. "Actually, I think there's another reason for the way they treat you."
Glancing up at him, I raised an eyebrow. "Really? You're justifying their behavior? And I thought you were the decent one."
"No, I'm not justifying it, I'm explaining it. It's wrong, but they're alphas. They've never been taught to think about their feelings or deal with them. I think they DO want you, but that's scaring the shit out of them."
"Why? How can an omega possibly hurt an alpha?"
"You'd be surprised." Archer didn't elaborate and we just sat there in silence for a while.
My slick seemed to have slowed down as I relaxed, but I still felt like my skin was too tight over my bones. Twisting, I turned into Archer and buried my face in his side, sneakily edging my nose into his armpit where he smelled the best.
He didn't seem to mind. He just chuckled and slid down a bit, pulling me with him so we were lying against the pile of pillows instead of sitting against the headboard. It was a comfy bed and I was far more comfortable with Archer than with River. Not to mention, there were no handcuffs in sight.
Sleep was just starting to take over when the scent of smoke and leather hit my nose, making me jerk upright. River was here.
He stood in the doorway, looking at us with that stupid scowl on his face that somehow made him look even sexier than usual. His navy eyes studied me, noting how close I was to Archer and his mouth tightened.
My body betrayed me with a sudden gush of slick that made me press my thighs together as an embarrassing amount of scent filled the air.
"They're plowing the roads now, but just the main ones. Looks like we'll be out of here tomorrow, omega. Don't get any ideas." River narrowed his eyes at Archer. "Don't fuck around, Archer. You think you can't keep it in your pants, you bring her straight to me."
"Hey, I'm just chilling," Archer shrugged. "Don't worry about us."
River inhaled deeply, flushed bright red and spun on his heel, slamming the door behind him.
