Page 35 of Omega Shattered
I headed upstairs, bursting into Orion's room. They were in the bathroom, of course. I could hear his low voice talking to her. He was telling her about Alejandra, something that filled me with a sudden rage. Orion barely talked about his previous pack with us, but now he was sharing it all with this omega?
Pushing through the bathroom door, I found Quinn sitting in the tub, head tilted back, arms wrapped around her knees as Orion talking about dancing with his omega.
"What's wrong?" Orion paused in rinsing her long hair, giving me a hard look. He knew something was up.
"I just got off a call with the director. I'm taking her back now."
"No," her whispered plea was filled with terror. "River, not yet, please. Let me get through the heat first."
"Fat chance of that. You think I don't see through your plan? Seduce my pack, get them to knot and claim you, and then you never have to go back. It's so fucking obvious . . . even the director gave me permission to claim you. Said she'd handle the paperwork after the fact."
Orion stood, his dark eyes flashing. "She gave you permission torapeQuinn? And you want to take her back there? No."
"It's not your call, Orion," I warned. "She's my asset, and it's time she's returned to the ORC." I pushed past the man, grabbed a towel and held it out. "Get out of the water." My bark made it impossible for the omega to disobey.
She tried. I could see the muscles in her neck straining as she tried to resist, but an omega in heat is even easier to influence with a bark than a regular omega. She gave in and scrambled out of the tub again, all her scars on display. There were new ones, too, long shallow slashes where the icy snow had cut through her skin during her earlier escape.
I wrapped the towel around her and pulled the reluctant omega from the bathroom. Orion watched us go with a look of disgust on his face. That would be something to address later. Allpart of cleaning up the mess she'd made of our lives in just a few short days.
"Get dressed," I ordered, tossing one of Orion's t-shirts at her. I handed her some boxers, too, but it quickly became obvious they were far too big for her.
"Here." Archer appeared in the doorway, holding out a pair of his sweatpants. They were tight on him, so they managed to stay up on the omega, with her hips.
When she was dressed, I led her downstairs. She was obviously sulking, her eyes downcast, brow furrowed. Still, she was obeying and that was all I needed.
"She's going to freeze," Orion said when we reached the door.
Everyone was waiting there, even Kade. He looked uncomfortable, but his pale eyes never left Quinn's face as I shoved my feet into boots.
"We're fine. The car is heated," I said shortly.
The omega scent of honey and spiced apples suddenly turned sour and I looked at the woman in front of me. She was pink and I laughed at myself for thinking she might be cold outside. She was in heat, she would melt the snow before it ever touched her.
"Say goodbye." I pulled my own coat on.
Archer gave me a look that told me this wasn't over. I knew he was the only one who had never truly bought into the no omega pact, but he'd gone along with us because we were his pack. Now, he'd fallen for this woman with all her delicate wiles.
"You'll be fine," I told him. "We'll get back to normal after this."
"Will we?" He turned to Quinn. "Stay strong, okay? We'll figure this out."
She just looked up at him with glazed eyes, the heat already taking over again. Archer scooped her up for a hug and she buried her face in his neck, sniffing deeply, like she was memorizing his scent.
"Sorry we met under these circumstances," Kade said when Archer set the omega down. He reached out a hand and awkwardly patted her shoulder. "I'm sure the center will find you a good pack now that you've had a heat."
Quinn tilted her head, scenting his arm. She was too far gone.
"Orion?"
"Hey, I'm . . . god, I'm sorry. But we can't get River fired, not yet," he murmured to her, almost too quiet to hear. He pulled her into a hug and let her sniff his neck too as he inhaled her scent, which was still soured.
I finally picked her up, nodding to Kade to open the door. He did so, watching carefully as I waded through the snow to my truck. It took a little manuevering to balance the omega and open the door, but I managed it and put her inside.
By the time I made it around the truck to the driver's side, there was a layer of snow on my coat, proof that the snow wasn't done with us yet. It didn't matter, we'd be back at the ORC soon enough and then I could just go home and get some real sleep. This had definitely been one of my more challenging jobs.
"River, please . . . " Her voice trailed off as I glared at her and started up the engine.
"Put your seatbelt on. It's slippery out here."
