Page 51 of Omega Shattered
"They were all so manipulative." I looked down at her. "I know I'm naive and easy to fool, but those women took full advantage of that. You haven't, at least not so far."
She shrugged. "Not like I wanted to. I just want to be free."
"Even now?" I frowned. "I thought you might want to stay with us."
"Kade, this heat would have killed me if you, Orion, and Archer hadn't stepped in, but I don't belong with your pack."
I stepped back, betrayal flooding my chest. "Seriously? After what I just told you, you're going to walk away?"
"I'm not using you," she promised. "I guess a little, in that I needed you all. But I . . . I would stay if I could."
"Why can't you?" My voice turned cold. It was another excuse. Something else she wanted. I'd fallen for an omega's manipulation yet again.
"River would never allow it." She took a deep breath and reached out to me. "Please, Kade, don't think I'm like Amara. I loved every second with you. But come morning, the ORC has another agent coming to take me in."
"Is that what this is about then?" I froze. "You want my help to escape. That's why you did all this."
"What? No!" Her gray eyes well up with tears, but she blinks them away, looking fierce. "Kade, I have no choice in my life. As a rejected omega, I'm going to be dragged back to ORC no matter how many times I run. I can't be with your pack because they'll never let me. River would have to agree and he's obviously not going to do that."
I spun and threw open the bathroom door, lunging out and pinning River to the wall with one hand. "Is it true?"
"What?" he croaked, not bothering to fight me. I was just as strong as he was and it wouldn't have helped.
"They're sending someone to take her back?"
He nodded and my grip tightened.
"Kade, nothing's going to change if you choke him out," her soft voice sounded by my elbow. "Let him go."
"You wanted her to die. You sat there in that truck and did nothing to save her," I snarled. "If we didn't show up, youwould have let her burn to death right there on your chest, you bastard."
River didn't say anything, he just watched me with narrowed eyes.
After a minute, I let my grip ease, and he stayed seated. "Why?"
"I don't know. I fucked up." He glanced over at Quinn, who still stood in the bathroom doorway. "I thought, I don't know. I didn't want to mess things up and take her without her consent. I wasn't going to be a rapist."
"So you wanted to let her die," I confirmed. "And now, you've got someone else to come pick her up because you can't face up to the fact that she belongs with us. She belongs with our pack."
"You only think that because you fucked her," he said steadily. "It was your first heat, of course you feel that way. Knotting doesn't equal love, Kade."
Staring down at the man who had put our pack together and made it strong, I shook my head. "That's cold, even for you, River."
"You should understand," he told me. "You've always detested omegas. Can't you see she has all of you wrapped around her little finger just because you got your dick wet? You're all brainwashed. So, until you can make coherent decisions, yes, I will continue to make decisions for this pack."
"That's not fair," I told him. "She's more than just a booty call." Rage simmered just under my skin and for the first time since Amara, I wanted to punch someone. And that someone was my pack leader.
"Don't fight," Quinn said sadly. "I only have a few hours left, Kade. Come lie down with me."
I twisted to look at her, furious still. "Don't. You don't need to interfere here and you're leaving anyway. You just needed mefor a heat and now you're fine, you're ready to head back to the ORC."
She looked stricken. "That's . . . I don't want to go back!"
"Hey." Archer stepped up to Quinn and tugged her into his arms. "No one is happy with this situation and there's no clear way forward here. Instead of tearing each other a new one, let's think about solutions."
"There are none," River said flatly. "She has to go back. You can't just keep government property.
Quinn sucked in a breath at that, but didn't say anything. When I looked over, her face was pale, eyes bright with tears, but she didn't let any of them fall.
