Page 54 of Omega Shattered
"Not today," River said. "I'm ordering Chinese food, we're going to eat a good meal and then get a good night's sleep."
"Do you think she's having a good night's sleep? And a good meal?" Kade challenged.
"No, I don't. But I also don't think it's any of our business."
"You don't mean that," Archer said. "And if you do . . . then you're not the man I thought you were."
We all stood in the dim living room, facing off. I could feel the tension between us. Three of us wanted nothing more than to go get our omega, but River . . . River was just too stubborn to see that she was meant for us.
"Archer, order the food," I said, taking over the situation. I was pissed at River, too, but fighting wasn't going to get us to where we needed to be. Not yet anyway.
Kade shifted uneasily and I turned to him. "Go ahead and unpack and shower. Food will be here when you're done."
He gave River a look and then nodded. "Fine." Then to Archer, as he headed upstairs, "Don't forget lemon chicken."
"What? You're suddenly the pack leader now?" River challenged, fire in his eyes.
"I'm your second in command. That means I take over when you're incapacitated," I reminded him.
"I'm not fucking incapacitated."
"Your pack doesn't trust you. It's the same result." I shrugged and gestured to the sofa. "Sit. I'll grab some beers."
"I need a shower and food," he muttered stubbornly.
"Food's coming. Shower can wait."
He bared his teeth at me, but headed for the couch when I left the room to grab the beers.
Archer looked up from his phone. "You good with him?"
"Yeah." I popped the tops off the beers and returned to the living room where River was brooding.
He took the bottle I handed him and drank deeply before straightening up and setting his drink down. "I'm the leader for a reason, you know. You all chose me because I make sound decisions under duress."
"But you hate omegas," I pointed out gently. "That makes you a liability in a situation like this."
"She's the liability. She caught you all up in her web," he snapped. "None of you had any self-control around her and now even Kade thinks he's in love."
I snorted. "Pretty sure he doesn't. That man wouldn't know love if it bit his ass."
"You know what I mean." He threw back another swig of beer.
"I think you want her, too."
"Of course I do! Who wouldn't? She's cute and sweet and stubborn and hot . . ." He rubbed a hand over his eyes. "But we can't. We've built this pack on a strict no omega rule. We can't just change that, not for some manipulative bitch."
With a sigh, I sank down in my favorite armchair and studied him. "We've been friends for a long time and you've detested omegas since I first met you. I get it. You've been hurt."
"Exactly. Nothing's changing because some little omega swings her hips and smells like fucking candy."
"But I think if you really stop to think about it, you'll realize that she wasn't manipulating anyone." I stared at him until he dropped his eyes and started picking at the label on his beer bottle. "She didn't want us either, but we kind of grew on her."
"In her," he threw out with a smirk that faded almost as soon as it appeared.
"River. She's not the enemy."
"She's an omega. And we can't have her anyway, she belongs to the center."
