Page 48 of Wild Omegas
I take her hand in mine and try to find the words. But all that comes out is, “It’s my fault.”
She shakes her head. “What’s your fault? Nothing is.”
I nod. “The barn, Damien. All of it.”
Josie pulls me in closer and takes my other hand in hers too. Flour powders on my skin but I don’t mind. “Brooks, what’s wrong?”
“Damien was a leader of an omega trafficking ring I was investigating.” Fuck. Hearing those words from my lips feels even worse than I thought it would. Each syllable is laced with failure. “Project Aurora was supposed crack his trafficking ring wide open, and it did. Serendipity was destroyed that night, but Damien is slippery. He got away and I… I left the force. I didn’t know what happened to him because at the time I didn’t care.”
I lift my hand to brush hair out of her paling face. Every word draws tears to Josie’s eyes. I hate it. I hate that I’m causing these emotions, that I hurt her because of not catching Damien the day Project Aurora finally went off.
“It’s my fault, Josie.” My voice catches. I had no idea back then that the worst night of my professional life, with every single horror I witnessed within it, would become the source of so much pain for my future omega. There’s no healing this. No ignoring it. And there was no way I couldnottell her. “The barn fire is my fault. Damien should be off the streets and in jail with the rest of the Serendipity leaders.”
The tears building in Josie’s eyes finally fall. I brush them away with my thumb and am grateful she lets me do it. That she wants me in the same room with her at all anymore. “Oh, Brooks…” She trails off and hugs me tight.
I wrap my arms around her and squeeze. If I have my way, I’ll never let Josie go. But that’s up to her after this information. A hole forms in the pit of my stomach, raw and aching.
If Josie and Wild Skies Pack let me go now that this information is out there I wouldn’t even blame them. The truth hurts, but it’s needed nonetheless.
It’s just happenstance that my darkest night is tied to Josie and hers. No one could have foreseen that.
Josie draws back and places a warm hand on my cheek. “None of this is your fault, Brooks. Damien is his own man. He’s at fault for the barn fire. For that trafficking ring. For all of it.”
There’s a hesitation in her voice. A practiced and forced stillness on her face.
“What is it?” I ask with a voice barely louder than a whisper.
Josie shakes her head. “More of the same, but if I’m telling you that Damien is his own man with his own choices and that you’re not to blame for any of this, then I also have to agree that I’m not either. I set fire to my bakery. Thatwason me. But I never intended to hurt Damien while doing it, just as you never intended for any member of Serendipity to get away. Things happened. But we can become more than the sum of our darkness, Brooks.”
Josie’s words soothe the raw hole inside me. I know she’s right. It may take me a while to fully get there in accepting it, but I know she’s right. I draw her back in and kiss the top of her head. “You’re a wise one, my omega.”
“I don’t know about that, but I’ll accept the words from you.”
“Good.”
I hold her like that for a long while until I drum up enough courage to bring up the other reason I came in here today. Top of that list was confessing what I’d learned and what part I played in her darkness. The other item, though… “There’s one more thing.”
Josie looks up at me. “What do you mean?”
Here goes nothing. “I got in contact with the investigators I once worked with. They were excited to hear Damien’s been found and want the chance to catch him as much as I want him off the streets and you safe. There’s a plan to arrest him, but it’s not without risk to you.”
Josie’s gaze immediately hardens with resolve. “I’ll do it. I want him gone. He wouldn’t leave me alone on his own. What do you need me to do?”
I raise my hands. “Slow down. It’s a real risk to you, Josie. I need you to think about it.”
Her brow creases. “I’ve thought about escaping Damien every night since the bakery fire and his identity being revealed. Just tell me what you need me to do. It’s not like I’ll truly be alone with him, right? I assume you mean there’s a team coming or something. Your old team.”
I nod. “There is. They’ll be here for the rodeo competition.”
Josie’s eyes brighten. “That Luke’s competing in, so of course I’d be off the ranch to support him. Damien won’t think anything of it.”
And thanks to doing a full sweep of the house every day since the barn fire to look for listening devices—and coming up emptyevery time—we can be sure Damien won’t start to think anything of it.
“Exactly,” I say. “The plan gives you the appearance of being alone.”
“Of being bait, you mean.” Not that Josie looks concerned by that fact.
“Correct.” I grab her hands again. “Like I said, it’s not without risk to you.”
