Page 70 of This Fate That Guides Us
CHAPTER THIRTY
NOW PLAYING: TELOMERES- Sleep Token
Another three days away from Omen has left my entire pack on edge. I’ve tried to soothe them as best as I can. I feel it too. The longing to be by her side. I’m constantly wondering if she’s eating and getting enough sleep. If she’s experiencing another mini-heat alone in her apartment.
Both my parents are betas so I’ve never really learned much about omegas. Nothing more than the basics they teach us in school before our designations present anyway. Nexus’ mom is an omega so I’ve learned a lot over the years I’ve known her, but even with that increased knowledge, I don’t think any of us knew mini-heats existed. We all know it is extremely detrimental to omegas to go through a heat unassisted.
Imagining Omen suffering through them, waking exhausted, dehydrated, and alone, puts all of us on edge. We want to be there for her. To ease the burden these mini-heats seem to cause.
At the beach the other day, when Nebula and Omen had returned from their walk hand in hand looking cozy and flushed, we’d all known everything was going to change for the better. We’ve all felt the pull to the sweet omega since the moment she walked into Brady’s office all those weeks ago. To see her finally settling in with our pack, giving in to the tension that’s been building between us, was cause for celebration.
Or it should have been. Between nearly a week of days off and Nebula’s breakdown after seeing Grant Montgomery on the news after our show in Philly, we’ve barely seen our omega. Something that hasn’t gone over well with my mates.
So, I’ve distracted them by encouraging them to start making courting plans. Dates they wish to take her on, individually and as a group. Even house hunting has been thrown on the table to occupy their minds.
Nebula has been the worst of them all. He’s been beating himself up about driving Omen away with his anger when he’d seen the Pastor on TV. He’s clung to his phone hoping she’d answer his texts and calls asking for her to come see us or let us go to her. He wants to apologize. To explain his hatred of the Pastor more.
Unfortunately, Omen hasn’t had the time during this break. Which we understand. She has a life here in Starburgh. A family she wants to visit while she’s at home and work for the DAU she still has to do. We miss her. We also can’t help but worry this time apart will allow doubt to creep in. Especially when our pack hasn’t officially told Omen we intend to court her.
Today that changes. We’re playing the first of two shows here in New York City, a forty-minute drive from our apartment. Which means we will finally get to see our north star once moreand this time we aren’t leaving the venue without making sure Omen knows exactly what we want for our future: her.
After checking in with Brady, I let the song of her heart lead me to her. I find her in the main room of the venue. Lex stands in the middle of the empty floor so I stop beside him, though my eyes are glued to Omen where she’s getting pre-show shots from different angles around the bottom level.
“Hey man, glad to have you back,” I tell Lex. He grunts his agreement and we stand in silence until Omen is ready to move on. She startles when she sees me standing next to her bodyguard, stumbling over nothing. My lips tilt into a frown when she averts her gaze and refuses to meet my eyes. Maybe our worry wasn’t as misplaced as I led my pack to believe.
“Hello starlight,” I greet softly when she gets close enough to hear me over Orbital Somatic’s soundcheck on stage. “How was your time off?”
Omen fidgets with her camera, her head turned down so her long black and purple hair cascades over her arm and blocks her face from my view. “It was okay. How about yours?”
Our conversation feels stilted. Like polite small talk. I can’t take the change and step closer to offer her the comfort of my affection, but I pull up short when she takes a step back. “Sorry Callisto, I need to get back to work.” She doesn’t look my way before hurrying to the back of the room where the stairs to the upper-level balconies are.
“Do you know–” I hesitantly ask Lex as he turns to follow her but he only shakes his head. I guess that makes sense since he just resumed his role as her bodyguard today. Sighing, I head backstage to the dressing room to find my mates. For once I need the comfort they can provide instead.
Acid eats away at the lining of my stomach as I anxiously pace outside of our SUV. Nexus wanted to stay behind to find Omen while the rest of us waited out back for her. I can’t explain how I know but something major has changed, and not in the way we hoped.
My fear is confirmed when Nexus steps out the back door with one of our security team close behind. My alpha’s bond pulses with confusion and dejection. I don’t hesitate to step forward and wrap my arms around him, squeezing his chest tight against mine, being careful not to smack our masks against each other.
“She’s already gone?” Nebula questions when he joins us, wrapping a large palm around the back of Nexus’ neck to center him.
“No. Maybe. I don’t know. She was still there, waiting for Bea to finish up her conversation with Brady and Mr. Acherley, but she wasn’t our Omen. If that makes sense. It’s like how she acted after Titan’s birthday, only a million times worse.”
My chest feels tight when my alpha admits the same thing I felt after talking to her earlier this evening. Something I quickly convey.
“I’m sorry,” Nebula deflates beside us. “If I had better control of my emotions after our show in Philadelphia–”
“No. I don’t believe for a second you’re the reason why she’s acting so cold toward us now, Alpha.” I won't let him blame himself for a situation we don’t understand.
Titan finally pushes off the side of the SUV to walk over to where we all stand. He’s rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, hurt shining in his obsidian eyes. “For my birthday I took Omen to an underground zipline park in Louisville,” he admits. Finally telling our other mates what he revealed at the protest in St. Louis. “I also kissed the hell out of her. Then she freaked out. Pushed me away in a panic.”
“So you think that’s what's happening here too?” Nebula asks curiously. “She’s panicking and pushing us away out of fear?”
“Maybe,” Tee shrugs his massive shoulders. Silver paint still peeks out of the top of his t-shirt since none of us wanted to waste time washing it off. We were too excited to talk with Omen. “Or maybe she’s worried about backlash from the label. Or the anti-packers we’ll see at our other stops. We won’t know unless she tells us.”
Nexus shifts back and forth on his feet. His hands tugging the bottom of his shirt. “Let’s head home,” he mumbles before shuffling to the car. He’s being a little shifty but I follow along. Being home sounds perfect right now.
We check out with security and head out into traffic. We're nearly out of the city and mask-free before he speaks again. “When I went to apologize to Omen and found out she was experiencing the mini-heat, I also learned something else. I didn’t feel comfortable sharing it, not even with the three of you, as it’s really her secret to share. But if she’s afraid of being seen having a non-platonic relationship with us…” He trails off when traffic slows.
“At the protest we attended before the tour began, Shepherd told us the Powells are very active in the DAU here in the Northeast, which was meant to explain Omen’s connection to their group. That’s true–Shepherd didn’t lie–but her story is more complex. She’s part of their designation protection program and was adopted by the Powells.”
