Page 56 of Roulette Rodeo
Try.
Like it's that fucking simple.
As though we can just pretend the last two years haven't happened.
Like we can forget Sophia's funeral, forget the war with the Castellano family that followed, forget the promises we made to never let another omega into our lives.
Red makes a small sound, her head turning slightly on the medical chair's headrest. Her lips part, and for a moment I think she might wake up. But she settles again, still lost to whatever chemical cocktail is working through her system.
"She's stabilizing," Corwin reports. "Should be out of danger soon."
Out of mortal danger, maybe. But she's created a whole new kind of danger just by existing in our space.
By making my brothers look at her like she's salvation instead of complication.
The pilot announces our descent, and I feel the pressure change in my ears. Jackknife Ridge sprawls below us—our kingdom, carved out of wilderness and paid for in blood.
The compound comes into view: main house, medical facility, training grounds, everything we need to be self-sufficient.
All hidden perfectly in a way no one can suspect…
Everything we need to keep her prisoner if necessary.
The thought should disturb me. Instead, it feels like strategy. Planning for contingencies.
The moment she wakes up, everything will be tested.
She'll either fit into our pack like she was always meant to be there, or she'll tear us apart from the inside.
There's no middle ground with someone like her.
The jet touches down smooth as silk, and immediately our ground crew is moving. Dr. Voss is waiting with a full medical team—we'd called ahead, explained the situation in vague terms. He doesn't ask questions, just starts barking orders as they transfer Red to a proper gurney.
"Poisoning?" he asks Corwin, who nods and hands over the injectors he used.
"Unknown compound, but similar to the nightshade derivatives. Used these to counter, but she needs full blood work, maybe dialysis if there's organ involvement."
They're wheeling her away, toward the medical building, and my brothers follow like magnetized metal.I should go too.At least pretend to care about our investment.
Instead, I stand on the tarmac, looking up at the sky that's just starting to lighten with dawn.
Six hours ago, we were different people.
Six hours ago, we had rules and boundaries and a carefully maintained balance that kept us functional if not happy.
Now we have an omega who might not survive to see noon.
An omega who's already changed everything just by existing.
I close my eyes, and for a moment I let myself remember Sophia. Really remember her, not just the guilt-twisted version that haunts my nightmares. She'd been laughing the last time I saw her alive, spinning in a sunbeam in our old kitchen, her blonde hair catching the light like spun gold.
"You worry too much, Rafe,"she'd said."Not everything has to be strategy and angles. Sometimes you just have to feel. Live in the moment and not expect the world to come crashing down due to one little error of judgement."
Three days later, she was dead.
Feeling had killed her.
Our feelings, her feelings, the overwhelming tsunami of emotion that comes with true mates finding each other before any of them are ready for it.
