Page 8 of Royal Omega

The damn panel beeps and a red X flashes on the screen. I growl at it like an animal. The fucking thing doesn’t work the next two times it scans me, and I’m cursing by the time I finally lay my thumb properly on the pad. When it finally lets me in, I wrench open the door and step inside, shouting for my pack mates.

“Meeting in the fucking living room!” I announce as I tromp up the stairs.

Henry comes racing out of the gym with an expression of concern, his peppermint scent trailing behind him. He’s the most built of all of us, though he’s not as tall as I am. His blond hair and blue eyes stand out in any room he’s in. We’re the same age, but there’s an innocent sort of joy about Henry that makes him seem younger than his years.

“Ransom, you ok?” Henry asks, rushing over and touching me on the shoulder.

I smile despite myself. “Yeah, Henry, I’m ok. Though I hate that new door panel.”

Henry frowns. “Really? I’d read good things about it. I’ll have to take a look at it before I recommend it to any of my clients... is that what you’re so stormy about?”

“No. I’mstormybecause of something your packmate did. Conrad!”

Henry grins. “So he’s only my packmate now?”

“When he pisses me off like this, yes. Conrad, come in here!”

Conrad comes out of the kitchen wearing a Kiss the Cook apron I got him for Pack Day last year. His dark brown hair is rumpled from running his hands through it, and his carefully cultivated close-shaven beard looks like it could use a trim. He turns green eyes to mine, seemingly unsurprised to find me looking furious.

“You’re both stuck with me,” Conrad growls, but his eyes land on Henry with that possessive look he uses only when Henry’s not looking at him.

“Well apparently you need us both, since we’re going to be on television as a pack,” I snap, holding up my phone.

Henry’s brows raise as he takes the phone from my hands and reads the email aloud. “Congratulations on your acceptance as an alpha pack forOmega Girls: Season Seven.”

“I signed us up,” Conrad says, shrugging as if it’s no big deal to sign us up for a reality tv show. “Ransom, just a few weeks ago, you made that big pronouncement that we needed an omega to tie us together. I figured this was the perfect way to find one that suits us all.”

Henry closes his eyes. “Conrad, don’t tell me this is about that girl.”

Conrad hesitates.

“Of course it’s about her,” I growl. “I checked. All I had to do was Venmo one of the associate producers twenty bucks, and he spilled the beans. Guessing that’s the same thing you did, isn’t it, Conrad?”

Conrad shrugs like it’s a given that he bribes reality show producers all the time.

Shaking my head, I add, “Carissa Castle signed up last week. You didn’t think at all, did you? You saw her name, and you just acted.”

Conrad’s expression turns dark, like it always does when he feels guilty. “It’s going to be fine. I didn’t think about you, you’re right, because I figured that my pack would understand that after what I went through, I need this to happen.”

“And I would think that you would consider the rest of this pack before you made decisions that impacted all of us,” I growl.

Conrad closes his eyes and sighs. Henry moves just a little closer, offering physical support, even though he’s not touching him. The two of them have been orbiting around each other for years, but neither of them is willing to admit that there’s more between them than being pack brothers. It’s annoying. I want to yell at them to hook up already, but I also don’t want to encourage them to upset the balance in our pack — it’s on the verge of collapse as it is.

Conrad looks back and forth between me and Henry. “Look, was the girl part of my motivation? Of course. But we can kill two birds with one stone this way, Ransom. I can find a way to get back at the Castles, and we can find an omega to tie us together or whatever it is you were saying the other day.”

I grind my teeth, working hard to keep my tone calm. “The reason we need an omega is so we can have a common goal; something that pulls us together. Not more of this revenge bullshit. Don’t act like you aren’t feeling the change between us, Conrad. We live completely separate lives at this point. I know you can feel how our connection is fading. I can barely feel you anymore. Is that what you want? For this pack to fall apart?”

“Of course not,” Conrad says sharply.

“Well, if it comes down to it, what’s more important? Your revenge, or us?”

Conrad hesitates just a second too long before he says, “The pack, of course.”

I just stare at him.

Henry tsks. “Conrad, you need to let this go.”

“How can you ask me to do that?” he demands, narrowing his eyes at Henry.

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