Page 90 of Claimed By Blood

If he kicks me out… I have nothing.

Finn shakes his head. “Space. You need it too—whether you realise it or not. We… Do you ever think about how we started?”

I nod, unable to speak past the lump in my throat. “You were too young.”

I knew that even then. He was barely twenty-four and recovering from the shit-show that was his birth-pack. It took him weeks to stop flinching every time I spoke, and once he settled in, he claimed everyone. EvenDraven.

The first time he found me in the grip of hyper-fixation, he didn’t even talk. Just bent over, expecting to be used like the animals of his old pack no doubt used him. When I wouldn’t touch him, he started sobbing until Silas managed to calm him down.

After that, I waited years to accept his advances because I wanted to make sure he wasn’t doing it out of some misplaced sense of duty. Because his old pack had taught him all he was good for was servicing alphas.

And despite growing up with my father as an example, I knew that omegas were far more than that.

If my hyper-fixation hadn’t gotten so bad I was physically starving and the rest of the pack hadn’t intervened, my resolve might not have broken. I might never have fucked him, and we might not have gotten into this mess in the first place.

“You didn’twanta pack,” Finn says. “I’m still not certain you do. My arrival forced it on you. You had to step up and be alpha because I would’ve shattered if you rejected me.” He pauses, then gently tugs his arm from my numb grip. “I was grateful—I still am. But we’re not those people anymore. That’s why our relationship can’t keep going like it was. I think… we need to figure out if we’re really compatible or if…”

He doesn’t finish the sentence.

I can’t believe…Of courseI want the pack. Have I really been so distant that he thinks I don’t? Do the rest of them think that?

“I’ll…” I clear my throat, embarrassed by how rough that one word was. “If you let me, I’ll do better. I can listen.”

It’s not enough, or what he wants to hear. But I don’t know what else to say. I’ve never been more out of my depth in my life than I am with this gorgeous man.

I’m not surprised when Finn only replies with a small, sad half smile before he turns away and clambers into the van.

CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR

EVELYN

We seethe smoke before we reach the base, floating over the desert like a foreboding cloud. The black, armoured vehicles around the entrance to the garage are visible a mile off. With a curse, Gideon disengages the hover drive and takes us left, down a sand dune and out of sight.

I take the offered earpiece from Silas and slide it into place,

“Which way to the tunnels?” he barks, glancing over his shoulder to where Noha is sitting, isolated at the very back of the van.

Her hands are clenched on the sides of her chair with a white-knuckled grip as she stares out of the windscreen in red-eyed shock.

“They’re in the north,” she whispers, her voice thin. “About a mile out from the base.”

Finn passes her a tablet, and she taps diligently at a spot hidden amongst the holographic blue dunes. Automatically, the screen on the dashboard adjusts, and a red line appears, directing Gideon towards the hidden entrance.

Sure enough, as we approach, I catch sight of a dozen or more figures streaking away across the dunes.

Fleeing.

“Noha, you’ll remain here with Mia and Finn,” Gideon growls. “The van is cloaked, and they have permission to stake you if you try anything.”

She blinks, then her face transforms into a mask of outrage as she processes his order. “I’m going to find my son! My husband!”

In my chest, I feel Draven’s irritation, though he’s keeping his distance from the distraught woman. My vampire thrall doesn’t understand why we’re keeping her alive. In his icy black and white world, Noha became an enemy the second she betrayed us.

I think Gideon must know that. That’s why he’s keeping such a close eye on both of them.

“We’ll find both of them,” Morwen growls, strapping her sword to her waist. “But you’ve done enough damage.”

Noha hasn’t given up, but before she can argue her case, Vane turns to her and growls. “If you want to live to see them again, sit there, shut up, and don’t move.”

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