Page 114 of Carmichael's Omega

I can't breathe, but I don't stop running. The pain in my chest radiates down my body, making my legs and fingers numb, but I still run.

It hurts.

My vision is narrowing. It's hard to see and impossible to hear anything over the pounding of my heart. My bare feet pound along the hard-packed dirt. The soles hurt. Every so often, a dart of pain strikes into the tender part of my heels and toes. I ignore those pains just like I do the rest. I can't stop running.

My omega-wolf is gasping along with me, crying in high-pitched yelps of panic. An alpha is chasing us. His breath on the back of our necks. His fury sends our fear spiking.

In this wild-struck flight, it doesn't matter that it's Carmichael. I can't stop and think about our mate. It only matters that we are omega, and he is alpha. Our submission to his rank has been shattered, and survival is all that remains.

Gasping for air that won't come, I throw myself in the tiny den my wolf had found a week ago.

Goddess, save me. The agony is killing me.

The minuscule tunnel is my salvation, but when I tuck myself into the dirt and rock deep enough that I can't see any light anymore, it starts to feel more like my grave.

I can't breathe.

I'm wedged in so deep I can't move, can't even lift my head when I hear scratching and whining at the opening. Blearily I blink my eyes, but all I see is black. Even my wolf is blind.

I'm a puta.

I can't breathe. I'm choking. There's no air in this tight space. With my legs curled up into my stomach and my arms wedged around my bent knees, there's no space to stretch out my lungs. "Cassidy!" Carmichael's scream echoes down the tunnel, but I don't respond. I can't. There's not enough air.

My mate Marked Mattie. Not me.

Dizzy, I try to unbend, to at least reach out for rescue. I can't move. My legs are numb. My fingers, too. Pain still screams from my chest, but the rest of me is dead already.

A dumb toy.

Something sharp digs into my spine. My she-wolf tries to shift, to save us. She can't. Our shared body is too weak to even make claws.

Don't be selfish, Cassie. Be happy for them.

I try once more. Move. Please, goddess. "Cassidy!" I hear scratching, digging, the snarling of a wolf. Dirt showers me.

I love them so much. So much.

My mind slips away, the precious oxygen gone from my chest, compressed so tightly... I just can't catch my breath.

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Carmichael

Too long. It's taking too long to dig through the dirt to her. She's buried alive. I can hear her ragged breathing, shallow and sparse. Each inhale is a struggle for her overworked lungs. Her heart is slowing down, dull thuds that make mine race uncontrollably.

I'm a failure.

My Mark on Mattie is confusing me. Part of me needs to return to his side, but my female... I can't abandonmi alma.

Rocks and dirt fall as I dig. My fear ratchets upward. Will I bury my Cassidy alive before I can save her? My paws blur. I use my snout to push a large rock out of the way.

I should be curled up with both of my mates, coaxing them gently into accepting my Claim. Instead, I left Mattie with Rique and Miranda to save, and I can't dig fast enough to save Cassidy.

Diosa.

I see dirt-covered golden hair, a hand, then an arm and shoulder.

Images flash. My Cassidy, crying the first time I met her. Her caramel eyes swirling with passion when I pinned her to the tree and made her come for me. Her peaceful face asleep at night, curled in my arms.

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