Page 143 of Carmichael's Omega

"Carm will come for you," he says quietly. "Just hold on, OK?"

"Cassie?"

Nico is quiet for a moment. "Papa won't let anyone hurt her. Not now."

While she's carrying Carmichael's pup, he means. I grow sick at the thought of Cassie's pregnancy. She's in the riskiest part of it. Anything could happen to her and the baby.

"She's probably so scared," I whisper.

Nico nods. "Sí, but safe for now."

I hear the words he won't say. She's safe. We're all safe for now.

As if to mock my thoughts, the creak of a wood floorboard being stepped on splits the air like a cannon shot.

Nico shoves me behind him, his breath coming in fast pants. Crouching, he readies himself.

"Is it your papa?" I ask.

"No," he sounds as if he's being strangled. "Papádoesn't creep through his own house," he mumbles as if to himself. His fear washes over me in waves. It's overwhelming, the memories of that floorboard creaking in the night and the pain and humiliation that followed.

I shift back to paws, ready to hurt Nico's uncle when he comes through that door.

It opens, and two figures step through. Nico straightens up slightly. "Beta?" he asks, sounding confused.

I look up at an older version of Rique. Chocolate-brown eyes that typically look at me with amused fondness glare with such hatred that I cringe backward.

Rique's father and brother utterly loathe me.

The father says something to Nico in Spanish. All I understand is two words, 'omega,' and'matar.' He's threatening to kill me.

"Don't touch him!" Nico spits out, confirming to me that these two males came here to end my life.

I growl weakly. My omega-wolf flashes his canines. We are seriously outnumbered here.

As if my growl was the signal they were waiting for, both males surge forward. Nico shifts impressively fast, but his small, adolescent body doesn't mean much against the adult male he's pitted himself against.

I howl in pure fear as the other wolf crashes into me.Feint, then flee, runs through my head over and over. I snap my jaws at his foreleg, then dash... under the bed. I hear Nico howl in pain and my omega wolf screams in sympathy. Fingers yank at the fur of my hindquarters. The younger male must have shifted back to feet. Spinning, I bite his hand.

He disappears, but then the bed starts to move. The mattress is flipped off, and I know that the bedframe is going to follow it.

I wriggle to the other side as I hear curses behind me and feel fingers searching to grab my fur again. The frame must be too heavy to lift.

I hear a crash and a yelp. Looking up from under the other side of the bed, I watch Nico stand back up from where he was thrown against the wall.

The Beta is just toying with him, I realize in horror. Beating him up while his son finishes me off.

I duck back under the bed. The juvenile wolf can't turn the bed frame over, but he can push it. I move with the frame until it's near the wall. If he uses the wall to push against, he may be able to lift the frame.

At the last moment, I dart out past him, toward the legs of the Beta. I bite the back of his thigh, pressing down harder than I've ever bitten anything in my life. Nico takes the opportunity to lung at his arm, tearing into the flesh. A hard hand hits my head, and I nearly pass out. Goddess, one hit from an adult, and I'm done.

Dazed, I fall to the floor, barely registering the thud as Nico is flung into the wall again.

I wait for the next blow, unable to move. The large Beta wolf is there... then gone. Snarls fill the air. Then the scent of blood trickles into my nose.

Arms close around me, and I snap my canines at the new threat, not understanding what just happened.

"Shh, Mattie, it's me," Nico mumbles. He drags me backward so that his back hits the wall.

---