Page 48 of Carmichael's Omega

"Let's sit," he chokes out.

Cassie and I both spin on our heels, heading for the couch. Halfway there, Cassie trips over thin air. Teague catches her. His nostrils flare, and a growl rips from deep in his gut. He carefully lets go of my sister and takes a step back. "Slowly," he grunts.

We both make it to the couch without any further mishaps. Sitting together, I wrap my arm around Cassie's waist as she cringes into me. We burrow into the ten-thousand-dollar brown leather while Teague paces in front of us. My wolf cowers, hiding his eyes from the alpha-wolf. If he could dig a hole and hide, I would join him there.

"He's my-" Cassie starts to explain.

"I met him," Teague snarls. "Carmichael Javier Reyes, twenty-two, Alphason of the LoboGris, Member of the Alpha-Upsilon Fraternity and the Lobo MC, and, oh, what am I forgetting? Yeah, a fucking mongrel criminal, pup-stealing, shit-eating, punk!"

Cassie catches her breath. "Don't," she pleads. "Don't say cruel things about him. Please, Teague?"

"He's not good enough to be your mate, Cassidy!" Teague roars. "Where is your Mark? Has he introduced you to his worthless pack of mutts? Has he?" he snarls. His hands fist his hair, yanking it hard.

Cassie starts to cry piteously, hiding her face in my shoulder with her entire body shaking.

"It's not her fault, Teague. Don't yell at her," I say in a soft voice.

Teague deflates. "Goddess, I can't let this happen," he says softly, shaking his head. He crouches down, fingers still clenched in his hair. "I wanted you to have a good, solid, boring male, SweetBee. One with a desk job and a nice beige Buick. Not an alpha. Sure as fuck, not this alpha. Not this pack."

"W-why, Teague?" Cassie hiccups.

"Alpha Javier killed the last omega the LoboGris had. Blamed her for killing his mate, Luna Marguerite. Xander never believed it. Alpha Robert didn't, either," he said quietly, naming our current and former alphas. "An omega, attacking a luna? Not just attacking her, but winning the damn fight?"

His eyes, red-rimmed and glassy, raise to meet ours. "She was their maid. Alpha Javier and Luna Marguerite. Their personal maid, practically a slave. They turned that little thing into a scapegoat. Their story is that the little omega attacked the luna, a fatal blow. Alpha Javier then killed the omega, an alpha's instinct, but he was too late to save his luna."

Cassie and I sit with our arms wrapped around each other. Both of us are crying silently.

Teague gently reaches up and wipes both our faces with his calloused hands. "If an omega attacked her luna, she must have had a reason. Very few members of the pack ever saw her. She had to have been abused, Cassie. A horrific abuse. Nothing else makes sense. You can't ever go to that pack. I would go to war, first."

He enfolds Cassie in his arms as she collapses in tears. I press into her other side, just trying to absorb some of the devastation pouring out of my twin.

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12 - Alpha of the South

Cassidy

"He's up north," I mumble into Teague's chest.

His chest rumbles comfortingly. "Good," he mutters grumpily. He's calmed down over the last hour. The presence of an omega helped. The cake did, too.

I peel away and wipe my eyes for the thousandth time. I'm sure they're red and puffy. Just awful. "Can you have Mina call me when you get home?" I ask in a small voice.

Teague immediately looks guilty. It's not an expression I'm used to seeing on his face. "Yeah, Bee. Sure."

"What's wrong?"

"I may have taken their phones so they couldn't call and warn you I was coming," he mumbles.

I blink up at him. "Mina is going to kill you," I breathe.

He winces. "Yeah," he runs his hand through his hair.

Mattie snickers behind me, his mouth full of cake. "Doghouse," he sings.

Teague scowls. "I may just sleep here tonight," he warns us. We both laugh. He wants to go back to his mates. This is hard for him, having his family split apart. It makes me wonder how human parents feel when their pups leave for college.

Teague rolls his neck. "Alright. Time to go face the music. Stay with Mattie or at your sorority." He hugs us both one last time before he leaves. Both Mattie and I heave sighs of relief. We love him, but it was too intense and way too much information. Teague's warnings about Carm and LoboGris twist like serpents in my head.

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