Page 52 of Carmichael's Omega

"I wanted you to join us, Cassidy, because you are an omega. I thought you could help," Miranda says softly. "Then I met you, and I had my doubts. I figured that it might be like kicking a puppy, no offense."

I frown, "what are you talking about, Miranda? What is behind this door?" I'm getting freaked out as she unlocks it and pushes it open.

Holding my breath, I follow her through, expecting to see creepy, dark stairs into a hole in the ground, or a terrible dark chamber where Miranda sacrifices goats, or something equally horror-movie-ish. Not that I ever watch horror movies. Even the previews give me nightmares. I can imagine the scene, though.

What I do see is... nothing special. It's just a hallway. It doesn't go downstairs or below the house at all. The same thick, white wainscot and molding in the rest of the first floor run along these walls. The oakwood floors continue. The hallway is painted a lovely sage green. The lightbulbs don't even flicker. It's quiet. No water dripping or evil cackling or anything.

There are four white six-panel doors, all closed, along the hallway. At its end is a large sitting room. Miranda walks down the hallway and knocks at two of the doors. Strangely, she doesn't stay but continues to the sitting room and sits, then indicates that I should, too. I plop down on one of the oversized chairs, noticing that it, too, is the same style as the rest of the house.

We sit in silence for a while. I take the time to look around. I didn't notice it at first, but I finally see an oddity, probably because I was looking so hard for something out-of-the-ordinary.

The two large windows in the sitting room are tinted. The dark-purple hue doesn't prevent the sun from coming into the room, but I imagine that it stops anyone outside from seeing in.

I'm staring so hard at the windows that when the door squeaks, I leap about a foot in the air.

Whirling around, I meet the gaze of a small, timid-looking female. Her soft brown eyes meet mine for only an instant before they fall.

"Tansy, this is Cassie. She's an omega. A wolf, like you," Miranda says in a calm, soothing voice.

I can't breathe from the waves of fear wafting off of this girl. She's taller than me, not that it's a challenge to be taller than five-feet-barely, but I must still outweigh her by ten or fifteen pounds. Even from down the hall, I can see scars crisscrossing her arms. That tiny glimpse of her eyes was like staring into the gaze of a wounded animal. She's a broken thing.

My omega-wolf is whining in sympathy. I take a deep breath and ease it out, along with all of the negativity building in my body.

"Hello, Tansy," I say softly.

"Hello," she whispers back. She walks a little faster, almost rushing to sit in one of the chairs closer to Miranda. Her eyes dart up to look at me again, this time bright with curiosity.

"You're an omega?" she asks. She scoots closer to me. "What, um, what pack were you in?"

"Um, ClearHowl?" I respond, confused.

Tansy frowns. "I thought they were nice?" she darts a glance at Miranda. I look at my friend, too, wondering at the oddity of the question.

Miranda clears her throat delicately. "Tansy, Cassie is still part of ClearHowl. They are very kind to her. She is related to the Beta by mating."

Tansy meets my eyes and holds my gaze, her shock palatable. "They are good to you?" she asks in disbelief.

Another door creaks, and with noticeable relief, Miranda calls out, "Good morning, Krissy. Did we wake you?"

Another girl comes stalking out of another room. This female looks utterly different from Tansy. Dark skin, muscles, an angry vibe is rolling off of her. She looks like a warrior. I don't understand the connection to the first girl until Krissy is closer. It's then I see the damaged area around her neck and collarbone. The skin is completely mangled. It looks like she was burned. I suck in a breath, my omega-wolf also staring curiously at the spot.

"My mate accused me of cheating and burned off his Mark," Krissy snaps at me when she sees what I'm staring at.

I burst into tears and throw myself at her.

"Oh, for the love of all the gods," Miranda mutters from behind us.

I ignore the witch and the stiffness in Krissy's body and hug the life out of her. Slowly, the female relaxes.

"What are you?" Krissy asks suspiciously.

"An omega," I whisper. I tighten my arms around her.

“You smell of a male,” she says cautiously.

"My mate Carmichael and my twin, Mattie," I confess readily.

"Carmichael is your mate?" Krissy sounds confused.

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