Page 66 of Carmichael's Omega

Tears spring to her eyes for the first time since she started her story. "Yeah, he was devastated, and I was happy about it."

"When was the last time you spoke to him?" Mattie asks.

"Just a couple of weeks ago," she says quietly. "He... he called me a month ago because he knew that Carm and I weren't having sex anymore. He... we can feel it, you know? It's not painful," she hurries to say, "not at this distance."

"I told him that I still didn't forgive him, and he got angry. He hung up, and not even an hour later, I could feel him going at some other female. A couple of weeks ago, he called me again, and I told him that I could feel it. I asked Miguel, how would you feel if every time we argue, I go out and fuck another guy? Would you ever trust me? I was crying; then he started crying. He told me he didn't mean to, that he was so sorry. Then I asked him to leave me alone,please. Then I hung up. That's it; that's the last time we've spoken."

She curls into me, a broken she-wolf, "I hate that he has these excuses. Nothing works to make him stop."

"Sometimes," I tell her quietly, "you have to take of yourself before you can help someone else." I think of Alize, who has made a plan for her future despite the pain of her mate's betrayal.

Adriana looks at me accusingly, eyes wet. "You've given Carmichael how many chances?"

I frown at her, playing with her hair until the anger leaves her eyes. "Carm hasn't cheated on me."

She goes still, her face ashen. "He hasn't, has he?" she says quietly as if it just occurred to her that he wasn't sleeping with her or any other female other than me.I wait for Adriana to let loose her plaintive accusations.

Instead, a smile spreads over her face. "He loves you," she says with deep satisfaction. She chortles, "Carmichael Javier Reyes can't evenlookat another female. Ha!"

Alize replies to Adriana's comment with her typical, blase attitude. "Who is stupid enough to reject a Blessed One?" Her eyes dart to Mattie. "Not this alphason, at least."

Adriana lies back on the blanket, still smiling. "I call dibs on being the goddess-mother to your first pup."

I choke on the last sip of the smoothie. Blushing, I duck my head as everyone laughs at my embarrassment. Even Mattie laughs, the tips of his ears turning red.

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17 - A Little Help Goes a Long Way

Carmichael

"Where are you going to take her?" I ask the Beta while we walk back to his Black Escalade. Fancyputo. He growls low, then bares his canines in a silent snarl. I hide my smirk. It's fun to fuck with him.

The female who Teague arrested up here is inside another black SUV. She's knocked out cold and has been for a few days. Alice. She ran here from her drug-running boyfriend. She sells pups into sex slavery. Bitch.

"To hell. Where she belongs," he grunts. Eloquent fucker.

"¿Si?And what does that look like in ClearHowl? No silk sheets? Toilet paper that's only one-ply?" I needle him.

He turns and bumps his chest into mine. We are the same height, but he has twenty pounds of muscle on me, for now.

"It's a hole in the ground, poured cement, that I dug in the middle of the woods. Rain, sun, snow, fucking bugs, she'll be exposed to everything. I'm going to put her down there and wait for her to break and tell me everything she knows. Then, I'm going to kill her, slowly, and watch the life drain out of her eyes."

I bare my teeth in a grin. "An hour for every victim?" I ask.

He smiles back. "Yeah, punk. At least."

He turns and starts to walk again. "You never told me who she was working with," I say to him.

His wordless sneer makes him ugly. I wonder if he knows that. "Salvatore Diamorte," he snarls.

I go still. "Diamorte?"

"Yeah." He smiles chillingly. "One of my guys set him on fire years ago. But, we couldn't catch Alice. She's escaped us for nine years. We have no idea where she was for at least three of those."

I just nod, then pat him on the shoulder, ignoring the punch to my ribs that he gives in return.

The Diamorte Cartel. They sell pups? Why didn't I know this? Why didn'tPapátell me? I've been killing their runners for years, but this? They should have been wiped out years ago.

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