Page 5 of Claimed Omega

“I know.” She wiped her cheeks, nodding. “I’m trying.”

“And you’re doing fantastic.” I wished I could collect her in my arms and hold her, tell her all would be alright.

For the rest of the trip, she held onto Shadow’s hand, humming a soft song to him, the tune soothing, easing the tension in the car. I breathed calmer, and even Viper wasn’t swerving across the roads as much or swearing at anyone who got in his way.

By the time we parked in front of an old derelict apartment block, I knew where we’d arrived. Viper jumped out of the car and yanked open my door. Awkwardly, I climbed out of the car, then the two of us hauled Shadow out of the back seat.

Trinity hurried out of the car and joined us.

“I’ll carry him. It’ll be quicker,” I offered and lifted Shadow, placing him over my shoulder. I was the biggest of the three, and this place didn’t have working elevators. In truth, no one lived in the apartment building. Most had moved out. Shadow and Daniel had been working on securing the place for years, keeping it empty from squatters and kept electricity running, as a backup safe house for us should the time come.

“I could, too, you know,” Viper muttered, eyes darkening.

“I don’t doubt it,” I said and turned away from him. “But we need him in the room today, not next week.” Smirking to myself, I moved across the sidewalk as he cursed me.

The whole neighborhood was close to non-existent in this part of the city—gray buildings, busted windows, boarded-up homes, broken street lights, potholes in the road. Nobody came to fix this shady side of Liberty.

Most who lived there were homeless or druggies—those lost to the city. Many of the mafia enforcers used the area to dump dead bodies. There were only so many bodies one could dump in the main river crossing the city.

Shadow was groaning.

“Hold on, my friend,” I said. “We’re getting you help.” I made my way up the steps to the front door of the apartment building just as the front door opened.

Daniel stood there, his face panic-stricken, and his mouth dropped open at the sight of his boyfriend, Shadow. “Oh God, he looks horrible.”

“Well, you better get out of my way if you want him to survive.”

He threw himself backward, terror flaring over his face. Behind him, the dilapidated foyer spread out—paint peeling off walls, cobwebs in the corners, spray paint on the walls—but generally, the place was clean.

“Quickly upstairs. Thelma’s got everything ready.”

I was already on it, making progress on the six flights, knowing my thighs were going to burn, but I pushed hard and moved like a demon.

Daniel’s footsteps sounded closed behind me, as did his sniffles. I hated seeing him in agony. He’d grown on me, and he was my family. The guy loved Shadow to a fault, but he was also loyal as fuck and would do anything for any of us. His only downfall was his possessiveness over Shadow…which I suspected had a lot to do with the tension I’d felt between him and Trinity back in our compound.

“Seen anything suspicious in the area?” Breathless as we reached the third floor, my lungs were pumping for air as I held onto Shadow tightly so he didn’t slip off my shoulder. Feeling his blood running down my back from his wound pushed me to go faster.

“Nothing. Not even the cops come around here anymore. Seen a few locals down the street… mostly just squatters.”

“Good. We’ll have to take turns watching the street. As far as I know, no one knows you live here, but I’m sure we’ve been followed, so we won’t be able to stay here long.” Gasping for air, I pressed on, one step after another, my thighs trembling by the time we reached the fifth floor. Pausing for a moment, I leaned a shoulder into the wall, needing to catch my breath.

Daniel sprinted ahead of me to the top floor until I heard the creak of his door opening.

The poor guy had grown up with his mother in hard times, with no support from his father or the government. That was why he and his mother moved in and lived with Shadow’s family for a while. A single Alpha and a young kid living alone in the rundown part of the city was a dangerous mix that would easily attract trouble. He kept the family home as a secret hideout, not that it’d remain that for much longer. In truth, I felt sorry for the guy, but I’d never say that to him. He had too much pride.

With a sharp inhale of air, I pushed off the wall and started the last climb, just as the soft chatter of voices reached me from down below. By the sound of it, Trinity and Viper were in a heated conversation. I’d find out soon enough what was going on.

Finally reaching the sixth floor, I burst into the apartment as Daniel held the door open. Thelma waved for me to follow her down a corridor. My footfalls hit the floorboards hard as I passed an old leather couch, a small TV, and a cabinet with brown glass that belonged in the 1970s. I charged into a bedroom where the mattress had been covered with towels. Beneath that was a plastic tarp, the kind used by painters.

Shadow groaned as I laid him on his back, and my chest constricted to see him in such a bad state.

“Take his shirt off,” Thelma commanded, already bringing over a platter with surgical items she had most likely found in the kitchen and bathroom, along with a bottle of isopropyl alcohol. There were towels and bandages already on the bed.

I ripped the shirt right down the middle of his chest, then slowly peeled the fabric plastered to his skin away from the wound. His moans of pain hurt me because I fucking loved this guy like my brother. I wanted nothing for him but happiness. So, to see someone I respected in such a state sent wave after wave of fury over me. I was going to find Axel and murder that ass-munching fucker.

“It’s high on his chest, closer to his shoulder.” Thelma started cleaning around his bullet wound with part of a towel drenched in rubbing alcohol. “Good,” she said, mostly murmuring to herself. “I doubt it’s hit his heart.”

“You’ve done this a few times, I gather,” I stated, knowing she had patched our injuries in the past but never in such a dire situation.

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