Page 143 of Broken Omega

They’re just stopping when Donnie gets off his call. “Heads up, River. We’re getting suspended.”

Brooke’s eyes widen. She sets her can down and taps Donnie’s arm. “What?”

“It’s no biggie,” Donnie says, putting his phone away.

“Yeah, I was gonna quit,” River confesses, avoiding Donnie’s startled gaze by glancing my way.

“You were?” Brooke asks, frowning. She shakes her head. “Wait. This is because of me, isn’t it?”

“It doesn’t mean we’ll be fired,” Donnie says. “And if it does, I was ready for a change. I usually change jobs a lot. Like every couple years or so.”

Brooke doesn’t look too happy, and I can guess why. She didn’t think her escape would cost them anything. But the call to 911 would have been recorded. If the academy contacted the hospital, which clearly they did, then there’s going to be an investigation.

“Sorry,” I tell them. “If it helps, I can call and tell them this was my plan to get Brooke out of the academy because I wasn’t sure they’d accept my submission to be her mate.”

“That could work,” Brooke says, pointing at Donnie. “You could tell them you dropped us off on the way to your next call when you realized I wasn’t hurt.”

Donnie sighs. “We’re not being asked for anything yet, so I don’t know what we can tell them.”

River’s phone starts to ring. He brings it out of his pocket and answers the call quietly.

His call goes pretty much like Donnie’s did. He says very little and hangs up quickly.

Brooke’s frowning, staring at the wall when I turn back to her. She snaps out of her thoughts and locks gazes with me, her lips pursed. “We should go to the academy. We should have gone to them this morning. If we start the process now, we could be done with all this shit in a couple days.”

River shakes his head. “No. You don’t feel sure. You’re afraid to go back there.”

“I’ve hurt you,” she says, shaking her head. “I can’t stand the thought of that. My dumb plan is going to cause you to lose your jobs.”

Donnie puts his arm around her as she starts to tear up.

“I honestly don’t want to be an EMT anymore, Brooke.”

“I never wanted to be one,” River admits, looking at the table. “I haven’t found the thing I want to do. I just thought it would be easier to do something that made me feel closer to Donnie and Frost.”

“Are you serious?” Donnie asks him.

River nods. “It’s stupid, but I … We should talk about it later.”

He runs a hand through his hair.

“We have to go to Goldcrest,” Brooke insists.

“We don’t have to,” I tell her. “I can go. I can let them talk to you, without bringing you in.”

“Would that work?” Donnie asks.

I shrug. “It’s worth a try. If they keep me there, to separate us, then she has Frost out here for her heat and we don’t even need to mention that she’s in heat.”

“Kellan, I don’t know.” Brooke doesn’t look happy.

“What’s the worst they can do to me, Brooke? Seriously?”

She lets out a sigh. “Geraldine was going to send an Omega to Colvindale. I know she’s not there anymore, but I’m not sure Edith’s much better. The truth is we don’t know what they’re really capable of.”

She’s right. We don’t. That’s why I need to go speak to them.

I’ll clear the pack’s names and make sure Brooke doesn’t need to spend her life running and hiding.

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