Page 49 of Shattered Omega: Part One

“I… won’t,” I whispered, still clinging to his forearm as if that would do me any good if he decided to squeeze. With an aura that size, he was strong enough to snap my neck with a flinch.

A fraction at a time, his hand retracted, freeing me.

We stared at each other for an age, the knife still against his chest, digging into an open wound that leaked glistening crimson drops.

He couldn’t stop.

I heard that. I believed it, even. But I wanted to know more. “Why?”

Slowly, the blade shifted to the next line, digging in again, and this close Icouldsee his pain. The tick on his jaw, the constriction of his pupils. His voice was rough, as if it were on the edge of breaking. “It has to hurt, or it’s not a payment.”

I nodded, mind prying the statement apart, trying to understand it.

He had changed. His aura had shifted, something less unstable about it. A faint thrill lit my veins.Had I done that?

I could do more.

I just had to understand.

I watched him drag the knife over the wounds once more, still not breaking my gaze.Thatwas the change: he was watching me now, instead of closing his eyes.

He tensed, and I reached for his hand that was clenched around the knife, reckless curiosity pushing me onward. A growl sounded in his throat, but I ignored it, cupping trembling fingers around his fist, trying not to focus on how much bigger than me he was.

Then I left my hand around his, not pushing or pulling, letting him continue to work. To dig the blade into his skin over and over.

His breathing loosened, his aura getting steadier and steadier as I stayed with him.

I didn’t move once. Not until something in the air changed.

Midnight opium tangled with blood, demanding my attention.

Dusk was here.

I flinched, almost breaking my gaze with Umbra, but I didn’t. Because that was the whole point—thatwas what I had to offer, and this wasn’t something I would let Dusk take from me.

I wasn’t stopping Umbra—I didn’t know how to do that—but I wouldn’t leave him alone. I was tense though, unsure of what Dusk would do. It was unnatural to have my back turned to an alpha as deadly as him.

When Umbra finally stopped, there was more crimson visible on his chest than skin. That was when I dared turn. Dusk, however, was already gone.

Good.

I’d finally claimed something back from them.

I’d found a scattered fragment. They were so rare. It was a fragment of what made me an omega, and I didn’t want Dusk anywhere near it.

Thiswas more soothing than the nest he’d offered me, and he’d had no say in it. They’d brought me into their home—intotheirterritory—and I was carving out a slice for myself, whether they wanted me to or not.

And that slicewasUmbra.

I didn’t have to like him. Nothing like that—I wasn’tcheatingon my mates. They might even be proud of me if I told them what I’d just done.

I might even be a real omega by the time I managed to get to them.

UMBRA

I wasn’t going to think about what just happened.

Not only because I didn’t really understand myself, but because it had been… good. And I could never hope for it again, because nothing good ever happened to me twice. It was part of the whole, living zero-sum thing.

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