Page 39 of Desperate Omega

“And as far as I can tell, he hasn’t. Take a good look at his cock, boy. Do you see a knot there? Because I don’t. And more importantly, he doesn’t have his knot inside the omega, the way you did this morning when we rescued you.”

He puts a little extra emphasis on the word “rescued.”

“But he’s naked,” Markus says, glaring at Brik. “And he was chasing Syra.”

“I wasn’t chasing her!” Brik objects. “I was trying to h—”

“Silence!” Thorus roars. “Brik, I am not pleased by your inability to control the omega, but that is a matter you and I can discuss later…”

Thorus turns his attention toward me, and my blood runs hot and cold in my veins. I thought he looked scary in the graveyard, but now, lit by the flames of the campfire, he looks downright terrifying. His body is packed with slabs of hard muscle, and his numerous piercings gleam and flicker in the glow of the dancing flames. So do his eyes. His intense gaze reminds of how naked I am, and how vulnerable. I attempt, ineffectually, to cover my nudity with my hands.

“Syra,” he says. “Be totally honest with me. Did Brik try to hurt you?”

I’m tempted to say yes, just to get Brik in trouble with his pack master, but I don’t want to stoop that low. Brik didn’t try to hurt me. On the contrary, he gave me pleasure, and I begged him for it. I played right into his hands.

But I don’t tell Thorus any of that. The answer I give him is much more concise.

“No.”

Thorus nods, then he runs his eyes up and down my naked body, which is still wet from my bath.

“Sit down by the fire,” he says. “Make yourself comfortable. The flames will dry you.”

I do as Thorus tells me, and I take a seat on the stone floor in front of the campfire, hugging my knees to my chest. I struggle, however, with the second part of his command. It’s hard to make myself comfortable when I’m naked and I have three alphas staring at me. It’s even harder when two of those alphas are also naked, and visibly aroused. I direct my eyes toward the flames and try my best not to let my anxiety show.

“So?” Thorus says.

I’m not sure who he is talking to, or what he means, but it all becomes clear a moment later, when Brik starts to speak. He recounts the story I told him during my bath. He tells Thorus about the barn, about Delphine and her alphas, about Markus, the mausoleum, and everything that happened there.

Across the fire, Thorus grunts and nods. “Yeah, that’s pretty much the same story Markus told me.”

I scowl into the fire.

Now I understand why Thorus had Brik take me away for my bath. It’s not because he wanted me to get clean. It’s because he wanted to separate me and Markus so he and Brik could interrogate us individually and then compare notes to see if our stories lined up. It doesn’t really matter, I suppose. Neither Markus nor I had any reason to lie about what happened. Nevertheless, I feel annoyed with myself for not realizing it earlier.

Maybe if my stupid heat hadn’t been clouding my judgment…

“You have both acted foolishly,” Thorus says with a tone of fatherly disappointment. “Syra, you were foolish for thinking she could deal with your estrus all alone. Markus, you were foolish for taking her to that cemetery.”

“I thought we would be safe there,” Markus protests.

“But you weren’t safe, were you? We alphas of the Central Ruins avoid the resting places of the ancestors out of fear and respect, but the Farlanders do not care about such things.”

“I know,” Markus says, “but didn’t expect the Farlanders to venture so close to the center of the Zone.”

“Don’t backtalk the pack master!” Brik snaps.

“Quiet,” Thorus says. “Both of you. Markus is right, it is unusual for the Farlanders to be wandering this close to the center of the Zone. But I am more disturbed by this other pack. The ones who were with this omega named Delphine.”

The mention of that name makes me shiver with disgust.

“Have you heard of her?” I ask.

Thorus shakes his head. “No, but based on the description you and Markus have given us, it sounds like she and her alphas are part of the Central Ruins Tribe. If the omega’s name is really Delphine, we should be able to find out about her after we return to the Ruins.”

I wonder when that will be.

The mention of the Ruins makes me think of my fathers. I’ve only been away from home for one day, so they won’t be worried about me yet. But if I don’t return in another day or two, they will start to worry.