I paused, looking up briefly at my packmates. Laurel’s eyes were wide, but Kaos’s mouth was set in a hard line as he listened.
“I’m sorry, Kaos. I know I’m not good at being there for you, and now my pride almost cost us everything.”
“Finch, it’s okay,” Laurel started, and my chest squeezed painfully at how she’d let me off. Like she didn’t expect me to be able to succeed in the first place. “It wasn’t your fault?—”
Kaos interrupted her with a tug on her arm and a look. He’d cut off his hair and looked more alert than I’d seen him in years. Almost like his old self.
“You’re right,” he said to me. “You messed up. But we’re still here, and we still need you. So, stop throwing yourself a pity party and fix it.”
I closed my eyes, a sense of relief washing over me as I let out a shaky exhale. He still trusted me, even after I’d failed so spectacularly. It wasn’t what I deserved, but I’d take it.
“Thank you,” I said. “I promise I won’t let you down again.”
When I looked up, Laurel was shifting her gaze between me and Kaos curiously. “Okay, so I’m supposed to say, yes,you were a stubborn ass who didn’t listen to anyone and almost ruined everything?”
“It’s the truth. But I’ll do better.”
She gave a small laugh and folded her arms. “Let’s start with you actually listening to me, then.”
I nodded. I was going to prove to her that she could trust me as a leader. That I could take care of her and this pack.
“Right,” she said, crossing her legs. “You want your status report?” The side of her mouth quirked up into a half-smirk, and she raised her eyebrow.
“Yes,” I said, folding my arms.
“It’s been about twelve hours since we escaped. We’re currently in my old hideout, right near the Duchess Suite. Your cover is compromised, and I don’t think it’s safe for me to go back out right now. We have a backpack full of emergency supplies, but all our important equipment is back at the villas.”
“Like my notebook,” I said, nodding. At least the notes were written in Hangul, which would have to be translated if they got their hands on it.
“I was thinking more along the lines of all my recording equipment? All Kaos’s tech?” she said.
“Okay. We should get to the villa and collect everything as soon as we can.”
“Exactly,” Laurel said, and she tapped on her knee, thinking. “I could get Jade to go grab our stuff.”
“Kaos could go,” I said, looking to him. “No one saw you. If you’re feeling up for it?”
“Consider it done,” he said, standing up and stretching.
“Once we have your computer, we’ll check on Ocean using the security feeds. Make sure they haven’t hurt him. We’ll go from there.”
“We can feel he’s okay. For now,” Laurel said. “But the Lucas pack knows they can use him as leverage.”
I could sense her anxiety coming from the bond, mirrored by my own. The guilt threatened to come back, but I pushed it away firmly.
Make it right, I told myself.
“Okay. I’ll be back shortly,” Kaos said, climbing down the ladder at the side of Laurel’s strange nest.
“There’s a duffel bag in my dressing room,” Laurel told him. “Code is 0430.”
He grinned at her, and we watched him disappear into the dark.
Laurel got up and started fiddling with the blankets in the nest. I saw the remains of one of my shirts get tucked into a pillowcase, and Kaos’s beanie was placed gently on a mango stuffie.
I’d thought omegas’ nests were simply a space designed to be comfortable, but actually being in Laurel’s, I was starting to see it was more than that. She was changing things so that the nest wasn’t simply for her, but for our pack. This nest was full of our scents; her sweet vanilla rose, Kaos’s sharp electrical absinthe, and my persimmon all layering together to make something that felt like home.
But it wasn’t quite right, because Ocean’s scent wasn’t here. Even I could sense that it was incomplete, and I could only imagine how much more viscerally Laurel was feeling it. I could feel her agitation grow as she tugged things around, until she let out a frustrated huff and sat down, arms wrapped around her legs. I took out my phone and shot off a text.
