The silence that follows is deafening.
My arm throbs. My legs are shaking. I sink back into the chair because I don't trust myself to stand.
"Max—" Atlas starts.
"Don't." I hold up a hand. It's trembling. "Just—give me a second."
He does. They both do. Atlas standing by the desk, Bane still positioned between me and the door like he's expecting Zero to come back. The quiet settles over us, thick and uncomfortable.
When I finally speak, my voice is steadier than I feel. "Is that what you think too? That I'm just here to make you feel bad?"
"No." Atlas's response is immediate. Firm. "That's not what I think."
"What about you?" I look at Bane.
He shakes his head slowly. "Zero's... Zero. He lashes out when he's cornered. It doesn't mean he's right."
"Then what would help?" I turn on Atlas. "Tell me. You're the one who's been managing this family from day one. So manage it. Fix it. Tell me how to make this better."
"I can't fix this." Atlas runs a hand through his hair — the first uncontrolled gesture I've seen from him. "Not tonight. Notwith Zero storming off and everyone running on no sleep. This isn't a problem I can solve in one conversation, Max."
"Then can we at least—" I stop. Start again. My hands are shaking so I press them flat against my thighs. "Can we just be honest? About whatever this is?"
I'm not looking at either of them. Can't. My eyes fix on a scratch in the hardwood floor.
"Because there's this—thisthing. And everyone keeps pretending it's not there. Zero's the only one who's been direct with me, even if—" I wave my hand vaguely. Can't finish that thought. "But I don't understand what's happening. I don't understand why Atlas keeps showing up when I'm—why you cares. We're strangers. We've barely spoken."
My throat tightens. I swallow past it.
"And I don't—Bane, I can't figure out if you hate me or—" I shake my head. Rub my palms against my jeans. "One day you're telling me to stay out of your way and the next you're looking at me like—"
I can't say it. Can't name the way his expression cracked open in the library. The hunger underneath.
"I feel like I'm going crazy." The words come out thin. Reedy. "Like everyone knows something I don't, and no one will just tell me. And I'm so tired of—of walking into a room and not knowing if someone's going to be kind or cruel or—"
I press my hands against my face. Breathe.
"I just want someone to say what's actually happening. Out loud. So I know I'm not imagining it."
The silence that follows is heavy. Loaded.
Then Bane speaks.
"You're an omega." His voice is flat. Matter-of-fact. "And we're—"
"Bane." Atlas's voice cuts in sharp. A warning.
"No." Bane doesn't look at his brother. His eyes stay fixed on me. "He asked for honesty. He asked someone to say it out loud." He takes a breath. "Your scent is... it's not like anything I've ever—"
"Stop." The word tears out of me before I can think. "Don't—I don't want to—"
But it's too late. The words are already out there, hanging in the air between us.Omega.The thing I've been hiding my whole life, spoken aloud like it's nothing. Like it's just a fact.
And suddenly I understand.
I'm not going crazy. I'm not imagining the tension, the strange looks, the way they circle me like predators around prey. It's not in my head.
It's me.
