I drift further into myself. My hindbrain takes over, and my inner Omega unfolds, stretching her limbs.
It’s been so long since I’ve felt this… at home.
I’ve had no nest. No comfort. Just cold nights and sharp guilt and too many days of pretending I didn’t need anyone.
But they’re here, and I just know they’re the reason my Command didn’t sweep me under. Even though my bond with Viper is stronger, the others being here with me made a difference. Knox holding me tight made me feel supported. I have hope that this mad plan might just work. With my Pack by my side, I won’t have to face this alone.
Knox makes a strange choking noise and tries to release me from his arms.
I look up at him in confusion. I don’t want to be released, and I certainly don’t want distance or space. I want him.
I want to crawl into his arms and let him soothe the frayed parts of me. To hold me while the tears of relief fall. I want to tuck myself beneath his chin and fall asleep with his scent all around me.
His face is stricken, and he tries harder to extract me from his embrace.
My fingers dig into the bare muscles of his shoulders as I press close. I cry, messy and unguarded, into the solid heat of his chest.
Doesn’t he see?
I want to be closer, not further away.
“Need… please, I just need…” I mumble, my voice slurring, lips numb as the primal fog wraps tighter around my mind.
“What do you need, pretty girl?” Viper asks softly.
I barely manage to form the words.
“I need Knox.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Shade
I blink hard and almost choke on my tongue.
‘Did she just ask for Knox?’
"Knox. Please, will you… can I?" Her voice is soft and blurred at the edges, slurring in that unmistakable tone that tells us she’s entered Omega headspace. There's a pitch to it that makes the air feel heady, almost like there is a sub-harmonic purr beneath each word.
Knox freezes and panic flickers across his fractured composure.
I should have seen this coming. Every time she overextends herself, this is the fallback. A neurological drop into regression. She’s depleted. Her endocrine system is on tilt, and her instincts are begging for regulation. She needs physical touch, familiar scent, and emotional tethering. It's textbook. I should know, I collected the data and wrote a report on the subject.
What isn’t textbook is Halley asking forKnox.
She never asks for our Prime Alpha when she's like this. It's Viper and sometimes me, occasionally Blaze, but never Knox.
“You heard her,” I murmur, watching my reeling brother. “She wantsyou, Prime.”
His head shakes, a firm denial.
"Omega Specialist Sparks," he says, his tone strained but insistent. "You want Viper to take care of you, don’t you?"
He tries to shift her weight to pass her to Viper, but she snarls, a low, possessive sound from deep in her chest, and clutches him tighter.
There’s no mistaking it. This isn’t some residual attachment to the closest Alpha. She knows exactly who she wants to hold her in this vulnerable state.
It's been so long since we've seen her like this. So raw and needy. In our wounded state, it’s been easier to think of her as a selfish harpy who hurt us on purpose. Looking at her now, it's impossible to continue thinking that way.
