Fuck, I want that. I want to go back to how things were before. I want to wake up from the nightmare we’ve been living.
She’s my Omega. Even if I’m just a Beta. Even if I’m not supposed to want this.
I want her as my mate. I want to be part of her Pack, her home. Anything but another cog in the war machine I’ve been trapped in since I was six.
I want her back.
Except, I can’t forget how much she hurt us.
And Viper doesn't get to give a blanket forgiveness just because he got his knot wet.
He wasn’t even lucid for most of the last three months, encased in his disassociated haze of Blood Lust. He didn’t have to play babysitter to a catatonic Prime Alpha, a monster on a killing rampage, and a psychopath with a torture fixation.Hedidn’t carry the weight of a shattered squad on his back, holding our family together with nothing but grit and sheer fucking will power.
So why does Viper get the girl?
The jealousy returns. This time, it’s a black acid eating at my insides.
"Apologizing, huh?” I ask.
She nods emphatically, wringing her hands like a little mouse. A sweet, cruel mouse.
I tilt my head. “And are you planning on 'apologizing' like that to all of us?”
I take a step towards her, watching as her throat bobs as she swallows nervously.
"Shade—" Viper warns.
I ignore him.
"Viper clearly enjoyed your hands-on approach. Knox, though… he’s not so easy to win over. You remember him, right? Big, surly Alpha with control issues and a temper?"
Another step. Now we’re toe-to-toe and she’s looking up at me, eyes wide.
I can feel the tension radiating off her. She’s going to bolt. Or cry.
"Shade, stop." Viper's fists clench and his jaw ticks. He's a hair-trigger away from snapping, and his protective instincts are on high-alert after knotting his Omega.
I'm poking the beast. I almost want him to hit me, because then I'd stop running my mouth.
I can't stop, though.
It's as if all of the toxic, hateful shit we've witnessed and done in this fucking war has built up like a pressure cooker. I need a release, and Halley is in my firing line.
"I'm sure if you get on your knees, and beg sweetly, Knox might consider accepting your apology.”
I click my tongue. “As for Blaze…”
I drop my voice with a sigh.
"Our Blaze is probably a lost cause, baby girl."
Using her pet name in such an insipid way makes my mouth taste foul.
I've tainted it. I have to…
‘Stop, Shade.’
‘I can't.’
