Heknottedme.
I should be floating.
I should be high on the fact that Viper and I finally,finally,had incredible sex. He said that I am perfect. That I’m his mate.
I should be basking in that… but I’m not.
I feel unmoored and untethered from everything I thought I wanted.
It’s all too much.
Everything that happened in General Stone’s office feels like a blur.
I’m supposed to be… some kind of hero? The savior of the Demi-human race?
Frack.
And then there is my decision to stay.
To abandon my mission to find my family and let the trail go cold. To stop searching for them and trust that wherever they are, it’s better than here in this mess with me. My very sense of self is built on my undying love and loyalty to my Omegas, and now it’s cracked.
Who am I if I don’t put them first? What kind of Omega gives up on finding her family?
I don’t know if I can walk this path… I don’t think I have any other choice.
I’m overwhelmed. My chest feels tight, and my head is full of buzzing fog.
So, I do something I'm not proud of.
I hide.
I creep out of the medic bay while the attendant is gone.
The soft pink glow of the rising sun hasn't warmed the air, and it's so cold it nips at my nose with sharp, needle teeth. I look left and right, scuttling down the corridors that line the central courtyard, keeping my eyes peeled for any sign of devastatingly handsome faces.
I can't deal with them. Not yet. I just need some time to get my head around everything that happened.
There aren’t many places to hide in a fortress bursting at the seams with soldiers, so I retreat to somewhere familiar.
My boots slip on a patch of ice as I unlock the door to the storeroom I manage. I’m not trusted in the armory where the weapons are kept, but I’m the mistress of personal equipment for the soldiers.
I run my storeroom with precision and experience.
The front shelves hold the mundane items like canteens, portable stoves, and multi-tools. On the back wall there is a selection of body armor, helmets, uniforms, and boots. It’s minuscule compared to the warehouse I managed back on Barkrood Base, but it keeps me busy.
All of the equipment is outdated and worn. I strongly suspect General Stone has been skimming off the top of the army's supplies and sending it here for decades. It's chilling to think how long he's been planning for the collapse of our society. I despise the man and his manipulations, but he might be the only hope Demi-humans have to survive this mess.
And me. Apparently, I’m the key to the success of this entire operation.
I'm still spitting mad about his deception. Even more so, I'm angry at myself for falling for it. There was no way he was going to give me what I wanted and send me on my way. Maybe there was never any threat to The Omega Division at all, and everything I’ve done to save my friends was because of a lie. I feel stupid and small.
I flick on the light switch, close the heavy door, and wait for it to flicker on. Even inside the room it’s cold, my breath fogging in front of me, and I quickly set about my daily routine.
I grab a clipboard and start checking inventory, counting items one by one and jotting down whatever we’re running low on. It’s repetitive, mind-numbing work, and it’s exactly what I need right now. The boxes don’t talk back, the numbers don’t judge, and if I focus hard enough, maybe I can quiet the swirling chaos in my head. I want to disappear into the mundane, burymyself in busywork and barcode stickers, but my brain has other plans. My mind is racing.
It’s not all doom and gloom. Every few minutes, a wave of happiness hits me.
Viper and I had sex.
