“They’ve already done it more times than I want to think about.” Sidian rocked back and forth, his hands gripping his shins so tightly his knuckles bled white. A far cry from the omega who only hours ago had tortured a man to death, a testament to how much Pack Kincaid had hurt him. “You don’t get it, and I don’t blame you for it. How could you ever understand it?”
“Sid.” Roman touched his cheek, and Sidian flinched. “You’re okay. You’re safe here.”
“I don’t feel safe. I’m not gonna feel safe until those fuckers are dead. And then we have to go somewhere far away from other alphas.” Sidian smacked his hand away, and Roman let him. “How is this fair? What did I do wrong, Roe? Tell me that. What did I do wrong?”
He did nothing wrong, though Roman didn’t know how to convince him of that. Sidian was a troubled teenager when they met, but that hadn’t been his fault; his sick fuck of a father could have kept his hands to himself, and everything would be fine. None of this was his fault, and Roman would not sit by and let Sidian stew in the belief that he could ever deserve all the sorrow his life had put him through. There couldn’t be anyone who deserved something like that.
He softened his approach, lowering his voice. “Sid, darling, please look at me?”
Wide violet eyes snapped to him, the scent of sour lilies pouring off of Sidian, a desperation laced through his scent.Help me. Protect me.“I am freaking the fuck out.”
“I know that. I understand why.” This time, Roman set one of his hands on top of Sidian’s, which quivered beneath his touch. “No one is ever going to hurt you again.”
“You can’t promise me that. You can say it as much as you want to, but no one can promise me that. The kind of freak I am, I can’t even protect myself.” Sidian laughed, short and sharp and desperate, and something in Roman’s chest tightened at the sound. He was so… Afraid.
You’re the alpha,he reminded himself.Do your job and comfort him.
He cleared his throat. “I won’t let a single alpha get close enough to you to so much as try it.”
“But you can’t stop them all,” Sidian babbled on, rocking faster. “You can’t just—”
An alpha command was impossible, though it would have been out of the question even if itwerepossible. Instead, Roman shifted close enough that he could draw Sidian’s hand up to his own chest, a soothing rumble vibrating up to the omega’s light touch. He was terrified out of his mind, and Roman wanted to help him as best he could, but he couldn’t reach him with words because Sidian wasn’t listening to him. And if his human mind was too entrenched in terror to understand, then Roman would speak to the part of him that would always understand on some animalistic, instinctive level.
Sidian fell quiet as the tension drained from his muscles, his body stilling before he slumped. It was a comforting sight compared to how he had been panicking just a moment ago.
He waited just the same, thumb stroking over Sidian’s knuckles until a soft omega purr answered his rumble and Sidian looked up at him again. There was still a haunted look in his eyes, but his scent was easing into something sweet and soft once again. That was good.
“I can’t promise you those things. You’re right. Maybe it’s wrong of me to even try when I don’t understand why you’re so afraid. It isn’t something that can happen to me.” He softened his voice, and Sidian’s purr picked up just. “But I can promise you I’ll be right beside you the entire time, and I will do everything in my power to keep you safe. You want retribution, and I want to give it to you. And I will lay my life on the line long before I let Dax Kincaid get anywhere near you again.”
Sidian exhaled, his fingers digging into Roman’s chest a little. “He’s a monster.”
“I’ve gathered that much.” And Roman would be glad to see him dead. “He won’t touch you. No one is going to touch you. And once this is over, you won’t have to think about it again.”
He knew that wasn’t true; Sidian was traumatized but did a good job at hiding it from time to time. He was good at bravado,good at putting on the face of someone who was more than capable of handling what it would take to bring down eight alphas, but Roman, in the back of his mind, had known better. Seeing it in front of him did nothing more than confirm the concerns he’d been carrying with him since Sidian made it clear what he needed.
And if he were any other omega, Roman would tell him no. To stay behind. To let him handle the worst of it because hecould,granted the ability and the power to face alphas like the Kincaids with relative ease where Sidian couldn’t. But he knew Sidian wouldn’t stay behind, and Roman wouldn’t make him.
This meant so much to him. He needed this.
“Are you hearing me?” he asked, giving Sidian’s hand a light squeeze.
Sidian nodded, then scooted across the carpet, unfolding his body so he could drag himself into Roman’s lap. “I’m tired. I’m so fucking tired of all of this. I just want it to be over.”
Roman tucked his chin down on top of Sidian’s head. “It will be. I promise.”
They sat on the floor together until Roman’s back protested and Sidian’s purrs softened into slow, easy breathing. Only when he was sure his mate was asleep did Roman stand, carrying Sidian to bed and tucking him in so he could get some much-needed rest. There would be no early morning for either of them; Roman wanted to case Dax Kincaid’s pack house at night when it would be safer and they would be less likely to be seen. Sidian could sleep as long as his body allowed it.
And Roman would be there to watch over him until he woke.
He stretched out on his side of the mattress, paging through the documents to commit as much of it to memory as possible. Axel Kincaid had needed knee surgery on his left knee, which would ensure it was at least a slight weakness of his. Knox Kincaid was blind in one eye, which meant his peripheral visionwould be damaged. Others might have found it distasteful to target such areas, but Roman was not in the business of being courteous. He would use everything he could against the pack who had harmed his mate, and he would feel nothing in the process of doing so.
And then his attention was once again drawn to Lilac Kincaid, the violet-eyed omega with the ugly bond mark on the side of his throat. That wasn’t typical placement but that might have been the point. Tormenting an omega with a half-assed bond would hurt them.
There was precious little information available on Lilac, but Roman didn’t need there to be. He doubted the omega would be much trouble. It was just disconcerting to him.
There was no coincidence at play. Pack Kincaid had fixated on two black-haired, violet-eyed omegas likely on purpose, because that was their preferred aesthetic or because one of them served as a copy of the other. There was a pattern, though Roman wasn’t sure what it was.
It didn’t matter. What mattered was delivering a thorough punishment, so he returned to scanning the profiles of the alphas until his eyes protested, dry and exhausted.
