Page 27 of The Omega’s Nest

“But it has to be,” I say, because it does. “I hope you never meet your mate,” I add and try to smile at him. It’s meant to soothe him—I don’t want him to feel like this—but Cammie rears back from me, mouth hanging open and shock on his face like I’ve betrayed him.

He shoots to his feet before I can reach for him.

“If I do, I won’t give up like you have! You’re fucking weak, Adrian! You’re a … you’re a … a fucking pussy!”

“Cameron,” Tristan reprimands him.

The words slice through me. Cammie paces and continues his tirade. “If I was lucky enough to meet my fucking mate, I’d do everything in my power to leave this shithole with him. And you … you …” He spins back, points at me. “You’ve met yours and he seems nice. Fucking nice! And you’re just going to sit here and cry and do as Erasmus says and let him leave! What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Cameron,” Tristan says, harsher this time.

“It’s okay,” I say and pat Tristan’s knee. My eyes are filled with tears, but I look up, meet Cammie’s, and keep my voice even. “I love him. I’ll do anything to protect him. And if he keeps coming back, they’ll … they’ll hurt him. I couldn’t bear it.” My voice cracks, but I push on. “If they hurt him, it’ll kill me. If he … dies, I’ll die.”

Cammie sags onto the mattress, his knees giving out. “There’s got to be a way …”

I nod because I want him to hope for it even if I know better.

“Tristan,” I say and turn to him. I need to get this out before the high leaves me. “Can you … when he comes … can you …”

Tristan tugs me against his chest as I break down, words failing me.

“Of course,” he replies sadly and holds me close.

“I’ll do it,” Cammie says, bitterness and resolve colouring his tone, his scent.

It might be better coming from Tristan, but when I blink my eyes open, I see Cammie is not going to take no for an answer. Even Tristan is quiet beside me. I nod and hope it communicates my gratitude.

Chapter 10

Leo

Ibeeline for the stairs, the bar area empty save for the omegas I’m used to seeing down here. I wouldn’t be able to identify many of them—my attention is all about Addie—but the room has the same muted buzz it’s had for the last three nights. A collective in a holding pen, waiting for the deluge to part them, move them, drown their space.

A hand grabs me by the bicep. Glancing over my shoulder, I recognise the surly omega from my second night here. His expression is grim, but his voice is almost kind when he says, “Follow me. Don’t ask questions.”

“What? But I need to—”

“What did I just say?” He gives me a deadpan look, and tugs on my arm.

I want to rip out of his hold. A pleading quality enters his eyes, and I’m struck by how young he is. I let him pull me away from the stairs and follow him around the edge of the dance floor, down a corridor adjacent to the entrance.

He drops his hand and walks ahead of me, his back straight and head high as he leads us deeper into the building. The hallway is a lot like a hotel—doors evenly spread down a corridor with the same plush red carpet as in Addie’s room, the same sconces and electrical candles from the front hall that give the place a dim, depressing feel.

The omega opens a door and steps back, waving me in with a hand. I step inside the small room. A double bed sits against one wall, a bedside table next to it with a sole book on top of it—The Art of War by Sun Tzu. A painting hangs on the wall opposite the bed, a crane in the shallows of a river, snowy banks behind him. It feels barely lived in, but it smells like the omega in front of me. Like anger and sadness.

I turn to face him and his expression makes me suck in a sharp breath. He looks pitying.

“Adrian has the night off,” he says.

I don’t know what to say. Is he lying? I don’t believe Addie doesn’t want to see me, but if he needs a night off, I can respect that. But why does this omega, who’d been so aggressive before, now appear so sympathetic?

I swallow and try to say the right thing. “Okay, that’s good. Addie, Adrian, should rest if he needs to, but … maybe I could just check in?”

He scowls at me. I raise my hands and take a step back. “I’m not going to hurt him, I promise. I just need to make sure he’s okay and then I’ll go.”

I won’t go. I’ll sit at the bar all night and make sure no one else enters his room.

“You’ll go? Just like that?” he says, like it’s a challenge. “You want him so badly, but you’ll flee at the first roadblock?”