Page 40 of The Omega’s Nest

“I know what you’re thinking, and I need you to stop and actually think for a second,” he says and gestures for me to get into his car.

Once we’re underway, he continues. “You’ve got a chance if you go to trial. Even got a possibility it won’t get that far if they throw it out at the preliminary hearing. Three weeks. You can last three weeks.”

“But he can’t,” I snap. “I’m not doing that to him.”

Terry shoots me a troubled look. He knows exactly what I’m referring to. How many alphas will fuck Addie in that time? And if I have to wait for a trial? It could be years.

And I’m going to feel all of it. Eventually be inside Addie’s head for it. Forget about what that will do to me—send me certifiably insane—what will it do to Addie? It’ll break him. I won’t allow it to happen.

Terry sighs. He indicates for the turnoff to the highway that’ll take us away from The Bell, past our base at Fort Sanguis, and up to the wealthier coastal enclaves in the opposite direction from where Addie and I grew up in Hollow Point. Terry lives in Right Palisades. He’s making the good money.

I’m about to protest when Terry cuts me off.

“Nothing’s going to happen tonight,” he says gruffly. “Come to mine. Clean up. We’ll make a plan.”

I look over at him. He shoots me a sad smile. Terry’s in his thirties, I think he’s around thirty-six, thirty-seven, and he’s a good leader. Firm but always fair. He’s the epitome of cool, calm, and collected, like all airmen are—we have to be. Flying hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of taxpayer equipment and one wrong move away from death at one thousand five hundred miles per hour, you don’t get to be anything less than calm. But Terry takes that to a whole new level.

I slump in my seat. Addie sends me another pulse of warm light, and I dig deep to send one back. He flutters back at me, a pleased feeling, and I relax further. He’s okay. For now, he’s okay.

“I’ll get a bunch of weapons, go down there, and shoot anyone who stops me,” I tell Terry.

He scoffs. His omega, Kai, is beside him—a handsome guy with pleasant features, sandy hair and brown eyes, a relaxed air about him that matches Terry’s. He also scoffs lightly. He and Terry share a look, and I know they’re communicating down their bond. I feel a wistful pang. I need that line of communication with Addie, especially now that I’m feeling so much pain from him.

I’m not in a great state myself—a light tremor, headache, and an ache to touch my mate that rivals my need for air. I need skin on skin. I need to kiss him. Enter him. Knot him. The bond needs it. And Addie needs it too. He’s sick without it. I know he’s trying to keep the worst of it from me by shooting me feelings of well-being, but that makes it worse.

Kai insisted I shower and change into some of Terry’s clothes while he washed mine. I push the pasta he’s made around my plate while we sit at the dining table in their open-plan, Spanish stucco home situated on the cliffs of the Palisades, overlooking the ocean.

I glare at Terry—not Kai, I don’t want Terry to punch me.

“And if it was Kai in there?” I ask him.

He stiffens, the hand he has on the back of Kai’s chair shifting to his neck and squeezing.

“Fair call, Leo,” he murmurs, voice laced with fury.

Kai sighs and gives us both exasperated looks. “Fair or not, it’s a plan that will get you killed. Maybe him too. You need to think strategically. What is it you always say? Don’t forget to fly your plane?”

My phone buzzes on the table. It’ll be my father again. I’ve missed ten calls from him so far and ignored the voicemails. So he knows. Wonderful.

Kai is right about remembering to fly my plane, but I can’t think. It’s more common than you’d think to lose sight of simply flying the plane when you’re getting shot at or your instruments are blaring at you. You can zone in on the problem and forget about airspeed, altitude, and next thing you know, a mountain is on the other side of the cloud cover.

But how am I supposed to focus on myself when Addie’s in there and another alpha is going to touch him? They might not be doing anything tonight, but they will tomorrow. The gleam in Benji’s eye when he’d talked about fucking a bonded omega, when he said they charge double, that bastard, I’m going to fucking kill him.

“Leo,” Terry snaps.

Right, I’m growling. I snap my mouth closed.

“Jesus,” he says and rubs Kai’s nape. “Here’s the situation. You can’t wait three weeks, I understand that. But you can’t go back there, you’ll be arrested on sight, and that’s best case scenario. If you’re going to get him out, illegally, you need to do it covertly.”

I wave my hand in the get on with it motion. It’s not like he’s telling me anything I don’t know.

“Me and the squad, we’ll go down there, buy some time with him for a few days.”

Another growl rips out of me.

“Not to fuck him, you moron,” Terry says and rolls his eyes. “To stop anyone else from doing it and to get some intel. We can’t get him out, I’m not having the squad arrested over this, but we can help. Legally.”

I nod, reluctantly. I still think heading there right now with a shotgun is my best play, but Terry is right. I could get Addie killed if I do that.