Page 55 of The Omega’s Nest

He lets that hang there, and my lips part when I get it. Addie was eighteen when his alpha died, but some omegas are younger when they get taken by the state. I thought they went into orphanages and aged out into these other roles. And well, isn’t that a nice way to put it.

Who am I kidding? And why am I still in so much denial over this? Our society’s treatment of omegas with no alpha is horrific. In the absence of a sire or a bond or another familial alpha to keep them, they’re treated like products. Sent off for a life in service to the clergy, brothels, or if they’re older, to work in menial jobs in factories.

“And well, trust me, he doesn’t want anyone to know that. Not given who he is.”

“Who is he?”

But Addie’s already shaking his head. “I’m not telling you that. Not because I don’t trust you, but if you know, it could give them an excuse to come after you.”

“They’re going to come after you,” I say, my voice rising. Shit, we need to move now. I drop my hands and scoop up the backpack.

Addie grabs my arm. “No, he won’t. He knows I won’t go on some crusade for this because it’s too dangerous. Plus, he knows he can just bury me in lawsuits, which I can’t afford. Also, if he comes after me, then you’ll do something to him or tell the media or attack his company, right?”

“Goddamn fucking right I will,” I snarl.

“Right.”

Addie nods like, “duh.”

“So, I’ve got a pretty good feeling that if we just leave it alone, for now, we’ll be left alone too.”

He slipped that “for now” in there so casually, I know it means he’s already planning to do something later.

“And what about after ‘for now?’”

And Addie looks away, back out at the ocean. “I trust Erasmus. But if they need my help …” He meets my eyes again, and I see resolve in them. “I’ll help. I can’t leave them like that.”

I want to rail at him to leave them, forget that place, to take care of himself. But he wouldn’t be my Addie if he did that.

“We,” I tell him firmly and hug him close. “We are going to help them.”

He grips me tightly. “We,” he assures me with a smile in his voice.

Chapter 21

Adrian

As much as I’d like to, I can’t wear Leo’s clothes forever. We’re back in Hollow Point, Leo armed with a shopping list on the notes in his phone.

“Let’s get you a phone first,” he’s saying. “Then we’ll do clothes, board, lunch …”

We’re walking down the main street and it’s fucking surreal. It’s the same—the wide single lanes with the excessively large parking spots lining the shops. The kind of space that can only be taken up in small towns, as if they have all the space in the world, unlike the cramped, multistorey carparks in Celo.

It’s sunny, the mid-afternoon sunshine bathing the glass shopfronts in a healthy glow, the air clean and crisp with the sea breeze. Even being on the harbour, The Bell could not escape the oppressive heat of Celo flanking it from behind, smothering the clean smell of the wind off the ocean with its overpopulation and cramped buildings. The way the city trapped the heat in summer made a simple walk stifling.

“Addie?” Leo asks and bumps my shoulder.

“Hmm?” I look up at him.

“Does that sound good?”

“Oh, sorry.” I smile sheepishly. “I wasn’t listening. Sorry.”

He throws his arm around my shoulders and kisses the top of my head. “No need to apologise. Not ever.”

I do not miss the way he doesn’t turn that into a command. I wrap my arms around his waist, and we walk down the wide footpath like that, just a couple of mates, bonded for fate, for love.

Turns out, Leo’s plans not only involve new clothes, but a new wetsuit.