I was too late, and I failed them.
You’re just a stupid fucking meathead who can’t do anything right.
My hand slips as that voice echoes through my head, the serrated edge of the knife tearing into my thumb and getting stuck in the meaty part of the pad.
I pause as I watch blood rush over the top of the blade while it pools underneath, a thick stream running along the edge of the knife before dripping onto my boot.
I deserve that.
To bleed for my omegas.
I’d cut myself open and let my veins run fucking dry for them.
That’s what I should do after failing them.
Plucking the knife out of my thumb, I look over the wound after I set down the stone. I bend my fingers, pressing against the tip just above the cut so the dark red liquid runs faster.
This is going to need a stitch or two.
I stab my knife into the tree stump next to the stairs and scrub my hand over my face.
It felt like it was time to confront Olive. To go to her, to finally put myself in front of her and tell her all my secrets. Watching her while she was at that shelter was hard but I knew it’s where she needed to be. It was even harder when I found out why she was there.
I tracked her to Thief River Falls and I watched her burn down that house and bury those men. None of it made sense to me, all I could do was focus on her wounds and battle the urge to take care of her. If I’d have gone to her then, someone my sizewho looks like me, I’m not sure how she would have reacted. So, I silently kept watch.
Then I followed her to that shelter.
It was a relief that she went in there, that there was somewhere safe she could go and heal but I knew it made her even more off limits than she was while I was trying to find her.
That kind of safety is needed. It’s sacred but fragile. Disrupting it in any way was never an option and it was hard waiting but at least I knew where Olive was. I could live with that.
Especially since it brought her to Nikolai.
I knew he was mine the same way I knew she was.
It was instant. One hint of his scent on the wind and my knot ached. There was no room for doubt. I matched with him just as violently as I matched with Olive.
When I saw him get into the RV and he didn’t come back out, it felt like another sign that it was finally time to take what was mine. What’s been mine for fifteen goddamn years.
Then I let something horrific happen to my omegas and I don’t deserve them because of that.
I shake my head as I push off of the step and get to my feet.
That’s what they’ll tell me.
Olive thanked me but that doesn’t mean anything. When she finds out I wasn’t there to stop those bastards from taking them, she won’t be so grateful anymore.
I look out into the trees, staring into the forest under the early morning sun, scanning our surroundings before I stick the index finger and thumb from my other hand in my mouth and give a short, loud whistle.
Within seconds, all three of my dogs are running through the tree line and coming straight for the RV, and I almost laugh when I see Cy carrying a big ass branch with him. Despite thefact that they’re all about the same age and extremely lethal, he’s the one who still has the most puppy in him.
My dogs stop in front of me and Cy drops his branch, sitting in unison while they look up at me with happy expressions.
“In or out?” I ask quietly, my eyes shifting between them as I wait for the obvious answer.
Bee gets to her feet and gives me a low chuff, her tail wagging as she sits back down.
“Outside it is.” I reach into my pocket and pull out a treat for each of them, rewarding my pups for being exactly who they are. “Keep watch. Relax. Let me know when you’re ready to come in.”
