Page 61 of The Omega

All the fight drained from me and I returned to hanging my head in shame. “She’s right.”

I expected Dorian to disagree or argue, like he’d been doing for the past few hours, saying he was giving Opal exactly what she wanted and I was an overprotective fool. But he nodded, looking away from the three Alphas. “We don’t know how to fix it.”

“Might I suggest you pull your heads out of your asses,” Red-beard said. “You lucky bastards were gifted an Omega’s attention. There’s a reason fate blessed you. I wouldn’t screw it up.”

“It’s not like we’re trying to screw it up, but we don’t even know what we’re working with here,” Dorian growled. I barely held back my own snarl of agreement.

First smart thing he’s said all night.

The three Alphas looked at each other and chuckled, sharing some private inside joke.

I hated this disaster. My mate was on the other side of this door, kept from me because I couldn’t figure anything out. “We’re failing her.”

“And you’ll keep failing her unless you put all this petty shit behind you.” Salt-and-Pepper folded his arms over his chest.

“It’s not petty.” My words felt petty then, but when I looked at Dorian from the corner of my eye, I saw the reason I was here all over again.

Tears in dark corners. Nightmares I couldn’t protect them from. Smiles and calloused hands. Everything I worked for. My pack.

And he’d proved Jeannette right tonight. She said to never trust their kind. That they were dangerous. Impulsive and untrustworthy. He’d broken the first promise we’d ever made to each other. That we’d put Opal’s safety and comfort first.

“Whatever it is, trust us, it’s not worth it,” the suited Alpha said. “Fate wouldn’t have put an Omega in your care if there wasn’t a reason. And it wasn’t so you could break her heart.”

His voice ended on a softer note. Again, the three shared a look. Something about them being here reminded me of my late father. The way he’d lowered his tone when he said something important.

He was a good man. A forgiving Alpha. I’d been forced to take over the pack too soon, but I never forgot his teachings.

He’d have tried again.

“How do we not fail her?” I sighed, rising to stand by Dorian’s side.

He noticed.

Then he stepped away. “I won’t fail her. She’s safe with me.”

“Really?” I barked. “And how do you plan to protect her? By pulling more dangerous stunts? Driving her off a cliff? Throwing her to rabid fans who’d crush her under their grabby hands?”

My wolf bristled at the image and started snarling as something tightened and squeezed in my chest.

“Don’t pretend like you care about her more than I do,” Dorian started to yell again. “She’s my mate. Stop whatever this territorial bullshit is and back off. You can leave the show now. I’m playing by the rules. I’ll mate her and make her my Luna. You and your pack can go to hell.”

I gnashed my teeth, wanting to smash in his face again. “And what kind of life would you give her? What stability? Could you even afford to take care of a Luna? I knew whatever poor female you got your claws into would suffer, but I refuse to let you hurt Opal. She’s my mate. And I’m the better choice for her.”

The words spilled out so fast I barely heard myself speak them. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had so much to say.

And every word of it was true.

“Goddess.” The three alphas groaned as one. Suits pinched the bridge of his nose. “Did we ever sound that dumb?”

Red-beard chuckled. “Worse, probably.”

“Did you not fucking hear us the first time?” Salt-and-Pepper growled, putting enough Alpha bark into his bite that even my wolf stopped to listen. “You’re going to screw this up if you can’t put your drama aside to take care of your mate.”

“Okay, wise, old ones,” Dorian spoke through clenched teeth and it took everything in me not to slap the back of his head for being disrespectful. “What exactly are we supposed to do with our Omega right now?”

The suited Alpha looked at the others before shrugging. “There’s not a lot of hope for you if you can’t tell she’s in heat…”

Dorian and I were shoulder to shoulder as we growled.