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“Negative. You are not going there. Gav said⁠—”

I jog up the stairs, my boots silent on the marble floors. The place feels more like a mausoleum than a home.

How can anyone stand to live here?

“I know what Gav said.”

I can hear Dax grinding his molars. “Really? Then what part of ‘stay away from the Omega,’ are you failing to understand?”

“I’m not going to her room,” I lie. “I only need to sweep the area. Make sure I’m not missing anything. Then I’ll hit the basement and be done.”

“You’re lying. You can’t seriously think I don’t know when you’re bullshitting me.”

No, I didn’t think there was a chance in hell he’d believe me, but what else was I going to say?

‘Yeah, you’re right, I swear to the gods I can feel her somewhere deep in my chest, and whatever’s connecting us is swirling faster and faster the closer I get to her, and honestly, I don’t think there’s much I wouldn’t do just to see her face’?

That won’t just get me pulled from the mission, Dax will probably convince Gav to bench me for the next decade, and I’ll be forced to go rogue, kidnap the Omega, and find a nice secluded cabin where I can hide out with her until my packmate calms down.

Which may actually take the entire decade.

“There could be more shit we’ll miss if I ignore it.”

I have to remain calm. If I don’t, this is going to devolve into another shouting match. As much as I want to push back at him, I know letting my Alpha instincts run the show right now will only cause the whole situation to devolve into chaos.

If that happens, Dax will go straight to Gav without hesitation. It’s the one line he refuses to allow a mission to cross.

“There could be files, documents, trackers, records. We have no idea what he could be hiding up here because we have no idea what’s actually going on,” I continue, backing up my logical explanation with a pulse of calm confidence down our Bond.

Dax growls in frustration. “You are supposed to be doing recon. You did recon. You’re putting yourself in unnecessary danger, Caelan.”

“It’s not enough,” I reply.

I can’t help but notice the empty walls and musty scent. I wouldn’t even know someone lives on this side of the estate if I hadn’t seen Idril days ago. It’s completely devoid of human presence. No pictures on the wall, no decorations.

The air tastes stale, and while it’s clean enough, the lack of life is so far removed from the way Omegas usually live that I can’t help feeling uneasy.

Fates, it feels like a fucking prison.

“You think I’m losing it,” I acknowledge gently. “I get that. I hear you. Let me fucking prove to you that I’m not. Let me finish my job. I’ll clear the East wing, see that the Omega is fine, and get out.”

Dax is silent for a long time. I wait patiently for him to respond with my heart in my throat.

Right before the silence becomes too heavy to take for another second, he replies. His tone is a mix of wry amusement and irritation that proves Dax knows me better than I know myself sometimes.

“You’re full of shit. You’re aware of that, right?”

I exhale in relief and smile. “Probably.”

Now that he’s on board, I pick up the pace, forcing myself to check every closed door I pass until I come to the end of the hall.

Double doors stand before me, weirdly silent and ominous.

I know instinctively that this is Idril’s room. The silver swirling pool in my chest seems almost excited. It’s churning, frothing, lapping gently at my instincts in encouragement—which feels fucking weird to acknowledge because Bonds don’t work like this. This isn’t something they do.

Our instincts might spiral and feel sentient, but that’s biology.

Bond’s don’t…. Have emotions.