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“I think omegas may get territorial when they meet their mates and aren’t claimed yet, but alphas are the same. We just got to write the narrative.” That was a whole bigger discussion, though. One we’d have to deal with, eventually. I wanted a different world for omegas, but change wouldn’t come quickly, even with the Crash.
“I guess I’m more concerned about Ava and Cary specifically,” Hunter said as he deliberately looked off into the distance. “I got to know them the few days they spent at the farm. You and Ava seem tight already, but Cary is a wild card. He keeps himself tightly wound and I suspect he has a lot of scars, the kind you can’t see. He’s also obsessed with Ava. I don’t want to see either of them get hurt.”
I felt myself tense at the thought of anyone hurting either of my omegas, and he gave me a quick sideways glance. “All I know is they’re both mine, and I will protect them with everything I have. What kind of relationship we have is up to them. I’ll be whatever they need.”
He nodded and grinned at me as he relaxed. “Fair enough. You passed. But be warned, you won’t get off so easy if you get an interrogation from Maia or Lexie. Or worse, both.”
I had no problem with that, but my sudden agitation wouldn’t settle. I looked up as movement at the front entrance grabbed my attention. Ryder strode purposefully down the front steps and headed straight for us. He eyed Hunter carefully as he approached, but also scanned our surroundings. As soon as he got to me, he crouched at my side and immediately put his hand on my shoulder. I felt my body relax and my tension drained away.
“Everything okay here?” he asked. He made no apology for intruding. I was glad it was Ryder and not River. He may have thrown knives and asked questions later.
“Yep,” Hunter answered with a grin, completely unapologetic, too. “I was just asking my brother about his intentions towards two omegas we all seem to care about. You and your twin are scary as shit, by the way, did you know that?”
Ryder seemed surprised, before he burst out laughing. “Oh, you’re going to be fun to have around.”
Hunter puffed out his chest and tilted his chin back dramatically, like a lizard throwing out its frill to make itself seem larger and scare off a predator. He had an easy humor I liked, but I also sensed an underlying core of steel.
More movement at the entrance had me squinting. I could barely make out Ava hovering in the shadows, just inside. A sudden need to hold her almost took my breath away, and my vision tunneled in on her.
“Go,” Hunter said. “We’ve got time. We don’t need to fix everything today.”
Ryder stood and pulled me to my feet while Hunter jumped lightly to his beside me. I couldn’t pay attention to either of them right now, though. My focus was entirely on Ava. I left them in the dust as I ran towards her. I heard chuckles behind me, but I didn’t care.
My omega was waiting for me.
twenty-two
IwatchedRiverandCary circling each other warily on the patch of grass we’d chosen as a training field. It was at the back of the Palace, near an old shed, with a few old tyres and ropes stacked up that Cary had used for strength training in the past. The library was behind us, so there shouldn’t be anyone watching us out the windows.
We’d found more equipment in a dank room the guards appeared to have used as a gym, including an old punching bag. We’d moved it all outside. The gym had no air circulation or natural light and had smelled of stale alpha sweat. Cary had walked in and instinctively backed straight out again. His eyes had flared wide in panic, putting River and I on guard as we’d swept the room for any danger. Cary was usually so reserved, so seeing his reaction and the raw emotion spilling from him had been startling. He’d shut it down quickly, though. Shook it off and pretended like it had never happened, so we didn’t call him on it.
I hated it. Cary was a good guy. He cared about all the omegas at the Palace, not just Ava. I’d been watching him while he watched them all, trying to protect them with stealthy acts no-one else noticed. If any omegas looked uncomfortable with an alpha guard nearby, Cary would physically put himself between them. Even if it made him tense up himself.
I could see that same tension in him now. He’d put himself in this situation to learn how to protect Ava, but he was fighting his own body and instincts to do it. It shamed me he fought so hard for her and I’d spent a decade raging at her loss. Blinded by my pain and unable to see that she’d sacrificed herself for us. I needed to make that up to her, and getting Cary comfortable with us was something I could do to make her life easier. To help get her what she needed. As much as I wanted to do it for his own sake, too.
I knew he would probably be more comfortable with Nick here. But we needed Nick down in the labs right now and River had wanted to do the first session with each of them alone so he could assess their existing strengths. We had started Cary out with stretching exercises to see his range of motion and warm his muscles up. Then we’d moved to some simple boxing repetitions with the punching bag to work on his fist style and rhythm. River now had some sparring pads on his hands and was encouraging him to try what he’d learned on a moving target. He’d taped up Cary’s hands, rather than put boxing gloves on him, wanting him to feel the punches and practice getting his fist aligned right. He wouldn’t have gloves in a real world fight.
We’d only found one roll of tape, so we’d used it sparingly. It had struck me in the moment just how much the world had changed. Something as simple as sports tape was a finite resource now. We couldn’t pop down to the shops for another roll and nobody was making it in factories anymore. We were going to have to improvise a lot of things we’d taken for granted.
I shook off my thoughts and focused on the duo sparring in front of me.
“Can you take your shirt off?” I asked Cary.
He paused with his fists in the air and glared at me suspiciously. “Why?”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Because you’re wearing a baggy shirt and I can’t see which muscles you’re engaging when you punch, or your hip movement. It helps to correct your technique.”
He shot a glance at River, who nodded at him. Cary pulled his shirt off in one smooth motion by grabbing it from behind his neck. It was sexy as hell. I was going to have to practice that one. River raised his eyebrow at me and I smirked back at him. He knew me too well.
“Happy?” Cary asked me, with more than a hint of sarcasm. His nerves had him barring his teeth. He’d been more relaxed this morning, after our campfire chat last night. But now he was retreating behind his wall again. Getting him to knock it down for good was going to take work. I knew it would be worth it, though. Our pack needed him healthy and whole.
“No. I’ll be happy when you trust us, but I know we need to earn that,” I replied, keeping my voice calm and even, not reacting to his taunt.
He dropped his hands and seemed startled at my honesty.
“Cary, we all want the same thing here,” I said. “Plus, you’re going to give yourself an injury if you keep trying to spar while you’re so tense.”
Cary sighed. “Sorry, I get jumpy when alphas are behind me. I know you’re here trying to help me, but it makes me feel like prey.”
