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Because no.
No way in fucking hell am I replacing Orion. I’ve wanted him my whole life and denied him just as long, all for the sake of our pack and the hypothetical future omega we planned to mate.
But Orion is that omega. We’re not replacing him.
And yet…
Just the thought, the doubt, yanks my heart.
Something’s wrong with our pack. Orion doesn’t smile, Finn’s acting manic, Hunter’s shooting me pity looks, and Jett won’t say shit about what’s eating his soul.
And me?
I don’t sleep. Can’t. My packmates’ anxieties scream along our bond like sirens, keeping me awake. I stalk the house at night, checking the window and door locks, investigating banging pipes and creaking wood like every sound is an assassin come to take revenge for all the blood we’ve spilled.
Orion sleeps alone.
Our pack bed’s sheets are always cold.
We were fifteen when I looked him in the eye and told him we had to shut down whatever was between us. It was unfair to the omega the five of us would grow up to share.
Our love had to be for her, and her alone.
Ten years later, Orion awakened as an omega instead of an alpha. At the first hit of his pheromones, I one-eightied. Claimed him as mine, and the four of us agreed to take him as our pack’s mate.
To throw him away now?
To tell him he’s being replaced?
I’m not that kind of monster.
“There has to be another way.” I scrub my hands through my hair, torn between two loyalties. Orion is my mate, but my father is my north star, the one who I’ve always followed, and he’s never led me astray.
“Maybe. How much time are you willing to take off to figure it out?”
“None.” Fuck. We don’t have time for this. The Redfangs will hit back hard.
“Then look into some other options.”
“I won’t replace him,” I growl.
“So don’t. The situation can be temporary, but Orion needs guidance, and the rest of you need to extricate your heads from your asses.” My father whips out his phone, and a message pings me. “There’s an event tomorrow. The female we picked you will be on stage.”
My phone shows an invite for four—not five—to tomorrow night’s dance showcase at the Omega Cultivation Center. The screen burns when I shove it back into my pocket.
“I won’t force you,” he says, “But what you’re doing isn’t working. The pack’s volatile. Any other team wouldn’t get a second chance.”
Shame burrows into my chest, the hot wave making my fists bunch and my teeth clench.
He may as well give me an ultimatum.
Lose my pack or lose my position?
I can’t survive without either.
“I’ll go. But no promises. We already have a mate.”
“Fair enough.” Scorpio stands, and the nurturing snaps out of him, leaving behind a hard-eyed commander staring down his incompetent subordinate. “I want that report in my inbox tonight. I’ll see your team on the field at morning call for punishment.”
