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The wind slaps against my face, the cold biting through the thin fabric of my clothes, but I keep walking. It’s like I’m moving through fog – uncertain but determined. I don’t even own a proper winter coat because normally if it’s raining, I just don’t go out. Dane grumbles before chucking his jacket over my shoulders.

Silly really, as I’m already wet.

We race down the driveway, Xar helping me to clamber over the fallen trees – I make a mental note to sort them out once the storm clears while praying that’s the full extent of the damage I’ll have to deal with – and we get in the car.

As Blaise starts the engine, it feels like the storm intensifies, battering against the windows with the kind of force that makes me want to curl into myself. Maybe it does, maybe it’s just my anxiety. Who knows. I can’t help but glance at the others in the car, their presence overwhelming, even though they’re quiet. I can feel the weight of their eyes on me, but I can’t meet their gaze for too long. It feels like they’re waiting for something from me.

“Just breathe,” Dane says from beside me in the backseat, his voice steady. “We’ve got this, Eviana. There is no one out there that can hurt you. Not with us around.”

I nod, unable to speak. I don’t know what I want from them right now, but itiscomforting to hear those words. Still, the unease doesn’t fully leave. The storm rages outside, but it feels like there’s a different kind of storm brewing in the car, a quiet kind that I can’t escape.

Was this crazy? Going out in a storm? Or is it crazier that I’m venturing into a storm with three alphas?

What would Grams say?

As we drive, I notice the trees being bent sideways by the wind, branches breaking off and swirling around in the chaos. The intensity of the storm makes the silence in the car feel louder. I can’t stop thinking about what Xar said earlier, about how it’s going to get worse.

After a few minutes of tense silence, the road begins to narrow, the tires crunching over gravel and debris as the storm thickens around us. I glance at the guys, but none of them meet my eyes. The drive’s taken longer than I expected – longer than it usually takes to get into town. Maybe it’s the storm slowing us down. Or maybe we’ve gone somewhere else entirely.

Eventually we pull up outside a building, headlights cutting through the sheets of rain, and I frown. This isn’t the supermarket I usually go to. I don’t recognise it at all.

I expected the usual – stocking up on food, maybe some firewood, something practical to protect the house.

But when we stop, I see it.

A shift in the plan.

And I hadn’t expectedthis.

My eyes widen as I read the sign, and my stomach drops. The letters are simple, elegant, almost too delicate: ‘Omegas’ Haven’.

I freeze, staring at the store. My heart skips a beat.No.

The words hit me like a bucket of cold water. My breath catches, and for a moment, I can’t process what I’m seeing.

I glance at the guys, all of them already getting out of the car, but they don’t speak. They don’t need to. The look in their eyes says it all – they’ve brought me here for a reason. They stand there, waiting in the torrential rain, as if they’re giving me space to process. But there’s no mistaking it now. This isn’t just about supplies.Stormsupplies.Basicsupplies.

No, it’s aboutomegasupplies.

Nesting supplies.

I can feel the panic rising in me again, this time much stronger. I’ve never been to a store like this. I’ve never needed to. I grew up keeping to myself, basically raising myself as a beta. I never had to think about what it meant to be an omega – never had to face the overwhelming reality of it until now.

What am I supposed to do here?

I sit frozen in the car, unsure of how to move. My hands are shaking, and my breath comes too fast. I can’t even bring myself to open the door.

Eviana, just breathe. It’s just a store. It’s just stuff.

But it feels like it’s more than that. My mind races, my chest tightens, and I feel completely out of place. I never asked for this. I never wanted it. But now, sitting outside this store, surrounded by everything I don’t understand, I feel small. Like I’m being suffocated by my own need to run and hide.

“What is this?” I whisper, my voice trembling as I stare at the building.

Obviously, no one answers. They’re outside the vehicle in a storm. They can’t hear me. They’re giving me space, letting me figure this out on my own, but I can’t. My heart races as panic begins to rise, filling my chest with each passing second.

I don’t know how to be an omega.

They think they’ve found their omega, the one to complete and unify their pack, but they don’t know how broken I am. They’d never want me if they did.