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“Damn,” Chase says, spinning at one of the barstools at our kitchen counter. “If you’re asking for a drink, this must be fucking you up pretty bad too. How’re you doing?”

“Fine.” Not really.

There’s just something about the little Southside omega, with her wounded eyes and battered body that calls to a side of myself I can usually keep in check.

“Is this reminding you of your mother?” Archer asks, sliding a glass of whiskey over to me.

My eyes cut to him and I grip the glass with more force than necessary, finishing the entire glass in a few swallows and relishing in the burn.

He’s right, but he doesn’t have to point it out like that.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Archer grunts.

“You’re fucking kidding right?” I scoff. “Says the man that never fucking talks about his feelings.”

“I’m just trying to help, no need to bite my head off.”

“In what way is talking about how my parents were murdered in front of me during the riots going to help me?” I spit. “I can tell you right now it’s not fucking helping because after saying that I just feel even shittier.” I slide my glass back over to him, nodding for him to fill my glass even more.

I know exactly why this situation is leaving me feeling so uneasy, but talking about it right now isn’t going to help any of us. This situation is probably bringing up all of our demons.

My mom was a Southside omega too. My dad, a Northside alpha, did his best to give her a good life. And it was a good life. Then the riot happened.

My father tried to protect my mom from all the evils of the world. He gave his dying breath fighting for her.

A growl builds in my chest at the thought that I’ve failed an omega I didn’t even know existed until a few hours ago. She’s been through so much pain, so much hardship. None of us had to see the bruises on her skin to tell that.

I’ll do anything in my power to protect the little omega upstairs. I can feel it in my bones.

“I’m gonna be honest, that was the last thing I expected when I heard you guys found our scent match omega,” Chase says, restinghis elbow against the counter. I’m surprised he hasn’t gotten a drink for himself yet. Maybe in the same way this fucked up situation is driving me to drink, it’s pushing him not to.

“What are we supposed to do?” Madden asks, resting his hands on top of his head. I’ve known him for ten years and as emotionless as he tries to present himself to the world, it’s obvious to all of us he’s full of anxiety right now. “Are we just supposed to let our scent match go if she wants to leave?”

“I don’t actually think she knows she’s our scent match,” Chase says.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Archer grunts, leaning over the kitchen counter. “We can all obviously tell she’s ours, so why wouldn’t she be able to tell the same?”

“I’m not suggesting we’re going crazy, so don’t look at me like that. I’m just suggesting that 'cause we have no clue what she’s been through. Maybe something in her past messed with her body so much she can’t tell she belongs with us yet.”

“She has been undocumented for as long as she’s been an omega,” Madden says, slumping into one of the barstools. “And she’s from the Southside.”

“You know the best out of all of us how hard that could’ve been for her,” Chase confirms.

Archer sighs and nods. “We all saw how she reacted to us when we came into the room,” he growls. “Who the fuck taught her those sex slave poses? Those were practiced. It wasn’t like she just pulled those out of her ass.”

“Whoever they are, they’re fucking dead when we find them,” Archer grunts. “Until we figure out where she came from and what happened to her, we should err on the side of caution. We don’t know if anyone is going to come looking for her.”

“There’s no better place for her to be if we’re thinking of her safety,” I chuckle, feeling the warm buzz of the whiskey in my chest.

What happened during the riot when I was a kid helped fostera bit of an obsession with home security. The government has done its best to put in measures to prevent another riot from happening, but for the longest time, there was a lot of unease in the community.

People were made acutely aware of how vulnerable they were. Including me.

Once I finally had access to the majority of the money my parents left to me when I was eighteen, I started looking into starting a security company. At that point, I’d already met all the members of my pack, so we all poured our resources and manpower into building it from the ground up.

Even though Madden and I are the primary ones responsible for most of the operations now, Chase’s people skills and Archer’s networking have definitely gotten us to where we are now: the best security company in Riverwell.

“God,” Archer sighs, “This is just so fucking sudden. I know we’ve been talking about wanting to try and find an omega, but like this? This is crazy.”