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“I mean, this is better than those stupid socials and balls your dad keeps forcing us to go to,” Madden mumbles. “I don’t mind Luna falling right into our laps.”

“I get that,” Archer says. “But we’re logistically not prepared.”

“Well then let’s start getting prepared, we’ve got an omega to take care of,” Chase says, rubbing his hands together in excitement. “First step is planning. I say we put her in that bedroom in the East Wing.”

“Don’t you think that might be too close to our rooms though?” Madden asks. “You know, considering how she reacted to us earlier. I don’t want her to be afraid being so close to us.”

“Putting her in the same wing as our rooms is the point,” Chase says. “This house is so big if we put her in one of the other wings, she wouldn’t have to be around our scents. Hopefully, if she’s around them whenever she leaves her room, she’ll get used to us.”

He’s the most familiar with omegas, so it’s natural he’s taking the lead on this. I also have to admit I like the sound of his plans. It’ll be nice knowing she’s close by at night, that way, if anything happens, at least one of us will be there to help her.

“I can go run to the store to help pick her up all the things she’d need.” He nods over at Archer. “‘Cause you’re right. We really aren’t prepared to care for an omega long-term, especially one as special as our scent match.”

“We don’t even know if we’re going to have her long-term,” Archer says, crossing his arms across his chest. “And don’t give me shit for saying that. It’s the truth. She’s been unregistered for years. That’s going to complicate things.”

“Come on man,” Chase says. “Your dad is in charge of the Omega Center and she’s our scent match, I’m sure this is a special case.”

“I think you’re forgetting that we’re not even sure she can tell she’s our scent match and that my father is an absolute hardass who would most definitely pull the ‘it’s protocol, son,’ card should he need to.”

Chase blows out a harsh breath before spinning in the barstool again. “Fine.”

“Can one of you meatheads come up here and help me?” Charlotte’s voice calls from the top of the stairs. “And by one of you meatheads I mean the one with the biggest mouth.”

“Hey!” Chase yells, jumping up from his chair and heading towards the stairs. “I haven’t stolen your snacks in years!”

“You still fucking stole them even though you had your own!”

Chase laughs as helps Charlotte carry her case full of supplies down the stairs.

The atmosphere grows heavy when Charlotte’s expression falls at the sight of us.

“How is she?” Madden asks anxiously.

Charlotte just sighs.

“She’s getting cleaned up now, I patched her up as well as Icould, but there’s a lot of stuff that goes a lot deeper than the cuts she has on her feet,” Charlotte says, giving Madden a pained smile that has my stomach dropping. “I think I overheard you guys talking about bringing her to get registered.”

“What do you think we should do?” Chase asks.

“She should’ve been registered when she first went into pre-awakening at fifteen, or at the very least when she perfumed and went into her first heat at 18. So basically, it’s been years. It’s obvious she’s been through a boatload of shit and a few days before getting registered really shouldn’t be that big of an issue.”

“Did she tell you anything about her past?” Archer asks.

Charlotte purses her lips and sighs deeply. “A bit. Not a lot, but enough to get an idea. She wouldn’t tell me who hurt her, but she did tell me she just recently had her heat.”

“So it was whatever alpha she went through her heat with,” Madden growls, pressing his fists into the countertop, his dominance rolling through the room with his anger.

Charlotte’s face scrunches up in discomfort and her hands instinctually hold her belly.

“Hey stop it, reel it in,” Chase growls back, smacking Madden on the shoulder. “My sister.”

Madden jerks backward, his dominance instantly dissipating. “Sorry,” he says softly, staring down at the floor.

Charlotte gives him an understanding look. “Thanks. I appreciate it. I get this is probably really hard,” she says, before continuing with what she’s learned about Luna’s past. “Surprisingly, it wasn’t an alpha. Luna says she’s been with betas for all but three of her heats,” Charlotte says.

The shock hits us all. Omegas need alphas when they’re going through their heats. Even though there’ve been developments and research into artificial alpha pheromones and certain kinds of toys for beta partners to use to support omegas, most omegas just opt to bring in another alpha during their heat.

An omega going through multiple heats in a row with onlybetas? I don’t have to be a doctor to know that’s bound to do some damage to her body.