Page 228 of Claiming the Pack's Omega

"Are you sure? You still seem upset," Mira says, drawing my attention back to her. "Was it because I've been here for a long time?"

"Something like that," I say, nodding slowly.

"Would some food help cheer you up? I'm sure you're hungry."

My stomach takes that opportunity to growl loudly.

Mira picks up the bowl of oatmeal and holds the spoon to my lips.

"Ahhhh," she says.

I take the bite offered to me, but I shake my head when she offers me the second.

"Is there any way I could eat myself?"

"No, I'm sorry, I was told that I had to feed you," she says, smiling at me apologetically.

I nod, accepting the second bite.

It was worth a try. Plus, something tells me that if I want to have any hope of getting out of here, it'll be because of her.

She leans in conspiratorially. "So, what did you do to get yourself punished?"

"Punished?"

"Yeah," she says, nodding down at the restraints around my wrists. "Most of us know what not to do. I'm really good at not getting punished."

I shrug my shoulders.

"I don't know. I was kidnapped and brought here against my will."

She makes a face. It almost looks like she's pitying me, right now.

"That's what a lot of girls say when they get here, but they don't understand that we're here to fulfill our purpose. We're here to help people. I'm sure you'll feel that way soon."

I shake my head.

"No, I won't." I tilt my head to the side and bare my neck to her, showcasing the bite marks there. "I have people looking for me. A pack. I have to get back to them."

Her eyes go wide and she drops the spoon back into the bowl.

"No way," she breathes out, moving some of my hair out of the way to peer down at my bond marks. "None of us have these."

"They're called bond marks," I explain. "I have four of them because I have four bonded mates. When you asked me why I was sad earlier, it's because I was missing them."

"What are—what are bonded mates?"

I pause, trying to figure out a way to explain all that the Graylock Pack are to me with a few words.

"They're like half of me. When they're sad, I'm sad. When they're happy, I'm so happy. And they just have a way of making me feel happy better than anyone else."

Her eyes go wide with an almost childlike wonder. "I want that," she breathes out.

"And I can help you," I whisper. "If you help me get out of here, I'll help you get out too, and you can explore the world and meet people who you could bond with too."

She spins around and slams the nearly empty bowl of oatmeal down on the tray, her shoulders trembling.

"No," she says, shaking her head. "I'm not going to do something bad. I'm good. I'm a good girl. You're asking me to do something wrong, right now, Reyna. I can't do something wrong."