Page 58 of Claiming the Pack's Omega

The words brain-dead seem to lose meaning when someone you love is lying in a hospital bed, just like the one I’m lying in, looking like they’re just sleeping.

That’s how my parents felt, anyway.

They kept Jade attached to all those machines for far too long. Those machines did everything: they breathed for her, pumped her heart for her, and they even got rid of her waste for her.

At the end of the day, was it really forher,though? Because at that point she was already fucking gone.

Her death was the number one reason why I entered the force. She killed herself because of the abuse she endured at the hands of her so-called “pack.”

Like hell was I going to let that happen to another innocent omega.

“Oh, good, you’re awake!” Theo’s voice snaps me out of my spiral.

I blink my eyes open. The smile that appears on my lips when I see my pack tugs at the bruises left on my face.

“Hey, man, good to see you,” I say.

My breath catches in my throat when I see who trails into the room after the three of them, right after Milo.

Reyna.

My eyes fixate on her.

She’s dressed casually, in a pair of leggings and a hoodie that seems far too thin for the chilly weather outside. All things considered, a lot more clothing than what I normally saw her in at The Warehouse, but she’s still as breathtaking as ever.

Her gaze is sharp and assessing, like she’s trying to see through the thin hospital gown they put me in.

“Hi,” I breathe out.

“Hi?” She huffs, crossing her arms over her chest and narrowing her eyes at me. “That’s all you have to say, after this whole mess you’ve gotten me into?”

I wince, which tugs at my bruises even more. She feels so fucking far away. At this distance, I can only catch a whiff of her deep, petrichor scent that my body seems to crave. I’m looking forward to the rainy spring season now.

I’d give anything to be able to stand up and be closer to her, right now.

“Thank you,” I say, shaking myself.

What am I doing? Getting lost in my head, thinking about how breathtaking I think she is, isn’t going to do anything to redeem myself in her eyes.

“I’m sure I wouldn’t have made it out of there without you,” I continue. “You seriously saved my ass.”

She narrows her eyes at me, her jaw clenching.

“Are you… okay?” She grits out, as if she can’t help but ask.

That’s a good sign, her checking up on me. Not all of her hates me. My lips tug up at the corner in a small smile. I can work with that.

“I’ve definitely been better, but I definitely would’ve been worse without the help. Like my arm,” I lift it up a bit, wincing as pain shoots up into my shoulder. “It’s still kind of fucked, but the doctors were saying earlier if I’d been hanging on it any longer than I was before you put it back in its socket, I never would’ve regained full function.”

“They said,what?” Killian growls, stepping forward, narrowing his eyes on me. “You didn’t fucking mention that.”

Reyna jumps a little bit, taking a wary step back as Killian’s dominance flows from him with his anger. She tries to hide it, but I’m used to watching body language, so I catch it.

So does Theo, who tries to move closer to her—maybe to comfort her—but she won’t have any of it. She shoots him a short glare and raises a brow as if to say “try me.”

I wince, turning my attention back to Killian.

“Forgot to mention that, did I?”