Page 45 of Claiming the Pack’s Omega (Riverwell Omegaverse #2)

“You had… you had bruises around your neck, the first night you were working as my ring girl,” he says. “What happened there? They couldn’t have been from that one drunk beta who choked you, they were too old. And you tried to hide them with makeup, too.”

“Yeah,” I sigh, wincing. “Those were from a customer I had at the club. Dom made sure to have a policy around not damaging the goods, so to speak, but this guy said he’d pay me five hundred bucks if he could choke me. I—I couldn’t say no to money like that.”

All of their expressions, even sweet Milo’s, immediately turn dark.

Killian shoves himself to his feet and starts pacing. I can practically feel the anger radiating off of him. It’s like he’s a sun about to go supernova. Like a bomb ready to explode.

“I need a name,” Killian hisses. “I’m going to kill that bastard.”

“Hey, no need to freak out,” I say, jumping up from my seat and pressing my hands against his chest.

“Give me a name,” he growls.

“A lot of the names I got from clients were fake,” I say, running my hands up his shoulders and squeezing, trying to keep him focused on me. “I don’t think telling you the name I got would do very much other than send you on a wild goose chase.”

“Give me a name for that ex of yours then,” Killian says. His expression crumples as he clenches his fists by his side. His normally sharp and bright green eyes are dull with despair. “Please, Princess.”

“Nate Fisher,” I say, automatically.

Killian nods and I feel some of the tension leave his shoulders.

“Thank you," he says. He jerks his gaze to Milo who returns an ominous looking nod.

“What’re you guys going to do? Nothing illegal, I hope.”

“We could cover it up if it were,” Stone mutters under his breath.

I narrow my gaze on him.

“Don’t you dare do something that could jeopardize all of your careers for me, you guys got that?

Do whatever you want to do, whatever you feel like you have to do, but just—just don’t do something stupid, okay?

” My rant loses a bit of steam towards the end and I shift my weight nervously from foot to foot.

Killian tugs me into his chest as he wraps his arms around me and I instantly melt into his strong embrace.

“Thank you for trusting us with all of this,” he murmurs.

“I mean, who else was I going to trust with this sort of thing?” I blink up at him, a small but genuine smile tugging at my lips. “You guys are my scent matches.”

Stone lets out a huff as he pushes his chair back and stands.

“Hey, sit down!” I say immediately. “You’re hurt.”

“I need to hold you," he says, his jaw clenched tight. “Please, Wildflower. Everyone else’s got a chance.”

I pat Killian on the chest and flash a smile up at him. A smile that he returns. It makes my breath catch on my throat, the way his eyes twinkle as he looks down at me.

God, I’m one lucky bitch.

“Sit back down,” I tell Stone. “Like hell am I going to make you get up when you’re still hurt.”

I make my way over to him and tentatively perch myself on one of his muscular thighs, but he pulls me so I’m sitting across his lap. I wrap my arms around his shoulders and bury my face in the crook of his neck.

He does the same and we spend a second scent marking each other.

I think it’s his way of calming himself down. It’s like he’s reassuring himself that I’m here in front of him now, that I’m okay.

His spicy pepper scent is intoxicating, even with the sharp bite of his anger. I think it’s because he’s angry on my behalf. It makes it all the more delicious.

The omega part of my brain preens as she melts down the walls I’ve built up around my heart and soul over the years.

“I’ll be better tomorrow,” he murmurs. “Then you won’t have to worry about me.”

“I worry about you because I care, not because I think you’re less than just ‘cause you have to take some time to heal from literal torture,” I say, rolling my eyes.

His arms squeeze me tighter to him and he takes a slow, shaky breath.

“That means a lot," he whispers.

I run my hands through his hair, letting my nails scratch at his scalp.

“You guys see me for me and don’t give a shit about my flaws. Why would you think I wouldn’t do the same for you?”

“Touché,” he says. The grin that splits his face is magnetic. “God, I don’t know what we did to deserve you.”

“That should be my line,” I say. “You guys basically swooped in and saved me and my entire family.”

I look into the deep blue of Stone’s eyes, soaking in the way he looks at me.

“I’m so glad you took that undercover job at The Warehouse,” I murmur.

“Me too.”

I turn over my shoulder to look at the rest of the pack.

“So, are we making this whole scent match thing work?”

“Fuck yes,” Killian growls. “If we haven’t already communicated that to you, then we’re doing something wrong.”

“I just had to double check,” I say, smiling brightly at all of them.

“We’re going to court the hell out of you,” Theo says. “You’ll never have to worry about anything again.”

“Sounds like a dream.”

It really does. It’s even more than a dream, to be honest. I never let myself dream that I’d find an alpha who could sweep me off my feet.

But as I look at the four of them—and more importantly, see the way they look at me—I actually think it’s possible.

I’ve spent my entire life taking care of those around me. Maybe it’s time I let others take care of me, for a change.