Page 47 of Claiming the Pack’s Omega (Riverwell Omegaverse #2)

Theo lets out a low whistle. “Damn, that name seems to pop up awful often, when it comes to things related to our girl.”

“So they aren’t just linked to omega disappearances?” Stone asks, sitting up straighter in his bed.

“No, they aren’t,” I answer.

“Reyna hasn’t mentioned anything about that,” Killian says.

“It’s possible she just doesn’t know. She didn’t seem to spend a lot of time with alphas willingly,” Theo adds.

“Why do you think this crime family is making alphas disappear? Omegas, I can understand, but alphas too?” Stone says, running a hand along his jaw.

“I wondered the same thing. So I did a bunch of looking on the dark web, because that was the only place I could find a lead, and I found this.”

I open my laptop screen and pull up the quick four-second clip. My packmates all huddle around my laptop as I display the video on full screen for them to watch.

“Those are feral alphas,” Killian says, his voice low.

“Feral alphas fighting in some sort of cage fight,” Stone adds.

“This livestream was obviously meant as some sort of preview of sorts,” I explain. “These kinds of things are common on the dark web. You get a sneak peek and then you have to pay to see more. When I tried screen recording what I was watching, my entire system crashed.”

“Fuck, and your shit is locked down,” Theo says, his gaze jerking up to meet mine.

“Yes,” I say. This is my element. My thing. I may not be confident in any other area of life, but I know I’m good at what I do. “Which tells me that they have to have backing that involves resources that a Southside crime family shouldn’t have access to, even if they are rich from the drug trade.”

“We’re talking Northsider involvement, aren’t we?” Killian says, taking a deep breath.

“We are.”

There’s a moment of silence as we all take this information in.

“I’ll call the station and see if any other detectives can look into this sort of thing. There hasn’t been any documentation on this sort of thing so far.”

“We’re missing something here,” Theo murmurs softly. “Feral alpha fighting rings are a big deal, but how do they connect to the missing omegas? And the drug trade?”

Killian’s expression darkens and he purses his lips together like he’s deep in thought.

“You’ve got an idea, don’t you, Killian?” Stone asks him.

“I do," he nods, gravely. “There are two ways I can imagine you could make an alpha feral, even if they didn’t display any signs before.”

I inhale sharply and feel myself going a bit pale. Fuck, the lack of sleep and rocket fuel energy drinks I had aren’t helping with that feeling of vertigo I get at his words.

“Drugs and getting him into a rut without relief,” Stone says softly.

“Exactly what I was thinking.”

“God, that would be torture,” Theo groans. “Do you think that’s what they do to the omegas they make disappear too?”

“I don’t know, but we have to figure this out,” Killian says. “This is bigger than we thought.”

“How does this work with Reyna’s testimony?” Theo asks.

“We’ll probably have to see how things develop,” Stone says. “But I can only see it being useful, even if this case suddenly gets a lot bigger than we thought.”

“Honestly, this case may just have to be separated into two big chunks,” Theo says, scrubbing a hand down his face.

“I’ll have to talk to the firm and work with the police department on this, but the original intent was just to prove Northside involvement and try and make the Southside safer for omegas. Whatever this is? It’s a lot bigger.”

“Good work,” Killian says, clasping my shoulder and giving me a nod of approval. “You should get some rest.”

I reach up and scratch the back of my neck. “I should, shouldn’t I,” I murmur, glancing away.

I’m still wired. I’m not sure I could go to sleep if I tried. I should head back to my room, though, I don’t want to worry the rest of the pack. They tend to worry about me when they see I haven’t gotten any sleep.

“Okay, have a good day at work, guys,” I say, picking up my laptop.

I leave the three of them in Stone’s room. They’re probably going to talk a bit more. I’ve done my job, though. I’ve given them new information to work with.

My eyes feel heavy as I step out into the hallway, yawning. I freeze when I see Reyna hovering outside the doorway to her room. Her stiff shoulders are made obvious by the tank top she must’ve worn to bed.

Oh God.

She’s not wearing a bra.

My mouth goes dry.

Holy shit.

I know men have fought wars over, written poetry about, and carved statues of women for basically all of history, but I don’t think I got it until now.

But in those practically nonexistent sleep shorts hugging her hips and the thin fabric of her tank top giving me a clear view of the outline of her nipples, God damn.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” Reyna says playfully, her voice a little husky.

I immediately take my laptop and use it to hide my face, inadvertently hitting myself in the forehead with it.

“I—I’m so sorry,” I say, a furious blush appearing on my cheeks. “I—I didn’t mean to stare, I—I just?—”

“Hey," she says softly.

I see her fingertips over the top of my laptop. I should get her nail polish. The stuff she has on right now is a bit chipped.

She pulls my laptop down and away from my face and I fight the urge to look away.

“You can look all you want," she murmurs, her lips tugging up into a playful grin. “I’ll even give you a little spin.”

Oh my God.

My gunmetal scent practically explodes out of me at her words. It swirls around us, mixing with Reyna’s charged electricity.

Ever since I got close enough to catch a whiff of her scent, I knew there was something special about Reyna. But now that I know she’s our scent match, I’m starting to focus a lot more on how well our scents blend together. I’ve never experienced something like that before.

Together, we’re like a fuse that’s about to blow.

I definitely feel like I’m about to blow.

My cock stirs in my sweats and no matter how hard I fight it, I can’t stop my body’s reaction to her.

My sweatpants probably aren’t hiding anything either, so I’m practically waving my feelings at her with one of those bright neon signal wands people use on runways.

Except instead of a light, it’s my dick.

Her storm gray eyes dart between mine, almost like she’s trying to read my thoughts.

I almost want to tell her to please stop, because I’m already so mortified I want to sink into the floor and disappear.

But I don’t.

I stare back at her and notice the dark circles under her eyes. That stiffness in her shoulders I noticed earlier? That’s exhaustion.

I’d know, considering I’m feeling pretty similarly now. Maybe it’s the caffeine crash.

Before I know what I’m doing, one of my hands is lifting up to cup her cheek. My thumb brushes gently against her skin. It’s so soft.

“You look tired,” I say softly.

She laughs, her eyes sparkling. “Not a very charming thing to say to a woman, you know.”

“Oh—I—I didn’t mean?—”

“Hey, it’s fine," she says, reaching up and holding my hand to her cheek, leaning into my touch. “I’m just teasing you. You’re fun to tease.”

“Oh… well, then you can tease me all you want.”

Anything to hear her laugh, see her smile like that.

“You look tired too," she says, her expression growing more serious.

“Yeah, I didn’t get any sleep,” I shrug.

“Damn, none at all?”

“No,” I say, shaking my head. “What about you?”

“Basically the same. I tried, but I was tossing and turning all night.” She glances at my bedroom door and back at me. “Want to go lie down and see if we could help each other sleep? We’re probably not going to be much use to the others if we’re dead tired.”

My heart stalls in my chest, and I swear I have to mentally resurrect myself before it starts beating again. I swallow hard, trying to get rid of the lump in my throat.

“S—sure,” I nod.

She smiles up at me again. Wow, I really would do anything to see her smile at me.

She laces her fingers with mine and leads me back to my bedroom and I follow. I’d follow her to the ends of the Earth.