Page 20 of Daisy

We cross the street quickly, using shadows and parked cars for cover. My heart pounds with familiar pre-fight adrenaline, but it's different this time. Cleaner. I'm not fighting for money or survival or the simple need to hurt something.

I'm fighting to protect the people I care about.

The sound reaches us as we get closer—screaming from inside the building, the crackle of flames, and underneath it all, the terrified cries of omegas who have nowhere to run.

Smoke pours from what looks like a service entrance at the back of the building. The explosion has blown a hole clean through the wall, chunks of white stone scattered across theground like broken teeth. Through the gaping breach I can see figures moving inside—alphas who've breached the facility, heading deeper into the building where the omegas are housed.

"The guards are all at the front," August realizes, his voice tight with horror. "There's no one back here to stop them."

He's right. The distraction worked perfectly. While security focused on the mob at the gates, the real attack came from behind. And now there are armed alphas inside a building full of defenseless omegas.

The adrenaline crash hits me immediately, but underneath it I can feel August's steady presence through our bond—not fear, exactly, but intense focus and the quiet strength that's gotten us both through the past year. He's watching everything, cataloging details the way he does with his research, and his calm helps settle the wild thing in my chest that wants to charge in swinging.

"We need help," August says, pulling out his phone. "Police, fire department?—"

"They'll be too late," I interrupt, watching another figure disappear through the smoking doorway. "Those omegas don't have ten minutes for emergency services to arrive."

I turn to August, my hands finding his shoulders. "Go."

"What?" His hazel-green eyes widen. "No, I'm not leaving you."

"Listen to me." I grip him tighter, trying to pour all my certainty into my voice. "Go to the next street over and wait for me there. Stayawayfrom this building."

"Absolutely not." His scent shifts, bergamot sharpening with distress. "We're pack. We do this together."

"Wearepack, which is exactly why you need to be my anchor point." I frame his face with my hands, forcing him to meet my eyes. "If something goes wrong in there, I need to know you're safe. I need somewhere to come back to."

Sirens wail in the distance, someone must have called already. But as we stand there in the shadow of the burning Omega House, watching smoke pour from the breach and hearing the chaos from inside, I know we can't wait.

August's jaw works, every instinct fighting against leaving me. But he's smart enough to understand the logic, even if he hates it.

"Two blocks east," he says finally, voice tight. "The coffee shop on the corner. If you're not out in fifteen minutes?—"

"I will be."

"Promise me."

I press my forehead to his, breathing in his scent. "I promise. Now go."

He kisses me hard, quick and desperate, then turns and runs. I watch until he disappears around the corner before turning back to the Omega House.

The past has teeth, and tonight it's decided to bite down hard on the most vulnerable people in the city.

But maybe, just maybe, I can bite back before it's too late.

Chapter 7

Daisy

The explosion tears through my world like the end of everything.

I'm in my room, curled up with Mikey's copy of Jane Eyre, trying to lose myself in someone else's story when the first blast hits. The crystal chandelier above my bed sways violently, tinkling like broken music. The windows rattle in their frames so hard I think they might shatter.

My heart stops. Actually stops for one terrifying beat before hammering back to life so hard it hurts.

For a heartbeat, there's silence.

Then the screaming starts.