Page 21 of Enticing Little Omega (Twisted Little Tales #5)

Christa

T he door clicked shut behind Tracy, but her presence clung to the air like stale perfume.

Bitter, choking, and hard to breathe through.

I didn't realize I was shaking until Anton pulled me tighter against his side, and even then, I couldn't stop. My pulse thrummed like it was trying to outrun itself, and my throat felt tight. Like I'd swallowed a scream and locked it behind my teeth.

She'd found me. After all this time. After everything. She'd walked right into my safe space and tried to pull me back into her world like I was still that powerless little Beta orphan with no options. No voice.

"I..." My voice cracked. I tried again. "I need to run—"

"Sit," Honey said, her tone even gentler than normal for her, which was saying a lot.

"You don't need to do anything, my sweet friend. You're just going to take a deep breath and give us a moment."

She turned to look at my pack... My pack, and then back at me. "You're not going to let her run alone this time, right?"

Annerly guided me into the booth like I might fall if he didn't, and maybe I would have. I felt like my knees were barely holding me up and as if I would explode into a million little pieces at the slightest nudge.

Honey crossed her arms. "That witch can do whatever she wants. She can hop on over to the authorities with whatever paperwork she wants, it won't matter a bit. We have a plan."

I blinked at her. "Do you have a plan?"

She gave me a determined nod. "Sure. The same one I had. Take you on the run, long enough until you're all legal and that creepy as all heck woman can go fly to the moon with her damn paperwork."

I swallowed hard. The idea of disappearing again, of running... It made me sad. It was what I'd been doing for the last two years and I didn't want to run anymore. But it needed to happen.

I needed to stay safe.

"I can go," I whispered before looking up at my pack, hope blooming in my chest. "We could go."

William watched me with that quiet intensity that always made my skin feel warm.

"We could," he breathed. "We could run for a few months, but then she'd win."

"But if we stay, and she comes to take me away, she'd win too. She scares me," I said, my voice laced with the vulnerability I was showing them.

"I know little Omega," he replied. "But you don't need to be scared of her anymore. Believe me, I know exactly what Tracy is capable of. But babygirl, I'm not afraid of her. And you don't have to be either. Do you want to know why?"

I blinked up at him, trying to force down the tears that were threatening to come out. Tears that I hated she was getting from me. "Why, Daddy?" I asked.

His eyes flashed with something dark at the term before he rested his forehead against mine. "Because Daddy can protect you. All of us can."

"I've run before," I told him. Told them. "I know how to hide. I can do it again."

He took a deep steadying breath, his chest beginning to rumble with a purr, his inner Alpha trying to calm me. "We know you can, little Omega. But that's not what you want anymore, is it?"

My bottom lip trembled. He reached up and cradled my cheek, his thumb brushing over the curve like I was made of something precious.

William's fingers slid down to curl beneath my chin. "Look at me, little Omega."

I did.

"That big ball of fear in your chest you feel?" he murmured. "It's mine now. Give it to me. I'll take care of it. You don't have to do this alone anymore. We've got you."

Tears welled up and spilt before I could blink them away. But I didn't hide them. Not this time.

"What if she takes me away from you?"

"She won't," he said, his voice filled with so much calm certainty that it slipped beneath all my worries and warmed me from the inside out.

"We won't let her," Anton told me, as he crouched down in front of the booth, his big looming presence helping to soothe some of the angst building up inside me. "You have us, little bit. We'll protect you no matter what. You're our Omega now. And no one, not even my mom, can take what's ours."

My breath hitched.

Both my Daddies pressed soft kisses to my forehead, then to the tip of my nose.

"Will you let us fix this for you?" William asked carefully.

My knees bent without thinking, and I slid from the booth to the floor, kneeling in front of him. My hands curled into his shirt, my forehead resting against his chest. Anton wrapped himself around my back, and with the two of them surrounding me I felt it.

Safe.

Their arms wrapped around me. "There's our brave girl," William cooed at me.

I sobbed once, then breathed in deep. Their scents were grounding. Exactly what I needed at that moment.

"I trust you," I told them, my voice muffled against William's chest.

They held me tighter.

I don't know how long we stayed like that, all tangled up on the floor of Jo's diner, but eventually, I felt my body settle. The tremors stopped and my lungs remembered how to take a normal breath.

I tilted my head up, my cheek still pressed to William's chest. "What happens next, Daddy?"

William smoothed his hand down my back. "Nothing changes," he said. "We go home. To our pack house. You come with us, and we do the work to get you free and clear of Tracy legally."

My stomach twisted at the word home. I wasn't even sure what that meant anymore. Nothing has truly felt like home since my mom passed away.

But I was excited to find out if this new house could be it.

Still... my heart tugged in another direction, and I turned to look at Honey and Jo.

"I have to go," I told them, softly, not even sure if my words would carry to them.

Honey's eyes shimmered, but she didn't cry. She just gave me one of those brilliant smiles that somehow made everything okay, even when it wasn't. "Come on, we knew this might happen."

Jo nodded beside her, arms crossed over his chest like he might keep himself from storming forward to grab me. "You're still part of the family, Christa. That doesn't stop because you're moving."

"I love you, too, old man," I whispered, and it hit me then... maybe I had had a home here after all.

It made saying goodbye that much harder, yet leaving with the pack so much easier because I felt just a bit more hope that things with them would work out.

"I'm going to miss you both," I said. "So very much."

Honey stepped forward and pulled me in for a hug. "You have to actually leave first for us to start missing you back," she teased me.

We both laughed as we pulled out of the hug and I wiped at my tears, trying to pretend that they hadn't been running down my cheeks unchecked since I realised I'd have to say my farewells.

Drew reached for my hand, his thumb rubbing soft circles against my knuckles. "Let's go, pretty girl."

And this time, when I left the diner, it didn't so much feel like running away, but more like running to something.

And when Anton huffed an annoyed breath and picked me up, cradling me against his chest, I realised I'd probably not be doing much running at all... seeing as I was more than likely going to be carried everywhere I needed to be.