Page 51

EIGHTEEN

THE WEAKEST LINK

CALIX

I look up at the back of Maggie’s building as I take a few steps to the left, smiling as she blows me a kiss from her window.

Gingerly .

Everything she does, she has to do gingerly.

It almost looked like it hurt to smile but our girl was doing a lot of that whether it did or not.

I know it was genuine, that Maggie was beyond happy to see us, but I think she was covering up how much pain she’s actually in.

Not because she doesn’t want us to see her hurting, but because she doesn’t want us to worry more than we already are.

Putting on a brave face or whatever the saying is. Our girl did that for us, just like she made sure we were able to touch her, to hold her and get her surgery floral scent all over us in the only way we could.

Maggie said it was for her. Said she didn’t care how it happened, we were all bunking with her in Evie’s room so she could soak up as much of our scents as possible.

Our girl wanted that, all the hands on and scenting, especially after finding out what happened to her nest, but it felt more like she pushed through her pain extra hard for us.

I love her so goddamn much for that.

For everything. It may not seem like a big deal to some people but for me, for our alphas, it was huge.

It was like a balm on our frayed nerves, honestly, because walking through the sliding doors and seeing how Maggie looked, it gutted us.

I felt it. Felt it from our alphas on top of my own feelings.

My anger and hurt, the fear that had been running through me since Isaak sat us down to tell us what happened. It was all there, swirling right under the surface, and it almost exploded when I finally set sights on her.

Then it disappeared just as quickly as it came.

The relief that flooded through me when I heard her voice, the sense of doom that lifted when she said my name, it replaced everything I’d been struggling with all day and I think I fell a little more in love with her at that moment.

Which I didn’t think was possible but it’s the only way to describe what happened.

I don’t think I’ve experienced as much emotional shit as I did the last few hours and Maggie still trying to put our feelings before hers was the icing on the cake.

It was still hard, though.

Hard and fucking gut wrenching seeing her smile a little crooked from the injury to her jaw and the large split in her lip. How she managed to smile so wide with a few stitches in her cheek, with half of her beautiful face still black and blue was mind boggling.

But she did it.

Our girl smiled like us walking into her apartment was the best thing that ever happened to her. Then she started to cry.

It killed me when that happened.

Maggie burst into tears and reached for us, she opened her arms and practically sobbed while she waited for the comfort we didn’t hesitate to provide.

It didn’t matter to her that her arm was in a sling, that the entire thing was full of cuts and more stitches.

Our girl didn’t give a shit that most of the joints on the right side of her body are swollen or bruised.

And when she cleared her throat and started to speak, Maggie’s voice hoarse and strained because of how hard her throat was squeezed, it was everything I could do to keep myself calm for her.

The bruises there have barely started to heal.

That bastard's handprints are still on her neck.

He didn’t get to do what he set out to, though.

Isaak told us ahead of time that Blackhurst fucker wanted to force a bond between them. He wanted to get rid of our scents, he wanted to cover up Korvin and Des’s marks with his own so he could bond with Maggie and take her away from us.

He failed.

Despite trying for god knows how long, smelling us on Maggie, seeing our marks on her skin, he couldn’t do it. Our bond as a pack is too strong, and not only did he fail when it came to biting her, according to Maggie, that piece of shit couldn’t even finish inside her without almost throwing up.

I’m going to kill him for that.

Beating her senseless, trying to kill her, all of that means he’s dead in the water already but the fact that the son of a bitch assaulted our perfect girl, our goddamn omega? He fucked with the wrong people and it’s only a matter of time before he fully understands that.

That’s why we had to see her.

Isaak went this morning, he left his office right after Evie came to tell him about Maggie, then he gave us the details when he got back. It was a good thing, too, because hearing it from our omega helped us prepare for what we’d be walking into.

Kind of.

We still weren’t really ready which is why we stayed too long and are now leaving her apartment when the sun is already coming up.

I smile and send her a kiss of my own then watch with a grimace as Des slips on the window ledge and proceeds to fall the three floors before landing on his back at my feet.

“Fuck,” he grunts, coughing hard as he rolls to his side. “That fucking sucked.”

I quickly help him up, laughing a little while I check him for injuries. “There’s an easier way to get down, Des.”

He rolls his eyes as he brushes the leaves from his jumpsuit. “Sure, but is it faster?”

“You okay?”

“I’m fine, beta.” He leans in and gives me a quick kiss. “But thanks for asking.”

It’s hard not to worry about Des.

I mean, I worry about everyone in my pack. I’ve never had one before, never had people to love who loved me back, but Des has been kind of off today. Ever since morning meds.

Off compared to his baseline, anyway.

“We have to haul ass if we want to beat the morning rounds,” Korvin grunts as he climbs down the building then jumps the last few feet. “Which is going to be fucking tight as it is.”

He’s not wrong, not at all. We were supposed to leave at least an hour ago, more if we wanted to be sleeping when the morning staff comes in but it was almost impossible to leave Maggie.

She had to threaten us to get us to go and let me tell you, omegas can be just as scary as alphas. Especially when they threaten you after surviving something that should have killed her.

After one final goodbye, we take off into the woods, running almost as fast as we did on our way here and even though I know my alphas are happy they got to see Maggie, there is a lot of tension rolling off of them.

“I can’t believe that motherfucker did that to her,” Vin growls as he jumps over a fallen tree. “And he’s going to get away with it.”

“For now,” Des says as he slows down, his breathing more labored than it should be when we match his pace. “He’ll get what’s coming to him.”

I nod my agreement. “As soon as we can figure out how to make that happen.”

“Damn straight.” Vin smiles at me before he turns a worried look to our alpha. “You good?”

Des swallows hard but nods. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m good.”

“You sure?” Korvin stops him, grabbing the sides of his neck as he scans his face. “Your color is off.”

“I’m fine, pookie.” Des grins before giving him a kiss but we can both see that smile was forced.

I really don’t like this.

Something is wrong with Desmond and he seems hellbent on keeping us in the dark on it.

Confirmed when he changes the subject and starts running again.

“I can’t believe Maggie isn’t more upset about her nest.”

Not to say she wasn’t, she cried when she told us what happened to our clothes, but she kind of skimmed over that and didn’t bring it up again.

“I always thought omegas loved their nests,” I say thoughtfully. I’m still learning all of this stuff and have to fact check more than I’d like. “Right? Aren’t they super important or something?”

“They are,” Korvin grunts. “So her lack of reaction is strange.”

“Bet it’s because she made it before we bonded.” Des narrowly misses a low hanging branch as he stumbles a little. “I heard somewhere that can change the significance for them.”

I guess that makes sense. Sort of. Honestly I don’t really understand what he means but thankfully they both know that and elaborate a little.

“Nests are an omega’s safe space, sweetheart.” Vin gives me a brief smile. “It’s sacred to them

It’s where they go to get away from the world, to soothe their worries, or find their peace.”

“And when an omega bonds,” Des grunts in between heavy breaths. “When they find their pack and start making a life with them, their nest takes on a bit of a deeper meaning.”

My brow furrows as I try and fail to keep up. “How so?”

“To be blunt, it’s where they go to get railed during their heat.”

My eyes widen as Vin huffs, “Yeah, real fucking blunt, baby.” He shakes his head. “You know how Maggie and Isaak have been taking our stuff to put in their nests?”

“Yeah.” I nod, thinking back to when they explained it to me. “They took our stinkiest shit so they had our scents in them.”

“Right.“ He chuckles. “Because we’re bonded, because we love each other. They want as much of us in their space as possible at all times so they use our shit to build it up. If we lived together, they could invite us into that space if they wanted to for the same reason. It’s very rooted in our bond and how we’re all connected, and when an omega goes into heat, it amplifies that. ”

“Because heat can be scary and painful,” I say as I nod slowly. “And having us in their safe space makes it even more comforting during something like that.”

“Exactly,” Des grunts. “They feel safe and secure, they can be vulnerable without having to worry about anything.”

“Because being in heat is when an omega is most vulnerable,” Vin adds. “We help them through it but they’re also protected because of that.”

I really love how patient they are with me, and how they explain things to me in a way I can understand even if they’ve already done it a hundred times.

Because I get it now.

“Maggie should have been really upset about having her nest destroyed. She doesn’t have a safe space anymore.”

Almost as soon as I say those words, the seriousness of them hits me like a ton of bricks.