Page 51 of Pretty When She Breaks

With her in her room again, it was finally quiet, and Kaos and I made ourselves busy reconfiguring the workstation so we could use it.

Kaos was trying to keep his emotions shut down but was failing. At the best of times, he was a simmering storm, one we could soothe into a peaceful roil, but right now, it was sharp, electric. Unstable. Every so often, a spiral of panic would start, and I’d join with Ocean in trying to settle him again. I was hoping that giving him jobs to do would keep him distracted.

“Right,” I said when I was done. “I’m going to sort out the sleeping situation.”

Kaos grunted and plopped down on the seat at the workbench.

“See you later,” I said to him, and he gave me a salute before pulling down his goggles.

The thought of dealing with that omega again wasn’t a pleasant one, but I gritted my teeth and left him to it. I poked around the apartment until I found a set of spare bedding at the back of the linen closet. I slung it over my shoulder and set it up in the living room.

I went to her bedroom and opened the door. There was a large pile of blankets on the bed, in a vaguely human-shaped lump.

As I took a step forward, her head whipped up. She bared her teeth at me, and I noticed she had unusually sharp canines. “This is my n—” She choked off, facereddening before she bounced back. “Mybedroom. You can’t come in here.”

“This isn’t your nest?”

She ground her teeth, but she was unable to lie. “No.”

Then where was it? I’d been through the rest of the apartment, and there were no other rooms that could be one. Unless she had a hidden one somewhere.

Whatever.

It worked out nicely for us. Kaos wouldn’t be able to sleep anywhere else but in a bed. He needed comfort and enough room to have his pack around him.

Which just consisted of me now.

Whoopee.

I stepped through the door.

“No, stop!” she said, a whine slipping into her voice. Her scent was becoming distressed, and I felt myself tensing in response.

I pushed forward, steeling myself. “Huh,” I said. “Funny, because I bet Ocean sure isn’t in a nice bedroom right now. I think you’re getting off pretty lucky.”

“No, you can’t be in here,” she repeated, and I took another step.

“That’senough,” I snarled, my hand slashing through the air. The distress in her scent sharpened to terror, and all the blood drained from her face.

I flushed at my slip in control. Being in this house, surrounded by her sinful scent, was putting me on edge. She scooted to the back of the bed, arms wrapped around her knees, and wouldn’t meet my eyes, staring at the wall.

“That wasn’t necessary,” she muttered.

I reminded myself firmly that the omega in front of us was our enemy.

Her distress wasn’t my responsibility.

“Come with me,” I said, leading her out to the pile of bedding on one of the couches.

She wrinkled her nose but edged over to it without protesting, sitting down gingerly. I saw her shoulder loosen a bit, and some relief leaked through her side of the bond, perhaps at the fact we wouldn’t be sharing a bed.

That would be a terrible idea for all of us.

She ignored me as she started making her new sleeping area more comfortable. I went to the kitchen, trying not to watch as she fussed and tutted, arranging the pile of bedding into a weave around her. But I couldn’t help how my eyes were drawn to her. Her thick hair was tumbling down her back, and I drank in the sight of her slender ankles as she padded across the carpeted floor to grab another throw cushion.

A lock of her hair fell in her face, and she blew out, trying to puff it back into place.

She leaned over the pile of blankets, reaching for a smooth cushion and exposing the full curve of her ass in that tight pantsuit. My heart hammered in my chest, electricity skittering down my spine as she arched her back to reach it.