Page 28 of The Sad Omega

“Hey, you’re back,” I smiled at him, resting my head on my hand, elbow supporting me.

His long lashes fluttered and a faint pink flush colored his cheeks as he registered where he was.

“Hey, Talius,” he said, sounding happy to see me but a little uncertain. His teeth worried at his bottom lip.He didn't move a muscle. “Um. Should I be here?”

Maybe he was remembering the last time he’d been in bed with me, when he very definitely shouldn’t have been, though he’d meant well. This time was different.

“Yes, definitely,” I leaned down and kissed his forehead. “You belong with us now. If you want to,” I amended.

He didn’t answer the implied question, instead he asked one of his own.

“How… how did I get here?”

“I found you in the forest. I brought you home,” I told him gently.

He turned his head away. Took a deep breath.

“You know then… what happened to me?” the words were barely audible, scarcely a breath.

“I have a fair idea. We brought in a healer.”

Isca sighed, and he rolled away from me. He curled in on himself. A shiver shook him.

“Where will I live?” he asked, his voice thin and ragged.

His words hit me like a blow to the chest. Didn't he want to be with us? “Here in the house, with us, of course. Unless you don’t want to.”

“How can you want me here? I’ve been… used,” his voice was flat, lifeless, the pain in his words almost palpable. “It would have been a dream to be here with you and Irian… but not now. Now, I’m just… discarded trash.” His shoulders began to shake.

I caught him by the shoulder and turned him towards me.

His eyes were squeezed tightly shut, his wet lashes dark against the pale skin. A tear escaped the corner of his eye and glistened on his cheek.

I leant over and kissed the tear away. The moisture salty on my lips.

“I didn’t find you, just to let you go,” I growled in his ear. “You’re ours.” I was shocked how possessive I sounded.

And then, so there was no mistake, “We want you here with us, in our house, sharing our bed if you want to. You have, of course, a choice, but that’s what we want, Irian and I, what we’ve wanted for a while. What happened to you doesn’t change that.”

He still wasn't looking at me.

“Look at me, Isca.” My voice deepened to my alpha voice but I stopped short of compelling him. And when finally his eyes darted up to mine. “Nothing changes that.”

I paused for a moment, to let my words sink in. Then I asked, more gently, “Do you want to live with us, Isca?”

“You’d still want me? After… everything they did to me…?” his voice trailed away but his shame was clear from the flush on his cheeks and the way he averted his eyes.

“Of course we do. We care for you, Isca. And I want you here where I can protect you.”

He sniffled.

I waited.

An early morning ray slanted into the room. Dust motes floated like tiny stars in the golden beam. The flimsy curtains stirred by the open window.

Time stood still.

Finally...

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