Page 108 of Wild Omega

Red strolls through the open area, admiring the cascading pendant lights hanging from the high ceilings, the modern black-and-chrome kitchen, and grayscale living area with low couches. It’s all fashionable, but now that I look at it with the omega in the center with her red hair ablaze, it all seems a bit lifeless.

Red pauses beside a closed door.

“That’s the library,” Rickon volunteers, bending around her to open the door. She giggles as he kisses her neck, and then his gaze lifts to me. “Callisto’s always been buried in books,” he says with a warm smile.

I shrug. “That’s where the knowledge is,” I offer as I head for the stairs, easily lifting her bag. Can’t be much inside to weigh this little. I make a mental note to order Red a debit card of her own so she can get the things she needs. “Come on. Come see the bedrooms,” I call. “Mine’s first on the right, but the ones you’ll be interested are all to the left.”

Red follows me up the stairs. I set her suitcase down on the landing so I can show her the nest. “Check this out,” I declare, throwing the door open.

Red freezes.

Chapter forty-five

Red

Fear crawls up my spine, leaving me sweating as I stare into the nest. I can’t see any windows in here, leaving only downlights to slather the room in a sickly yellow ooze, highlighting the huge canopy bed. Fairy lights rim the ceiling, glistening on huge glassy photos of the night sky.

In every movie and daytime TV soap, this is the part where an omega squeals, declares it darling, and talks about how the big bed in the center needs more satin pillows.

I want to take a chainsaw to the whole glittering mess.

Feathers would float through the air; the bed canopy would drop as I sawed off the posts. Maybe I’d set the whole thing on fire and watch it all combust, imagining the licorice bastard and the twin bitches burning with the wood.

A voice from far away disrupts my imaginary murder spree. “. . . think, Red? We don’t know what you like, but we can change the room however you want.”

My breath catches in my chest and won’t run smoothly again. Sure. We can change the room, but we can’t change me. I shudder.

“I’ll sleep with Rickon.” I turn my back on the hideous dark box.

I get a few steps down the hall before I realize no one’s moving with me. “Which way?” I ask, turning back.

Both Rickon and Callisto hover in the nest doorway, looking from me to the room in silence. I try to block out their shock, but I can’t. Of course they wouldn’t understand how an omega could turn her back on a nest. It’s ingrained into our DNA.

But someone broke my DNA.

I open the next door, finding a small, neat office space with a desk, laptop, and filing trays. Beyond that is a hall cupboard full of linens.

Rickon recovers first. “Next door down is mine.” He rushes past me to open it. It’s clearly a guest room, emitting minimal personality except for a mannequin with a half-finished corset on it. I touch one of the boning strips under the peppermint satin. It’s a lighter color than I’d expect Rickon to wear.

“I sure hope you’re going to make one of these for me.”

Rickon grins but doesn’t answer, making me wonder if this one’s mine.

I drop a kiss on his cheek just because he’s kissable, and then turn to take in the room. Big glass windows reach most of the way to the floor, half hidden behind sheer curtains and open roller blinds. The wide bed features a plush gray headboard in a diamond pattern, and the covers sport mixed tones of white, gray, and sea green. A framed print above the wall readsLet’s Get Cozy.

I chuckle. “Now this is more like it.” Opening my arms wide, I drop onto my back on the bed. The plain white ceilings don’t dredge up any shadowed memories and my breathing settles into peaceful normality.

“Oh, I got you a little welcome gift,” Rickon says, opening the drawer on the far side of the bed.

I sit up. “You did?”

“Just a token, really.” He hands me a narrow white case with a red ribbon tied around it, grinning like he knows a good joke.

“Curiouser and curiouser.” I pull the ribbon loose and open the plastic case. Inside rests a fork, spoon, and steak knife set with matching colored-glass handles. I laugh.

Rickon chuckles. “Since the fabulous McStabby got confiscated as part of what happened at my house, I thought you could do with a replacement.”

I nod, stroking a finger over the pretty blue-swirled glass. “I like them very much.” Not only will I feel safer with a weapon in my handbag, but I think this might be the first gift I’ve ever received. An uncontrollable smile spreads over my face as I set the case down on the side table. I was already itching to hold my alpha, but now I want him even more.

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