Page 67 of Omega Rock

Mia scoffs loudly. “Are fuckingkidding me? I just told you that Jordan can shove it. I’mtheirs, and no one else’s.” Her voice wavers a little and I wonder if it’s from worry about this escalating or because until very recently she was as big a fan of Designation Outsider as I was. Right now, I kind of regret every dollar spent on concert tickets, merch, and CDs. But no. I know why she’s scared.

We just had some real kind of argument with the entire band, and then these bastards show up and start talking shit likethis?

Is Mia afraid this is all falling apart? Because I’m starting to be, too.

“Walk away,” Leo warns Darius for what I sense is the last time given the hard edge of his words.

Darius turns his attention back to Leo. “Couldn’t blame us for being curious. Aiden was sure quick to commit to Exit Fate and ride off her lyrics and your talent.”

“All right,” Leo says again, but this time, he shoves Darius back with the barest hint of fingers touching Darius’s chest. It doesn’t move him far, but it says enough.

“And next time you realize you fucked up, don’t come begging for attention like this,” I add. “Literally the consequences of your own asinine actions. And Jordan’s.”

Arnold shoots me an exasperated look. “Really? As if someone kicked out of Juilliard gets any say in how the real music world works.”

My forearms tense with my poor attempt at keeping the last remaining shred of control I have. But it’s too late. Shitting on Aiden, threatening Mia and our pack, and now bringing up shit no one here even understands?—

I see red, and with it, my fist flies. I hit Arnold square in the jaw. Ed turns, grabs my shoulders, and hauls me off his bandmate. Ed’s shorter than me but built as fuck, as it turns out. When he shoves me away, I lose balance, and crash into two of the lawn chairs we put out.

Mia lets out a little yelp as she hurries out of the way. That sound from her lips flips the switch inside me. I right myself and barrel into Ed, tackling him to the ground.

Around me a flurry of movement kicks up dirt on the parking lot. I can’t follow it as Ed tries to wrestle me off of him. I take a hit to the jaw and another to the nose, during which I see Leo and Aiden holding off Darius.

And then Mia. Sweet Mia.

“Stop!” she shouts to no effect. The fight continues as Aiden turns to haul Arnold off me.

Mia interjects her body between them and both of the alphas back away.

“Enough! You fucking idiots!” she shouts at them.

I have a vague sense of Leo backing off of Darius, but Ed keeps trying to throw punches from under me that I dodge until Aiden pulls me off Ed.

“Noah,” Aiden warns.

But he doesn’t see it. I do. A flash of brown hair and serious brown eyes. Darius. He reels back as Aiden straightens—as if to get in one final blow—but the attack doesn’t connect because of a second splash of color.

Blue and pink.

Darius’s fist slams into Mia’s jaw. She staggers back a few steps and blinks, clearly dazed. Leo’s at her side in an instant while I fall in front of her.

Aiden grabs Darius’s shirt and lifts him off the ground a few inches. “If youevertouch my fucking omega again I’ll kill you, you hear me? Get thefuckout of here. Don’t show your face near me again.” He throws Darius back. Darius manages to land on his feet.

“Yeah, understood,” Darius says after cursing under his breath. But I can tell in the tone of his voice this is far from over. Did they scent match with Mia, too? Is that possible?

Hell. Fucking. No.

The red curtain falls over my eyes again and all I can see is everything threatening to break apart. The same it did back then, at Juilliard, and I willnotlet it happen again.

I sail forward and knock Darius in the jaw. It reignites the brawl. Fists fly from everyone as Mia backs away, and they don’t stop until we’re all being pulled apart by tall men in blue and black. Both concert security and police officers who handcuff all six of us one by one.

And then Mia, too. We’re all shoved into the back of different cruisers as we’re arrested, but Mia is last. I watch officers talk to her for a long time. Blood seeps from the corner of her mouth and swelling has already started to bloom along her jawline.

I want to break free of these cuffs and go to her. So do Leo and Aiden. I can tell from the way their wide eyes watch her.

This all got so fucked so fast.

And then I see a flash of graying red hair flitting between the officers and security guards as Designation Outsider are pulled away from the scene in cruisers. By now, other bands have started coming in close to see what’s going on and the aftermath.

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