Page 17 of Collateral Omega

“I know. But I would rather you didn’t suffer,” Klane said, and proceeded to find him an omega for his heat, much to Xaine’s relief. Klane connected with Jailen too. They needed the beta to help them find the Sacrum Manuscripts to cut Aeryl out of Covus Holding.

More would follow.

When they arrived at the house, Jailen was waiting. The beta walked to the pod just as Xaine got out. He bowed slightly before he addressed him, his demeanour apologetic.

“I hear you are looking for the Sacrum Manuscript,” he said, pulling a key out of his pocket. “It’s in your dad’s storage room. I assumed your dad’s legal advisor would give you everything pertaining to Covus Holding, including the keys to the storage room.”

Xaine tried to think back to when he met Hura, right after his dad died. Xaine had been a little deranged from losing his dad. He might not have heard anything beyond ‘your dad left you the company.’ Xaine stared at Jailen, blank.

“I brought the spare key your dad gave me. It’s a good thing I didn’t throw it away. Shall we?” Jailen asked, pointing to the door.

“Yes,” Xaine said. They walked into the house with Jailen leading the way to Xaine’s dad’s side of the house. They made their way down the hallway to the room next to his dad’s bedroom. Xaine had avoided walking down this hallway for months. No wonder he didn’t know there was at storage room there.

Jailen unlocked the door and opened it. Metal shelves chock-full of packing boxes took up all four walls of the room from bottom to top. Xaine looked around, confused.

Or was he?

He was wilfully blind where his dad’s shady activities were concerned. And now it would seem his actions were going to haunt him forever.

“What’s all this?” he asked, walking to the nearest. He snatched the first box he came to and ripped it open. Sparkling diamonds came tumbling out.

Klane gasped as he walked into the room. “What the hell?” he asked, coming to a stop next to him. “Are those real?”

“Probably,” Xaine said.

“They’re real,” Jailen confirmed.

“Who do they belong to?” Xaine asked, stunned and disgusted at the same time. This was proof of his dad’s shady deals. Though his dad had called it leverage. What kind of deal did he make to get the diamonds?

“Those were a gift,” Jailen said.

“A gift?” Xaine asked in disbelief.

“You might find it hard to believe, but a lot of people were grateful to have met master Covus. Your dad made people’s lives better.”

“You’re right. I find it hard to believe when the whole planet knows the kind of family we are,” Xaine said. “As far as legacies go. I wish this one wasn’t mine.”

Xaine moved to the next box. He opened it and froze as the most intoxicating scent wafted from what looked like a shirt. Xaine stared at it, his mind working double time to match the scent to a face.

A frown pulled at his brows as bits and pieces of the omega’s face filtered into his mind. Porcelain smooth skin, stormy grey eyes and red luscious lips that he yearned to suck on.

It was his…the scent… it belonged to that omega.

Xaine dropped the box on the floor and took a few steps away from it as if it were a bomb about to go off. He stood there staring at the box for what felt like forever, trying to understand what he was looking at.

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t figure it out. Or maybe he was afraid to dig deep, afraid to uncover the dirty, dark secrets of his family. Xaine suddenly felt sick. The whole room was sick. He wanted nothing to do with it.

Klane moved close to him. “Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost? Don’t tell me your dad kept a body part in there?”

Klane cautiously opened the box and pulled the shirt out, spreading the omega’s scent everywhere. Xaine took another step back, trying his best not to breathe it in. But the omega’s scent pulled him in, winding around him until he couldn’t think of anything else but the omega. Xaine closed his eyes as desire slammed into him, hard. He shoved it away, disgusted with himself. He wanted nothing to do with this. Xaine turned and walked to the door.

“There’s something inside,” Klane said, stopping him in his tracks. “It’s a note, and it’s addressed to you.”

“What?” Xaine said, facing Klane. What the hell was his dad trying to do from the dead? He knew how much Xaine hated this side of his family.

Klane unfolded the paper, his eyes going wide as he read it.

“What does it say?” Xaine asked despite himself.

---