Page 113 of The Omega's Bloodline: Part One

“And do I pass inspection?” The words came out with more bitterness than intended, but Haru didn’t respond to it.

Yelena will speak to them. I’m sure you’ll find out.

Haru was quiet the rest of the way to Yelena’s suite. Seth was fast asleep when I arrived and Logan closed her laptop at our return. Haru left me at the door and went about whatever else he had to do.

Logan patted the bed. “You look exhausted. Want to loaf?”

I slipped into my house cat form without a second thought and tossed myself onto the bed. Logan scooped me up the moment I was within reach. Her fingers scratched under my chin and around my ears, her cheek nuzzling my fur as she planted countless kisses on my head.

Bliss.

My purr rumbled my worries away, stress melting under the onslaught of affection. Logan set the laptop aside and wiggled onto her back where she could stroke me nose to tail while I sat on her chest. I flopped onto my side, letting my body stretch over hers, tucking my head under her chin where I swiftly fell asleep.

I woke sometime later to warm breath on my face. Opening my eyes revealed a snout that sent me careening backward with a shriek, my fur puffing out in a panic. Logan shouted when my paws dug into her organs during my leap, bolting upright. The room was dark. Someone must have come in and turned off the lights for us.

You’ve slept twelve hours.Haru set a paw on Logan’s leg.I had to make sure you were all alive.

Logan patted the bed next to her and Haru hopped up. “We’re alive. Just exhausted.”

Seth opened a groggy eye. “What’s happening?”

I gave myself a shake to calm my fur puff down.Just Haru scaring the shit out of me.

Logan’s stomach growled. “What time is it?”

Around four a.m.

Logan glanced around the room, squinting. “Where’s Yelena?”

We had our first panic attack over the lockdown. She’s dealing with it.

“How do they deal with that here?” Seth asked, carefully adjusting himself to sit up.

Not like the Orlando nest. No one gets locked up here for having a crisis. Yelena or Velda will sit with them, Dr. Atling will check them over, and they’ll either spend some time in the infirmary or they’ll go to the dining hall for tea and snacks.

I climbed onto Logan’s lap and turned to Haru.Why is that something the Protectors do?

Logan reached out a hand. “Can I?”

Haru quirked his head but didn’t tell her no, and her fingers disappeared into the plushness of Haru’s fur. His eyes closed for a moment before he answered.Some of the Protectors care more than others. It helps the residents feel like they’re being heard…

Haru trailed off, their tail giving a few enthusiastic thumps against the bed.

I’d almost forgotten what it felt like to be touched by someone who wasn’t Yelena. Logan had a soft touch and certainly didn’t shy away from getting her hands on me in wolf form. She’d done it when she rode on my back too, like she couldn’t help herself. I didn’t let most people get close enough to me.

Gentle fingers brushed my hip and I craned my head to look at Seth. It was the first time he’d touched me since Orlando.

“Magic fingers,” Seth said with a laugh. “She gets me with them all the time.”

Orlando had been more than four years ago at this point, but I still remembered those days clearly. Seth and I had both arrived at the same time. I had been drawn to him in a way I couldn’t explain, almost like I had been led to him. Together we’d survived, comforted one another in our recoveries, plotted lives we might live together once we left. We had never been forced to fight each other, thank the gods, but it had been close. We’d heard whispers of the new schedule shortly before we’d stumbled out of that nest without a penny to either of our names.

Seth had tried to convince me to go north with him, to get back on our feet together, and to meet who I now knew were the omega and other panther in this bed. As much as I’d wanted to go with him, I had felt pulled in another direction. I followed that compulsion, crossing three thousand miles where I’d collapsed in front of the gates of this nest, and woken to Yelena standing over me in the infirmary.

I never thought that I would see Seth again. The wistfulness in his eyes made me think that he thought the same. It was almost funny to think that fate had brought our paths together after we had gone our separate ways.

Yelena didn’t know much about a lot of my life before her, and I had kept Seth to myself. Most of my history was better buried. A great many years of it had been spent as a wolf, so much so that I still felt more comfortable in that form. Not all shifters descended from others who came to this land had the same luxury as I did. Yelena couldn’t have lived as a lion without people noticing, and certainly the panthers would’ve been spotted sooner or later. At least if I kept my size manageable, I could blend in with the local wildlife.

I angled myself to press into both Logan and Seth’s touch, a silent encouragement. Ever so slowly my body relaxed until Icame to rest in Logan’s lap, my tail wagging a staccato against the bedding. She moved her hand from my neck and down my back as far as she could reach, occasionally detouring to trace down my muzzle and over my ears. Seth merely kept still, his fingers disappearing into the thickness of my pelt.

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