Page 120 of The Omega's Bloodline: Part One

Calliope and Velda were both trying and failing to contain their giggles.

“Chill out.” Calliope tossed a chocolate croissant at Shakti. “Eat some sweets. You know I don’t tolerate low blood sugar bitches.”

Seth choked on his juice. Caden patted his back and Haru licked his cheek.

Shakti looked pissed as hell, but she took a bite of her croissant. It probably wasn’t smart of me to have made heran enemy this early, but she was outnumbered, and the other Protectors seemed to find my outburst more entertaining than anything else.

“While we’re all here,” Caden said, prompting all of us to turn to him, “I have a proposition.”

“Is this a proposition you should have run by me first?” Yelena asked.

“Probably” was my only reply.

Yelena rolled her eyes and gestured for me to continue. “Carry on.”

“I think you should make Logan a Protector.”

Squawks of “What?!”sounded all around the table.

“What are you talking about?” Logan asked, pawing at my arm.

“Just hear me out,” Caden insisted.

Once the table fell silent, I explained, “Protector Calliope can only fulfill partial duties right now, and there is a literal monster at your gates. We all need those wards to hold, and Logan, so far as we know, has the power to do that. We need a safe haven, and you need her power to keep this place just that. I’m not suggesting that it be a permanent arrangement by any means. We don’t want to stay here, but while wearehere, it would be a show of trust.”

“You want her toreplaceme?” Calliope asked, eyes shiny.

“Not at all. I want her tohelpyou. Having temporary assistance to do the things you can’t do while you’re taking care of your body and awaiting your cubs sounds like a good thing to me.”

Calliope chewed her lip, and Murdoch laced his fingers with hers. “I suppose I wouldn’t mind some help.”

“You can’t be serious,” Kendrick said. “These three are the reason we’re in this mess. They’ve been here a matter of days, turned our whole fucking world upside down, and now they want a seat at the table?”

“Yes,” I said calmly. “None of this is ideal for anyone. But your whole job is to protect the people of this nest. Do you think you’ll be able to do that if the wards fail?”

Kendrick pressed his lips together.

“This is ridiculous,” said Shakti. “You’re pets, not Protectors.”

“I’d be willing to entertain the idea,” Yelena added. Her gaze was like fire when we made eye contact. Was she…trusting me?

“Me too,” said Velda. “At least temporarily.”

“For fuck’s sake.” Kendrick ran a hand through his hair. “This is bullshit.”

“Calliope, what do you say?” Yelena asked. “You’re the tiebreaker.”

“I guess. But only until I can return to duties.”

“You’re all out of your minds.” Kendrick crossed his arms, lips pouting as he focused on Logan. “You’d really give your panthers to Yelena for this?”

Logan had been sitting frozen next to me through this. “What do you mean?”

“You can be on level with us, but those two,” he said, gesturing to Seth and me, “they belong to Yelena, no matter what position you hold.”

Logan’s gaze whipped toward me. “Caden?”

“We’ll discuss those details later, precious,” Yelena said.And you and I will be having a discussion as well.

---