Page 93 of The Omega's Bloodline: Part One

Conceding the truth of his statement, I nodded. “Fair enough. As long as you act better in public. You’re lucky I got you before the others.”

“Um, why?” Logan asked, hastily adding, “Mistress.”

“Learning quickly, kitten.” I gave her an approving smile and enjoyed the flush of her cheeks in response. “For one, Kendrick would have fucked you up against a wall before you even made it to his suite and I doubt very much that your panther would have stood by and watched. He’d be locked up in the basement and you’d be number thirteen of Kendrick’s toys.”

Fury wafted off Caden, though I couldn’t blame him. Kendrick was trying at the best of times, let alone when he was eyeballing someone to add to his collection.

“Shakti only likes men,” I continued, “so you’d have been separated in the best case. Velda wouldn’t be too bad, but she never expressed interest in any of you. I suspect neither of you would have been happy to be claimed by Kendrick or Shakti. Am I correct in that assumption?”

“Yes,” said Caden. I stared silently at him until he sighed. “Mistress.”

“There’s a good boy. I knew you were smart.” I chuckled at the way he bristled.

Before I could say more, someone else knocked on the door.

“That will likely be your missing companion. Logan, precious, get the door.”

She hopped up, crossing the distance with an excitable step.

Dr. Atling pushed a hospital bed through the doors with the panther sprawled across it. An IV was hooked up to a bald patch on his foreleg. “Where am I putting him?”

“Doctor’s choice. The other furniture can navigate him.”

Dr. Atling grumbled as she got Seth set up, Logan and Caden hovering as she did so. Haru slipped inside and trotted over to me, lifting his face up so I could stroke his head.

Change back so you can properly greet our new friends.

Haru nosed my palm and melted into their human form. My gaze raked over their body—the lean plains of muscle decorated in countless tattoos, straight black hair, and gorgeous brown eyes—before they pulled on a simple black robe. They slipped closer to me, looping an arm around my waist, burying their face against my throat to breathe me in.

Heat rose in me at every point they touched and I turned to capture their lips, snaring their hair in eager fingers. They went pliant in my arms—perfect, sweet, willing—and it took a considerable amount of self-control not to drag them to bed while I was supposed to be getting everyone settled.

Dr. Atling cleared her throat. “Protector Yelena.”

I pulled away from Haru. “Hmm?”

“We’ll have to monitor the panther closely. I’ll check in until I go to bed and change out the medication to last until morning, but someone will have to check on him overnight.”

“I can watch him,” said Logan. She tentatively looked at me. “Is…that okay?”

“If you feel like forgoing sleep, it is.” I stepped away from Haru and up to the hospital bed. “How is he?”

“Stable.” Dr. Atling didn’t offer anything else. “By your leave.”

I dismissed the doctor and focused on Logan and Caden. “Now, where were we?”

Ileaned over the hospital bed and smoothed a hand over Seth’s velvety fur. He was sound asleep. Yelena watched over my shoulder. I wasn’t sure what to make of her, only that she sounded like a better alternative than some of the other Protectors. She was obviously used to power and had no problem wielding it to make others yield. She was beautiful,but also intimidating as all hell and my body had decided that intimidating was similar enough to scary.

Goddamn fear kink.

I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye. Her thick curls framed her face in a halo, like a wild angel. Her dress showed offa lotof skin, dipping down to just below her belly button in a vaguely Grecian style. The burgundy fabric made her tawny skin glow, and while I was wary, I could still enjoy looking at her.

“Come.”

I turned to her and she was already walking to the couches. Caden and I followed after her and returned to our original spots on the ottoman. He tucked close to my side, not that it would be much protection if anything happened. We needed to stay long enough for Seth to recover and that meant playing by the nest rules.

The other shifter in the room slid into my field of vision and I bit my tongue becauseholydid they paint a picture. They were easily as beautiful as Yelena, but in a totally different way, with sleek black hair that hung past their shoulders and a swirling expanse of tattoos—plants, animals, magic symbols and scripts—decorating most of their arms and torso that was visible outside of the robe. A vicious scar marked the entire front of their throat. It turned my stomach to think of how bad the wound must have been to leave a scar like that on a shifter. Was it something they’d gotten here?

“Darlings, this is Haru. They’re my companion and attendant,” Yelena said as she sprawled comfortably. Haru nestled against her side. “They’ll be able to answer any questions you might have about life in the nest as a companion.”

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