Page 35 of Claiming the Pack's Omega
Theo’s big body doesn’t move a single inch.
My pulse starts to race. This is the first time that I’ve truly felt like I was in the presence of an alpha while being alone in this room with him. He’s been so kind, so considerate, so careful with the way he’s touched me, it was easy to forget the strength that hid behind his too-expensive fancy suits.
“How do you know Obsidian? How—how do you know what’s happening with him right now?” I stutter.
His expression softens. “Shhh, you don’t have to be afraid.”
“Shut the hell up!” I hiss, narrowing my eyes at him. “Tell. Me.”
“You’re not stupid, Reyna, I think you know.”
My chin drops down to my chest at the sound of my real name. Of course. Obsidian isn’t working alone. He’s connected to Northsiders, after all. And Theo is a Northsider.
“You—you lied to me too?” My voice breaks. I can’t handle this. Why in the world does this betrayal hurt so fucking badly right now?
“I’m sorry, spitfire, but it was necessary,” Theo says softly, his chest vibrating with a purr, like he’s trying to soothe me.
“You can shove your apologies and nicknames up your fucking ass,” I growl. “Of course you two were too good to be true.”
Theo’s gaze sharpens and for the first time, I see the side of him his opponents in the courtroom must see. The change is chilling.
“I need to know where Obsidian is. I assume we don’t have much time.”
I shake my head. “What makes you think I’ll tell you? Just ‘cause you’ve been throwing cash at me and pretending to be nice to me for the past few weeks?”
“It wasn’t pretending,” he murmurs.
“That doesn’t fucking matter. If I tell you what I know, I’m sticking my neck out and risking my life and the life of my family. Best case scenario, if I’m a traitor, my brains get splattered on the carpet here. Worst case? God, I don’t even wanna think about it.”
I shove at him again. I need space. My chest heaves as I struggle to find my footing in this crazy fucking situation.
“Let me go!”
“I can’t,” Theo sighs. “You’re the only lead for where they’re keeping Obsidian. He’s a dead man walking?—”
“You don’t think I know that!” I hiss. “I’m the one from this world. I’m the one who knows what happens to people here. But you’re still asking me to literally throw myself to the wolves for you! When youliedto me! You tricked me into—into thinking there were actually good alphas out there!”
Theo brushes some of my hair away from my face in a tender gesture that makes me want to vomit. Why is he still acting nice? To try and get me to die for him?
“It doesn’t have to be like that,” he says softly. “You don’t have to throw yourself to the wolves. We can protect you.”
Obsidian’s last words to me echo in my head.
I—I can help you. We can help you. Just—just trust us.
“I—I have a family, I’m not going to just leave them. They need me, I can’t?—”
“We can take care of them, too,” Theo says, interrupting me. “Your parents and your three siblings right? We can take care of all of them. As long as you help us.”
I let out a bitter laugh. As long as I help them. As long as I give them something they need. Giving them Obsidian’s location is only the first thing they’ll ask of me. What’ll it be next?
I bite my lip, shaking my head. Why the fuck is this happening to me? Why is Theo offering me and my family a golden ticket out of this shit hole at the expense of pissing off some really powerful people?
A hopeless sort of despair twists inside my chest. I feel stuck. Frozen. But at the same time, I want nothing more than to pull my hair out and scream into the night.
People say better the devil you know than the devil you don’t, but is that really the case?
Dom has always been predictable. It’s a big reason why I’ve been able to put up with him for years. He’s wholly and completely motivated by doing the kind of stuff that will line his pockets.
