Page 116 of Carmichael's Omega

"Shouldn't he be sleeping?" I ask the witch without taking my eyes from my mate.

The witch takes a breath. "The healing potion has a kick. It woke up his adrenaline just for a bit."

"Cassie?" Mattie whispers his sister's name in a horrified voice. "What happened?" He looks to me for an explanation, but the witch is the one who answers.

"Panic attack," she says quietly. "With a little rest, she'll be fine."

My female starts to stir, but unlike my male, her eyes don't focus. Her body thrashes weakly, her limbs spasming as if she's still trying to run away from me.

I cradle her body with mine, my chest rumbling as my alpha-wolf tries to comfort his tiny omega female.

"Cassidy,mi alma, easy,mi amor," I keep talking to her, crooning. I keep my eyes fixed on her face except for the moments I glance at a crying Mattie. "Give them both something to help them sleep," I command Miranda in a husky voice.

"I can't, Carmichael," she responds. "Not on top of what I've already given them."

It takes minutes for Cassidy to settle back down. It's as if she's locked into a nightmare, and without any hesitation, my alpha-wolf opens the bond and peers into his female's emotional state.

I swallow the lump in my throat. My bunny loves me. She loves her brother and her family. She even loves my pack. There's not a speck of hatred in her entire being, even for Nico and Dylan.

She loves and gives that love without hesitation. Rivers of emotion drain from my female into everyone else. My wolf laps at it, his low, warning snarl a clear message to all of the others who want part of it. Still, it pours from her ceaselessly.

It makes me think of a reservoir. The rain and snow will fill the lake in the north until it's overflowing with water. Humans will release water from the dams so that the reservoir doesn't overflow. Here in the desert, we have the opposite problem. Our lakes and rivers run dry during droughts.

A sick feeling fills me. In this fucking desert, my precious good girl will run dry, and nothing will be left to fill her up.

I clutch her tightly as her bond is entwined with Mattie's. My wolf sniffs it, paws at it. If he could, he would bury it like a dog with a bone, keeping it safe from thieves. All those others who take and take her love, their love.Cacos. Thieves.

There's a sour quality in my mouth when I open up to both mates. I gather Mattie into my arms, too, pressing my lips to his head. He weakly lays his head on my chest, no protest, no fight.

My omegas have no defense against me whatsoever.Chale. Is this what it means to be an omega? To not even have the ability to hate or scorn another wolf? To love me so deeply even when I've done nothing to deserve it?

My wolf gathers them together, like a mama wolf with pups. He's not wrong. The two omega wolves are as innocent and gentle as pups. No, that's not quite right. They are aware, wise. It's their acceptance and forgiveness that make them seem innocent.

They couldn't be more different than me.

"Cassidy's 'K?" Mattie mumbles.

I tear my eyes away from him to look at Miranda. She nods.

"She'll be alright,Nene. Sleep now,mi amore."

Another twenty minutes pass and Rique comes next to me. I bite back the growl at his proximity to my mates. He's careful, as respectful as he can be. He doesn't look at them, keeps a distance.

He turns his phone in his hands so that I can see and taps the screen with his forefinger.

My stomach drops to my toes. The Beta has called.

I whine, just a little, in the back of my throat. I cut the sound off when both my mates stir in my arms.

With my heart heavy and aching, I gently arrange them on the mattress before standing.

It takes all my remaining control to walk away from them.

"So, ah, he called," Rique says to me after the door to the bedroom shuts behind us.

"What did he say?" I rasp out.

"Ah, nothing. He growled and snarled with a few cuss words thrown in." Rique quirks a half-smile, "impressive words, I have to say."