Page 119 of Carmichael's Omega

A tear rolls down my cheek. Carm forced a Mark on me, and if Cassie's face is anything to go by, he forced her, too.

"I can feel it," she says quietly. "It's on me. It's there," she whispers. She sounds exhausted.

I search for it, finding it just above her left shoulder. Wincing, I can't help but notice the placement on the opposite side of her neck from where Carmichael Marked me. The left is more common.

There's hesitation on Lyall's end before he blows out a deep breath. "Well, Teague is going to beat the shit out of that alpha-pup. For fuck's sake, he must be there already."

"What?" I ask Lyall in a croak, horrified. I must not have heard him correctly. My head is spinning.

Then, Cassie finally manages to open her eyes and look up at the phone. "What?" she whispers.

"Teague flew outta here like a bat outta hell when I… Shit, I’m sorry, Mattie."

"But he's not coming here," I point out reasonably. Loco Lobo is in the literal middle of nowhere.

"Some bar in the middle of nowhere?" Lyall asks. "Yeah, that was his destination, Mattie."

I feel my heart sink. Cassie sits up, her every move obviously painful.

"He's coming here?" Phone forgotten; I drop it on the bed and manage to get to my knees. A whimpering Cassie starts to crawl from the tangle of sheets. She's covered in red dirt and bruises. I reach out and touch one on her back. "You're covered in bruises," I say hoarsely.

Cassie looks at me, fighting the same lethargy that I am. "So are you," she whispers. She returns my touch, a gentle brush of her fingers over my upper chest. My wolf stirs but doesn't awaken.

"Let's shower and find Carmichael," I tell her.

We stand like a tripod, leaning on each other for a full minute before we take a step toward the bathroom. On shaking limbs, we manage to reach the shower.

"I'm so cold, Mattie," Cassie is shivering. Her teeth are clacking together, her lips losing color.

I adjust the temperature of the shower to be warmer than I wanted. "It's good now," I tell her.

She and I step in and just let the water wash over us for a minute. It's wasteful, especially here in the southwest, but my limbs won't move.

When Cassie's teeth finally stop chattering, I help her soap up her hair. I have to wash it out twice before it stops rinsing red from the dirt. I leave the conditioner on her scalp while I wash her back, and she washes mine.

"You have so many scratches back here, Cass," I tell her sorrowfully.

"I'm alright," comes her soft response. Her omega wolf finds mine, head hanging low. She collapses next to my wolf and curls up into his side until you can barely tell where one wolf ends and the other begins.

When we're finally clean and step out of the shower, I see what Cassie was talking about in the mirror above the sink. There are several minor red and purple marks on my chest and neck. They litter my skin, but my eyes zoom in to the most significant set, right above my right shoulder blade.

Carmichael's Mark. In awe, I gently touch it.

"Mattie? The water's dripping," Cassie's soft voice breaks my stare.

I help her shut off the handles in the shower, worried when I see her hands trembling again. Her bruising is much worse than mine. Some are on her chest and neck, but others cover her knees, legs, arms, and back.

She has a Mark, too. It's the same as mine, but on Cassie, it looks garishly large. Another bite on her arm is surrounded by a bruise deep enough to look black.

Her fingertips are still a little white.

"Let's get you dressed warmly," I say.

We both pull on clothes. I give her an extra shirt of mine that I packed, then one of Carmichael's. Wearing all three, she's still shivering just a bit. There's a rusty window unit blowing air in the room, but it's cool, at best. The air isn't cold enough to bring on this response. I shut it off, anyway.

I look at her eyes steadily. They're bright and clear, so I don't think she's in shock. She easily could be in shock. I could be in shock.

"Let's find something to eat and drink, then Carmichael," I tell her. She nods, entwining her hand in mine. I hold it tight, offering and taking comfort.

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