Page 148 of Carmichael's Omega

After I'm done cleaning the kitchen, Juana takes my hand and pulls me down the hallway, back toward the doors I passed when the alpha carried me inside. I stare with longing at the door to the outside and see the electronic locks are on this side, too.

Juana cheerfully tells me that I can sleep in their room. I glance at the door with the superhero stickers on it in confusion as Rosalia follows us into the My Little Pony room. Both twin beds are made up, with the pups' names written above them in glittery, cursive letters.

"Whose room has the superhero stickers on it?"

"That's Bembe's room. He likes superheroes. His nickname's Superhero, like Rosa for Rosalia. I don't have a nickname. He's gone, now," Juana says matter-of-factly.

"Gone?" I whisper. My omega-wolf shudders so hard fur floats off her body.

"He got too old, and Papa said he had to leave and go live somewhere else. Mama cried a lot, but Papa says he's really happy."

I let Juana pull me into her room, feeling waves of shock crash over me. A fussing little mother-hen, she tucks me into her bed, pulling her pink and teal blankets over me to my chin, then tucks herself and Rosalia into her bed in the same way.

"Buenas Noches, Cassie," Juana says.

"Bonus noshes," Rosalia chimes in with the softest, sweetest pup voice I've ever heard.

"Goodnight, sweet bees," I reply, automatically, with how my family always tucked me in. Both females giggle, and I let the shock take over and drift into sleep, tears wetting the light pink pillowcase under me.

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37 - Mamita

Carmichael

My left foot hits the last step on the staircase just as a wave of intense terror slams through the bond. My body reacts instinctively, my alpha-wolf raging toward the danger to our female before I can even sort out the feelings.

I still have Mattie in my arms when I plow through the locked door intoPapá'ssuite. I stagger over clothes and shoes strewn right in the path, nearly dropping Mattie when I get tangled in a pair of pants.

Angrily kicking them away, I bellow my female's name, "Cassidy!"

There's silence. She's not here. I howl and hear the pounding of footsteps coming up the staircase behind me.

Following her scent, the bond, I carefully set Mattie down and stalk into the closet. I can smell my female most strongly in a nest in the back corner.Mi papá'sscent is everywhere, too.

Then I see the safe. Through the bond, her terror turns to shock just as I slam my fists into the thick metal door. Claws erupt from my fingertips, and my alpha-wolf growls menacingly at this barrier between his female and himself.

I claw at the lock and watch as my claws leave minor scrapes in the metal. I immediately abandon the door and start to rip and tear at the sheetrock and paneling to the left of the safe. I stare, in rage-filled disbelief, as my claws hit more metal.

"The ceiling," I hear Rique say grimly. He and Luis shove a chair into the closet so that they can reach the ceiling. It, too, is reinforced with steel.

I rip out shelves, tearing everything apart, searching for a weakness. My chest grows tighter and tighter when I reach nothing. There is no way past this. The entire closet, the room, even the ceiling is a giant cage.

I stand in the center of the bedroom, my breathing heavy, listening as my packmates discuss how to break the seal on this hellhole to get to their luna.

"Alpha," a female's voice interrupts me quietly, "I can help break the lock on the door, but I'll need help. A combination of electronics and magic."

I look up through the red haze coating my vision to see Rique's witch. My entire pack has come into my father's suite, and every one of us is helpless to open this fucking door. I nod. "Phone," I rasp out. She hands it to me.

Despair washes over me, and I sink to the floor, gasping at my helplessness to save my female. Trembling fingers hit the number I memorized. Later, I can appreciate the fact that I know his number by heart.

"You miss me already, Punk?"

"I need your help in LoboGris. Bring someone who can unlock a safe. My...mi corazón esta detrás de esta puerta...I can't unlock it," I mutter helplessly.

"Say that again in fucking-plain-English, so I know who to kill," the Beta's voice sounds strangled. I know how he feels.

"Cassidy has been abducted. She is behind a door. A metal safe."

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