Page 43 of Omega Inked

I want to be part ofthem--the pack.

Liam nestles his face in Olivia's hair as Phoenix holds her close, the three of them looking picturesque. "When do I get a taste?" he asks.

She laughs softly. "Tonight...if you join us. I'm ready."

"Sorry to take her away from you," Phoenix says. "I didn't mean to--"

"Nah, dude, it's fine," Liam says. "You had to work something out. I get it."

Why is this pissing me off? I want them to fight about it--to disagree on who Olivia belongs to.

Maybe because I wish Olivia belonged to me.

But I know that's not how it works.

I push the feeling aside and focus on the present, on the way Olivia's eyes light up as she talks to Liam, on the way Phoenix's hand rests on her thigh possessively.

Maybe there's room for me in this dynamic...or maybe not. But I'm not going to ruin what they have by being selfish.

Instead, I take a deep breath and lean back in my chair, savoring the moment. The pack is together, and that's all that matters.

#

The afterglow only lasts so long when we have a job to do. Rafe summons us after breakfast--like he's some kind of pirate king holding court--and we find him back at his desk with a cigarette between his lips. He ashes it out as we get closer, the space still reeking of smoke, his eyes darting between the three of us.

"I heard you were having some fun last night," he smirks at Olivia.

She stops in her tracks. "You heard...?"

"I hear everything on the Raft," he snickers. "But that's not why I called you here."

He leans back in his chair, taking a long drag from the cigarette. "We've got a job, and it's a big one."

Olivia stands closer to Phoenix, and Liam crosses his arms over his chest. I can tell they're wary--we've been burned before by Rafe's "big jobs."

"What kind of job?" Phoenix asks, his voice cautious.

Rafe exhales a cloud of smoke. "We've been enlisted to intercept a package from a train headed from Solstice Bay out to the Badlands. It's high-security, and there will be armed guards."

"We've done jobs like this before," Liam says, his tone confident.

"That's why I'm sending you three," Rafe says with a nod. "But there's a catch."

Of course there is.

"The package is...unconventional."

"What does that mean?" Olivia asks, her voice tight.

"It's why I brought you here," Rafe says. "Because the cargo is your friends."

Olivia's jaw drops, her hand flying up to cover her mouth. Liam scoops her into his arms, holding her close and pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

"What?" Olivia says. "They were safe."

Rafe shakes his head. "I guess that, after you disappeared, Jade and Kendra went looking for you. They were intercepted by ACB agents...and now they're on their way to the auction block, unless you all stop them."

My heart races as Rafe speaks. I can feel the gravity of the situation pulling us in, and I know we have to act fast. Olivia looks shaken but determined, and Phoenix is already mapping out a plan in his head. Liam's grip on her tightens, and I can see the anger simmering in his eyes.

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