Page 20 of Ginger Omega
What kind of a beast was her pack alpha that he forced her to keep trying to mate with those who were neither her fated nor even her friends?
Tears streamed down her face. “None of them took, and I didn’t know which of us was at fault, but it had to be me. I don’t know, but in the world of alphas and omegas, the omega is always at fault. At the end, the pack was barely speaking to me. I stole a pack truck and took off one night. I intended to go until I ran out of money but my truck had other plans. Oh, and they had also reported me to the Omega Bureau for my failures, and now I can’t mate anyone. So there’s that.”
She was wrong. Her truck didn’t have other plans. Fate did.
No one spoke for a while. We let everything sink in. Karissa continued to cry silently.
I wanted to wrap my arms around her, pull her into my lap, and spend however much time it took to tell her it wasn’t her fault. Alphas, omegas, shifters, reverse harems, there were no steadfast rules like everyone thought. We were all beings with feelings and instincts, and there was no cookie cutter version of us.
Especially omegas.
We only knew a fraction of how their biology worked.
They reported her to the Bureau? What a bunch of bastards.
Vaughn still had her hand. “Karissa, did they take you to a healer? Did they try at all?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Everyone. For a long while, I felt like a lab rat. They did all they could. But everyone has a limit. They did. I’m leaving today, even if I have to walk. You three deserve an omega who can be marked. Wear your bites with pride. I’m not it.”
“Absolutely fucking not.” I stood up and walked over to get in front of her. “You are our omega. I don’t care about marks or bites or any other pack or the damned Omega Bureau for that matter.”
Her breathtaking eyes grew big. Tears fell down her face. “I’m yours?”
I grabbed her shoulders and pulled her in for the hug I’d been wanting to give her all day. “Don’t you feel it, omega? You smell like mine. You feel like mine. My wolf knows you belong with us. Don’t you feel it?”
She nodded, fresh tears falling by the bucket. “I feel it. But…”
“It’s not that simple, Poe.” Holt interrupted our bubble of relief.
“Why not?” Vaughn slapped his thighs. We were all done and wanted to move on already.
“She’s been reported as unmateable, I’m assuming because her bite marks never took. If we ignore the rules, we’ll all be rogue and hunted down for the rest of our lives. This is about all of us.”
“You say we just let her go? Keep running? You’re wrong, Holt.” I shook as I spoke the words. There was no way I would watch our mate go unless it was her decision under no duress.
He put his hands up. “I’m not saying that. Of course she’s ours and I don’t want her to leave any more than the rest of you, but we have to make sure everything follows the laws, not only for us but for her.”
Karissa gasped and turned to Holt. “You…all of you think I’m yours? I…belong to this pack?”
Holt growled deep and low in his chest, straight from his wolf. “Come here, omega.”
She nearly sprinted to him. He wrapped her up in his arms and she laid her head on his chest. “I’ve known you were mine since the night your truck broke down on the highway. Vaughn?”
He walked over, and she turned to hug him as well. “Sweetheart, you’re not getting rid of me. Ever. Marks. Bites. Bureau. Whatever. Where you are, I am.”
“Here’s what I’m saying.” Holt began to pace the living room. “Let’s chill. You can stay here, of course, Karissa. But I want to put some feelers out. Reach out to my contacts at the Omega Bureau and find a way around all of this. A way that makes us legal and free from any investigations or suspicion. You’ll stay with us, baby?”
Karissa nodded. “Yes, please. As long as you are not endangered.”
“We’ll figure this out,” I promised. “We will.”
Chapter Eighteen
Karissa
I’d agreed to stay, and I had to keep my word. At least while Holt continued to investigate. Then maybe I could walk away and actually have a chance to say goodbye. Running had never felt good, but it had become my trademark, one I hoped to change. Since I didn’t have to spend money at the motel or for anything at all, I’d saved every penny and was closing in on the truck repair bill. Maybe Darryl would release the truck to me if there was a little bit left and I could send payments.
If I left, once I’d established myself elsewhere, I’d also send money back to pay for my room and board while I’d stayed with the alphas in the beautiful room and the most comfortable bed in the whole world. It was the least I could do for the first males who’d ever tried to do anything nice for me.
