Page 42 of The Omega

“We can talk after you fuck me,” I offered.

Atlas shook his head, using his voice like a whip. “Not until we work this out.”

“Fine,” I whispered, lowering my eyes so I wouldn’t have to see the torment I inflicted play across his face. “What do you want to talk about?”

“Are we…” He started, stopped, then sputtered. “You and him? Are you?”

Controlled Atlas was hot, but so was this flustered version of him.

I smiled softly. “You know what I am, right?”

“An Omega.” His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “My Omega.”

“Is that what your wolf says?” I asked. Not that I didn’t already have an idea of that answer, but I wanted to hear someone say it. That I was theirs.

Told you it’d be romantic to hear.

“You’re mine,” he growled, leaving no room for argument which caused my heat to flare again. “But you can’t be his.”

And he might as well have doused me with ice water.

“You said you know what I am.” My stomach twisted in knots as if I was on a roller-coaster watching the car about to derail from the tracks. Powerless. Unmated Omega. My mom’s curse handed down like an ugly wedding dress no one wanted to wear.

“I do,” he said.

I wished there was a playbook for this.

With tears in my eyes, I blinked up at Atlas. “I need more than one mate.”

“And I will find a better one for you,” Atlas promised. “But it won’t be him.”

At least he’s okay with sharing, but this is some twisted romance story.

Hush. He’s serious.

I stared at him, willing him to understand, even as my body physically ached for his touch, for him to close the distance between us and take me into his hands.

“My wolf thinks…” Knows. “My wolf knows you’re my fated mate,” I said.

The air hissed through Atlas’s teeth as he dropped on his knees before me.

I wanted to reach out, but I couldn’t let my heat take control.

Or you could…

“Are you sure?” he whispered as if afraid to speak out loud.

“I’ve never been more sure of anything,” I said. “But at the same time, my wolf knows that Dorian is also my fated mate.”

“I just don’t understand.” Atlas turned his face away. “How is this possible? Dorian, of all shifters? I can’t. My pack won’t be able to handle it.”

I let his reasons and excuses wash over me, feeling the repressed memories surface. The cold snow. My mom rushing me outside to a waiting car. The smoke of the exhaust. Mascara tears running down her face. The smooth skin of her unmarked neck. An Alpha roaring in pain somewhere.

“I should go.” I pushed off the couch in a daze.

“Opal, no.” Atlas caught my hand. “Don’t leave me.”

I tugged my fingers free, not wanting to give him my touch when it’d soothe him. And that was the first time I’d ever done so willingly.