Page 82 of The Rust in Her Hair

So I do the reckless thing, and blurt out, "Then let’s keep her."

Nico's head comes up, and Mack smiles.

"I want her to stay," I say, because now that I’ve started I can't stop. "I want her here, Nico. With us. I've wanted her for over a year now, and I've been too scared to say it out loud, so I'm saying it now. I want to keep her."

For a second, nobody says anything. I just stare at Nico while Mack smiles like a kid waiting to open a present.

Then Nico's face changes, hardening.

"She's not a stray, Owen." His words come out flat and a little cold. "She's not a dog you found in the rain. You don't get to keep a person."

"Woah," I hold up my hands. "That's not what I⁠—"

"Do you have any idea what you're saying?" His voice stays low, but it's shaking now. "She’s a fucking Van Houten. Her family is most definitely looking for her." His eyes hold mine, and I have to fight the urge to drop my gaze to the floor. "It’s only a matter of time before they find her, and then we’ll all be fucked."

"You know," Mack says, as he rolls his sore shoulder. "It’s been a while and I haven’t seen shit on the news or online." His brows lift as he points out how surprising it is. "It’s like they genuinely don’t give a shit about her."

"Yeah," I say, remembering every awful detail Lyra has told me about her father. That bastard looks for any reason to treat her like shit. "That doesn’t really surprise me," I say with a heavy sigh.

Nico drags a hand back through his sweat-damp hair.

"That's exactly my point." He plants both hands on the counter and leans into them. "The whole rotten world already treats omegas like something you grab off a shelf. Snatch one up, shove your canines into her, and call it love." His knuckles go white against the laminate. "Everyone in that girl's life has treated her like property, and I will not allow my pack to talk about her the same damn way."

Heat crawls up the back of my neck.

That is not what I said. Not even close.

I didn't say I wanted to own her. I said I wanted her here, wanted her to choose us the way I've been quietly hoping she might for a solid year. There's a canyon between those two things, and Nico bulldozed straight across it like it wasn't there.

I consider telling him that, but the alpha’s still running hot right now. If I push him, we'll probably end up yelling at each other in the kitchen, and that won’t solve anything.

So I decide to let it go.

For now.

"Okay," I say instead.

Nico blinks, like he’s shocked I’m not giving him a fight, but then I see some of the tension leak out of his shoulders.

"Okay," he says, like he’s happy that’s the end of it.

"Should we check on Lyra?" Mack asks like he’s not sure. "I mean, she had to have heard that. Right?"

Nico goes still, and something shifts across his face.

"Shit." He straightens off the counter. "Lyra,” he says her name like he genuinely forgot she was in the house at all. "Yeah. Somebody needs to make sure she's okay."

"I'll go," I say.

Nico nods, already scanning me, and I watch him catch the state I'm in. My shirt's half untucked and rumpled, reeking of Adrian’s enraged scent.

I leave the two alphas, and I move through the house, working my top button loose as I go.

By the time I reach my bedroom door, I've got the rest of them undone. I push the door open with one hand and drag the shirt up over my head with the other, the damp cotton peeling off my back, and for half a second the fabric covers my face and I can't see a thing.

Then I pull it free, and go completely still.

Lyra is sitting in the middle of my bed.