The Omega's Choice

n't

his face, his eyes, the way his lips t

ttened when he said it. C

t you as

curse. They sit in my chest like

quarters. The thin blanket does nothing to s

e, my skin prickling like

ssible. I press my palm to my chest, hoping it'll somehow hol

. Of course h

led by the betrayal for the past few d

anger. Hellish stor

hat him saying we're not Luna material is no reason to turn down fate

whisper out loud. "

think about it? You didn't de

ight. I

ly, every girl in the pack did. Nox was the untou

gh not by so much

ever looked at me, really looked at m

d he walked away. Even when the moon goddess m

lked

nouncement, how smug her smile was. Like she'd

od boil. I looked up to her all these years, wishing to be

nfiltered anger that's slowly burning int

rejected me after all, o

sliding down the curve of my cheeks and

breaking just because he said a fe

e the words of rejection that'

are pressing in and the scent of other unmated omegas ge

ightly from the fever. My legs are jelly, but Kira

pull on my coat and pu

ark and damp, thick with the scent of

uds above, half-hidden like she's a

are a faint dot behind me, swallowed by mist and sha

old it in anym

e trees like a banshee's cry. My knees hit the dirt as

I dig deep enough, I'll bury the pa

per into the silence

roat is raw and I realise that I stopped whispering a

me out of my despair and halting

round, heart stamme

ith amusement. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you

ting in the dim light. A man st

he pack

his jacket misbuttoned, and there's a

ing at my cheeks. "What

leep. My joints start screaming whenever a storm's coming, and jud

re's no bite in it. "I did

. "But crying in the woods alone? Bad habit, T

xhaustion or the fever or the moonli

thing shifts behind his eyes, but be

e on, let's get you warmed up before you pas

his arm around my shoulders and walks me toward

done this before-picked up the shattere

steaming on the stove. I collapse onto the

and disappears into the kitchen, only

h trembling fin

resting his elbows on hi

l feels like a wound. I no

," Silas says, u

material," I whisper.

different. His mother

not his fath

. just like that? No warning? No sign something was wrong

meant nothing. Like I

nt. Then he sighs and mutters

ly one wor

I blin

tight. "You ever wonder if

don't...I don

nough to know the difference between a wolf following his heart and one being

kens and my

ou saying?"

e a low growl. "I'm saying, p