Faith & the Dead End Devils (Sweet Omegaverse, #8)(13)

Chance came to his door as I opened mine, and I nodded. His hair was back in place, eyes clearer, and I blinked at the sight of him holding a book as he crossed the hallway.

"She says no touching," I whispered, although the hall was empty again and most of our club brothers wouldn't be up until one of the girls started cooking lunch.

Chance shrugged. "Figured that was a given."

Which was a comforting remark, I decided. Still, I fought the uncomfortable clench of my stomach as he stepped into my room and shut the door behind him. I stood in the hall, waiting and listening for a whine or a whimper. There was nothing. Chance didn't even say a word.

I rolled my shoulders and headed for the stairs. Shop quickly. Get back soon. She'd managed this long without me. Surely I could handle a few hours of separation.





6. FAITH





The beta outside of my nest was quiet. He made the bed creak when he first entered, and there were twin thumps against the floor, shoes dropping, but then it was silent. Just the whisper of…paper? Pages turning.

I peered out of a crack in the closet door, but it was difficult to make anything out when everything was blurry. He was just a black shadow on a white bed.

My fingers played in the soft cotton of his T-shirt where I'd stuffed it at my hip. I tried to sleep, but I was too aware of his presence outside the closet doors. He wasn't like Bear. His scent wasn't home. But it was safe. Not chemical or sour or bitter, like the betas who'd been on rotation. Pleasant, even.

We existed in quiet together for a long time. Was he watching the closet the way I was watching the thin stripe of light coming from outside? Or was he able to ignore me?

I was just starting to feel my own hunger when a sudden series of booms sounded. I stiffened and gasped, trying and failing to swallow a whine.

Someone was knocking on the door.

"Bear!" a low voice bellowed from the hall.

The bed didn't creak this time, but I caught the flicker of shadow as the beta moved. I cowered in my sheets as the knocking pounded again, and the beta's figure blocked the light through my door. There was a soft rustle, and then the door of my nest pushed in slightly, pressure from the outside.

"Shhh," the beta whispered. "It's all right. They'll leave."

"Bear! Wake the fuck up!"

I buried my whimper into a pillow.

"It's all right," the man outside my nest repeated. He was closer now, and that clean and soapy spice scent filtered into my space. "I can't answer. They'll leave."

More knocking. A muffled, distant call. And then a soft, "Damn, where the fuck he goin' this early?"

"He's leaving," the beta whispered.

And sure enough, a soft thud of footsteps shook the floor and softened in retreat.

The beta sighed with me, and the quiet from just a minute ago returned. But he didn't move back to the bed.

"You okay?" he asked, after a moment.

His voice was nice too. Simple and clean, like his scent. I nudged at the closet door, and the pressure released, light flooding in and making me wince. The glare passed and the beta shifted, sitting fully on the floor. He had lighter hair than Bear, but there was something strange going on with his… Oh, those were tattoos, blurring his skin into a mottled gray.

I nodded.

"Hungry?"

I licked my lips and nodded again.

"Bear told me you'd want sealed food, but not what kinds. What sounds good?"

My lips twisted. What I wanted was about fifty different things at once. Tacos. A sheet cake to myself. Ice cream in a waffle cone. Pizza bagels. But imagining any of it on a plate in front of me...

"I don't know," I said instead.

The beta moved restlessly. I wondered how he'd managed to stay so quiet and still on the bed, because now that he was up close, I could watch the way his hands were constantly traveling, rubbing over his arm, scuffing at his jaw, the back of his neck.

"Guess I'll just grab whatever I can find," he said, moving to rise.

My hand snapped out, slapping around his wrist, and he stilled. Bear was gone, not back for hours. And this beta, whoever he was, was my protection. If he left the room. If someone else came knocking…

"I'm not that hungry," I lied.

He snorted but settled and made no move to take my hand off him. His wrist was thick, and I was tempted to explore more of him, just to get a better sense of who was in front of me. He shifted again, pulling out a glossy rectangle.

Ah, a phone.

"I could reach out to King. He doesn't want the others to know you're here. He'd make sure no one saw him in the hall too. He could bring us food?"

"Would Bear trust him?" I asked.

It took me a moment of squinting to realize the tremble of his head was a nod.

"Okay."

"He's also the prez of the club, so sending him on an errand is a bit of a ballsy move on my part, but circumstances being what they are…" The beta trailed off with a soft laugh.

"What's your name?"

"What's yours?" he parried quickly.

Faith Robins. My brother is Adam Robins. I need to find him. I need him to find me.

I said nothing. My body trusted Bear, but that didn't mean he couldn't use my name or my brother's name at the wrong time, to the wrong person, and send Omikron in my direction again.