ΩMEGA

Chapter Thirteen

Trigger Warning: really sad, implies rape

*** = flashback

KIAN

I stare at Bridger with wide eyes as he talks. He's calm but I can tell he's freaking out with the way he talks with his hands and the hint of anger behind his voice.

My whole body is stiff as I try to grasp onto reality but it's slowly fading away to the back of my mind. I can still hear Bridger but his deep voice is a hum to feel the silence that's weighing down on me. I can hear my breathing: big, rapid gulps of air. There's a weight on my chest. It crushes me and pulls me deep into the ground I didn't realize I'd sat on. I was standing just seconds ago.

The weight forms in my stomach and crawls up my chest, squeezing my lungs and sitting right on top of my diaphragm. It travels rapidly up my esophagus and settles around my throat. My eyes burn now. Have I blinked yet? I can't seem to find the ability to do so. I just stare at Bridger and then I glance over to Mika who has been curled up with Jenna for hours. He's crying. His small body shakes against Jenna's and Jenna holds him the best she can.

Katie is here but she stands in the back with her mate. Her face is hidden behind her shaking hands. Only her wide, blue eyes can be seen as she stares at Bridger.

"Peyton...he...he was taken back."

The sentence spins circles in my head. It's so fast. It's too fast. It churns in my stomach. I can't digest it. We were doing so well. We were going to get out of here and be happy and live. I was training to protect him and we were going to leave our past behind us. But then he got scared and he ran out of the clinic. If only he hadn't run out of the clinic. Why didn't he listen to me? Why didn't he trust me?

I stop breathing. No, I'm breathing too fast now; so fast it feels like I'm not breathing at all. My heart is hammering away at my chest and it shakes my whole body like a giant is knocking on the door of a tiny house. I sink further away from it all. My breathing echoes. It's so loud. My heart is too loud, it bounces off the walls. The walls are fading.

Peyton? Peyton, can you hold me again like you always do? Like you always have?

***

Through the blackness, I can see a boy.

He's curled in the corner, away from everyone else. His arms are wrapped around his legs, his head hidden between his knees.

I hold my coat Mommy gave me tightly around me. It's too big but it's warm and soft. She was always mean to me but this coat is really nice. She gave it to me before I came here. She told me it's a gift for being the perfect omega. I still don't know what she meant by that. She and Dad always hit me and told me things that didn't mean perfect. But anyway, I'm happy she gave me the coat. It's really cold in here.

The boy looks really cold.

Slowly, I stand up from my spot. I think everyone else is asleep, but the boy hasn't been asleep since we all settled. He should rest but I guess he can't because it's so cold in this room.

"Hey," I whisper. I don't want to wake anyone...they might get mad.

He looks up at me but his face stays between his knees. I smile at him. He doesn't smile back. That's okay.

"I'm warm," I say and point at my coat, "it's soft in here."

"Good for you," he grumbles. Oh no, I made him mad...

"Do you want to share?" I ask carefully. I'm not very good at talking. Dad says omegas don't need to talk. He'd slap me and make my teeth hurt if I talked too much. He would yell and hurt me. Talking is hard now, but I shouldn't do it much anyway.