The Omega They Discarded Became Their Nightmare

The ceiling above me was dark wood, crossed by heavy timber beams.

A wool blanket covered me to my chin, completely dry and smelling faintly of pine.

"Awake?"

A low baritone broke the quiet.

I sat up fast, wincing as the pulled muscles in my ribs flared with sharp heat. Damon sat in a leather armchair near the unlit hearth, an open book resting flat on his knee. He wore a simple charcoal sweater, the sleeves pushed up over thick forearms lined with faint, silver scars.

My mind scrambled through the blank fog in my head. I knew his face from old pack portraits, but nothing more.

"You're Kael's brother," I rasped.

"Half-brother," he corrected quietly, shutting the book. "Drink."

He pointed to a steaming mug of tea on the bedside table.

"Why brought me here?" I pulled the blanket closer. "Where are we?"

"My estate. North boundary." Damon leaned back, watching me with steady gray eyes. "You collapsed in the mud. I don't leave people to freeze."

"I don't remember you," I admitted, my voice dropping. "I don't remember the last few weeks at all. I don't know who took me, or why."

"Then don't strain yourself trying to piece it together today." He stood up, towering over the furniture without making a sound. "No one enters this house without my permission. You stay until your head clears."

"Just like that?" I searched his expression for a trap. "You don't want anything from me?"

"What could you possibly give me?" Damon countered, walking toward the heavy oak door. "Rest, Valerie."

The nights, however, offered no peace.

Every time I shut my eyes, the black trees closed in around me. Mud coated my mouth. Heavy paws thudded against wet leaves, chasing me through the dark while claws raked across my shoulder blades.

I bolted upright, gasping for air, drenched in sweat.

"Valerie."

Damon stood in the doorway, framed by the amber hall sconces. He didn't cross the threshold. He stayed three paces back, leaning against the doorframe with folded arms.

"Another nightmare?" he asked calmly.

"They won't stop," I whispered, pressing shaking palms against my temples. "I keep hearing them behind me."

"Nothing is behind you," he said. "The perimeter wards are solid. Take three slow breaths."

I did, watching him through the shadows. He stayed right there until my chest stopped heaving, never stepping closer, never prying into the dark details I couldn't explain.

"Damon?"

"Hm?"

"Why aren't you disgusted by me?"

He tilted his head slightly. "Explain."

"Everyone knows," I said bitterly. "My parents threw me out because I'm an Omega who never awakened a wolf. Kael left me for Serena because I'm useless to a future Alpha. Yet you brought me to your home."

Damon looked at me for a long beat.

"Whether you have a wolf or not," he said, his voice flat and unbothered, "what does that have to do with me?"

I blinked, stunned into silence.

No one had ever said that to me. Not my father. Not my mother. Not the boy who swore he loved me. To everyone else, my worth was measured purely by the beast sleeping inside my veins.

"Drink your water and sleep," Damon added, turning away into the hallway. "Morning comes early."

Two days later, the rain finally broke into crisp autumn wind.

Damon took me down to the lower gate to collect fresh medical supplies from a courier. The mountain air bit at my skin, so Damon had tossed his heavy black wool coat over my shoulders before we walked out. The hem brushed my ankles, swaddling me in his scent of cedar and clean frost.

We turned up the cobblestone path toward the front courtyard—and stopped.

A sleek gray sports car blocked the turnaround circle. Leaning against the hood was Kael.

His leather jacket was unzipped, his hair wind-blown, and his face twisted into an ugly, impatient scowl. The moment his gaze found me, his jaw hardened until the muscle jumped.

"What the hell is this?" Kael snapped, marching straight toward us.

Damon didn't flinch. He stayed half a step ahead of me, his hands buried casually in his pockets.

Kael ignored his brother completely and grabbed my wrist, his grip digging into my bruised skin. "What are you doing here, Valerie?"

I ripped my arm out of his grasp with all my strength. "Don't touch me."

Kael looked startled by the venom in my voice, but his anger flared right back up. His eyes dragged down the oversized black coat wrapped around my frame.

"You've been staying with him?" Kael demanded, his teeth grinding audibly. "In his house? Wearing his clothes?"

"Why do you care?" I asked, staring at him like he was an absolute stranger. "Didn't you tell me to get lost three nights ago?"

Kael flinched, his throat working as if choked on his own words.

"That was—" He cut himself off, his cheeks flushing with dark color. "That was family business! You don't run straight to my exiled brother to play house!"

"You handed my sister roses and told me I was garbage," I said coldly. "We're done. You said those exact words. Remember?"

"Valerie, shut your mouth," Kael hissed, stepping closer.

Damon shifted his frame, planting himself like a granite wall directly between us.

"Back off, Kael," Damon murmured. The words were quiet, but the air turned freezing cold with raw dominance.

Kael's chest heaved. He glared up at his older brother, his fists trembling at his sides. "Stay out of this, Damon. Don't touch my woman."

Damon looked down at him with pure disdain.

"Your woman?" Damon tilted his chin, his silver eyes flashing with mockery. "Didn't you already throw her away?"

The courtyard went dead silent.

Kael’s face drained of color, then flushed a furious, humiliated crimson. "You think you can just take whatever I leave behind?"

"You left trash on the curb," Damon replied coolly. "I brought a guest inside. The only person making a scene here is you."

"You bastard—" Kael lunged forward, his claws threatening to erupt through his knuckles.

"Stop it! Both of you!" I snapped, my patience snapping entirely.

I didn't want to hear Kael's pathetic excuses, and I didn't want to be an excuse for their ancient sibling war.

"I'm going inside," I said, turning my back on both of them to head up the stone steps.

Then, the world seemed to slow down.

A faint sound—barely louder than the flutter of an insect wing—hissed through the cold wind from the dense tree line fifty yards away.

*Ssshk.*

It was high, sharp, and cutting straight toward the back of my neck.

My mind didn't process what it was. But my muscles moved on their own.

Without turning, I dropped my shoulder, twisting my torso to the left with fluid, effortless precision.

*THWACK.*

A jagged iron throwing dart whistled past my ear, shearing through a strand of my hair before burying itself three inches deep into the heavy oak pillar beside the porch.

The wood splintered with a violent crack.

I froze, staring at the quivering metal tail. My heart hammered against my ribs, but my body felt completely balanced, braced on the balls of my feet like a coiled spring.

Silence blanketed the courtyard.

Kael stood frozen near the drive, his mouth slightly open, completely baffled by what had just occurred.

Behind me, Damon hadn't moved to check the treeline.

His eyes were locked squarely on me. The calm, detached indifference on his face had shattered into sharp, calculating shock.

A normal, wolfless Omega couldn't hear an iron projectile slicing through the wind fifty yards out.

And she certainly couldn't dodge it without looking.