Page 147 of Awakened

“Oh, I’m fucking sorry. Are my questions inconveniencing you?”

“Alright, stop,” Branwen shouts, stepping between the Alphas and raising her hands. “As much as I love how pissed you are because Idril totally deserves a Mate who will beat the shit out of the assholes who hurt her, now is not the time.”

Caelan frowns.

“She’s right.” Daxen stands as well, turning to Caelan with somber eyes. “I know we have a lot to talk about. I know I owe you answers. We all do.”

Caelan’s hands curl into fists at his sides, and I know he’s doing everything he can to hold himself back, and I fucking hate it. “You don’t just owe me answers. You owe her answers, too.”

Daxen’s eyes fall and land on Caelan’s clenched fists before he forces his gaze back up to his face. Swallowing thickly, he murmurs, “You want revenge. For what's been done to her.”

Caelan’s lip curls into a sneer.

“I want vengeance.”

My chest fucking aches, and when Caelan replies, that ache gets a thousand times worse. Like whatever muscle’s next to my heart is being ripped apart.

“I get it.” Dax’s voice is gentle as he steps toward our brother. “But right now, the male who hurt your Mate the most is out there, using her blood to hurt other Omegas. Don’t let your anger with Vae and me supersede the real villain here.”

Dax is less than three feet away from Caelan—the closest either of us have been allowed near him since he first woke up—and seems to be weighing his words.

Until Caelan’s expression twists with disgust and he takes a giant step back. “Let’s get one thing straight. You two—you’re both as much villains in Idril’s story as her father. I’d love nothing more than to beat both your asses into the ground, but Branwen’s right—now isn’t the time. Not because your actions are less of a priority for me, but because Idril cares more about the missing Omegas than she does her own pain. Prioritizing my vengeance over hers would be selfish.”

I give in and press my palm against my sternum as the ache there worsens. Caelan’s words make me want to crawl into a hole and die. I don’t think I’ve ever hated myself more than I do right now.

Caelan turns to the Omega and inclines his head. “Go on, Branwen. I promise not to interrupt again.”

“I took a nap earlier,” she begins. “And I had another vision. This one was far more detailed than any I’ve had before. I Saw an abandoned building. One of Varenthrall’s. That’s where you need to go.”

Dax sighs, running a hand through his hair. “I’m not trying to be an asshole, but that doesn’t do shit to help us.”

“How about a location?” she asks.

Dax’s eyes widen. “What, like coordinates?”

“Nothing so sophisticated,” she snorts. “Can you bring up aerial footage of any abandoned buildings within three miles of the coast?”

“Of course,” he answers, like that’s a totally fucking normal thing for someone to have on hand.

Ten minutes later, with a ton of questionable photo and video footage I don’t even want to know how he got his hands on—we strike gold.

“That’s it!” Branwen exclaims, leaning over the console and pointing at what looks to be an abandoned military base surrounded by nothing within a ten-mile radius.

“You’re sure?” Caelan asks, squinting at the grainy footage. “There were a couple others that looked similar.”

The glare she shoots him is only a quarter as terrifying as the ones she aims at Dax and me.

“I’m sure.”

“So what’s next, then? What’s the plan?” I’m so sick of sitting around asking questions and listening to people talk. I want to move. I need to fucking do something.

“Well, it seems obvious.” Dax’s voice is so calm it pisses me off. “We find out who—if anyone—is there. We can’t charge in blind. We treat this like any other recon.”

He spins around in his chair to face me and adds, “I’d like you and Silas to scout from the coast, Vae.”

I feel something settle inside of me at his order. I need this. I need to get out of this place and away from my fuck ups and do something— anything that might help us find answers for Idril.

Because Dax can go on about finding the missing Omegas all he wants. Still, in the spirit of being honest with myself, the second Caelan said this was what Idril would want us to focus on, I was jumping at the chance to do something to start atoning in a meaningful way.