Page 195 of Awakened

It’s… exactly how I would have pictured Cage’s room if I bothered to care. The bed is unmade and messy, with dirty laundry tossed everywhere. I count no less than six pairs of designer shoes tossed around the room haphazardly.

There’s a massive, two-handed sword hung on the wall right above a nightstand next to his bed.

A sword.

On the wall.

“It’s like he never matured past fourteen.” Soren curls up his lip in disgust, eyeing a desk covered in half-empty Ramen cups and chip bags. He gingerly lifts a cup between his thumb and forefinger and gags.

“Mold,” he explains. I wrinkle my nose in disgust.

“Breathe through your mouth,” I suggest.

“We should have brought gloves. Or a hazmat suit.”

Eager to find something, I start to search—rummaging through drawers and rifling through papers, keeping an eye out for anything that seems out of place. Which, considering I don’t know what I’m looking for, could be anything.

Twenty minutes pass in relative silence. Caelan filled us in on everything Daxen discovered, so I know the bones of what they think—that Cage was sent here as some kind of plant. Apparently, he rose in the ranks slowly. And mostly just because his father complained so much that Gav capitulated in some areas just to shut him up.

The whole thing seems like Gavran gave in for political reasons, but what do I know? I’m not the biggest fan of Gavran’s leadership skills as it is. I’m sure so many others respect and admire him for legitimate reasons, but I don’t see it.

I don’t know if I ever will.

“There’s nothing here except trash.” Soren sighs, surveying the room with his hands on his hips.

He’s not wrong. Between the two of us, we’ve gone through pretty much everything—his dresser, nightstand, desk, closet, bed…

Wait a second…

“Can you help me lift that mattress?” I cross the room, kneeling in front of it and wriggling my hands into the space between the mattress and the bed frame. I don’t make it far before Soren’s hands land on my hips, and he gently tugs me back.

“Let me do this. I don’t want you getting any closer to that bed than you already are.”

There’s a primal growl under his teasing tone. Something predatory that sends a delicious shiver down my spine.

“I’m going to have to cover you in my scent when we’re done here.”

I swallow thickly and my skin prickles with goosebumps. If I weren’t on suppressants, my Omega perfume would be blooming in the air between us.

Soren misses nothing.

“You’re so perfect,” he murmurs, leaning down and running his lips along the delicate skin of my neck and up to the shell of my ear. “Now move aside so we can finish this. When we’re done, maybe I’ll consider doing whatever it is you’re thinking about.”

With a shaky exhale, I force myself to take a step back.

“Good girl.”

I try to shake off my lust, but I swear… being around my two Mates must be doing something to my hormones. It’s getting harder and harder to shove down my desire.

“Idril?” Soren’s playful prodding pulls me out of my thoughts, and I blush, shaking my head like I can somehow just shake off my Omega instincts.

Mate?

My Omega perks up for the first time in days, and there’s something about her that seems stronger. Healthier.

I need to find Branwen. It’s either sit down and talk to her about all this Omega business, or stew in my ignorance about my own Designation.

Well… what else is new?