and turned to gently shut the door. When he faced me again, he pushed his hair back and his glasses up his nose. "So? What did Knox say? When are we heading out?"
A part of me had hoped I'd heard Storri wrong inside the nursery. I couldn't think of a single thing I'd said that would've given him the impression that I'd willingly put him in harm's way. "Storri, it isn't we. It's me. You aren't coming." I didn't like being so blunt, but the issue needed to be understood completely.
He froze, his wide eyes making him look even more like a deer in the woods. "Why wouldn't I be coming? You're going."
This was the Twilight Zone; that was the only explanation for why my mate was pushing the issue. My heart pounded, upset that Storri could even imagine himself in that sort of danger. "Why wouldn't you be going? I can think of four reasons asleep in the next room." My tone got away from me, sprinting ahead to an alternate future where I watched my mate disappear in a bloom of hellfire.
Storri jerked back, glowering—an expression I'd never seen on his face before this moment. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me to the bathroom, where he turned all the faucets on and turned up the volume on the monitor. "They are your daughters too, Faust. How is that a reason for me and not you?" His voice might've shaken, but his message was clear: he wouldn't back down easily.
My mate had found his voice, and it was mighty, but unfortunately, the thing he wanted simply couldn't happen.
"Storri, none of the Portal mission protocol includes you. It doesn't include Jazz either. Neither of you will be going with us. Neither will Hallie or the doc." My hope was that he'd realize on his own that he would serve the mission best by staying safe in the hotel.
His expression told me that wasn't the case. His anger only burned brighter on his cheeks. "Why don't any of the protocols include me? I'm an asset. I can keep the lines of communication open when everyone has shifted. And that's only one aspect of my power. I can think of a thousand scenarios where my ability would be useful."
"I'm not debating whether or not you would be useful, Storri. I know you would be useful, mate. That doesn't mean you're going. I will not budge on this. You may be angry with me if you like, but I've made my decision."
It was a good thing that Storri had made efforts to muffle our voices. I wished I'd gone my whole life without raising my voice to Storri, but as long as he was trying to convince me he belonged in the field, I would picture the many ways he could die there.
His butt rested against the counter, and I braced my arms on either side of him.
Storri leaned forward in defiance. "Why? Why won't you budge? Why do you get to decide?"
I pictured Storri as no more than ash, as a box with a label that sat on the shelf in my old room. But, unlike any of those boxes, Storri wanted to put himself in danger. "Because you are my omega!"
Storri winced; his face dropped to the floor. "I know I'm your omega, Faust. I'm proud to be your omega." He lifted his chin, revealing two shimmering pools of caramel and tears. "But…is that all I am now? Am I not even Storri?"
My knees buckled, knocked out by an arrow of shame. I straightened my arms and managed to barely keep myself from falling.
With only his words, Storri had reduced me to my lowest, most abhorrent level. I was just like David Grouse. Worse. I was Storri's alpha. My only jobs were to make him happy, keep him safe, and remind him of how powerful he was whenever he forgot. I'd failed him twice over. I'd made him feel like it wasn't him that I wanted.
I had no omega without Storri.
"Thank you."
He gasped softly, and I forced my arms apart. I didn't deserve to hold him.
I busies myself by turning the faucets off. The fact that I'd allowed myself to get to a point where they'd been necessary was nothing more than another failure. "Thank you for standing your ground long enough to show me how wrong I was. How wrong I am. I should've asked you. We should've talked about it as a mated couple. You're right. This isn't