Bound to the Guard (Taken by His Alpha #3)

Chapter 1

1

I huddle in the corner of the metal cage, my knees drawn up to my chest and my arms wrapped around myself in a futile attempt to ward off the chill that lives in my bones.

The cloying scent of fear and the tang of copper hang heavy in the air from the Omegas who lived in these cages before.

I focus on the rough, concrete floor to block out the sounds in the dimly lit basement, the drip of water from a leaking pipe, and the thud of footsteps overhead. But one noise cuts through the rest, growing louder. The sound of something, or someone, being dragged across the floor.

I tense, shrinking against the bars at my back to make myself small in the hope the guards will ignore me. Heavy footsteps pass my cage, and the rattle of a key comes from the lock on the cage beside mine.

With a rusty screech of hinges, the door opens. The body they shove inside lands in a crumpled heap before the metal bars slam shut again with a reverberating clang.

The men leave, the thud of their boots on the wooden stairs fading.

The newcomer doesn’t move, their white-blond hair with dark roots matted by blood. Are they still alive? Or will I have to smell the stench of a rotting body until they clean out the cage?

With a groan, they lift their head, startling me.

The curtain of hair parts to reveal a young man’s face, all sharp angles and hollow shadows in the faint light. He grits his teeth as he pushes up on shaking arms to prop himself up on the bars, defiance sparking in his deep blue eyes despite the dark bruises blooming across his fair skin.

He spits a glob of blood onto the floor of his cage, then catches me staring. “Hey, my name is Jade. What’s yours?”

I flinch back, fingers gripping the frayed fabric of my tattered pants. I don’t have a name here, just a number. My name was the first thing they took from us, stripping away the very foundation of my humanity and turning me into a product to be used and disposed of.

Something about this boy sets me on edge, more so than any of the other captives who’ve come and gone. Reckless wildness surrounds him, challenge blazing from every fiber of his being, daring the world to try to break him. He reminds me of a cornered wolf, all snarling fury and savage pride, ready to lash out at any threat.

Every instinct screams at me to keep my head down, to avoid drawing his attention and the inevitable trouble boys like him draw. They’ll break him. They break everyone in the end, but not always without fallout for the rest of us.

But a small, stubborn shred of who I used to be before the slave traders stole my freedom wants to reach out to him, to warn him. “You shouldn’t fight them. It will only make things worse.”

The chains around his wrists clank as he scoots closer to the bars of his cage. “What’d you say? Sorry, my ears are still ringing from the beating.”

I take a shaky breath, fighting the urge to shrink back into the shadows. “Fighting them…it’s pointless. They always win in the end.”

A harsh bark of laughter escapes his split lips. “Pointless? Fuck that. I’m not gonna roll over and let these bastards do whatever they want to me.”

He rattles his chains for emphasis, the metal links biting into his bruised skin. “They wanna break me, they better be ready for a goddamn fight.”

A bitter, mirthless smile tugs at the corners of my mouth. “You think I didn’t fight at first? We all did. But look around you.”

I gesture at the cramped confines of our prison. “This is where it gets you. More pain, more suffering. It’s better to…accept it.”

His jaw clenches, a muscle ticking in his cheek as he glares toward the stairs where the men disappeared. “Accept it? Fuck that noise. I’ll die before I let them win.”

Fierce conviction rings in his words, a blazing determination that both terrifies and awes me.

Unable to handle so much passion, I lower my head, my shoulders slumping in defeat. “Then you’ll die. And for what? They’ll keep doing this, keep breaking us until nothing is left. That’s what they do here.”

Silence descends between us. Though his stare bores into me, I don’t dare raise my head. I’ve said my piece and offered what meager warning I can. What he does now is up to him.

“How long have you been here?” The quiet question holds pity, and maybe he’s right to pity me.

I’m pathetic, useful only for experimenting on. I almost envy his defiance, his unbreakable spirit. It’s been so long since I’ve felt anything close to that kind of fire, that unwavering belief in something beyond mere existence.

“You said this is the place where they break Omegas,” he persists when I still refuse to face him. “Is this to prepare us for being auctioned off?”

A shaky breath escapes me, something in Jade’s presence compelling me to open up. “No, we’re not going to auction.”

If we were, we’d have a chance at being bought by a kind Alpha, or at least one who doesn’t hit too hard or too often. I remember standing on the auction block after the last experiment my first owner performed went wrong, and he sold me.

The Alpha who purchased me loved scars, but all the drugs pumped into my system messed with my pheromones. When my Heat came, the Alpha couldn’t come near me and sent me back to be sold again.

“What are we all here for, then?” Jade presses.

“This place is for private sales.” The concrete floor under my cage holds the stains of countless Omegas before me. “For customers with specific requests, or for those like me who have become useless. They find other ways to recoup their money.”

Half-expecting fear as Jade realizes his situation, I risk a look, only to discover a furious scowl on his bruised face. “Those bastards. They’re not going to get away with this. We won’t let them.”

For a moment, I’m taken aback by the sheer conviction in his words.

They only take Omegas who are expendable, who already live on the street, or who come from poor neighborhoods where no one will search for them long. Why is he so sure he can stop what’s coming for any of us?

“What’s your name?” Jade asks again.

“07825.” I show him my wrist with the barcode tattooed on my skin by my first owner. “But you can call me Seven.”

He wraps his hands around his bars, revealing bloodied knuckles and broken nails. “No, what’s your real name?”

A violent shudder goes through me, and I hide behind my drawn-up knees. I locked that time of my life away so deeply that I split myself into two people. The one before, free with people who cared about him, and the one now, an item number soon to be retired. It’s the only way I can stay sane.

“Hey, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked,” Jade whispers. “Will you please look at me again?”

Reluctantly, I raise my head.

Jade reaches into his tattered shirt, his fingers trembling as he pulls out a folded piece of paper. He smooths it out on the cold metal floor, revealing a map of the compound drawn on a takeout menu in a mixture of dirt and blood.

“I’ve been watching them, memorizing the layout, the guard rotations. There’s a weak spot in the perimeter here.” He taps a spot on the map, his nail leaving a small indent in the paper.

My heart races as I study the map, trying to make sense of the lines and scribbles. It’s a glimpse of a world beyond this cage, a tantalizing promise of freedom.

Even as the hope swells within me, though, tendrils of fear and doubt creep in, wrapping around my chest like chains. “How did you get this?”

“I’ve been here for about five days.” He tongues at the split in his lip. “They wanted information from me, so I’ve been all around the compound. I have training in this kind of thing, how to be observant, how to focus through pain. There’s a way out of here.”

Fear slices through me. “They’ll find you. They find everyone who runs.”

“Because there’s a tracker.” He fingers his bicep. “You haven’t felt it?”

Of course, I’ve felt the hard bump under my skin. It’s impossible to miss with how thin I am. But it’s embedded within my flesh, and no amount of scratching has broken far enough through to dig it out.

Jade must see my acknowledgment, because he leans closer. “You’ll have to cut it out.”

I startle backward. “What? Why?”

“Because you’re getting out of here, Seven.”

The defiance radiating from him demands that I believe, demands that I follow him in this foolish escape mission.

“I… I don’t know if I can do that.” My stomach sours with fear. “What if we’re caught? What if they…”

My throat closes before I finish the thought, unable to give voice to the horrors that haunt my dreams. Slaves who try to run are made examples of, but is such a death worse than the one already destined for me?

Jade tries to reach through the bars, but he’s still too healthy to fit more than his forearm through, his fingers just brushing my cage. “You can do this, Seven. You’re stronger than you know.”

“I’m not strong.” Shame burns within me. “I’m broken, useless. I’ll only slow you down.”

“Bullshit,” he spits. “You’re here, you’re alive. You’re a survivor, despite everything you’ve been through. That takes strength, Seven. More than most people have.”

How can he praise me for something I’ve never once chosen for myself? Survival was just something thrust on me by my owners, by my jailors. Here, no option exists but to plod forward until the end.

But for a heartbeat, I allow myself to imagine a life beyond this cage, beyond the constant fear and pain.

“Why would you trust me with this?” Suspicion rears its head. “For all you know, I’m a plant here to trick you into spilling the information they want.”

“You’re not.” He cocks his head to the side, studying me. “You’re desperate and afraid. You realize what’s coming for you, and you still want to live.”

“How can you be so sure?” I shake my head. “Why show me your map? You have a better chance of escaping alone.”

Jade’s expression softens, a sad smile ghosting over his lips. “Because only one of us can make it out, and it has to be you.”

When I open my mouth to protest, he silences me with a raised hand. “I’m not small enough to get out. You, though… you have a chance, Seven.”

He folds the map and passes it through the bars, the flimsy piece of paper trembling in his hold. “Take it, Seven. Take it and run. Don’t stop until you’re safe.”

Heart pounding, I reach as far as I can through the bars and pinch the map between my fingers. My mind races with a thousand doubts and fears, but beneath it all burns a fierce desire to live.

I clutch the map to my chest. It could be a trick. I might get caught. But let’s face it. There’s not much they can do to me that’s worse than what they have planned. Right now, I’m just a flesh bag full of organs waiting for a buyer. If I stay, my story will end here.

Really, I have nothing to lose? And, who knows, I might make it out.

With a deep breath, I nod. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

Jade’s grin is blinding, a flash of pure joy in the darkness of the cage. “Atta boy, Seven. Now, I’m going to give you an address. You need to memorize it. If you go there and tell them my name, they’ll keep you safe.”

Jade gives me the address and has me repeat it until it sears into my mind.

Then, he whispers the plan, and with every iteration, the hope in me grows.

I may be broken, but with this map, with Jade’s sacrifice, I have a chance at a new life, to become more than a number, a test subject, a grave.

I have the chance to be free.

The guards come with our meals, pouring the slop through the bars onto the floors of our cages. I use my fingers to scoop it up, not caring what it is beyond fuel for my stomach.

Jade eats slower as he tracks the time based on the guard rotation.

Anxiety curdles in my gut as the time draws near to implement Jade’s plan.

With a sudden, explosive movement, Jade slams into the door to his cage. “Hey, assholes! I’m ready to talk!”

Even expecting it, the shout sends me scurrying to the back of my cage in panic.

He keeps up the racket until two men come pounding down the stairs.

The one in the lead kicks Jade’s cage, and he snatches his fingers back in time to save them from being crushed.

“Step away from the door,” he snarls. “And shut the fuck up.”

Jade raises his hands in surrender and shifts backward in his cage.

“Careful.” The other man’s hand drops to the taser at his belt. “He’s still dangerous.”

His partner grunts in acknowledgment as he fits the key into the lock.

The second the lock clicks open, Jade lunges forward, slamming the door into the man’s face. He lands a punch to the man’s temple next, dazing him before Jade flies toward the second man.

Everything happens in a blur. The two men go down, and Jade somehow gets his cuffs around the man’s neck and pulls. The man’s eyes bulge, and he claws at his throat, forgetting about the taser at his belt.

The first man stumbles upright, fumbling for his weapon, and twin prongs shoot into Jade’s back. His body stiffens, his hold on the chain loosening as he convulses.

“You like that, bitch?” the man snarls, continuing to pump electricity into Jade’s body. “Not so feisty now, are you?”

Pulse racing, I slink forward in my cage and, while they’re distracted, take the keys the first man dropped during Jade’s attack.

Then I press myself into the corner at the rear of my cage, my heart pounding so hard I fear I’ll pass out. Every instinct screams at me to hide, to become small and invisible.

Instead, I watch to bear witness to Jade’s sacrifice. He’s buying me time, giving me a chance to escape. The least I can do is honor his bravery.

With Jade twitching on the floor, the guards take turns hitting and kicking him before they drag his limp and battered body toward the stairs.

Metallic fear coats my tongue, and sweat coats my palms. Any minute, I expect the first man to remember his keys. To come back to search for them. But he doesn’t, and soon their footsteps fade to silence.

My chest heaves, my mind reeling as the weight of what happened crashes over me in suffocating waves. Jade risked everything to give me a chance at freedom.

Guilt twists like a knife in my gut. He’ll suffer for this, maybe die, and it’s all because of me. Because he put everything into the slim chance I can escape and tell someone what happened. All I want to do is curl into a ball and cry, but I can’t. Not now. Not when he’s counting on me.

With a shuddering breath, I peer around the cages, my senses on high alert. When I arrived, I accepted that this was where I would die.

But not anymore.

The keys tremble in my grasp as I fumble with the lock, my heart pounding so hard I fear it will give me away. Time slows, each second an eternity as I struggle to steady my shaking hands.

Finally, the lock clicks, and the door swings open with a soft creak.

I freeze, breath held, waiting for the shouts of discovery. None come. The distant sound of the guards dealing with Jade provides a temporary cover, but it won’t last long.

When I step out of the cage, a wave of vertigo hits, the sudden sense of space and freedom almost too much to bear. My legs tremble, unaccustomed to supporting my weight outside the confinement of the cage. I stumble, catching my balance on the cold metal bars.

With a shaky breath, I force my legs to move, one trembling step at a time. The corridor stretches before me, an endless expanse of gray concrete and flickering fluorescent lights. The stale air becomes harder and harder to breathe. Or maybe that’s my lungs, unable to catch up with my gasps.

I hug the wall, trying to melt into the shadows. Each step becomes a battle with the instinct to curl up and hide, to surrender to the hopelessness that had become my constant companion.

Only Jade’s sacrifice propels me forward. I can’t let him down.

As I round the corner, my heart lodges in my throat as I spot the grubby utility room and the window that filters in sunlight. Jade wasn’t lying when he said it was small.

He was too healthy to fit through, but I have starvation on my side.

When he told me the plan, I argued with him to wait for nightfall. That’s when he told me they let dogs out after dark. Running when it’s daylight will give me the best chance of escape.

The utility room holds a toilet and sink, along with the furnace that heats the compound. I use them to climb up to the window, my muscles shaking with the exertion.

My hand trembles as I reach for the latch on the window, the metal cold to my feverish skin. This is it. The moment of truth. The line between captivity and the unknown.

I draw in a shuddering breath. The fear is still there, a constant thrum in my veins. But beneath it, a tiny spark of determination.

My fingers shake as I twist the latch, and cool, clean air sweeps in from the outside.

Heaving and wiggling, I wedge my way through, crawling out into the blinding light of freedom.