Chapter 60
sixty
brIAR
At this point, I think it’s clear I’m no stranger to captivity.
Being taken, held against my will, forced into terrifying no-win situations?
That’s, like, a Tuesday for me.
But this?
I’ve never experienced anything like this.
Because it’s lavish.
Where the fuck am I?
A padded room? It is technically that, although rounded and covered in buttery yellow silk. The walls are tufted, I notice, flowing straight down to a soft, pillowy platform and, lower, a recessed mattress. Piled with cushions and blankets?
Is it—
A nest?
I think it must be. There’s no other reason for the shape and all the soft surfaces.
The scents of alphas.
One is toasted. Another is dark. Sort of like—
Gideon and Atlas.
Holy fuck. It’s them. Their scents, blurred with two unfamiliar ones. A cologne-like fragrance, buried beneath something too sweet.
Shit.
Every cell in my body protests, longing to fling me away from the scents. This too-bright room. The sunny sheets and overstuffed pillows and oh God, no—
Whining, I fold myself into a ball on the nest’s platform. Trying not to touch anything. Hoping I won’t have to claw myself out of my skin to stop the complete and total wrongness assaulting me.
I hide my face between my knees, burying my nose into my thigh. I stole these sweats from Dane, so his woody scent is the strongest—but when I focus, I can still vaguely smell Rhys’s freshness and Cillian’s smoke.
The small traces of my mates renew my pre-heat cramps. A whimper tickles my throat, vibrating where Cillian’s locket should be.
No.
My fingers scrabble at my blank neck, realizing the gold links are missing. No, I think again, true panic assailing me. No, no, no.
If someone took the necklace off, they must know what it means. And they wanted it out of the way for a reason.
I hunch lower, inhaling as much of my alphas as I can. Their essences are enough to clear my mind, if only for a moment.
Okay, I think. Okay. So someone got into the house and took me. Then brought me here.
To Gideon’s packhouse, my Omega trembles.
I nearly snarl. Fucking Gideon.
She’s right. It has to be him. All his intrusions. Trying to lure me away twice. Following me to the bookstore. Bringing Atlas to let his packmate get a read on me.
Bracing myself for the burn in my nostrils and accompanying flare of panic, I lift my face just enough to swallow another deep breath. Confirming my worst fears… before a too-familiar voice suddenly comes from the other side of a hidden door.
“Hello, Briar. How do you like your new nest?”