14. Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fourteen
Emma
S oren knocks on my door an hour later. I'm wrapped burrito-style in my bed, watching the view from the window where steam curls off the hot spa outside in ghostly fingers against the night sky.
His scent seeps under the door. Not just the basic markers of creamy sandalwood I noticed before, but complex layers that tell me more than I want to know.
Concern ripples through the sweetish notes.
Guilt threads through the woody base. Protectiveness circles the edges.
“Emma? Are you okay?”
I hold my breath, feigning sleep, though my heart hammers so loudly I'm certain he can hear it through the door. Eventually, his footsteps retreat down the hall, each one echoing his reluctance.
Sleep refuses to come. My body is electrified, my skin too tight. I’m too aware of the texture of the blankets, the changing patterns of moonlight across the floor, the bond marks on my neck pulsing with emotions not my own.
The door I can usually keep shut remains cracked open, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t get it closed.
My eyes are grainy as I watch the security patrol change. Asher appears on the grounds below, stalking the perimeter. His shoulders hunch against invisible weight as he paces the same route over and over, occasionally stopping to stare up at my window.
I roll away, pressing my face into the pillow, but it doesn't help.
His emotions simmer hotter now, clawing at him from cracks that grow wider.
Weaker. I feel everything he does, just another shitty gift of a one-sided bond.
Guilt. Protectiveness. Longing. Determination.
Alongside Asher's feelings, are the Carmichael pack's bonds bleeding into me to poison my blood.
The sky changes from black to charcoal to pearl as dawn approaches. My stomach growls in protest of the half-eaten soup, but the thought of facing any of these alphas is too much.
I scent Phoenix before he knocks on the door.
“Rise and shine,” his voice carries through the wood, forced cheerfulness barely masking worry. “I come bearing breakfast. Dr. Chen will have my balls if we don't feed you properly.”
I grip the blankets tight as dark coffee winds under the door because I want those balls.
And the alpha attached to them.
The thought sends a bolt of fear through me so searing I’m burning alive.
“I'm leaving a tray outside your door,” he continues after my silence. “Even if you don’t want to come out, please eat something, Tough Girl.”
His footsteps retreat. I wait until I'm certain he's gone before creeping to the door, pressing my ear against it to confirm the hallway is empty. My stomach growls again, demanding attention, but when I think of eating my stomach churns .
I scurry back to the bed and pull blankets over my head and squeeze my eyes shut.
I need more time. Time to equalize my reactions to these alphas.
Time to strengthen my resolve. Time to remember that no matter how good they smell, no matter how different they seem, trusting alphas only leads to chains.
I might be out of a basement, but if Asher, Soren and Phoenix lose against Pack Carmichael, I’m going on a one-way trip back to my chains. It might have been easier if they’d never found me.
I might have found my eternal beach by now.
I might finally have peace.
I might be free.
I drift in and out of uneasy consciousness, each attempt at sleep disrupted by waves of emotion that aren't mine. Alpha dominance swirls through me like competing tides, pulling me in different directions until I'm sick with it.
By midday, hunger claws at my insides and fatigue makes my limbs leaden. Soren knocks again with lunch. Phoenix comes an hour later with a drink and promises of getting anything I might want. Each time, I curl tighter beneath my blankets as their concerned scents filter under the door.
What's the point of eating? Of rebuilding strength? The Carmichaels have legal claim over me. Papers. Contracts. Ownership rights. My temporary reprieve will end at tomorrow's hearing and my life will be pain and darkness again.
Despite what these new alphas believe, despite their determination to protect me, I won't let them destroy their lives. I'm not worth their careers, their freedom, their futures.
Worse, now that the door inside me has unlocked, familiar heat simmers in my blood, the first stirrings of my omega biology reawakening after months of shutdown.
It terrifies me more than any threat of return to the basement because it's only a matter of time before my body switches back into full omega mode and biology doesn't care about abuse or consent.
It only recognizes the marks on my skin and the connections forced into my soul .
The Carmichaels will win tomorrow. They have the law on their side. They are rich. They have everything except my willing submission, and that's never mattered to them anyway.
The day drifts past. I memorize the way light plays across the grass, how shadows shift and elongate with the sun's movement.
I count birds, track security patrols, follow clouds across the blue expanse of sky.
I take in everything I can, storing these images like treasures to pull out in the inevitable darkness.
The security patrols change. Soren replaces Asher who walks back to the house, feet heavy after hours walking the grounds.
Hours later, Phoenix takes over and Soren passes over the patio to enter the house via the kitchen doors.
I don’t miss the constant glances at my window.
The lines etched into their faces and the continuing weariness in their bodies.
The sun dips lower, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink before finally surrendering to twilight.
Fairy lights flicker on around the patio, casting a soft golden glow across the space.
The pool becomes a mirror, reflecting the lights like stars trapped in water.
It's beautiful. Peaceful. A glimpse of another world.
My body betrays me. Sweat beads on my skin.
Slight cramps grow stronger, twisting my insides, sharp and insistent.
Slick seeps from me, sticking my thighs together, soaking through my borrowed sweatpants to the sheet beneath me.
I squeeze my eyes shut and scream into the mattress, fighting back tears that don’t change a damn thing.
Heat. The first stages of it, at least. My system is coming back online after months of shutdown, triggered by stress, by fear, by the presence of alphas my body recognizes as mates even if my mind rebels against the idea.
A knock at the door makes me jump. Phoenix's voice filters through, strained with worry.
“Emma, please. You need to eat something. It's been over a day.” A pause. “I know we said this wouldn’t happen but if you don't answer, I'm going to come in. Just to make sure you're all right. ”
Panic claws up my throat. I can't let him see me like this. Can't let him smell the heat pheromones saturating the air. Can't risk what his alpha instincts might push him to do in response.
I pull back the blanket, careful not to let my scent puff into the air too much. “I need space. Please, just... go away.”
Silence. Then a soft thud, like he's resting his forehead against the door. “I'll go. For now. But Emma... shutting us out won't change what happened. What will happen tomorrow. We can fight this, but you must let us help. Let us be here for you.”
My eyes burn. I know they’ll try, but I won’t survive their brand of help.
“Please. Just go away,” I say.
“Tough Girl…If this is about Asher, he’s told me to tell you he’ll move into the property next door. You won’t have to see him. We can get through this. We’ll work out a way.”
But there isn’t anything to be done. Not now my body has decided it’s alpha fun-times.
“Please Phoenix. Just let me sleep.” It’s all I can muster to keep him out.
His sigh through the door is loud. “I’ll be coming back, Emma.” He waits another moment, then his footsteps retreat.
I curl into myself, fighting the cramps, the slick, the empty ache in my core that demands to be filled. This heat will be a bad one, I can already tell. My body's revenge for denying its needs for so long.
A bitter laugh escapes me. Pack Carmichael will be thrilled. They always liked me best when I was desperate and begging. When heat stripped away my defiance and left me a whimpering mess.
Maybe it's fitting that I'll be returned to them like this. Already reduced to the base omega they always saw me as. Their perfect little slut. The fairy lights blur as tears finally spill over, tracking hot paths down my cheeks. I let them fall, too tired to wipe them away, too heartsick to care .
The phone on the nightstand rings. I glance at the screen. Mira. Of course, the alphas would have told her about my refusal to eat, to engage, to do anything but stare out this window like it's my last lifeline.
It is my last lifeline.
She tries again when I don't answer. If I pick up and she hears the strain in my voice, the tears I can't quite swallow, she'll come here. She'll find me like this—sweating, cramping, reeking of impending heat. She'll know how broken I truly am.
I can't face her pity. Can't bear her gentle understanding. So I let the phone ring out, watching her name flash on the screen until it goes dark.
Messages pop up next. Concern. Support. Promises that everything will be okay, that I'm not alone, that she's here for me.
Each one is a tiny dagger in my heart, a reminder of the future I can't have. I take solace that one of us found her happy-ever-after. That’s one bright light in the darkness of my existence.
The pool takes on an ethereal glow as darkness steals the day.
The moon rises to its peak. The fairy lights transform the water into something out of a fantasy.
It's not my beach, not the endless stretch of sand and sea I dreamed of, but it's still water.
Still a glimpse of a world beyond walls and pain.
Tomorrow, I'll be back in the basement. There will be no more windows. No sky, sun, or moon. No glittering water dancing with light. Just concrete and darkness and the Carmichaels' emotions running through me.
No number of security patrols outside can stop a judge's ruling. No alpha posturing or legal maneuvering can change the fact that I'm property, bound by law.
Another cramp rips through my abdomen, so intense I nearly call out. The urge for a knot—my alpha’s knot—is overwhelming. I bite my lip until I taste blood, refusing to make a sound and give my body what it wants.
If I had anything in my stomach, I'd vomit. As it is, I can only bring up bile, my body preparing for heat by emptying everything out. My pants drip with slick. My skin is too tight, my blood molten in my veins.
Through the haze of pain and need, the water sparkles .
Calls to me.
Promises relief, escape.
Oblivion.
I don't remember getting out of bed. Crossing the room, opening the door, stumbling down the stairs. My head is fuzzy and I’m so very tired.
I dream of my beach where I don’t drown in terrible bonds.
Where my mind is clear. Where I’m happy and free and no alpha wants me for things I don’t want to give.
The tiling under my feet is replaced with sand.
Chlorine dissolves in place of fresh, salty brine.
The rhythmic crash of waves against the shore and… I'm…I’m here!
The water laps at my toes, cool and inviting and it's exactly as I imagined.
The moon hangs full and heavy above me, turning the sand to silver, the water to rippling obsidian.
I don't remember the journey that brought me to this moment but none of that matters now.
All that matters is the sea, the sky, the absolute freedom stretching out before me.
My lips stretch into a grin. Gods, I'm finally, finally here .
I take a step down, sinking into the water, then another. The water rises to my ankles, my calves, my knees. Each step brings blessed relief, the cold embrace of the waves soothing the fire under my skin.
I'm waist-deep now, the dark depths urging me further in. The coolness stings the cuts on my thighs, the bruises on my hips, but it's a clean pain. A healing pain. The water is washing me clean, carrying away the dirt, the shame, the scars in my head.
The water will soothe me like I always knew it would.
It will take away everything I wish hadn’t happened.
Something close to peace washes through me. One more step. One more stride forward, and I submerge. The cool water closes over my head, and it feels. So. Good. The heat inside me is no match for the water. Just as I knew it would be. I let the sea embrace me, fill me, become me.
I can finally, finally rest .
I close my eyes and surrender to the water's welcoming depths. To the peace and coolness. I'm floating. Drifting. Suspended. Weightless. Timeless. Free .
My lungs burn. My chest aches but it's a distant sensation, unimportant compared to the absolute peace of this moment. I can’t stand any more pain, any more discomfort, so I let out my breath, watching the bubbles spiral toward the surface.
It doesn't hurt. Not like I thought it would.
It's more like... release. Like letting go of a burden I've carried for too long.
The moonlight fades. The water grows gloomier, and I drift into soothing darkness, content that in the end, I found my beach.
In the end, it saved me just like I knew it would.