53. Chapter Fifty-Three
Emma
The heat under my feet softens as the tide creeps up to kiss my toes.
Salt and sun tangle in my hair, and I tip back my head, closing my eyes for a heartbeat, soaking in the sensation of the whole world open wide around me.
The water shivers over my skin, cool and alive, washing away anything sharp or stained that still lingers deep in muscle and bone.
Mira stands at my side, our hands linked, fingers laced. Her laughter, a quiet, irrepressible sound, bubbles up as a wave swirls around our ankles, ice-bright and insistent. She’s sun-warmed and barefoot, hair a wild tumble over her shoulders. She’s shining, all softness and victory.
We’re free— really free.
The familiar voices of our alphas rise above the rush of the surf.
I spot Adrian, steadfast and broad, his hand gesturing as he speaks.
Cole’s smile flashes and Zane’s eyes crinkle with dry amusement.
A little apart, but always close, Asher’s arms are folded over his chest. Soren’s posture is gently guarded, the sea-wind ruffling his hair.
Phoenix laughs at whatever Adrian is saying, his energy crackling loud as ever.
They’re at ease, but an edge of concern still underlies their every movement. Hardwick is still out there somewhere, and she has Leah, but I know our alphas won’t stop looking until she’s found.
There are changes though, and those are within me. There is no cage keeping me locked in. No darkness to stifle me. No cuff around my ankle to keep me contained. There’s sunlight, the taste of salt on my lips and the crisp, fresh breeze on my face.
This beach isn’t cold and empty or lonely, as I once thought I wanted. This beach is warm and alive with love and friendship. Mates and family is a thousand times better than I thought it could ever be.
Mira squeezes my hand and smiles while the waves dance around us, and the world is entirely ours in my little slice of paradise.
“Did you really mean it? About the house?” I glance over at her, doubt slipping through my smile. “It’s just… It’s a lot, Mira. To let me just have it. Not that I don’t appreciate it. It’s beautiful. And very generous.”
Mira meets my gaze with that steady honesty she never lost, not even when everything else was torn away.
“I meant it, Emma. It’s yours. Weeks, months, for the rest of your life if you want it.
You’re family, Emma. Sisters. And you know my mates think of you as a sister too.
You belong here, just as much as any of us. ”
Her words fill the hollow I hadn’t even realized was still aching. It’s such a generous offer. I can only shake my head, overwhelmed and grateful. Mira’s arm comes around me and she hugs me sideways. “Emma. I’d have given everything to have you back again. ”
“You too.” I press my face into her shoulder, trying to laugh but choking up instead. “My alphas are happy here too,” I admit, a little shy, a little awestruck by how true it is.
Phoenix takes me out along the sand every day, sometimes teasing, sometimes silent, always holding my hand the way I crave.
Asher surprises me with baskets of fruit and cheese and those little sandwiches I can never remember the name of, laying out picnic cloths on the sand so I can watch the waves and eat.
Soren jogs a ridiculous distance every morning, running up the hard-packed low tide sand, and always finishes by swimming out to the buoy and back, coming home dripping and proud.
We’re all happy here. Astonishingly, quietly, truly happy in a way I never believed was meant for omegas.
My favorite place is my nest, though. The world shrinks and softens inside those walls.
I’ve filled the space with blankets and pillows and clothes holding the scent of everyone I love, the little touches from each of my alphas.
There’s nothing to fear there, and when everything is quiet, I still hear the waves crashing in the distance.
We discussed where we would live. My mates have a bachelor pad in the city they were more than happy to renovate to accommodate me, but this is home. Not just the comfort and softness, but the certainty that no one can take this happiness away.
I watch the waves pull and recede, their rhythm oddly soothing, but a weight settles at the base of my throat. “I wish all omegas could find this peace. This safety. I want it for every single one of us.”
Mira’s smile becomes sad. “We’re working toward it.
Aubrey and Skylar are at the Healing Center.
I visit every day. Zane’s sister, Sophie, is a force and she’s personally looking after them.
They have the best care anyone could have, given the circumstances.
” She hesitates, worry etched deep in her voice.
“But…they’re both so traumatized, Em. Every step forward is slow. ”
“Skylar was Hardwick’s pack omega. I can’t even begin to imagine how she was treated…” But I can, too well. The senator, the cold, hard twist of her voice an d her calculated cruelty, was a monster in heels and pearls. She got off on our trauma. Lived for it.
And now she has Leah.
A wave of nausea rolls through me. I clench my free hand in the skirt of my sundress, fighting it down.
All I can see in my mind are Leah’s bruises, her hunched shoulders, the former light in her eyes dim and distant.
An omega too battered to flinch, too resigned even to hope.
She looked like she’d already made her peace with dying in that awful room.
The only thread of hope, the one thing I cling to, fiercely as a lifeline, is that Pack Hawthorne found her.
She’s their scent-matched mate. If Hawthorne’s alphas are anything like mine—and I know they are; I saw it in their eyes and how they fought—they’ll cross hell itself, move heaven and earth, to bring Leah home.
Mira’s voice grows even quieter, threaded with equal parts awe and pity.
“Did I tell you Aubrey is Kevin Dawson’s scent-matched mate?
” She swallows, glancing over at the cluster of alphas by the rocks.
“He told us he’s known for a long time—years, really—but he didn’t realize how bad things were for him.
Aubrey belonged to the commissioner’s pack.
Can you imagine? Learning what your mate endured all that time, and not having known enough to step in? ”
I ache for both of them. “He must have been dying inside.”
“Dawson and his pack have practically camped outside the Healing Center, barely leaving Aubrey’s door, waiting for the smallest invitation to be near him,” Mira says.
I don’t really want to hear the answer, but I have to ask. “How is Aubrey? Really?”
Mira shakes her head as she looks out at the endless ocean.
“He’s so traumatized, Emma. Sometimes he won’t speak at all.
Sometimes he’s lost in this cycle. Mutters numbers under his breath, repeats codes like he’s not in the room anymore.
But they all hope, Dawson especially, that one day they’ll get through.
He and his pack have been so patient. They never push, just wait outside the door.
Yesterday Sophie said Aubrey let Kevin sit in the same room for half an hour. That’s a good sign. ”
She’s silent for a moment, then adds, “Those numbers Aubrey says are important. We already know Alpha 1465 was Axel Turns, and everyone’s pretty sure 1037 is Senator Hardwick.
Aubrey’s muttered more numbers, too. At least a dozen different ones.
Sophie and Zane are documenting everything.
If he can break free of that trauma, Em, all those numbers could be the key.
Maybe even a map to the rest of the network.
Aubrey could be the linchpin. He could help us find every alpha who’s bought and traded omegas. ”
The gravity of the situation presses down, hope and horror tangled together.
I stare out at the ocean, letting the sound of Mira’s words wrap around me, and try to believe that someday soon those monsters will be dragged into the light, and there won’t be another Aubrey, or another Leah, left waiting in the dark.
Waves slip over my ankles, the cold biting through the heat rising under my skin. “Has your pack heard from Pack Hawthorne?” I ask, the question heavy with fear and hope. “Any word at all? Any sign after…after what happened?”
“Nothing. The officers who chased after Hardwick and Leah found nothing. They had just vanished. No tracks, no bodies, not a single sign.” She glances at me, worry in her eyes. “I keep telling myself that’s a good thing. That if they were dead, they would have been found.”
I nod, swallowing against the ache in my throat. I hold so tight to that silent absence. No bodies means hope, stubborn and bright as ever. We fall quiet, both of us staring at the waves, lost in our own spirals of grief and yearning.
“I never thought it would be like this,” I say.
She glances sideways at me, eyes shining.
A laugh bubbles out, gentle and giddy. “ Sometimes I can’t, either.
Adrian still brings me coffee in bed when the sun’s not up, Zane lets me drag him into the rooftop garden and get muddy, and Cole…
well, you’ve seen how Cole looks at me. It’s like he never runs out of gentle for me. ”
I smile, the sound of her happiness warming my bones. “It’s not perfect. Sometimes I wake in the night and wait for the other shoe to drop, but they’re always there, waiting to catch me when I fall. ”
“We made it,” Mira whispers. “We are the living proof happy endings are possible, no matter where you start.”
“And I want that for Leah too, wherever she may be,” I say. The only dark spot is her not being happy standing with us.
A prickling stillness forms in my chest where the bonds with my mates live. At the same time, Mira stiffens, raising her head as a frown creases her brow. We both look to our alphas.
Adrian’s phone is pressed tight to his ear, the alphas surrounding him still and listening to the conversation. My heart throws itself against my ribs with such force I can hardly breathe. The sharp edge of Adrian’s voice is clear and clipped above the surf.
“Repeat that, Ronan. You have Leah?” Adrian’s eyes cut right to Mira, then to me. “You’re bringing her to Pinnacle now? An emergency!”
“Leah?” Mira breathes, stepping closer. Her hand grips mine tightly, anchoring us both as Adrian’s expression darkens.
“What happened—is Leah hurt? Ronan—?” Adrian demands into the phone.
He jerks the phone away from his ear with a harsh curse. “The call just dropped.” Adrian growls, hitting redial, frustration and fear evident in every line of his rigid frame. “It’s dead. I can’t get him back.”
A chill seeps through me, sharp tendrils of dread winding through my chest. Mira’s grip on my hand tightens, our fingers clenched and white-knuckled together. Her wide eyes meet mine, filled with shock, confusion and fear.
“What did Ronan say exactly?” Mira demands, desperation edging her voice.
Adrian shakes his head, frustration radiating in waves. “He didn’t give me specifics. Just that this was an emergency and Leah needs immediate medical attention. Then the line went dead. That’s all I got.”
Asher reaches my side in three swift strides, Phoenix’s hand steadying me, Soren’s strong shoulder supporting my back as Mira’s pack immediately closes ranks around her.
The air thickens with tension, every alpha’s expression tight and wary.
Protective instincts flare sharp and hot around us.
We all sense the danger hidden within Ronan’s frantic, broken call .
“At least we know Leah’s alive,” Asher says.
I share one frantic glance with Mira before we all bolt toward the house. Every heartbeat drives us, panic and hope tangling as we race to Pinnacle Therapeutics and toward Leah, praying we’ll be able to help her.
.