Chapter 10
TEN
Faye
For as much as people like to joke about omegas running away from everything, I don’t feel like I’m any good at it. The second we broke the line of the trees, I went down, tripping on a root, and Addilyn had to haul me to my feet.
Her eyes were wide as she looked at me and the way I wobbled on my feet a bit. Yes, I’m weak. I know that. From the day I was born, they’d told my parents that I was one of the weakest omegas they’d ever seen. But I should be able to run, right? Running isn’t even that hard, so what’s wrong with me?
“What do I do?” I plead. “I can’t let him catch me.”
“Just go ,” she says, pushing me a bit. “Run as fast as you can and don’t look back.”
She’s right. That’s all I can do. Run fast, and be smart.
I take off through the trees, this time making sure to alternate between looking where I’m going and looking down at my feet. Vaguely, I can sense that I’m passing the other omegas, who aren’t really trying to get away, just trying to run far enough that the alphas can have some fun finding them. But I don’t care. Even if I reach the edge of the property, I might just keep running if it means I can avoid Kurt.
Except, how long can I keep running like this?
Deciding to focus on being smarter and not just faster, I start to lay a false trail, purposely leaving my scent on everything I can in one direction, then moving a different direction, while doing everything in my power not to leave my scent. I avoid touching trees and bushes, the longer patches of grass, and move carefully rather than just fast. Then I look for the areas where the forest seems to be the thickest, and wind my way toward them, knowing I’ll be harder to find.
My lungs are screaming, and my heart is positively trying to pound right out of my chest. But I don’t stop. I push my burning muscles past the point of breaking, force my body to keep moving even as my sore neck and ankle scream in pain. Anything if it takes me away from Kurt.
Faintly, somewhere behind me in the woods, I hear squeals and laughter. The alphas are here. Has ten minutes passed already?
Fuck.
From the sound of it, I’m not as far away from the other omegas as I’d like. But if the alphas are out here, there’s no way I can outrun them. I’ll just be more tired when I’m caught. What am I supposed to do? How do I get out of this?
I continue to run, because what else can I do? I leave behind the sounds of the alphas and omegas and leap over a fallen tree. After, I slow, feeling breathless and exhausted. How much longer? How much longer can I go like this?
I stop, heart pounding, and try to find a solution. It’s clear I can’t outrun Kurt as a strong alpha, so what can I do? I mean, I can hope he went after another omega. Or that my false trail tricked him. But I have to err on the side of caution, assuming he’s coming after me, and be smart.
Then I look up.
Hiding. The other way omegas survive. Before I can even calm my breathing, I’m hauling myself up onto the first tree branch I can reach. I’ve nearly managed to pull myself on top of it when hands settle on my waist, pulling me back down to the ground.
I let out a blood-curdling scream, kicking my feet as hard as I can as my mind goes into panic mode. It’s Kurt. We’re far out in the middle of the woods. Nobody is going to be able to help me. Even if the ultimas said not to try anything, Kurt will do what he wants, and nobody will believe me.
“Let me go!” I scream, but the words come out broken and terrified.
The hands come off of me, and I hit the ground, scrambling backward through the leaves. My head stays down, but out of the corner of my eye, I spot the man reaching out for me. His hand closes around mine, and I know… I know I’m trapped.
“Hey, hey, calm down. It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you.”
I recognize that voice.
I promise I won’t bite.
When I look up, it’s not Kurt standing in front of me, but the man from the party last night. The one who cornered me on the balcony. His scent is suddenly all around me, like fresh cedar thrown on a fire, and I feel dizzy with it. I remember that drunk man calling out to him.
Cayson.
He squeezes my hand, a small smile on his lips. “You’re either a really good actress or you take your games really seriously.”
I just nod, not knowing what to say.
“And I don’t think climbing trees was part of the activity,” he says, raising his eyebrows at me.
It’s hard to think clearly. To calm my racing heart. I’d thought… I’d thought Kurt had caught me. I’d thought I might die. My whole body is trembling, and he’s staring at me like he can’t quite figure me out.
What can I possibly say to explain this?
“There’s someone out here who wants to hurt me,” I say quickly, quietly, looking over my shoulder. “An alpha. If he catches me?—”
Cayson’s eyes darken, and I remember what the alpha from the night before said to me.
Any alpha that would put his hands on an omega is a coward.
“I understand,” he says, glancing around us. “I guess we let him come, and I handle him. It’s that easy.”
Blinking, I stare. “It’s not that easy.”
He lifts a brow. “It really is.”
“Not for me.” I bite my lip. “I’m an omega. I don’t want any trouble. I don’t want you to… handle him.”
He looks surprised. “But–”
“Please. It’ll only bring problems my way.”
After a second, he gives a nod, and then I can practically hear his wheels turning. “We’re alone now, but if he’s looking for you, he’ll catch your scent. Do you want me to help you get out of his reach?”
I stare at him. Where are these alphas coming from—asking what I want and taking care of me when I’m afraid? I don’t even realize I’m nodding until he turns around, crouching down on the ground and patting his back.
“Come on,” he says over his shoulder. “Make haste.”
“You’re going to give me…a piggyback ride?”
He can’t actually be suggesting that. It’d be ridiculous. No alpha would simply allow an omega to ride his back. They’d be too proud for something like that.
His grin is wicked. “Easiest way to carry you and run at the same time. Unless you plan on carrying me .”
Something about his whole attitude puts me at ease. It’s like my body is matching his level of calm. My heartbeat slows. The tension in my body eases. With an alpha at my side, maybe I’ll be safe.
“Okay,” I say, then take a deep breath and force a smile.
He pats his back again. “Go for it. I won’t break.”
I steady myself, then hop up onto his strong back. His hands sneak around under my ass, stabilizing me, and a blush creeps over my face. I snake my arms around his neck, and he stands like I weigh nothing at all, before taking off through the trees at lightning speed.
Branches and leaves are whipping around me, so I tuck my face down into the crook of his neck, where his scent is the strongest. I think of my grandma, and that fresh lavender, and wonder if his scent is having the same effect, because it makes me feel… unexpectedly different.
Even though I'm wrapped around a man–an alpha–I hardly know, and I’m still terrified of Kurt finding me, I already feel calmer. Safe. It’s just something about his scent. Something I don’t understand.
When we come to a stream, Cayson slows, as though he’s trying to figure out the best way to get across. A picture starts forming in my mind of him just jumping in and getting us both soaked. But he wouldn’t do that. Would he?
“Cayson?” says a familiar deep voice.
We both jump and look up into the tree right next to the stream, where I can barely make out through the leaves an alpha sitting on a thick branch, one of his legs dangling down. Something about him feels familiar, but it’s hard to see him from this far away. Don’t I know this man?
“Ezra,” Cayson says, his tone flat, “what the hell are you doing all the way out here?”
His tone is frank. “Hiding—what the hell are you doing all the way out here? And with an omega?”
The alpha in the tree climbs down, dropping from a ridiculous height that makes me close my eyes and wince, but he just claps his hands together, totally fine. I think of my throbbing ankle from the root incident and jealousy climbs up my throat at how easy it is for these guys to do whatever they want without getting hurt. Yet, I can’t see him from around the tree. Who is he?
I wiggle a bit on Cayson’s back and he loosens his hold, letting me get back to my feet. When I come around his side, I startle, shocked, even though I shouldn’t be. If I hadn’t been so out of sorts, I would’ve recognized him right away. The man from the tree is actually the alpha from last night. The one who had reassured me, had been kind to me. Seeing him here is like seeing a dream I wasn’t quite sure was real.
“Ezra, this is…” Cayson trails off, seeming to realize he doesn’t know my name, and Ezra raises an eyebrow at him.
“Faye,” the other man answers for him.
Cayson’s eyes dart between the two of us, and there’s something in his expression I can’t quite read. “Is that really your name?”
“Yes,” I say, unable to take my eyes from the alpha, Ezra, apparently, from last night. Standing here with the two of them is like being torn between two opposites. Cayson’s scent is dark, smoky, reckless like a forest fire, while Ezra’s is clean, like the first rain of the summer.
“You’ve met?”
“Yes, we met last night, at the ball,” Ezra says, matter-of-factly.
I flush, remembering how Ezra helped me back to my room, and I send a quiet thank you to the gods that he didn’t mention my little escape routine. The thing is, I wonder what he’s thinking about me and last night. I’ll never forget what he did for me, but maybe he helps annoying, helpless omegas all the time. I just wish his face wasn’t so expressionless, so I could get any sense of what he thinks of me.
“I don’t know if the ultimas would like the three of us just standing around here, chatting when we have a game to play,” Ezra says, his eyes flicking to Cayson. “Don’t you have an omega to catch?”
“Already got her,” Cayson says, grinning and gesturing toward me.
Wait. What? But I wasn’t playing. I was running. There is no way I’m going to dinner with this alpha, not when I can spend the evening alone in my room, away from The Selection and these terrible games.
I take a step back, shaking my head. “No, you don’t,” I say. “Nobody’s got me .”
Cayson’s expression is filled with amusement. “Pretty sure a piggyback ride means we got to second base. And that I get to claim you for dinner.”
“Cayson…” Ezra says, a warning in his voice.
“Those are the rules: catch an omega, and she’s yours… at least for dinner.” Cayson sounds far too cocky.
“She doesn’t seem to want to go to dinner with you, or are you so dense you’re not picking up on that?” Again, his words are teasing, but there’s a hint of seriousness behind them.
“That’s just because I haven’t kissed her yet,” Cayson says, wiggling his brows at me.
Ezra hits Cayson over the back of the head. But when he tries to hit him a second time, Cayson dances away, his hair only slightly mussed from the blow. I realize there’s an energy between these two, like they’re old friends, and enemies all at the same time. Or maybe that they’re friends who are complete opposites. I’m not sure.
“Don’t be such a buzzkill, Ezzie , me and Faye are just having some fun,” Cayson says, coming over to me and slinging an arm around my shoulder.
I throw it off, instinctually moving closer to Ezra. I’m not the dinner type. This guy has to realize that I’m not an omega anyone wants. Not with how broken I am. Ezra eyes me and takes a step away, which stings slightly, like he doesn’t want to be associated with me.
“I was trying to hide out from the omegas,” Ezra grumbles, his eyes fixed on me. “And here you’ve brought one right to me.”
I glare, a little outraged that he seems to think I so desperately want him. “For the record, I don’t want to be with either of you. I was trying to get away on my own.”
“That’s a weird way to say thank you for saving your life,” Cayson jokes. “I can think of a few, much better ways for you to do that.”
It makes me want to laugh, and I think I would if I wasn’t still trying to decide if he’s joking or not. I haven’t quite figured this guy out.
“In your dreams,” I say, surprising myself with the way I’m talking to an alpha.
But there’s something about Cayson that makes me feel more relaxed than normal. For some reason, he reminds me a bit of an excited puppy, and excited puppies are hardly scary. Even though I’m probably a fool to be seeing him like that.
“Absolutely I’ll be seeing you in my dreams,” he says, his voice low, as he takes another step toward me. His tone is joking, but his facial expression is serious, his eyes intent. “Will I be in your dreams, too?”
“More like her nightmares,” Ezra mutters, and Cayson gives him a playful shove.
“At least she’ll be thinking about me,” Cayson fires back.
Ezra pulls a pocket watch out of his shirt and tsks . “The hunt should be over by now. They said?—”
Before he can finish his sentence, another gun shot sounds in the distance.
“Alright,” Cayson says, crouching down again, patting his back like I plan to jump back on. “Let’s go, Faye.”
He can’t be serious… Oh my gods, he is.
“I’ll walk, thank you,” I say, breezing past him.
Behind me, I hear Ezra snicker and Cayson mutter something vulgar to him in response. I’m suddenly smiling, shaking my head. These two are different from any alphas I’ve met before. Different and unexpected.
I’m not sure what to think about that.