Chapter 3
Savannah
I blink at him. “I’m sorry, what? I die ?” I ask, not sure how terrified or confused I should be. “Listen, man, I’m getting a case of whiplash here. If you wanted me dead, why bother taking me out of where ever the fuck we just were? Why not let Shrek have his way with me? Why go through all of this trouble?”
He sighs, shaking his head. “No. I don’t mean dead-dead. I mean you need to die.”
“Uh-huh... yep, I’m hearing you, man. I’ve just never heard of another way to die other than being dead... dead.”
“Fuck’s sake,” he mutters, undoing his seat belt so he can fully turn to face me.
The rain is beating down against the car, drowning out the sounds of the world around us.
“Turn around,” he says.
“Why?” I narrow my eyes. “Gonna try and pull a fast one on me?”
“No,” he huffs. “So I can take the cuffs off.”
“Fine,” I sigh. “But I’m watching you.”
I turn around, letting him take the cuffs off before sitting back and looking at him.
“The plan is for you to live. But for Corbin, and your lovely new buyer, to think you're dead.”
“Okay. So I die, but I don’t die ?” I ask, narrowing my eyes. “How the hell is that going to work? You're going to fake my death? Won’t they want a body as proof? I know for a fact that Corbin isn't the kind of man to take your word for it.”
“No. He’s not. That's why you're going to die in a car crash; it’s raining, the roads are pretty bad, it’s night time, can't see much with all this rain...” he says. “See where I’m going with this?”
A slow smile spreads across my lips. “Oh, Jerry, you naughty boy.” I laugh, slapping at his shoulder. He frowns, looking at the spot I just hit. “I like this plan. Okay, so we make him think I’m dead. Then what?” My smile falls. “Hold the fuck up. Why the hell are you going through all this trouble to save me? You don’t even know who I am... right?” I cock my head to the side. “We’ve never met before today, have we?”
There’s twenty-five years of my life I don’t remember so it is a possibility that we’ve met before and I just don’t know it.
“No. We’ve never met before. But...” he trails off, looking out the window. “I’m not the bad guy; that's just what I want Corbin to think.”
“Who are you to him?”
“I'm what you might call the delivery man.” He looks back at me with grim eyes. “I deliver Omegas to their buyers.” My back stiffens with pure disdain and disgust. “I’m good at what I do. Too good if I’m being honest,” he explains regretfully. “So, he’d see this as what we want him to think. An accident.”
“Not the bad guy,” I mutter to myself. “Wait a minute.” My eyes widen. “Are you like one of those undercover cops I’ve seen on TV?!”
“Ah, yeah. Pretty much that. I’ve been working this case for a very long time. Too fucking long.” He lets out a breath. “You're the key, Savannah. You're the key to bringing his whole empire down.”
“How?” I frown. “Sure, I’ve got a feisty side, but I’m just some Omega who’s been drugged up and stuffed deep down beneath the ground, locked in a cage for years for some fucked up dude’s sick enjoyment. I’m not even strong enough to take down a guard. One little Alpha bark and I crumble to my knees. Fuck, I don’t even know what the real world is like anymore. I’d take a walk down the street and get lost.”
He growls, low and deep. If I could smell his Alpha pheromones right now, I think they would be telling me he’s pissed about my admission. Good thing Corbin’s been keeping me nice and drugged up. I pretty sure he’s been putting scent blockers in my food to keep me from going all horny for Alpha cock—if I caught a whiff of one—and to keep my scent away so none of the guards would snap and rape me.
Noooo, Corbin wanted that job all to himself.
“Here,” he says, handing me a bag that I didn’t see from the front seat. “As soon as this car explodes, I want you to take off running through this treeline. I have someone waiting for you on the other end. She will help you with anything you need. Answer any questions you might have.”
“Who is she?”
“My sister,” he whispers, swallowing hard.
“Is she a good person?”
He snorts. “Depends on your definition of a good person. She’s the kind of person cops work hard at putting away. But she’s not evil. She doesn’t hurt innocent people. She helps people like you.”
“Oh,” I whisper, looking down at the bag. Opening it, I see clothes and a pair of running shoes.
“Change into those,” he says. “I don't think what you're wearing is the best getup for a night like tonight.”
I look down and grimace when I remember I’m in nothing but a white nightgown. “Yeah, I don’t think so.” Looking back up, I narrow my eyes. “This all seems too good to be true. After all these years, how is today the day I’m going to be set free?”
“We’ve been working on getting you out for a long time,” he admits. “We thought he would have gotten tired of you a while ago.”
“Boy, were you fucking wrong.” I laugh, but it’s not a funny one.
“I’m sorry, Savannah,” he whispers before opening the door and leaving the car to give me a bit of privacy.
That just earned him a shit-ton of brownie points in my book.
Anyone else would have enjoyed the show. Wouldn’t be the first time.
Once I’m changed into the sweatpants, t-shirt, hoodie, and my new sneakers are laced up, I knock on the window to let him know I’m good.
He pops back in, drenched from the rain.
“I wish I could stay longer, talk more, explain more—I really do,” he starts. “But if we don’t do this now, Corbin is going to get suspicious. I’ve turned off any trackers, but if I don’t get you where you're supposed to be going soon, he’s going to want answers. The details are nothing for you to worry about.”
“Got it.” I nod.
Listen, do I think this is all too good to be true? Sure, I fucking do. Because when you live a life like mine, you're not stupid enough to believe you're going to get a happily ever after.
I’ve come to terms with how my life will turn out a long time ago. Did I dream about a pack of Alphas breaking in, rescuing me, and sweeping me away from the big bad man to love and adore me like the Omegas on TV? Yeah, I did. Corbin didn’t ruin Alphas for me. I’m not stupid enough to think all of them are like him. And sometimes it was the only thing that got me through the day; I’d often pretend I was in the movies I watched, living that life instead.
Does part of me still hope to find my pack? Yes. I’d give my left fucking tit to have a pack of men to love and adore me. I think after all the shit I’ve been through, I fucking deserve it.
But this is reality. And good things don’t happen to me.
Right now, my life’s mission is to stay alive long enough to get my revenge. After that, I don’t care about what happens to me.
“Alright, Jerry. What's the plan?” I ask, pulling the backpack on.
“It’s Jeremy,” he corrects. “Whatever. You're going to get out of this car and do as I said. Go through that treeline, run straight. It’s going to take you about an hour, but eventually, you're going to get to a road. Wait there. Someone will come pick you up.”
“Oh, yes. Let me just wait for a rando car to snatch me off the side of the road,” I huff. “Do you think I’m that stupid? I might be missing a few screws but I’m not an idiot. I might not remember much, but I do know what stranger-danger is, dude.”
“You're right. It wouldn’t be very smart to get into just any car. That’s why you need to ask for a password.”
“A password.” I grin again. “This sounds like some sneaky spy shit. Okay, what's the password? Rocket launcher? Obi-Wan Kenobi, oh! Is it SpongeBob?” I laugh. “That little yellow fucker is funny. Although his best friend has a few missing pieces, if you know what I mean. Can someone really be that dumb?”
Jerry blinks at me, lips parted.
“What?” he asks, staring at me for a moment. “You're an interesting one, you know that?”
“Thanks.” I beam.
“The password is salvation.”
“Huh,” I say the word over and over in my head. “Okay, not bad. SpongeBob would have been cooler, but that will do.”
He sighs heavily.
“Soooo, wanna tell me who my new keeper’s going to be?” Because I have a feeling I’m not going to just be able to walk around and start living a new life. Not if I have to play dead.
“Like I said, she’s my sister. She’s a pretty powerful person. She’s going to keep you safe and do what she needs to make that happen.”
“Okayyyy,” I sing-song. “If you say so.”
“Get out of the car,” he replies exasperated.
Grinning, I open the door and get out. I’m instantly pelted with rain. And I don’t give a single fuck. It feels amazing. It feels like freedom.
Taking a moment, I inhale a deep breath of fresh air.
“Hey, Jerry,” I say, popping my head back into the car.
“Yeah?”
“Thanks... you know, for everything. And like, not killing me and all that shit. Also, not handing me over to that dude who bought me. Hope he doesn’t get his money back.” I grin.
Jerry chuckles. “You’re welcome, Savannah. And I hope we meet again.”
“That would be cool.” I nod.
Closing the door, I head towards the trees.
I look back when I hear the sound of tires against the ground as Jerry pulls off onto the road.
“He’s a nice guy. A bit odd, a little dry, but nice.”
Turning back to the treeline, I head into the woods and take off running.
“Fucking hell,” I groan not even five minutes in. “Run, Savvy, run for an hour through the wet forest with mud and ice-cold rain. It’s not like you haven’t had a day of cardio in your life. What the fuck was Jerry thinking? Corbin never let me work out, and only fed me enough to keep me alive. He wanted me weak.”
I keep going, wheezing heavily as my head spins. I don’t even pay attention to the cold that's seeping through the hoodie. I’m more focused on the fact that I think my lungs are going to pop like a couple of balloons.
Stumbling to a stop, I break into a coughing fit before puking up what little food I had in my stomach.
“Dude wanted me to run, yet didn’t give me a bottle of water. Rude,” I mutter before I keep going. It’s not easy, I can’t see shit. I have nothing to defend myself from whatever wildlife might be lurking here. And if I run into one more fucking tree, I’m going to burn this whole place down.
By the time I reach the road—hopefully it’s the one he was talking about—I’m freezing, soaked to the bone, and I really have to pee. Oh, and I’m seconds away from passing out.
Panting like crazy, I bend over, bracing my hands on my knees and suck in lungfuls of air, each breath burning.
“Alright,” I sigh, wiping the water from my face before shielding my eyes. “Where is this sister of yours, Jerry?”
The road is deadly quiet. It’s the middle of the night, in wherever the fuck I am. What am I supposed to do now? Just sit here and wait? Do I go back into the woods and wait? Walk down the street?
No, if I do that, there’s a chance someone else could find me.
Just as I’m about to head back into the trees to look for some place to hide from the rain, I see headlights.
“Here's to praying that’s my ride,” I mutter, standing off to the side, kind of in the ditch along the road, just in case it’s not.
The closer the car gets, the more on guard I become. “I should have at least grabbed a stick or a rock or something,” I reprimand myself. “You never wanna be easy pickings, Savvy.”
A sleek black car pulls up. Fancy.
I make no move to leave my spot as it comes to a stop. For a second, nothing happens. Then the front passenger side opens. The headlights of the car allow me to see enough to watch as a big man gets out. He’s black, bald, and I can’t help but grin like a loon because, oh my god, he looks just like Cobra Bubbles from Lilo & Stitch .
“Bubbles, my man.” I grin. “Nice to meet you.”
He just stands there, crossing his arms. Dude even has sunglasses on. It’s already dark, how the fuck can he see?
“Sooo, we just gonna stand here and twiddle our dicks, or is something going to happen?”
“Are you sure this is her?” the big man asks, looking at the car.
“Ask the question, Coby, and we’ll know,” a female voice sounds from inside.
“Coby? Dude, that's so close to Cobra. I love it.” He glares harder.
“Password,” he grumbles.
I should know better, I really should, but I can’t help it. “SpongeBob?”
The man goes for something on his waist. Shit, is that a gun? Fucking hell, Savvy, this is not the time to play around.
“Wait, wait, wait.” I hold my hands up. “Salvation. It’s salvation.”
He lowers his hand, and I let out a breath. “Smart mouths get people killed,” he growls. If his size didn’t let me know he was an Alpha, that growl sure did.
“Does no one have a sense of humor these days?” I mutter. “Your lives must be boring.”
Laughter sounds from within the car. “Let the girl in.”
“Come on,” he demands. “We don’t have time.”
“Right. Yeah. Let’s do that,” I agree, walking up the side of the ditch towards the car. Bubbles steps forward, hands moving towards me. “I’m going to stop you right there, big guy. Touch me and you're going to lose a finger. Trust me—actually, you know what, you should ask the last guy.”
He frowns. “I need to make sure you have no weapons.”
“I just got pulled out of a high-security prison. I got no weapons. And Jerry didn’t give me any. Very rude of him, might I add.”
“Jerry?” he asks in confusion.
“Right, right. I forget, you guys call him Jeremy,” I sigh. “I don’t like it. So I changed his name.”
“You're strange,” he mutters. “You don’t act like a captive Omega.”
My brows jump. “Um, okay then.” I raise my hands in a pleading position, my expression shifting into one of extreme fear. “Please, big scary man. Don’t hurt me,” I gasp, and for a more dramatic effect, I fake stumbling forward. I land with my back against the back end of the car. I place one hand against my chest while the back of my other hand rests against my forehead before I continue to speak. “I’m just a weak little Omega. I wouldn’t hurt a fly.” I stand up straight, my expression going back to normal. “Better?”
He sighs heavily, a lot like Jerry did. Opening the car door, he says, “You're going to have your hands full with this one.”
“I don’t know,” the woman laughs. “I like her already.”
“See?” I beam up at the man. “ She likes me.”
Sliding into the car and out of the rain, I come face to face with the woman in the back seat.
“Wow,” I say in awe as I get a good look at her, my eyes trailing up and down her body. “You're really pretty.” Pretty isn’t even the right word. This woman is a fucking goddess. And if I liked women, I’d have a major girl crush right now. She’s got long, wavy red hair. She’s dressed in a silver pantsuit, and her lips are painted with a deep blood red shade.
“Thanks.” She smiles, holding out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Savannah. Name’s Daphne Jones. But you can call me Duchess.”