10. Gael
Chapter ten
Gael
G ael aged 22
I get out of the car and slip my hands in my pockets. The sky is grey, and the weather is cool; the leaves are red and orange, and there are a million things I could be doing, but I’m glad I’m here. I’m supposed to be going to see my brother’s teacher because he got into yet another fight again. I want to shout at him, but I know him. He’s a good kid. He wouldn’t do it for no reason.
My parents are too busy to come. The school didn’t even bother contacting them. I can’t remember a single time this year or the last when they have even been to the school. They probably don’t know which one he even attends.
I can’t let him go through what I went through of having no one there. The isolation, the waiting for a parent that never arrives, the humiliation of my teacher’s eyes as they reluctantly let me go home alone in the dark or the storms. No fight or tantrum recalls their presence.
Despite his idiotic behaviour sometimes, Noah has a good heart. He’s a great kid, smart and charming. Noah will run our father’s company when he reaches his twenty-fifth birthday. He is everything I am not. Confident, calm, collected, a shrewd businessman. Whereas I am introverted, nervous around crowds, bad with numbers, I hate my father’s business and resent it.
Still, there is no jealousy, only pride. He is, after all, more my child than theirs.
I was here at this school a few years ago, walking through these halls. They are so familiar, nothing seems to have changed. I can remember my friends laughing and teasing me before they moved on with their lives. The sweet memories haunt me some nights. I stayed behind, watching everyone spread wings and soar. I stayed for Noah. To protect him and raise him. I don’t regret my choice.
I pause at a window, looking out and see a girl on crutches. She hobbles slowly, but when she looks up, she looks so damn sad. The expression is made more poignant by her obvious beauty, and the maroon scar that stretches across the left side of her face doesn’t detract from that. My breath catches in my lungs, and the world disappears. All I can do is watch her as the leaves swirl around her. The children become a blur. She must be in so much pain.
I like to rescue people. It’s a whole thing with me, and she screams, ‘I need rescuing,’ louder than anyone I’ve ever seen. Who is she?
But even if she wasn’t needing to be rescued, I’d still stop and stare. She’s got something about her that calls to me.
The kids are whispering, talking about her. I can see it. I hate them for her. As sad as she is, Noah is happy. He spreads joy with that infectious grin of his.
“Gael!”
I turn away from the window and the sad girl to find my brother smiling at me.
“Did you come to save me, big brother?”
I take a swipe at his head. “Always,” I hesitate and then ask anyway. “But who is that?”
Noah looks out the window and nods. “Ah, taking on another project, are you? I’m jealous.” He elbows me, but his smile fades. “It’s really sad. Her dad and sister died, and she was really hurt. They lost everything, including her dad’s business and money. Apparently, he owed quite a bit. She’s now a persona non grata.”
Damn. The kids at this school will rip her apart.
“Who is she?” I murmur, watching her stop in the middle of her walk. The world keeps moving around her, but I’m transfixed.
“That’s Aspyn. Aspyn Montauk. She’s smart and kind and helped me a couple of times. She likes my music.”
Aspyn. The name suits her.
I watch her until she disappears, but then Noah’s teachers call us in, and I don’t think of her again until it’s too late. And she and Noah become just a ghostly memory that keeps me up at night.
P resent Day
My muscles burn with each lift of my weighed down arms. Each time I dip them into the murky depths of the ocean, I say to myself, ‘just one more.’ This escape has skipped ‘seems like a really bad idea’ and jumped straight to ‘this could be a disaster, but we’ve come too far to back out now’. To be fair, we’re halfway along a section of cliff with no beach in sight.
I stop paddling and lay my face down on the board, wheezing.
The sun is setting, and I have to admit, I’m a little uncomfortable being out here at night. Okay, a lot. We don’t know this island; we don’t know the currents or what sharks live here. I want to get back on land right now.
The urgency in my head gets louder and louder, pulsing with my heartbeat.
I lift my head and start paddling again before the others get too far away. I don’t blame Ezy for being mad at me, but I’ve never seen him quite that mad. There was a moment there when I thought he was going to hit me. The bonds roar with his rage, they throb with his disapproval.
Kelly looks over his shoulder but doesn’t say anything.
I get it. I’m the traitor. Even I know what I did was wrong. I went over to the other side, but Aspyn is everything I’ve ever wanted. The chance of being with her was worth it. Until I heard what she had to say today. It was a kick in the teeth. I might have ruined the best relationships I’ve ever had in my life over someone who doesn’t even want me.
The words she gave me still sting. I catch up and paddle beside them.
“What has that look on your face?” Ezy asks with a bite of anger.
I didn’t tell them what she said. I just came back. There’s no way I can tell them or to admit that she’s broken something inside me. That her words are easily the most painful thing anyone has ever said to me. When Noah died, it was like my world had stopped, but Aspyn brought me back to life and then snuffed me out all over again.
“Just sore.”
They can both tell it’s a lie, but they leave it alone. We paddle around a corner, and there’s a small beach in between two massive cliffs. I almost cry with the relief I feel.
“We’re stopping there?” Ezy asks.
“If it’s safe.” Kelly sits up and looks back the way we came. “We need to stop somewhere. It’s going to be too dark soon to be carrying on.”
I paddle faster, eager to be on dry land.
The minute sand is under my feet, I stagger up and slog through the water and collapse on the dry sand. My arms and legs burn, my shoulders ache.
My throat is burning. All this water, and there’s nothing to drink. Whoever told them to come this way lied. I lick my dry lips and fantasize about drinking a bottle of water.
I really hate this island.
Kelly flops down on his back and throws an arm over his eyes.
But Ezy remains where he is in the shallows, staring up at the beach.
I sit up and twist, trying to see through the dull light. It takes me a moment, but then I see the three figures sitting in the dark watching us like they are waiting for us.
No!
I’m too tired.
I can’t.
Those thoughts go through my mind so quickly, and then I just lay back down.
“I can’t, Kelly. I’m done.”
Kelly removes his arm and looks at me. “What?” he twists and gets up on his knees. It takes a moment, but then he throws his head back and howls.
Yeah, so, Kelly Raines is fairly spoiled, and though he does have to work for things, it almost always works out. I can count on one hand the number of times things have gone wrong for him. Today would be especially bitter for him.
Having these three psychos beat us at every turn is probably hurting his ego. Definitely hurting his ego. Ezy’s, too. Me, I’m used to losing, so this isn’t a surprise. I tried, we failed. It is what it is.
I’m not even surprised. I just lay in the sand, watching the sky leach the deep red tinge from it and turn it midnight blue.
“Come on, get up, we have to keep going!” Ezy urges, and, to my surprise, he gets on his board and paddles away.
I sit up, shocked. “Ezy! Come back, it’s night, you have no water to drink, you can’t keep going on!”
“I’m not going back!” he shouts with a note of hysteria.
“Kelly, he can’t go out there!” I say urgently.
Kelly doesn’t say anything, he just slumps with his chin on his chest and shudders.
I jump as I realise the blue-haired heathen has crept up and is standing beside me in his big combat boots. Our eyes meet and collide. There is something so powerful about these alphas, they make me feel like a little kid in need of rescue. I am afraid of them, but I’m more afraid of what I’d become with them.
“Come back!”
Two words.
I feel the command to my soul like an anchor that sinks deep and commands all of my attention.
Fuck, just how strong are these guys?
Ezy howls and rages, but he turns his board around and paddles back to the beach.
Shale turns and walks away with a muttered, “follow me,” that has me up on my feet and stepping after him before I can think.
Keagan brushes his hair out of his face and walks up to Kelly, who narrows his eyes and holds his ground.
The punch is unexpected. He moves so damn quick.
“This is in lieu of me breaking your legs like I promised.”
Kelly rubs his jaw and forces a smile. “You realise this is kidnapping?”
“Tell it to someone who cares,” Keagan snaps.
There’s a sudden jolt of liquid pleasure through the bond, mixed with a maliciousness that makes me wince.
“What is that?” Ezy hisses.
Keagan and Shale exchange a look and bump knuckles. “Beau sealed the deal.”
“Sealed the deal?” I ask. “With what?”
“Not a what. A whom,” Shale says without looking at us. He walks over to me and ties a rope around my wrists. I have to admit, I’m too tired to care. I just stare down at it, confused. Beau is fucking Aspyn? But I thought she didn’t want us?
“See what happens when you give up too early?” Shale whispers. “But thanks for making it easy for her to decide.”
I take a step, ready to punch him in his lying mouth, but Kelly grabs my arm, stopping me.
“So, she’s fucking him. Who cares?”
Keagan grabs Kelly by the hair and yanks him to his knees. “She deserves better than someone like you, Raines. The only good you are to her is on your knees, just like this. And I’m going to keep you there a lot.”
Kelly glares back defiantly, but Shale just ties him up as well with a muttered, “leave it.”
The third guy approaches, and though I knew it wasn’t Beau, it’s still weird that someone else is helping these criminals.
Keagan tosses the three ropes at him and starts up the beach. The guy smiles and rubs at his cheek.
“You promised this wasn’t illegal!”
“Aw, poor Mitch!” Keagan mocks and blows him a kiss.
“It’s illegal!” Kelly snarls.
Mitch giggles and yanks on the ropes, making us stumble after him. We could easily overpower him, I guess, but I don’t see the point. With one growled command, Shale or Keagan can silence our protests.
Kelly walks stiffly, his gaze assessing every movement our captors make.
Captors? Pack mates. We’re bonded now. Maybe it’s time to start making lemonade.
We get up to a hidden road, and Shale gets behind the driver’s seat, but we’re not invited in the car. No, Mitch and Keagan tie the ropes to the back of the car. I almost cry as my mind slowly figures out what they intend to do.
“What about our boards?” Ezy protests.
“Fuck the boards,” Keagan growls viciously. “Think about this while you jog back home. Every time you move in an action that hurts our omega, we’re going to hurt you back.”
I don’t look at the others, but I’m confused. How is this hurting an omega who doesn’t want us?
Keagan gets in the back of the car, and I panic. They can’t really expect us to run back?
The car rocks forward. Oh, god. I’m going to die. I mentally prepare myself and start running.
One foot after the other. I ignore the burn; I ignore the pain. When I vomit, I keep running. I run until my legs feel like jelly and the car rocks to a stop outside our hotel.
Keagan gets out of the car and approaches with a knife. As soon as I’m cut free, my brain registers that this is over. Our punishment has ended. I collapse on the ground. Every inch of my body aching.
Kelly lands heavily beside me and starts heaving.
Ezy manages a few more steps and drops to his knees.
“Right, Mitch, you grab Ezy. He looks the lightest. I’ve got Gael, and, Keagan, you grab Kelly.”
When Shale picks me up, I’m surprised to find myself lifted bridal style into his arms. He carries us back to the hotel room we left hours ago and puts me in a bed.
He’s gentle when he bathes my feet and bandages them and even more when he checks my wrists. When he lifts me up and carefully dribbles electrolytes into my mouth, I want to cry. I try to guzzle it, but he refuses to let me.
I finally become aware of more than just me and find Kelly being looked after by Keagan. I don’t think that the alpha is as gentle as Shale was to me. Maybe we don’t deserve gentle.
Shale moves to Ezy and silently repeats the process.
When the three of us are lying in bed, Keagan and Shale wave off Mitch. He disappears with a wink and a grin.
Shale stands at the door, watching us with a foreboding expression on his face.
“Why?” I ask. “Why are you punishing us for hurting an omega who doesn’t want us?”
Keagan growls. The sound is low and menacing, and I have to admit, a part of me is deeply afraid of this vicious alpha.
Shale simply shakes his head. “As long as you live in willful ignorance, we won’t help you. We will simply punish you, an eye for an eye. But when you stop fighting her pull, you won’t find enemies, you’ll find home.”
He scans the room and grunts.
“Tomorrow, you’re moving into House Daane. So, pack up, and be ready at midday. Any more attempts at escape will be dealt with more aggressively. We were lenient tonight. You only ran two clicks. You were fighting the currents and getting nowhere. Stupid. Start using your brains and eyes or I’ll fucking make you.”
They turn and walk out, leaving us in a dark hotel room. I stare at the hotel room ceiling, absolutely exhausted but unable to get my mind to stop racing.
The day’s events play out over and over.
How did we think we could get away so easily? We seriously underestimated the enemy.
Are they right?
No, Aspyn clearly doesn’t want alphas.
This is just three feral alphas on a power trip. They have to be feral. Who goes around bonding other alphas against their will? But then I remember the feeling through the bond. Beau finding something I have never felt in the arms of that beautiful omega.
Ezy is right. These alphas are our enemies.
We are going to have to start fighting them the right way. The smart way.
A way that gets us off this island and out of their lives.