Chapter 9
It didn’t feel like that much time had passed when Fenrir woke next, groggy and somewhat out of it. There was pain when he sat up, and he stiffened, mind racing to take in his surroundings and make sense of it all.
He was in a bedroom, placed in the center of the largest bed he’d ever seen, pale coral sheets draped over his lap.
The room was massive, with a seating area, a reading nook, and three closed doors.
It’d been decorated in silvers and whites, with hints of beige and pastel pink here and there to add color.
It screamed money, but it certainly didn’t scream alpha.
At least, not any of the alphas Fenrir had known. Maybe because all the alphas he’d known personally up to this point had been product or pack. Michelle’s private rooms at the estate were opulent, but even those paled in comparison to his current setting.
If this were merely a single room in Oberon King’s home, Fenrir shuddered to think how expensive the rest of the place might appear.
Tossing the covers aside, he risked moving to the edge of the bed, planting his feet on the plush carpeted floor. He couldn’t help but take a moment to wiggle his toes against the soft warmth, but then cleared his throat, urging himself to get his shit together.
He was still naked, but that was okay. All he needed was…
His eyes landed on a desk on the opposite side of the room, and he made his way to it.
It took him far longer than it should have, his legs shaking, muscles protesting, but he managed in the end.
The fountain pen he’d spotted was sharp enough to serve his purpose, and without much thought, he brought the point to his right inner thigh, drawing it across his flesh with enough force to separate layers of skin.
The tiny microchip that had been hidden there appeared, and he used the pen to dig the corner out so he could grasp it and pull it free.
There, now that that was done, he just needed to find a device he could upload the program to.
Fenrir froze when he turned his head and discovered a multi-slate resting on the desk. It’d been placed there haphazardly, as though someone had carelessly tossed it onto the wooden surface.
Was this a test?
Where was the alpha anyway?
Fen glanced around the room, searching the corners or anywhere else he thought there might be hidden cameras.
Without conducting a thorough search, however, he couldn’t be certain, even when he didn’t immediately spot anything.
There wasn’t any time to look harder. The alpha could return at any moment, and if he did before Fenrir had completed his mission…
“Screw it.” He’d take the risk. There was a better chance that the alpha had left his device here without thinking. Because he knew where Fen had come from and therefore had to know that there was no one he could call, even if he wanted to.
Product weren’t allowed communication devices of their own, and they weren’t given contact numbers. Anyone placed out in the field, like the waitress he’d encountered at the party, had a handler nearby to escort and monitor them.
Fenrir was trusted more than the rest, had been allowed out of the Wardrobe’s sight because Michelle trusted him enough to return to her. But even that only went so far.
She hadn’t given him her contact information, so if he did get into trouble, if he was caught betraying the alpha, Fen was shit out of luck.
He wasn’t delusional. He knew very well that she would abandon him in a heartbeat if it came down to it.
Didn’t matter that she’d spent the past two years perfecting him.
Fenrir was still product.
Still disposable.
If he could get away with this, though, maybe that would change.
Was it pathetic that his big wish was to belong, even if it meant conforming to the same nightmare group that had ruined his life? Yes. But knowing that didn’t change the facts. No matter how much he hated himself for wanting to be pack, that didn’t quell the desire.
Fen wanted to be free. Even if that meant selling the only pieces left of himself he still had.
The multi-slate was in his hand a moment later, and he slotted the chip into the port at the side, tapping on the screen when the program appeared. Red lines raced across it, flickering before forming the image of two squares, one filled, the other empty.
Not wanting to take any chances, his eyes pinged around at the closed doors. Since he was already in it, might as well go all the way. It’d been imperative to conceal his energy before, but not now.
Inwardly, he felt for the invisible thread at the center of his chest and tugged on it, feeling the familiar thrum of power reacting to his summons.
Fenrir planted his palm against the wall and willed that power forward, staring at the nearest doorknob.
Frost skated from his hand across the opalescent wallpaper, then coated the metal knob, freezing the locking mechanism in place.
He repeated the process until all three doors were secured, then sighed.
Hybrids weren’t unheard of, but they weren’t very common either. With the planet in upheaval over dwindling birthrates, that would no doubt be changing, but for now, Fenrir was considered a rare breed.
Rarer still because of what his Syn bloodline had been mixed with.
If this secret got out, it would be worse than the alpha catching him planting spyware on his device, but since he was currently alone, Fenrir utilized it.
No one else on the planet was aware that he was part Shout, a race typically found on the planet Ignite, located in a galaxy far from theirs.
Someone in his line had fled from the planet generations ago, but his grandparents hadn’t known much more than that.
Shouts had the ability to control certain elements. For him, that was ice. He could pull it from the molecules in the air and form it to his will, but his bloodline was too diluted. His ability could be used in bursts, but not for lengthy periods of time.
Of course, he’d tried to use it to escape when he’d been younger, once the trials had begun and life had become unbearable. He hadn’t gotten far. Eventually, Michelle had caught him. She’d kept his secret, had tried to convince him she could be trusted as a confidante, but he knew the truth.
She wanted to use him.
That was fine.
People who were useful were made pack, and he’d waited all this time for her to finally trust him enough to let him off the estate. To give him a task and allow him to prove himself.
He wouldn’t squander this opportunity.
The empty square began to fill, and Fenrir held his breath as he watched it.
The program would load itself onto the device and blend seamlessly into the background, undetected.
It would give Michelle remote access, and she’d be able to view everything Oberon King sent and received from here on out.
Every search he made on the internet or game he spent his pastime playing.
She’d see it all, and through it, she’d figure out how to get the White Frost off the Wardrobe’s back.
Fenrir didn’t know much, only what she’d confided in him, but the gist of it was that the Leviathan had turned a new leaf and had suddenly started hunting other organizations down.
There was another mafia, equally as dangerous, who were doing the same, though so far it appeared the two weren’t in cahoots.
Having to guard against both of them, as well as the Imperial family, had put too big a strain on business, and Michelle was no longer willing to stand in the background and allow it to continue.
But that meant going up against the White Frost, the largest mafia in the city, and the second largest on the planet.
Fenrir was doing this in part to get ahead, and also because bad business only meant one thing for the people he considered comrades.
To make up for poor sales, regulations were starting to loosen.
Product was being pushed in places to a clientele that the Wardrobe had considered itself above before.
The auction he’d been presented at had been above board, practically legal. But they weren’t all like that. He’d seen the numbers, the file left on Michelle’s desk one evening when he’d been summoned and told to wait.
They’d lost six omegas and four alphas in the past five months, all to buyers who hadn’t been properly vetted. People who’d been allowed near the product, welcomed even, who’d abused that chance.
Maybe it was na?ve of him to believe even for a second that he could make a difference, but he couldn’t sit back and do nothing.
For years now, those people, the product, had been his only companions aside from Michelle.
He wasn’t close with any of them, and yet he could relate to them more than anyone else on the planet.
Certainly more than other omegas who understood going into it what to expect when being knotted.
His cheeks turned a bright shade of pink, and he inwardly cursed himself for being so weak. The embarrassment was visceral, however, inescapable as he was reminded of the way he’d clung to the alpha in the car and squeezed around his length.
How he’d passed out…like a fucking bitch.
He was so caught up in his own mortification, he almost didn’t notice when the program completed its transfer. Sucking in a sharp breath, he pulled the chip free and cleared the screen of the device, taking great care to replace it at the exact odd angle he’d found it.
Then he went to the nearest door, using his ability to melt the frost, swearing when it opened to a walk-in closet.
The next one was locked—probably the exit. Made sense. Of course the alpha wouldn’t want him roaming around what had to be a castle-like home.
That only left one other option, and sure enough, Fenrir found the bathroom inside. He went straight to the toilet, dropping the chip into the water, then relieved himself while he was at it.
A great weight was lifted from his shoulders as soon as he flushed and the evidence of his crimes vanished.