6. A Game Of Cat And Mouse
6
A GAME OF CAT AND MOUSE
~SERENITY~
S erenity slammed the door of her assigned bedroom, the heavy oak connecting with the frame with a satisfying thud.
She pressed her back against it, exhaling a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding since Lucian Blackthorn's touch had branded her skin.
"Bastard," she muttered, crossing to the bathroom where she vigorously splashed cold water on her face as if she could wash away the lingering sensation of his finger tracing her jawline.
The suite was luxurious—all dark hardwoods and rich fabrics—but it might as well have been a prison cell. She methodically examined the room, trailing her fingertips along the walls, checking behind the artwork for safes or hidden panels, and testing the windows. Sealed shut, reinforced glass.
Of course.
Serenity sat on the edge of the bed, her mind racing. She pulled a small notebook from her purse and began jotting down observations in a shorthand of her own creation—a habit from her consulting days that had served her well.
"Five Alphas," she whispered to herself. "Darius knows something. Warning about father's killers... connected to someone here even though I know the truth. Was he blackmailed into doing the deed? Set up?" She tapped her pen against the paper. "24-hour head start. Cameras likely in common areas, not bedrooms due to privacy laws for Omegas."
She sketched a rough map of what she'd seen of the facility, marking potential exits and blind spots. The eastern stairwell had fewer cameras. The kitchen staff changed shifts at 11 PM, according to the schedule posted in the hallway.
"I need transportation, cash, and a new identity," she murmured, mentally cataloging her resources. The Swiss account her father had left her couldn't be accessed without triggering alerts, but she had emergency funds hidden in three cities, including one cache in Detroit itself.
"I don't need to get far—just far enough to regroup and?—"
A soft click interrupted her thoughts. Serenity froze, her muscles tensing as a section of the wood paneling on the far wall slid open. Her hand instinctively reached for the letter opener she'd pocketed from the common room downstairs—not much of a weapon, but better than nothing.
Elena Blackwood stepped through the opening, her movements fluid and silent.
Unlike the Alphas downstairs with their domineering presences, Elena's Beta status gave her an understated quality that made her easy to underestimate—a quality Serenity knew better than to dismiss.
"Ms. Vale," Elena said, her voice low and controlled. She wore a tailored black suit that emphasized her athletic build, her dark hair pulled back in a severe ponytail. "We don't have much time."
Serenity didn't lower the letter opener. "Interesting. The head of my father's security detail decides to pay a visit through a secret passage I didn't know existed. Should I be flattered or alarmed?"
A ghost of a smile touched Elena's lips.
"Both would be appropriate." She glanced at Serenity's notebook. "Your escape plan won't work. The Society has contingencies for every scenario you're considering."
"And yet here you are, using a route that bypasses their security." Serenity raised an eyebrow. "Care to share how many more of these little passages exist?"
"Enough," Elena replied, moving further into the room but maintaining a respectful distance. "Your father had this house modified years ago. The Society thinks they know all its secrets." Her eyes, sharp and assessing, met Serenity's. "They don't."
Serenity felt a flicker of something dangerous — hope. She tamped it down, her experiences have taught her that hope was often just the precursor to disappointment.
"What do you want, Elena?"
"To offer you an alliance." Elena reached into her jacket and Serenity tensed, but the Beta only withdrew a small data drive. "And to give you information about your father that changes everything you think you know."
"My father is dead. Why come to me now?"
"Because his killers are in this house," Elena said flatly. "And they believe you're just a naive Omega who inherited a business you don't understand. They have no idea what Marcus was grooming you for."
Grooming me for when I was barely in his life?
It’s comical to think about how his demise triggered my reign like it’s truly important to this world of cunning bloodshed and endless cruelty.
Serenity's pulse quickened.
"And what was that, exactly?"
"To take his place." Elena's expression remained impassive. "Your father knew what you were capable of long before you presented as an Omega. He saw something in you that transcended biology—a mind that could rebuild his empire, but better. Cleaner."
Yeah right. Build an empire I’ve only touched the surface of? What do I get doing any of this?
"You expect me to believe my father—who I barely knew—had some grand plan for me?" Serenity scoffed. "The man couldn't be bothered to acknowledge me for most of my life."
"He kept you hidden to protect you." Elena took a step closer, her intensity surprising. "Those MBA programs? The financial consulting firm that 'happened' to have contracts with shell companies tied to Vale Enterprises? None of that was a coincidence. Your entire career has been preparation."
Serenity's mind whirled with implications.
"Prove it."
Elena held out the data drive.
"Everything you need is here. Security codes, account numbers, names of allies... and enemies. The truth about your mother's exile." She paused, her voice softening slightly. "And a message from Marcus, recorded a week before he died."
Serenity stared at the small device, her throat suddenly tight.
"Why should I trust you?"
"Because I've been watching over you since you were sixteen," Elena replied simply. "I was the one who made sure you got into Wharton. I was the one who diverted the assassins sent for you three years ago—before you even knew who your father was."
Serenity blinked, memories rearranging themselves. The scholarship that had appeared out of nowhere. The car accident that had killed her roommate but somehow spared her. The job offer that had seemed too perfect.
"I..." she began, uncertainty coloring her voice for the first time.
She wants to make the right decision but all of this is overwhelming. She doesn’t have the time to sit and “think” about it. You don’t get that privilege in the world of rich fuckers and cunning circumstances, but what would she get lying to me?
"I don't like being manipulated," Serenity finally said, her voice hardening as she took the drive from Elena's outstretched hand. The small device felt impossibly heavy in her palm. "My entire life has been a construct. A chess game where I didn't even know I was a piece on the board."
Elena remained unflinching.
"Your father was playing a longer game than anyone realized. The Vale name carries weight, but it's the Ryker blood in you that truly terrifies them."
"Ryker?" The name hit Serenity because she didn’t know that tidbit about her mother. "My mother was a Ryker?"
"Elise Vale. Preciously know as Elise Ryker. Eldest daughter of the Ryker pack. The most powerful Omega bloodline in North America." Elena's eyes held a mix of respect and wariness. "Those red flecks in your golden eyes? That's the Ryker marker. It's why those Alphas downstairs are salivating over you. Not just for the Vale empire, but for what your blood represents."
What?
She never knew there could be a powerful Omega Bloodline, let alone one worthy enough to be acknowledged in North America. Adding the fact that we live in a society that enjoys labeling Omegas as useless and didn’t hesitate to degrade my Mother as a “disgrace” to our society, it is almost hypocritical to think behind hidden walls, my mother’s bloodline held power, wealth, and enough interest for all these Alphas to come into my orbit to apparently “claim” me.
Serenity's legs felt suddenly weak. She sank onto the edge of the bed, her mind racing to assimilate this information.
"My mother wasn't exiled for being an Omega..."
She tried not to think about her mother.
To acknowledge the raw deal she got in the name of tradition and power. How she'd been cast aside and erased like her existence was a black mark on the family register. The idea of the cruelty she endured in plain sight made Serenity angry. How the hell had she managed to live with it all those years?
It was the injustice of it, the way they had labeled her as barely worth mentioning, that set Serenity's blood on fire. She wanted to scream at the world that had turned her mother into a ghost, her life a whisper of what it could have been.
It was enough to make anyone sick.
Enough to make Serenity feel utterly helpless.
Because really, what can another Omega do? Especially a child at that?
That memory stung more than any of the others. Her mother's letters, the ones colored with false cheer and real longing, always carried the heavy weight of apology. Like she knew Serenity would never really understand; like she thought Serenity would blame her. Even when Serenity was old enough to see the truth, to know that Marcus was the villain in this damn saga, what did it change?
Her letters had stopped when Serenity turned ten.
Marcus claimed Eliana had lost interest, but she found out otherwise.
They killed her.
Her wealthy, all-powerful father couldn't let his precious daughter be tainted by an Omega mother who would surely empower her to rebel in this world that begs for nothing but submission.
He'd ripped her away and left Serenity to grow up alone. Serenity's fists clenched. All the money and privilege in the world, and Marcus Vale hadn't been able to give her the one thing she wanted.
Her family. Her legacy. Her throne that she’d reign when ready and not contort into claiming.
"It's comical," Serenity thought, "to think his demise triggered my reign like it’s truly important to this world of cunning bloodshed and endless cruelty." She didn't owe this world a damn thing. She owed Marcus even less. She'd forged herself without him, without Eliana, without anyone. Sure, Lucian, Darius, Ronan, and the others were after the Vale empire, but she'd make them play the game her way. Let them think they had a chance. Let them think she cared.
"She was hidden because she was carrying you. A Vale-Ryker child would shift the balance of power across every territory from Detroit to the Canadian border." Elena crossed her arms. "Your father was building an empire, yes, but he was also protecting his mate and child from both families."
The pieces were falling into place with sickening clarity.
"So I'm what—some kind of genetic jackpot?" Serenity laughed bitterly. "That explains the parade of Alphas downstairs."
"Four of them want to claim you for power. One of them..." Elena hesitated.
"Spit it out," Serenity snapped.
"One of them was your father's choice. His contingency plan."
Serenity's eyes narrowed.
"Let me guess. Darius?"
Elena's silence was confirmation enough.
"Well, he can get in line with the rest of them," Serenity snarled, rising to her feet. "I'm not a prize to be claimed or a bloodline to be exploited. I don't care what my father wanted."
"You should care about surviving the next forty-eight hours," Elena countered. "Those Alphas have resources, connections. Without protection?—"
"Protection?" Serenity's laugh cut through the tension, hard and defiant. As if anything in life—let alone her life—could be so easy as to win with the luxury of some protection. Every experience taught her that you either win or you lose. There is no in-between, and no one is going to stick their neck out for free. Not if they want to keep it attached.
"You think I'm worried about surviving this?" Her voice dripped with sarcasm, layers of disbelief and anger boiling to the surface. "In case you missed the memo, I grew up without protection. From Marcus. From Eliana. From anyone. And I made it just fine." She paced, fueled by unresolved defiance.
"This isn't some pack war. I don't need bodyguards when these Alphas aren't even allowed to touch me until the competition starts. I've already been running from this life for twenty-six goddamn years, in case you forgot. I've managed as long as I have because I was smart. Because I was invisible. I didn’t survive because I was protected.”
She threw a look at Elena, challenging her to refute any of it.
"Even now, I’m not interested in playing the victim for the entertainment of power-hungry criminals who think sticking a collar around my neck is the trophy of a lifetime."
Elena said nothing, her silence only adding fuel to Serenity’s fire. She almost felt bad for the Beta, as if any of this was personal. Elena was a pawn just like she was, a bit player in this pathetic saga. A fucking speck in the grand schemes of the real power players.
“Let them all try to claim it. Let them try to break and capture me," Serenity continued, her determination steely and unyielding. "The only thing they're going to catch is disappointment."
Talking about the competition felt almost therapeutic, like she wasn't just working through this crazed new revelation, but articulating her own strategy. She felt a surge of adrenaline at the challenge she'd thrown down, to Elena, to the Alphas, and even to herself.
"Protection is the last thing I need, especially when likelier than not, it’s a ploy to backstab me at the last minute. When I’m?—"
She cut herself off, not wanting to admit to any vulnerability. Not to anyone, not even to herself.
She shifted tactics, her tone shifting from sharp to cynical. "Just watch," she said, punctuating her words with a hard glare.
"I'm going to turn the next forty-eight hours into a spectator sport."
Elena regarded her with a look that verged on pity as if she found Serenity's bravado impressive but ultimately naive.
"Don't underestimate their reach," Elena warned. "You think you know the game you're playing, but the rules are stacked against you. The moment you leave this house, they'll have you."
All Serenity can do is smirk at the challenge.
“Then we’ll play a grand game of cat and mouse.”