Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Saylor
T he cafeteria is filled with faces I haven’t seen before. There are a few I recognize, mostly Maggie and the small cluster of women that sit around her at the same table she was at on the first day.
The weight of everyone’s stares makes my heart beat funny while my palms sweat and my instincts scream to run. Not letting it get to me isn’t easy, but I roll my shoulders back and walk with purpose.
Having Leo and Shaw at my back gives me a sense of security. We head through the serving line, which I’ve never done before, and settle at a table near the hallway that leads to the women’s wing.
The guys dig in, not that I can blame them.
It smells delicious.
There’s some type of grilled chicken in a sweet sauce, white rice, and steamed vegetables. They even had pans of salmon and tofu. The inmates here might not be able to leave, but they’re served decent nutrition. Most of what I’ve eaten here has been better than the stuff served in the cafeteria at the private high school I attended.
Shaw watches the room, shoveling his food into his mouth like he hasn’t eaten in days.
Leo is slower, appraising me as he cuts up his chicken into little pieces. “Do you want me to grab you something else?”
My head shakes, and I check on the table of omegas once more. “No, I’m not really hungry. What I need to do is to speak to that woman.” I nod at Elsie…or Elyse. I’m still not sure what her name is, but that doesn’t matter. I have questions about how she came to be here. She pushes herself out of her chair and moves toward the food line. “I’ll be right back. Please don’t follow me. I think it’ll make the omegas nervous.”
Shaw curses, not bothering to be quiet about it, but neither of them follows me as I shove myself off the terrible round plastic stool and take off after the omega.
The food smells grow stronger as I approach the buffet line once more. I’ve never been a huge fan of fish or seafood, and the scent of the salmon overpowers the chicken, making my stomach roll.
I’m always more sensitive to smells and sounds the closer I get to starting a new pack of suppressants, but it’s even worse without those in the mix.
The whole buffet area has a big metal rolling gate that hovers over the top of it. It takes me several seconds to understand it can be lowered when the food service workers are cleaning up the hot bar or putting out fresh food. The last time I was here, I was too frazzled to pay much attention to anything, but Omen wasn’t joking when he said the staff only interacts with the prisoners when the shit hits the fan.
The woman who smells like peaches and some type of tart citrus fruit jolts as I slide up to her side.
“Sorry,” I say, offering what I hope comes off as a friendly smile. “I’m Saylor. I think we came in at the same time.”
“Elyse,” she says, grabbing a spoonful of the sauce from the chicken pan and pouring it over a small bowl of rice.
“I know this is going to be out of left field…” I keep my voice low. “Did you willingly agree to come in here?”
She slides her tray down the line. “I made the same deal the rest of you did. One hundred thousand euros for one year. If I leave, I owe every penny back. If I make it to the end of my contract without a bond, I can walk away and owe nothing or sign on for another year at the same rate.” Her voice is low and raspy with a lilt to certain words. I don’t think she’s from the US, and not just because of the euros thing. She has an accent I can’t quite place, but it seems vaguely Scandinavian.
“So you made the choice to come into the facility,” I say, unsure if I’m relieved for her or angry for myself.
I never got that choice, and at the same time, I don’t regret meeting Valor and Omen. It’s strange because we barely know each other, but my instincts are convinced they’re mine. That rabid alpha and unhinged beta are meant to be a part of my pack, and I don’t care what anyone else thinks or has to say about it.
“We all have a sob story. Why else would you agree to this? My sister is ill. There’s an experimental treatment in Poland, but…” She shrugs. “There is no guarantee it will work. The worst part is not knowing. What could a card or telephone call hurt?”
I frown.
I’m guessing if she found out her sister took a turn for the worse, she would ask to be released. Or knowing the treatment was effective, she might be less likely to renew for another year.
“And the others, they got the same offer?” I ask, grimacing when I realize how much I suck at discretion.
“I would assume so.” She turns to face me, and her long hair falls over my arm as she moves. “If you’re hoping to negotiate…” She lowers her tone even farther. “I wouldn’t. If you haven’t spent any of their money, they may release you, but you don’t want to push those men. You look like a sweet girl. You’ve already found protectors.” Her face breaks out into a dangerous smile. “More than once by the looks of it. Let nature take its course and be done with this place. That’s my advice for you.”
Her peachy scent hits my nose, and it’s not a pleasant experience. It takes everything in me not to bristle at being told I look like a sweet girl .
“Why were you crying on your first day here?” I ask, studying her face.
Her dark eyes narrow but she shrugs. “Why did you run? It’s one thing to hear about it, but it’s quite another to be released into the serpent’s pit, isn’t it?” With that, she walks back to the table of omegas.
She seemed annoyed.
I probably would be too.
Well, at least I tried.
Sighing, I step over to the refrigerator that has sandwiches and salads. I’m still not hungry, but I know they’ll lock us in the cell at eight and there won’t be a chance to run out and grab food if I’m starving.
I pick up a bag from the area where I found the turkey sandwiches the other day and peek inside. There’s a snack-size container of chips in a brand I don’t recognize, a sandwich, and a juice box. It’ll be perfect for a late-night snack if my appetite magically comes back.
They really should include cookies or sweets.
Don’t they want to keep the omegas happy?
If they’re paid…I guess they probably don’t care if they’re content.
I pull my arm out of the way and the door to the refrigerator closes loudly as I spin around.
“Would you look at that, Max? It seems we’ve found a pet without its owner.” The voice belongs to Edwin, the man who stopped to talk shit to Omen when we were handling the laundry.
My chest gets tight.
Was that really only earlier today? It feels like years have passed since then.
“She’s due to be rehomed,” the guy who must be Max says, laughing obnoxiously.
“Edwin.” I offer a tight smile. “Max. I’m sure you can find someone interested in your unfailing charm.” I frown, gesturing at my chest with my free hand. “That person isn’t me, but I’m sure you can find someone.”
Someone very desperate , I add silently.
“The beta’s sass seems to have rubbed off on you.” Max takes a step into my path and crosses his arms over his chest. “We’re generously offering to protect you while Valor rots in solitary.”
“No, I got that. I’m just not interested.” I step to the side to try to get by him, but he moves with me.
Edwin chuckles. “You seemed to like it when Valor took the approach of tossing you over his shoulder and carrying you to his room. Do you like to play coy, pet?”
I shiver.
No part of me likes hearing him call me that.
It’s special now.
Only Omen is allowed to call me pet .
Also, he’s either misremembering or purposely misconstruing what happened when I ended up in Valor and Omen’s cell.
First of all, Valor held me to his chest. He didn’t toss me over his shoulder. And secondly, I’m the one who pushed them to let me stay with them in their cell.
“We’re just trying to be neighborly.” Max makes a grab for my arm, and I stumble back.
The cold glass of the refrigerator bumps my backside, and I sidestep as quickly as possible while shaking out of his hold.
“I have two alphas watching over me until Valor and Omen are released,” I say as firmly as possible. It doesn’t work. My voice still wavers.
“You think those two—” Max cuts off, but I have no idea why. He and Edwin are much bigger than I am. I can’t see around them, but Shaw’s tattooed hand lands on top of Max’s arm, and that I can see.
Edwin spins around, and a crunching sound fills the air as his head bounces back. Half a second later, Leo’s hands interlock behind Edwin’s skull, and the obnoxious alpha is yanked forward and down.
My eyes widen as Leo brings his knee up, connecting with Edwin’s face as he pulls him down. The crunching sound and agonized groan Edwin releases are extreme.
I grimace and try to scurry farther away, but the backs of my shoes hit the fridge, reminding me that I’m trapped.
The cafeteria erupts in noise, outside of the muffled sounds of flesh hitting flesh.
I shimmy around the edge of the refrigerator to give Shaw space since Max is still on his feet.
A squeak escapes my lips as Shaw brings a forearm up, deflecting Max’s punch. He spins and brings his booted foot up, connecting with Max’s knee.
Why exactly are the alphas allowed to have boots?
Those alone feel like a weapon under the right circumstances. I’m in a pair of sneakers I’d expect to find on an old woman in a nursing home.
My head tilts, and my mouth goes a little dry as Max falls to one knee. His hand moves to cradle his leg where Shaw connected, but Shaw grabs the massive alpha with a handful of his hair. He rips the other man’s head back and snarls close to his ear.
I’m so focused on them, I don’t realize Leo has been speaking to me. He pries the bag of food out of my death grip and reaches for my hand.
“I’ve got you.” Leo gives an encouraging look, and I wrap my fingers in his. He pulls me around Edwin’s knocked-out body that now lies crumpled on the linoleum.
I stumble over my own two feet at the sight of Shaw standing over Max’s legs as the other alpha kneels. Shaw is just behind him, and he has a hold of Max’s hair in one hand and the alpha’s right arm in the other. He’s got Max’s wrist pinned to his back and his thumb bent at an awkward angle.
“Just one second, princess. This fuckface has something he’d like to say to you.” Shaw growls, yanking on Max’s hair. “Go on, fuckface. Say what you need to say.”
Max struggles.
Shaw lifts a leg, kicking him in the kidney.
I grimace as Max hisses.
“Now!” Shaw barks.
Normally, an alpha bark snaps my body into motion, but it’s like my system knows that order wasn’t meant for me. It does make my knees a little weak, seeing the way his forearm flexes as he yanks Max’s head back even harder.
I’m not even letting myself acknowledge the way my nipples tighten, because that would be weird.
“I’m sorry I grabbed you,” Max grinds out. “Won’t happen again.”
“You’re goddamn right it won’t,” Shaw snarls.
Okay, that was hot.
My head bobbles, possibly accepting Max’s apology. Also could be a physical manifestation of me agreeing with myself.
Shaw is every bit as sexy as I remember.
I only got to see him and Leo in action a handful of times over the years, and that feels like a real shame. Most of the memories consist of them shoving back an unruly crowd, and once, they had to restrain protestors outside of a fundraiser I was forced to attend.
Leo turns me toward the back of the cafeteria and the hallway that leads to the cells the alphas stay in. He uses his body at an angle behind mine to ensure I can’t look behind me, and a thumping sound fills the air.
I’m confused why that was so sexy.
I forgot they were in here for a second, or I wouldn’t have been worried at all when Max made a grab for my arm.
Maybe it’s an alpha and omega thing. I wouldn’t be shocked to learn omegas are coded to find alphas protecting them to be attractive.
Why the hell is my mouth so dry all of a sudden?
“Can you ask him to grab a bunch of bottles of water? They’ll lock us in soon, and the sink water is awful,” I say to Leo, stopping dead in my tracks before he can lead us down the hallway to the cell. “Actually, we need to go back the other way real quick. You and I need to find the laundry storage closet. It gets really cold at night.”
Leo’s hand tightens around my fingers. “Are you in shock?”
I scoff. “Because of that? Not a chance.”
What happened to me the first day with those Russian guys was way more traumatic. For those few minutes before Omen popped up, when there was no one else around, I truly thought Vlad and Sergei would rape me.
I was busy trying to remember what the safety courses said to do, but I was so frazzled that I couldn’t recall a single thing.
God, I miss Omen and Valor.
I just really need it to be tomorrow already.