Chapter 25 Zack
Chapter twenty-five
Zack
My pack’s visit dissolved a wall in my mind.
Now the thoughts circling behind my eyes come more clearly, as if I’ve become a different Zack.
The fear they’d abandoned me crumbled under my ohm-ga’s touch, and even the possibility Cal-ee might keep me locked away on purpose proved empty.
Each time he visited the hospital, I sensed no challenge from him. Now I trust he’ll get me home.
Which matters, because today I’m on my way back to the cold cell where Al waits for me.
I test the metal locking my hands together with smug satisfaction.
If needed, I could break it clean through, but none of the alphas in this long moving vehicle poses a danger.
The dark-skinned one beside me curls in on himself, careful not to bump me as the vehicle sways.
But some others have trouble on their minds, like the one sitting behind me.
His gaze bores into the back of my head, and his thickened alpha scent ripples toward me, making me uneasy.
To distract myself, I watch the scene through the glass beside me. It’s different from when I ride with Red and Ri-ckon. More of the big blue sky is visible and trees stab into the ground instead of rows of tall city boxes that people come and go from.
The lurching movements as we zip past remind me of fight days back before I met my pack. And, since I’m returning to prison, the sensation has some truth.
Behind me, the air changes as the alpha releases traces of a challenge.
I cock my head, digesting the change. Confidence isn’t the only new thing I gained in the hospital while I waited for my ribs to stop burning with every movement.
Before Al left, I asked him why my scent is so different from others’ and he told me most alphas restrain their challenge, especially in public.
I never knew that was possible, but now it makes sense why an alpha as powerful as Ri-ckon doesn’t release much scent unless aroused.
Everything was a threat back when I was a fighter.
I was on edge all the time, never knowing when my next fight would come, either with challengers, the other alphas I lived with, or the men who fed and taunted us.
Now things are different. My voice, my scent, and my desire to challenge can all be adjusted, so I’ve been practicing.
The fool sitting behind me doesn’t realize I’m holding back on purpose.
This time, I know I’m allowed to defend myself. My ohm-ga told me not to get hurt again, so I won’t. A chuckle vibrates in my throat as the weak threat rises.
“What’s so funny, big boy?” The alpha behind me has an odd purr in his voice as he leans forward, scent thickening.
His finger scrapes down the back of my neck, the owner clearly not valuing that part of his body.
“You know, I’ve been watching you stare out the window, and I’m guessing this is your first time in prison, yeah?
I could take real good care of a big, dumb brute like you.
I’ll only ask for your hole a few times a week, and in return, I’ll do your thinking for you. ”
Absurd. Not even my pack tries to think for me.
Having alphas sit so close irritates me enough to begin with, so when his hand slides around to touch my jaw, my nerves fray to the last string. The chilly touch of the metal around his wrists drapes on my nape.
I swing to the silent alpha hunched beside me. “See hand?”
He glances over but quickly drops his gaze, defeat streaming off him. Oh, a coward. I scoff. Closing my eyes, I concentrate on the layers of a challenge, sinking into the first as I let my annoyance show.
“Oh, cute,” the alpha behind me whispers. “Now you want to posture up?”
But my warning isn’t for him. He wants to think for another being? He’s too stupid to reason with.
“See hand on me?” I repeat for the timid alpha beside me. “Touch first, yes?”
Perhaps I haven’t learned this magic well yet, because his entire body jerks as my silent challenge fills the air. The hair on his arms jumps to attention. His black eyes, filled with fear, dart my way before he nods stiffly.
Well, that’s enough.
“I’m being nice, darlin’ boy,” the alpha behind me croons, his grip tightening as he attempts to turn my face toward him. “The brutes in prison might not be so nice. We’re almost there, so you should make a wise choice now, before I change my mind.”
The alpha beside me hiccups and closes his thighs tight. Interesting.
With a quick flex of my muscles, I warm my body, and then turn and latch onto the troublemaker’s outstretched arm. With a grunt of effort, I haul him up over the seat and toss him toward the front of the vehicle.
He screeches, the sound smooth in my ears.
But I forgot the guards also chained our feet. The flying alpha jerks up short, boots a handspan off the floor, legs kicking over the back of my chair, and body suspended over the seat in front. The two alphas sitting there roar as he flails his arms into their heads.
A guard at the front shouts and the big vehicle slows, but my senses tingle for an entirely unrelated reason.
The bond in my chest heats, and I throw myself against the glass as a crowd appears out the window.
People, vehicles on the side of the road, and a triangle house.
And in front of the thin house stands Mine and White Mine, waving.
I slam both hands against the glass and grin. They’re here, waiting outside the prison for me.
The alpha behind me thrashes wildly, bumping me as he shouts and swears.
“Be silent!” I roar, heat welling up inside me.
Challenge spills from every limb, and I slam my elbow down into his shoulders, sending the top half of his body tumbling down into the recess at my feet.
My ribs ache a bit, but I’ve had far worse in the fight ring.
The alphas in front freeze, choking on my challenge.
“Too fucking noisy!” I hiss before turning back to the window to wave eagerly at my pack.
The vehicle shifts, swinging toward the big walled building, and my pack mates turn with me, arms held up high. Ri-ckon grabs our ohm-ga around the waist, supporting her as I slide by. My heart aches as the concrete and curled wire shut them out of view.
My foot kicks out a few times in annoyance as my pack disappears from sight and the stuck alpha shrieks in pain.
Guards swarm, dragging the foolish alpha back into his seat and threatening us with raised weapons.
I cross my arms over my chest as much as the metal allows. “He attack me first,” I declare. “Self-defense.”
The alpha beside me straightens, hands forming fists on his knees. “It’s t-true. He grabbed his neck.”
I flash him a grin. Maybe he’s not a complete coward. The guards grumble, and the stupid alpha behind me groans and vomits. When they move away, I reach out and ruffle the dark alpha’s hair, the way White Mine pats my head. “Good,” I say.
He hides a smile by dropping his head.
“Defend. Don’t give no holes or thoughts to fuckers.” I scoff at the idea as the guards get us lined up to leave the vehicle.
“Good advice,” he says. “I’m Owen, by the way. Can you teach me to move like that?”
“Zack.” I stab a thumb into my chest. “Find me in the yard.”
We shuffle forward, and I step down onto the prison grounds. I lift my head, searching for traces of my pack in the wind. Maybe the scents find me, or maybe I just remember them, but either way a solid certainty settles in my heart. I’ll be with them again soon.
But for now, I have a task to complete.
After the usual annoyance of getting naked and squatting over mirrors, I finally reach the main part of the prison. Al beams as the guard lets me back into our cell. “Hey! There’s our wild kindergartner. All patched up now?” he asks.
I scan him, forcing my alpha challenge to retreat after the fun on the trip.
His brows rise. “Oh, count me impressed. The wolf finally hides his musk; well, a bit.”
“Zack learns,” I tell him proudly. Lifting my shirt, I show him my healing wounds. “Almost better, but not wolf.” Wolves are like dogs, and that’s not me. Not anymore.
Al chuckles. “Good. But if you don’t want people thinking you’re an animal, stop referring to yourself as Zack. Use ‘I’ instead.”
I scowl at him, but recent conversations run through my head, and I realize he’s right. Speaking is much more complicated than growling and letting out primal challenges. “Fine. Now tell I truth.”
He groans and scrubs one hand over his face. “No, in that sentence, use ‘me.’ Tell me the truth.”
A growl shivers through my throat. He just told me to use I.
Al lifts his hands. “Yeah, I know. English is fucking hard.”
“You promised, once no more hospital, Al tell me or I the truth about Ray. What he do to Red?” They all danced around my question when I first asked and Cal-ee refused to tell me the other times he visited.
I know Ri-ckon explains things to me slowly so I can understand, but not even he wanted to talk about it.
All I know is that Cal-ee put Ray in prison because he did something wrong to my ohm-ga. And somehow that’s why the slimy man told other alphas to attack me. I plan to find out.
I throw my sleeping clothes into my alcove in the wall and stand in front of Al. Interestingly, I sense a small amount of challenge from him, but I understand it better now. Alphas like Al and me can never suppress it entirely. I think we’re born this way.
“Talk,” I say, leaning on the wall opposite his bed.
Al sighs and rubs his shiny scalp. “Look, I think your pack are trying to protect you here—”
“No,” I interrupt. “They can’t talk because it hurt my ohm-ga.”
He wobbles his head like it’s not held on properly. “That too.”
“Zack—me—must learn to not be a dog. More thoughts is good.” And it’s true. Thinking used to make my head hurt, but now I have ways of connecting thoughts. I no longer need to beat my head against a wall because of the internal pressure.