Chapter 52
Chapter fifty-two
Rickon
After the thrown-together meal of bolognaise sauce on top of boiled potatoes with cheese and sour cream, we huddle on the couch in the living area.
The room boasts floor to ceiling glass windows overlooking the dark forest valley, and misty rain rolls in, providing a soft pattering backdrop for our conversations.
I turn on the fireplace with the heat on the lowest setting, the red flames mesmerizing as they flicker behind the glass.
“Won’t we get too hot?” Red asks.
I shake my head. “It’s mostly for looks on this setting.” I wink at her. “A bit of ambiance.”
“That’s handy,” she says, coming over to investigate. “Damn rich people come up with great ideas.”
“Did you forget you are a rich person?” I tease.
“Me?” Her eyes widen in genuine shock.
I shoot her a grin in the mirror over the fireplace. “You own a penthouse in downtown Laversham, are working on a contract worth a million dollars, and the richest man under forty just joined your pack.”
Red freezes, staring at me. “Callisto?”
I laugh and rinse my mouth out so I can talk properly. “Yep. There are others who come from wealthier families, but Calli owns a lot outright as well as being the only heir to the Wren fortune. And, if the Wrens take over Alpha Cash, that net worth could explode overnight.”
“Well, fuck me,” Red mutters.
I chuckle and return to the couch. Pretty sure Callisto mentioned something about chasing compensation money for Red after the OCB agents uncovered the haze distribution center, but since that will take months or possibly years to untangle, I leave it as a surprise for later.
After weeks apart, we finally have time to sit and chat. Zack wants to know everything, and the questions he asks show a surprising depth of understanding.
I feel a bit like a parent whose child went away to boarding school and came home all grown up, but I know it’s the stacking of experiences on the foundation Red and I built for him that’s allowed him to learn so quickly.
Zack wasn’t a child; he’s been a thinking adult since we met him, but he hadn’t received enough insight into the world. Now his perspective’s blown wide open.
Always in touching range, we sit with our feet curled up under us, listening to the gentle rain as we share our stories.
Zack tells us everything about prison, and what happened in the library and out in the yard.
When he mentions Owen, I make a mental note to ask Callisto to find out what the guy’s story is. Maybe we can help him.
But more than anything, Zack wants to understand us. It warms my soul, even as Red and I talk carefully about our painful pasts.
The big alpha vibrates with rage as Red explains her situation at the trafficking center in simple terms. He pulls away from us to pace back and forth as she finishes the story.
“Years?” Zack mutters, still pacing. “How long is years? Zack was in prison for one year?”
“No,” I tell him, shaking my head. “You were in prison for one and a half months. There are twelve months in a year, and twelve is as many eggs in a carton.”
Zack freezes, and his mouth drops open. He holds up his fingers, but as far as I know he can only count to five. I haul myself off the couch and spread his hands, adding two fingers next to his. “This many is twelve. You’ve been with us for nearly four months, so a year is a long time.”
His eyes sheen with tears as he scans the number of fingers. “And Red was in cells for more than year?”
I push one of his hands down so he only has five fingers spread.
“Zack, we think you were with the fighting kennels for this many years, although we don’t know what came before that.
” I lift his other arm back and press my hands against his.
“But we think Red was in the trafficking ring for twice as many years; all ten of your fingers.”
“All?” he murmurs. The sheen in his blue eyes ripples and tears form on his lashes. Zack drops my hand and goes to Red, kneeling at her feet. “Ohm-ee-ga. Zack sorry he didn’t find you.”
She strokes his head, too choked up to speak.
Zack looks up and growls faintly. “I punished him. Broke throat.” He pats his Adam’s apple.
“Ray won’t speak words again—like Death Alpha.
He won’t eat again from mouth or walk on legs.
” Our alpha lifts his hand to stroke her tan cheek, and his words tumble out clumsily as the sadness fills him.
“And Ray has no cock to stick where ohm-ee-ga says no.”
Red whimpers, hands tightening around Zack. Through the bond, we taste her burning rage, as well as her gratitude. “Thank you,” she mutters through clenched teeth.
I squeeze in beside her on the couch.
Zack tugs her sweater collar down and strokes her collarbone. “Now Zack understand these scars. You once promised me no more, so now I promise you. No more hurts.”
Red nods and swipes roughly at her face. “I like the sound of that.”
To move the subject away from Red’s sore spots, I ask Zack about his time as a fighting alpha.
Now he has enough words to tell us about the cells and the brutal training, the constant cold and the way fights operated.
I’d heard from Callisto about why the flashing lights set him off but hearing it from Zack makes his former life feel more real.
How could he not be always cold when his life was a continual struggle between life and death?
“What did you mean by the Death Alpha?” Red asks, hugging her arms around her body.
Zack brightens. “He was a fighting alpha in the same cells. He and Superior Alpha maybe stronger than Zack. Never find out without challenge. They belong to ohm-ee-ga who came. Smelled like flowers.”
Red straightens. “Rose? That means I met the Superior alpha and the Death alpha. Do you know their names?”
Zack shakes his head and jabs his chest with his thumb. “Not know even my name back then. Only sounds of Zaaaaazuuuuuu.” He calls it loudly like an announcer with the syllables all stretched out.
We chuckle. “Well, wait just a minute,” Red says, pushing Zack away so she can run for her phone. She taps a message out to her omega friend and gets a reply within a minute. “Look,” she crows. “Is this them?”
She turns her phone to show us a photo of an omega with a heart-shaped face, blonde wavy hair, and plump red lips beaming next to a dark-haired alpha with a dreamy look and lovely olive skin.
“Superior alpha!” Zack declares, eyes wide. “He live with ohm-ee-ga Rose?”
“Yes. And this one.”
The second photo shows a smaller alpha with bleached hair, a scar around his throat and dark, slanted eyes.
In a single word, I’d describe him as brooding.
Zack inhales sharply. “Death Alpha! He very dangerous. Kill quickly.” He leans in closer and presses one finger cautiously to the photo.
“He look very relaxed. Must be ohm-ee-ga magic.” He glances up at Red with a cheeky grin. “Mine calm Zack too.”
Red laughs. She swipes on her screen. “Well, they have new names too. The first alpha is Zane, and the one you called the Death Alpha is Uno. I remember meeting them on my way to get you out of prison the first time.” She pinches her nose and makes a face. “Rather stinky individuals.”
I choke on a laugh. Others would say the same about Zack.
Zack studies Red, lips moving a few times before he speaks. “Zack want meet them. Someday, when we not challenge each other.”
I reach out and clasp his hand. Those alphas are part of Zack’s past in the same way Rose is part of Red’s. “We’ll make that happen, Zack. I promise.”
He nods. Rocking back, he sits cross-legged on the floor, facing the couch. “I want to help other ferals learn, like Zack. Same you taught me.”
“Okay.” Red nods. “I guess we’ve been too busy to think about it properly. Rose’s pack set up a fund, and we already donated a lot of money so none of them get euthanized, but we can look into some other way to help.”
He shakes his head emphatically. “No. Cal-ee do it. Zack help Cal-ee. Be Zack’s job, like ohm-ee-ga acting.”
Zack and Callisto working together? I cock my head. “Did Callisto say he was going to help the feral alphas?”
“Yes.”
My heart skips a beat. Really? Honestly, after the wringer we’ve been through, Callisto’s the ideal person with all the inside knowledge, but he’s so busy, and he’s only one or two cases away from breaking the nation’s record of case win streaks.
Even though he’s changed, how’s he going to help the ferals and manage his busy career?
Red reaches out one leg to rest her toes on Zack’s knee. “If that’s what you want, Zack, we’ll make it happen.”
Our pack alpha grins, and satisfaction blooms through our collective awareness.
A minute later, as if our thoughts stirred him, the shower water runs in the upstairs room. Red tilts her head, listening, and when she catches me doing the same, she grins and waggles her eyebrows.
We sit quietly until Callisto’s steps echo in the hall, and then Zack rises smoothly to his feet, turning expectantly.
Callisto comes out wearing black shorts and a tank top, hair still damp. He stops in the hallway and looks us over. “Umm, hi,” he says, scratching the back of his neck. “So, I went into rut, huh?”
“You did,” Red says with a soft snort. “Gave us a real workout.”
Callisto flushes and rubs his neck. He glances around, his gaze landing on Zack. Ever the self-confident man, he walks over to Zack and offers his forearm. “I’m awake, alpha.”
A thrill rushes through me as Zack clasps his arm, pulling them close together like long-lost brothers. Then he sniffs Callisto and rubs his cheek on both of Calli’s. This time it’s not to pass his scent on to me.
Well, that solves the question of our pack hierarchy. Who knew the great Callisto Wren would submit to another alpha, but here we are. I bet Callisto himself never imagined this, either.
“Eat first,” Zack orders, releasing him and pointing to the kitchen. “Morning comes soon.”
“We made a plate up for you,” I add. “It’s in the fridge.”
“Thanks,” he says, digging it out. “This feels like old times.” He looks over the fridge door at me, expression serious. “But even better. Someone better pinch me.”
“Well, don’t ask Zack,” I suggest, grinning.
“You then,” Callisto shoots back, heading for the microwave.
He’s right that having him here with us feels familiar, as if a ghost of his presence was always part of our pack. I can’t wait to tell Mom, Simon, and Lector the good news.
Dawn breaks with pale pink hues, painting the mountains first, and then gradually moving down the pine forest slopes. The rain passes, leaving the windows twinkling with droplets.
I lever myself off the couch and join Calli at the table to keep him company.
As I pull out a chair, I bring up the topic we were talking about earlier. “Zack says he wants to work with rehabilitating feral alphas, and he said you agreed to help him?”
Callisto nods through a mouthful of loaded potatoes.
“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about it, because our justice system isn’t designed for them.
” He swivels to lock eyes with our omega.
“As Red said, it’s so unfair to treat them like other alphas.
Even those alphas who get a trauma overload and go feral, at least they know what level of behavior they’re supposed to return to. The ferals don’t have that guidepost.”
He loads up his fork again, and Zack pulls out a chair to join us. “It’s also more hard for us to be in cells and smell other alphas,” the big alpha says. “Feel constant challenge.”
Callisto fills his mouth and waves his fork in Zack’s direction. “Wha’ he said. Need a whole new facility.”
“But aren’t there dozens, maybe hundreds of ferals in the system?” I ask.
Callisto nods. “Pretty sure I heard seventy-two got picked up from the Darinian bust. Minus Zack here and the two in the Nesters pack in Darinian. Plus those lads from the garage lab. And we don’t know how many others could be underground.”
The scope of the project hits me. A facility big enough to give a hundred alphas their own space would rival the size of Laversham’s Alpha Lodgings.
Red drapes herself on the back of my chair, hands dangling across my chest. “Don’t forget you need to get their scent samples into the Omega Center books. They’ll do best if placed with their scent matches.”
Callisto nods. “Good point.” His gaze lingers on her, full of desire.
I know that look of an alpha longing for his mate.
But then he looks from her to me, and a sweet smile spreads across his face, and the certainty hits me.
I’m in his heart as much as his scent-matched omega. I tuck the sensation away to treasure.
He returns to his food, increasing his chewing speed.
“Will—?” My throat catches. I’m way too worked up. “Will you have time for something like that?”
He chuckles. “I’ll make time. I know what you’re worried about, Ricky, but I’ll make things right.” He catches my eye and shoots me a knowing look. “Without killing myself.”
“No killing,” Zack repeats, a warning rumble in his voice.
Calli and I share a sly smile. We better not tell Zack about things like heart attacks and strokes just yet. I’m not sure how Callisto will manage, but if anyone can multitask major projects, it’s him.
And now he has a pack supporting him.