Chapter 84
EIGHTY-FOUR
FINCH
I pulled the soft cloth from my pocket and cleaned the smudges from my glasses as we made our way down through the basement tunnels.
The fluorescent lighting was making my head hurt, and the strong scents of the Lucas pack were setting my teeth on edge.
Our footsteps echoed through the corridor as we walked, and it seemed to take forever before we arrived at the entrance to the securement wing.
“You’re lucky you get a demo like this,” Prince said, his smirk making me want to punch him in the face.
I nodded, my hand clenching in a fist at my side. Keep it together, I reminded myself. We were so close.
Madison opened the door, and we followed him into the securement wing. To the side, a heavyset older man lounged in an office chair. He hoisted himself onto his feet when he saw us.
“Got your message, sir. You wanted to show this fella the fighters?”
Dax gave him a nod, and he hurried out of the office. He was a beta, but his strong body odor made my lip curl back.
Christ, I needed this to be over. Every little inconvenience felt like a personal trial.
“Lars Andrews. I manage the dogs,” he said, offering me a hand. I gave it the briefest shake.
“Daniel Song,” I said, and left it there.
Lars hitched up his belt, the keys jangling as he walked us toward the security doors.
“Look alive, boys!” he called out, knocking sharply on the metal door and getting a dirty look from Jade.
The sound reverberated in the closed space, setting off a chain reaction of snarls and loosened auras from the caged alphas.
It was an odd layout, with us on one side of a large, concrete room and the pens on the other. A wall of bars separated the two areas, and the only way in was in the middle, with a heavy security door on one side and a portcullis on the other.
I was clenching my jaw so hard it hurt and forced myself to relax again.
“They wanna see how we handle ’em, so let's get Raze out here,” Lars ordered. A large beta, who must be Casey, jumped to his feet, looking at us anxiously.
“I can see him from here,” I said, leaning against the wall. “No need to put your guards in danger.”
“Don’t worry, they’re used to it,” Lars said, unlocking the first security door and walking into the passage between us and the pens. He closed it behind him and ordered Casey to open the portcullis, even though he was standing right next to the inner crank.
Lazy asshole.
Casey turned the outer crank until the door was high enough to lock into place, and Lars strode out toward the pens, ordering Casey to lower the door again. Apparently, only one could be open at a time.
I sighed, crossing my arms as the pair made their way to Ocean’s cell. My body was tense, and it felt hard to stay still.
“Okay there?” asked Prince, grinning.
I ignored him.
My attention was focused on the cell that held Ocean. Casey and Jade were approaching him slowly, and there was no recognition in his blue eyes as they unlocked his cage door.
Casey stepped in first, talking in a low voice as he held out a pair of cuffs. Ocean was tense but didn’t attack as Casey secured his arms. He let Casey and Jade walk him out of the cells.
“See?” Dax said, nodding at him. “Feral doesn’t mean they’re rabid all the time.”
There was an old-fashioned alpha hook by the cages, a thick ring set into the ground strong enough to hold even rogue alphas.
Lars signalled for Ocean to be secured to it.
Casey had just snapped his chains into place when Ocean caught the scents of the Lucas pack.
His head snapped up to us, and a snarl escaped from between his clenched teeth.
He launched at them, his face a mask of hate, and Jade and Casey hurriedly retreated. The alpha hook held him firmly in place, and even then, there was a wall of bars separating him from us.
“Eh. That one doesn’t like us, though,” Dax said.
I felt a flicker of irritation. Why had they chosen him, then?
I was supposed to be steering the conversation toward buying the alphas, now, but Ocean’s distress was making it hard to focus. Dax signalled Lars, perhaps to return Ocean to his cell?
Instead, Lars stepped away, returning with a long, wicked-looking black stick. Casey’s eyes widened in alarm, and Jade’s face darkened into a scowl as she tried to shoulder forward. Casey gripped her arm tightly, holding her back as Lars jabbed Ocean with the stick.
There was a low, electric buzzing sound, and Ocean howled in pain before throwing himself against his restraints, anger pulsing from him in waves.
“What is this?” I said, straightening and trying to keep my cool, even as every muscle in my body screamed at me to move, to attack.
“We could ask you the same thing, Daniel,” Dax said, folding his arms.
Something had shifted in the last few minutes, and it was making my instincts fray with tension.
“There’s something that’s been bugging us,” he continued, pulling something from his sleeve.
It was a long strip of red cloth, and he rubbed it between his fingers.
“About Raze, you know? He’s been disturbingly focused on Laurel.
Lost his head when Mads touched her. Looking right at her when he does all that posturing in the Sink.
Even went into a rut at the smell of her blood. Strange, huh?”
He passed the cloth through the bars, handing it to Lars.
Dax hadn’t looked away from me. “He’s not the only one sniffing around our omega.”
“Don’t think we haven’t noticed,” hissed Prince, the smile on his face gone. “She was gone for hours after the party, and we checked the cameras. We saw you two together.” He was looking at me with pure venom in his eyes.
“Really?” I said, looking between them both. My head was pounding, and I just wanted all of them to shut up. “We’re doing this here?”
“Damn right,” Prince said.
“I wanted you to be here to test my theory,” Dax said, waving his hand at Ocean, who was still struggling to get free.
Dax opened the first security door to the pens.
Lars shoved the strip of cloth at Casey and nodded at Ocean.
Casey swallowed and started to approach. Jade shouldered forward, but Lars tugged her back. Ocean’s eyes were fixed on the cloth. He stilled as Casey came closer, then snatched the cloth from Casey’s hand, causing the beta to stumble back.
Ocean held the cloth to his face, closing his eyes. I recognized the cloth, now. It was the same kind Ocean had brought home. One that had been scent-marked by Laurel.
I took a step toward him, unable to stop myself. Everything was too bright, and loud, and these idiots were pissing me off so much.
Ocean breathed and straightened. His eyes were closed, and his muscles relaxed, the fight draining out of him. “Laurel,” he whispered.
Then Lars jabbed him with the taser stick, and my fingernails dug into my hands as he howled in pain again. It was taking everything I had not to lunge at Lars right now.
“Okay there?” Prince asked again, the stupid grin still on his face.
“This isn’t needed,” I snapped. “For fuck’s sake. So he likes Laurel, you’ve made your point.”
“You seem awful tense there, Daniel. Don’t worry, Raze can’t reach you. He’s at our mercy.” Dax nodded at Lars, who laughed and delivered another agonizing shock to Ocean.
“Stop!” I roared, my aura splitting the air as my vision bled into red.
How dare they treat him like this? I was going to fucking destroy them.
I charged toward the smug bastards.
Dax moved smoothly, slamming the outer security gate closed. They were cut off, on the other side of the bars now. There was a click as Dax locked it, sealing him, Madison, and Prince away from my rage.
I roared in frustration, crashing into the door and trying to wrench it open, to no avail.
Even with my aura, I couldn’t open it. I snarled and focused on the handle instead, trying to force it to open. All I succeeded in doing was warping it, making the door jam, and ensuring they were even more unreachable.
I growled in frustration, my pulse pounding in my ears and my rage consuming every thought. They were right there, just out of reach, and I couldn’t kill them or protect my packmate.
There was a noise behind me, and I started to turn, alert for a new threat.
Ocean howled in pain again, and I whipped around, throwing myself at the bars that separated us. I could get my arms through, but everything else was out of reach, and Ocean had collapsed on the ground now. There were people shouting, the noises coming from my side and in front of me.
I snarled as someone landed on my back, wrapping their arms around my neck, but then vanilla and roses seeped into my nostrils.
My omega.
She was here, with me, and there were still threats everywhere.
She wasn’t safe.
“We need to run! Run, Finch!” she was urging, fisting my shirt frantically.
The meaning of the words escaped me, but her tugging was clear.
She was afraid, and she needed me for something.
She screamed something else and pointed at the exit.
I snarled.
I wanted to stay and fight. But she was clinging tight to my back, no sign of letting go, and I couldn’t fight like this.
I looked at my opponents, who were not standing quietly anymore. They looked angry and were trying to open the broken door, to get into this space where my omega was.
It was stuck for now, but it wouldn’t hold forever.
When they got out, it would be three on one, with my omega in the mix.
These alphas had hurt her.
These alphas shouldn’t be anywhere near her.
I’ll get her somewhere safe, I decided, and started sprinting to the door, my omega’s grip tightening as she fought to stay on. My packmate howled behind me again, but I felt his approval in the bond.
I needed to get our omega to safety.
We came out into a dim corridor, and I breathed in damp, stale air.
I didn’t stop running, even as my eyes took a second to adjust to the lighting.
Safe.
I ran deeper into the dark, my omega clinging desperately to my back.