Chapter One #2
The suffering of those moving around the filthy space was the only reason he held his rhino in check. Prison was too fucking good for the shit-fuck-bastards who’d inflicted Rue could only imagine what.
Chained.
Held prisoner.
How many had endured this? How long had they been doing this?
An icy shiver ran down his spine as he met the terror-filled gazes of those brave enough to look at him. It took genuine effort to keep his expression soft. “I’m Rue Starling, and we are going to do everything in our power to protect you. I swear it.”
That’s when he heard Booker roar, and Rue ran.
Alphaholes
Taylin: Jupiter, what the fuck have you been doing with my mate at a sex club? You better fucking answer me, or I won’t be responsible when I get my damn hands on you.
Silas: Why are you messaging at one in the morning?
Silas: Forget I asked, now I’ve got my eyes to wake up.
Booker: Why would Jup take Hollis to a sex club? I’m confused.
Kodi: Not the only one, bro… are you guys home?
Rue: It’s too sordid a story for now, will catch up tomorrow. But yeah, we got home an hour ago.
Rue found his sense of humor, despite what he’d just typed. He dropped his phone on the bed, hearing it ping as he stripped out of his clothes, desperate for another shower. He couldn’t rid himself of the feeling of despair that clung to him worse than the stench from the basement.
Having Taylin as a distraction was far better than his morbid thoughts.
Taylin had moved in with Hollis after the ‘heat incident’ on a business trip.
They’d all known Taylin had lusted after Hollis.
What seemed to have passed them all by was just how deep Taylin’s feelings were for the pygmy loris.
Their enforced return to Hazardville gave Taylin his chance with Hollis, and he’d taken it.
Rue was happy for Taylin, despite ripping the back out of him.
That’s what brothers did to each other, he’d learned.
Naked, he picked up his phone when it finally stopped pinging to see what Jupiter had to say for himself. The group chat, aptly named ‘alphaholes’ by Jupiter, always made Rue chuckle. His chuckle died a few moments later as he read the thread of chat.
His mouth dried and his eyes narrowed.
Taylin: Jupiter, answer me!
Jupiter: Keep your fucking hair on, I was busy…
Taylin: I’m not in the fucking mood Jupiter. Why did you take Hollis to a sex club tonight? What the fuck were you thinking? Did someone touch him? He reeks of sex.
Jupiter: I did no such thing! They were all there at Sinful. Hollis and the other PAs getting drunk and having fun watching what goes on in there. And I wasn’t paying attention to what they were doing, I was preoccupied.
Silas: All of them?
Booker: What’s this shit?
Laken: Why is it that I’m figuring preoccupied means having someone bounce on your balls in a public place?
Jupiter: Don’t knock it till you try it bro.
Kari: We aren’t all as kinky as you.
Jupiter: You sure about that… Daddy…
Kari: Fuck you!
Silas: We don’t care what y’all get up to. More importantly, what were the PAs doing in the club, Jupiter?
Jupiter: How the hell would I know? Having a good time, I suspect, away from you boring alphaholes. Now leave me the fuck alone because whatever they were or weren’t doing has nothing to do with you lot. Or me!
Taylin: Hollis is my mate!
Jupiter: Then if you take a damn second to pull your head from your ass, you’ll know he’s incapable of doing anything because you’re mated! Now if you lot have finished the Jupiter bashing part of the night, I’m going to finish living my goddamn life the way I choose.
Booker: Anyone know if we could find out if the others got home safely?
Kari: I’ll reach out to Bowie, he’ll have been sensible.
Taylin: You couldn’t be more wrong. He was as drunk as Hollis when he was here.
Kari: Is that right?
Kodi: What’s with you, bro? Something I’m missing here?
Silas: We’re all fucking missing something… our damn sanity since we got assigned these PAs!
They’d all gone to a sex club! The rest of the conversation was lost on Rue when he couldn’t get past why they—Monty—would go to a sex club like Sinful.
Rue had been once and though he had different desires from the traditional, a sex club offered little titillation for him.
Although he often wished he could be more like Jupiter, he wasn’t uptight or cared about what others thought about his sexual preferences.
Rue read the chat again, like a masochist, imagining the PAs getting fucking frisky with alphas in a sex club.
Rue agreed with Silas. They had lost their minds, because what he was contemplating was utter madness.
Despite the bone weariness invading his whole body, Rue went and showered in record time, dressed in the first clothes that came to hand, and grabbed his car keys.
Was it wrong to go into the HR database to find his PA’s address? Possibly, but fuck it… he needed…
Rue shut off his head, creeping out of the silent house with determination.
He never gave himself any time to think about what he was doing as he drove down familiar empty streets.
He gripped the steering wheel until it creaked under his white-knuckled grip, hyperventilating as his sneakered foot pressed hard on the gas pedal.
Outside Monty’s home, Rue stared up at the windows, seeing that a light was still on. Someone was clearly home.
Was Monty alone?
Fuck, this is stupid. If he’s home with someone… what then?
I’ll make the fucker leave.
Rue blanched at the violence of the thought, which had no place between him and Monty. They were work colleagues who cuddled once. That did not justify this kind of behavior.
It didn’t.
He comforted Monty, which was reasonable after Frey had talked in the restaurant back in Drinkwater after the disastrous factory visit, upsetting Monty.
Then what’s this?
Fucked if he could answer it when deep down, he knew that whatever it was, it would never be enough for him, for Monty, when Rue needed something the omega wouldn’t want. He’d tried coupledom, and it had failed miserably.
So why wasn’t he waiting until Monday to talk to Monty?
Turn the car around and head home, it’s what he should do. The emotional upheaval from the discovery at Drinkwater left him… vulnerable, old wounds exposed. A position he avoided at all costs, usually.
Why had he opened the group chat?
Fuck it, I’m here.
Do you want me to point out the obvious?
His rhino side remained pissed at him for holding back in Drinkwater.
It didn’t matter that the omegas remained scared.
For his rhino—and if Rue was honest, for him too—those atrocities needed addressing.
Except the six of Oakland’s men holding Booker back increased the stink of fear.
Rue worked extra hard to hold his rhino in check, not wanting to add to the distressed tension flooding the factory.
No, he snapped at his rhino.
Exhaling sharply, he stomped up to the door leading to Monty’s apartment and pressed the bell, waiting.
“Hello?” came the wary reply, quickly enough to suggest Monty hadn’t been entertaining someone naked.
He rubbed his nose, feeling ridiculous. “Monty, it’s Rue.”
The door buzzed open, no questions asked. It was one of the many reasons he liked Monty; the man knew not to question, even when it was called for.
Standing in his doorway wearing nothing but sleep pants, Rue kept his gaze from traveling over the slim, honey-colored torso. Rue could smell liquor, but Monty’s eyes weren’t unfocused as he stepped back to allow Rue to pass.
This is a fucking mistake.
Even as he acknowledged it, he walked inside. The click of the lock engaging got him turning.
The burning anguish that had accompanied him, which he’d refused to admit to, pressed on his chest, forcing him to gulp in air. Only it didn’t help. Didn’t stop him from floundering in a well so deep he couldn’t find his footing.
Go now. This is a mistake, his brain screamed.
Monty, wordlessly and without hesitation, wrapped his arms around Rue’s waist and buried his head in his chest. “Was it that bad?”
Shudders wracked his body, and he clung to Monty for reasons he just couldn’t explain, not even to himself right then when Popi was the person he should have gone to.
“Worse,” he rasped out through a throat so tight the word ripped at his vocal cords.
Fingers slid over his T-shirt making soothing motions. It felt nice, but it just wasn’t what he needed. He’d known why he was here, and so did Monty. The attraction had simmered like a pot on a stove, waiting for someone—or something—to turn it up.
When Monty looked up at him, Rue couldn’t fight the desire to let go after pretending it wasn’t there between them. Denial was futile when his heart hurt. Bled inside him, bringing back memories of a past he worked to outrun.
Just this once, he promised himself, dipping to taste the cherry red lips. Fool, whispered through his mind as he sank into the kiss. One he could admit, in this moment of madness, that he’d wanted for a long time.
He lost himself entirely when Monty parted his lips and kissed him with a hunger that matched his own. He prayed he’d be able to find himself after.
Just this once won’t change anything.