39
Scarlett
M y fork scrapes against my plate, the rough sound making me wince slightly.
It’s almost worse than nails on a chalkboard.
I’ve eaten about a quarter of the portion of casserole that Lark dished up for me.
I just can’t bring myself to eat now. It’s not that I feel nauseous or anything. The meds are helping with that.
My stomach is in knots because I know what I have to do.
Digging into the worst seven years of my life so I can help these alphas understand what’s at risk is far easier said than done.
Someone clears their throat, and I look up to spot Lark across the table from me, a frown marring his face when he looks from my barely touched plate to me.
“Are you nauseous? I can make you something else. Anything you want, Dream girl.” I feel my heart swell in my chest at how attentive he’s been since finding out about the little bean growing inside of me.
They’ve all been this way. Some more than the others.
I don’t look over at Caito when I think this.
Shaking my head, I sigh and put down my fork.
“I think it might be beneficial for me to go back and tell you a little about my childhood before I get into the clusterfuck that is Harlan Erossi…” I trail off, reaching out to pick up the glass of water in front of me.
I swallow three large gulps before I feel like I can continue.
I keep my focus on the condensation slipping down the outside of the water glass because I can’t bring myself to look at any of them when I tell this story.
“My mom died when I was only five. My father was in the running for state senator when it happened. He couldn’t even be bothered to attend her funeral, and if it wasn’t for my nanny, I think he would’ve made me miss it, too. ”
“After she passed, life became bleak. My father was an alpha that used to be all about traditions. My mom was his scent match, but I don’t think he ever truly loved her.
He only loved her for what she could give him.
He hated her after she gave birth to me—a daughter and not a son—but it was so much worse when she had complications during birth.
She ended up having to have an emergency hysterectomy.
She couldn’t give him any more children.
That broke all his carefully laid plans, and he made her pay for it.
One of my earliest memories is of him holding her head under the water in the bathtub when she’d been giving me a bath one night before bed. ”
I choke off after this, my hand clenching around the glass of water to stop the alphas from seeing the tremble to it.
I hate that the memory still consumes me in the most horrible way.
I barely have a single memory left that doesn’t make me angry or petrified anymore whenever I dredge them up.
There’s so goddamn many bad ones that I can barely recall the good ones.
“I think the best part of my father taking the state senator’s position was the fact that he wasn’t around much.
It wasn’t until I was on the cusp of coming into my designation that he started to show his face again.
My sixteenth birthday was supposed to be a milestone for me.
All I ever wanted was to be a beta so he could just toss me to the side and be done with me.
” My jaw clenches, but still, I do not look at any of the alphas.
“I’ll never forget the look on my father’s face when I started perfuming at the dinner table during my birthday dinner.
An occasion that was supposed to be joyous and celebrated with my friends.
I thought he’d be angry, because being an omega might’ve reminded him of mom, and I didn’t want to be punished for that. ”
I cut off and swallowed hard. I can feel the heat of their gazes on me, but I just squeeze my eyes shut.
“I wish he’d been angry. I wish he would’ve just tossed me to the side.
Fuck, being an alpha would’ve been preferable to an omega.
Because my father wasn’t angry in the least about my designation.
Fucking dollar signs literally flashed in his eyes at the first hint of my perfume.
That’s when he announced, in front of all of my friends from school, that he had a pack already lined up for me. ”
I squeeze my hand into a fist and tuck it underneath the table on my lap, but the tremble has worked its way from my hand through the rest of my body.
“I didn’t even get the chance to say goodbye to any of my friends.
He yanked me out of that dining room and locked me in my room.
The next morning, he came with his brothers.
They handed over a briefcase full of cash like they were simply just doing a business deal on some property, and I never got to see my home again.
For seven years, I lost my voice. My reasons.
I wasn’t allowed to be Scarlett Reighn anymore.
I was simply just a pet .” I bite out the word like it’s poison, but that’s only because it is.
I hate even bringing it up, but these alphas deserve to know everything.
If we have any chance of getting out of this mess alive and intact, as a pack. I need to come clean about everything.
I splay my fingers against my still flat abdomen.
This isn’t just about me or us anymore. I’ve chosen to bring a life into this world, and I’ll be fucking damned if I don’t do everything in my power to make my unborn child’s life as safe as possible.
Trusting these alphas with the secrets of my past is just the first step.
“Sweetheart, you don’t need to keep going. We don’t need to hash all of this out right now.” Finally, I look up at the sound of Wren’s soothing tone. I feel my heart skip a beat at the look of utter devastation streaked across his face. I hate that I put that look there.
I shake my head, because I know what needs to be done. I can’t afford to keep hiding in the shadows of my past. I’m not the same omega that I’d been that day Harlan Erossi chained me to a fucking bed in his basement and did everything he could to strip me of my humanity and self-worth.
“You need to know. Harlan doesn’t just have his title as Chief of Police in Fairvale Arbor.
He also has the backing of a state senator, too.
Not to mention his own father, who was Chief before Harlan, and is also best buds with my own father.
The corruption in that ring of alphas runs deep.
You can’t just go after Harlan and his pack.
You’ll need to find a way to cut off the head of the biggest snakes of them all.
You need to find some sort of proof that they are involved in the illegal selling of omegas if you wish to bring them down. ”
Silence descends over the room, and my gaze bounces around the entire table to take in all of their varying expressions.
Caito is, predictably, fuming. His jaw is clenching and unclenching, and he’s clutching a glass of amber liquor so hard that I’m afraid it might crack in his grip.
Wren looks stricken, right alongside Lark.
Apollo looks like he’s just gotten done listening to a battle brief in a war room and found out that his best friend was slaughtered.
Apollo swallows, hard. “They’re running an omega trafficking ring?” I nod. “How do you know?”
“I was the first one of those omegas. Daria, Harlan’s fancy new scent matched omega, is also one.
My father, Harlan and his pack, and his father run it.
There are others, but I don’t know specific names.
I know because I had to sit in on some of their meetings as a trophy before they found Daria.
The main base operation runs out of the capital, Ardan.
Virginia is one of the most corrupt states when it comes to the ring and the networks that run through it. ”
It’s like I’ve dropped a bomb in the room.
Apollo pushes up from his chair, but he doesn’t storm out of the room.
Instead, he starts to pace, running his large hands over his short cropped dark hair.
He reminds me of a caged animal while I watch him.
I know what can happen to an animal that’s been caged for too long.
Caito snarls and slams his glass down on the table, and that’s when it cracks apart.
Thankfully, he doesn’t cut himself. When I give him a glower, he just ignores me while he glares across the table at Wren.
“Still fucking think we can let them all live?” He demands, and Wren scrubs a hand down his face like he’s already exhausted.
“I stand by Wren and his decision. If this thing is as big as Dream girl is saying, then we can’t afford to make any moves that will implicate us.
I say we work on finding that proof to bring them all down.
If we can bring them to justice, we can force Erossi to reject the bond with Scarlett, and she can finally be free. ”
Caito is on his feet next, and he starts to stalk out of the room. “Where do you think you’re going?” Wren’s bark snaps out like the crack of a whip, and it takes all of my will power not to flinch.
“I’m going to make some calls. See if I can call in any favors.
” It’s all he says. I reach up and rub at my chest, feeling faint echoes of his distress and fury even after he disappears.
I hate that it’s just a partial bond between us, but right now I can’t afford to let any of them complete a bond with me.
That would be a one way ticket back to Harlan, and I’ll fucking slit my own throat before that happens.
“He’ll be alright, love. Caito has a lot of sketchy friends in even sketchier places. He’ll help us come up with a solution.” Apollo’s soothing voice draws me out of my internal civil war, and I nod. That’s all I can really do. He’s stopped pacing, at least.
He comes over to me, and when he bends down to brush his lips against my temple, I lean into it. “I’ll keep an eye on our resident psychopath and make sure he keeps his hands clean of Erossi blood. Wren has something else he needs to discuss with you, anyway.”
My eyes snap to the alpha in question, and he scowls at Apollo, who ducks out of the dining room before he can be reamed a new asshole.
Anxiety churns in my gut when Lark sighs.
“What? What is it?” I don’t like the way Lark exchanges a look with Wren.
Like they’re trying to decide exactly how much they’re willing to share.
I growl, and that seems to get their attention. “Apollo is right. We do have something to discuss. I just don’t know how to say it without upsetting you. It’s really not something you need to be stressing about.” Wren lays it on thick, but I can practically smell that he’s holding back still.
“If it involves me, I have a right to know.” I gnash my teeth, and both alphas quickly dip their heads in agreement.
“Caito and Apollo were late getting to the hospital because they were tied up with someone that was sent to track you and possibly grab you. They were able to glean that there are two bounties on your head, each from different sources with different amounts and criteria. I’m telling you this because it might be possible that you need to stay inside the penthouse until we can neutralize the threats. ”
Wren’s words stun me to my core. For several heartbeats, I can’t take a single breath while I process. “Two… two fucking bounties ? What? How? Who?”
Lark rubs at the light stubble on his chin, eyes flashing behind his stylish, purple-rimmed glasses.
“We figured it’s safe to assume that one of the bounties is sourced from the Erossi pack.
We had someone look into who posted it, and it traced back to them.
That’s the one that wants you brought in alive. ”
I can practically feel my heart stutter in my chest. I swallow. Hard . “And the other?”
Wren looks absolutely murderous when he says, “It’s a hit. Set at a much higher price than the bounty put out by Erossi.” His jaw ticks while I feel my world fall out from underneath me.
Someone else wants me dead.
Silence descends over the dining room for several long moments.
A tremor works its way through me—one that doesn’t go unnoticed by my two remaining alphas.
“We will keep you safe, Dream girl. You don’t need to worry.
If you can agree to stay in the penthouse, nothing and no one can get to you here.
We have this place locked down tighter than the White House.
The only people that know the code to get through the doors belong to our pack. ”
Lark leans forward in his chair, offering me a brilliant, reassuring smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. That’s why I can’t let go of the steady stream of anxiety pumping poison through my veins at a rapid pace with the thrum of my hammering heart.
“It has to be my father.” I whisper, so low that I’m not sure the alphas hear me.
I squeeze my eyes shut when his last words flash through my mind, like a broken record on repeat.
A goddamned horror movie tagline. “Don’t disappoint me, girl.
If you do, I’ll make sure you don’t live long enough to regret it. ”
“We will find out if it is, Sweetheart. Lark is right, though. No one will get to you here. We want to keep you safe, but the choice is yours.”
My attention finally shifts back to Wren at the head of the table, and my brows furrow. “A… choice? About what?”
His smile is heartbreaking and vindicating at the same time. “If you’ll do us the honor of moving in with us.”