Chapter 34
I’d wanted to wait, but I could feel Dusk’s panic through the bond when I pried into it. I tried not to surface, knowing my fear would make things worse, but I could tell from his desperation that things were bad.
I didn’t have time to wait.
So, I slipped back down the hallway to the room I knew they were in.
“Has Jasmine been blowing up your phone?” Flynn asked. “She’s getting irritating.”
“Yeah.” Gareth snorted. “You think that’s where Eric went?”
“If he had, why is she still texting us? And he shouldn’t have left. Directly against what Sato said.”
“Stupid that we have to wait in here,” Gareth grumbled.
I finally dared poke my head around to see him on the metal chair, and Flynn still leaning on the table which was now hosting a box of pizza.
“They’re on the last checks. I’m happy to lie low, if it means not waking up to those pricks at my doorstep.”
“You think this is going to work?” Gareth asked. “Take her and hope they give it up?”
“They’ll have to, eventually. Or they’ll get bored when there’s no bragging rights. This is a pissing match for them anyway. But for now—” Flynn cut off as he spotted me in the doorway. “What?”
“Can I speak to you?” I asked, glancing between them.
“You’re supposed to be waiting with Sato.”
“It’s um… important.”
Flynn raised his eyebrow, waiting.
“Do you think it’s okay if I speak to you…” I swallowed. “Alone?”
“Why?” Flynn asked, as Gareth went tense.
“Oh…” I wrung my fingers together, frowning. “I’m not used to things being like this.”
“What does that mean?” Flynn asked.
“With the K—with the other pack, they take pack lead so seriously,” I said. “But if here, it’s more relaxed?—”
“No.” Flynn straightened his shirt, lifting his hand to stop me. “Gareth, give us a minute.”
“You’re joking?” he snorted.
“We’re biting in an omega,” Flynn replied. “Things will be different. We need to adhere to standards we didn’t before.” Gareth opened his mouth to argue but Flynn got there first. “I won’t have any news until we find out if my mansion upstate is clear.”
When Gareth reached me, I dropped my eyes, still clasping my hands nervously. He stopped before me, stupid sesame seed scent displeased.
He didn’t say anything, but when I didn’t lift my eyes to him, he relaxed a little. “Forgive me.” I found my voice at last. “I didn’t mean to cause any problems.”
There was a long silence, and then he leaned close, whispering just for me.
His knuckle brushed my cheek. “I’ll forgive you if you bring this attitude to me in bed after I bite you.”
I nodded, stomach turning.
Again, scent shifted, irritation fading for lust, and it made me want to throw up. He stepped past me without another word.
I crossed toward Flynn, who was taking the seat Gareth had vacated. I knew I needed to make an impression, so I settled on my knees before him.
“What is it?” he asked.
I swallowed, fists balling on my lap. “I’m… scared. I thought I could talk to you about it.”
“Scared of what?”
“I’m worried if things don’t work out, and I end up?—”
“You won’t.” He cut me off. “No matter what, you won’t be returning to them. We have a plan. Everything moved forward a little faster than we expected, but we won’t be here long.”
I almost glanced up at him but controlled myself. They planned on taking me away regardless of the negotiations to come. I bit back my fear. That was one possible outcome of many, and I had to focus on my job.
“Okay.” I clasped my hands together anxiously.
“Was there something specific you want?”
“I don’t…” I swallowed. “I don’t want anyone to die because of this.”
There was a long pause. “You’ve come to me to ask for mercy?” he asked. “For alphas who dark bonded you?”
“This whole mess was my fault,” I whispered.
“It is,” Flynn snorted. He paused. “But can I be sure this isn’t a lingering command from them?”
I shook my head. “No, it’s nothing like that.”
Again, there was another silence. “Ah…” From my periphery, I saw him lean back in his seat. “I think I understand.” He held a hand out to me and I looked up at him. “Let us talk frankly.”
What did that mean?
I took it, a shiver brushing my spine as my skin touched his. He helped me to my feet, gaze curious as he watched closely.
“You’re afraid that if we fail, and you end up back there they’ll be angry that you turned on them.”
“I…” That… wasn’t what I’d meant. My mind scrambled, trying to keep up with that as I looked at him. I saw something intense in Flynn’s eyes, a kindled flame of a spark I’d seen earlier.
I nodded, heart in my throat as I prayed that I was reading into it right.
“Please save me.” My voice trembled as violently as I gripped him. “I can’t go back.”
My fear, at least, was real. It was a rising tide in my chest, and I let it in, feeling a terrified purr rising in my throat.
Flynn reacted instantly, drawing me close until I was in his arms, and I let him read it as comfort, not the sickness of being in the arms of an alpha so vile.
“Don’t worry.” One hand lingered on my hair as he held me against him. “We will protect you.” He held me close for a long time.
This was good. Of all of them, I think Flynn was my best chance. He had the most to lose and the most to prove.
“What will your commands allow for?” he asked at last.
My eyes widened and I looked up at him. We were so close our noses brushed. I held steady, though, my gaze holding his.
“You… want me?” I asked. Another purr stumbled out, and his lips curved up at the edges.
“I do understand it now, I think. Your presentation is very… hard to appreciate.” His hands tightened around my waist. “But I see the scent match now.”
My fists closed in his shirt.
“What about a kiss?” he asked.
I tensed, shutting my eyes for a long moment before forcing them open.
“I…” My breath caught at the thought of his lips on mine. Something romantic. Sweet. Something reserved for my pack. Never for him. “I think…” I swallowed. I had to commit to the plan. My pack’s lives depended on it. “If it would convince you, it would be worth a little pain.”
“No.” His smile faded. “I see you’ve had enough pain.” His eyes lingered on my jaw where I knew there was bruising from Eric. My eyes widened in real surprise as I stared at him.
Notwhat I had expected.
My mind raced. I’d thought he would go for the offer of physicality, but if he didn’t… What did that mean?
I was still so new to this—to the omega things I really should know, but I needed to understand. My palms brushed his cheeks, sensing that I may be able to tug on this thread with safety. As foul as he was, I think he would play the honourable one if it made him the saviour. He wanted to protect me—to be the alpha I’d painted him as.
“Are you sure?” I asked. His breath touched my lips, and his pupils were dilated. “I would pay in pain to feel your protection,” I paused, letting those words sink in. “Alpha.”
A low growl rumbled in his chest and his grip became painful at my waist. I thought, for a second, he would do it.
I braced.
But he held back. “I would be no better than those you’re running from.”
Flynn Lincoln was repainting a picture of himself in my eyes, and if that, to him, was worth more than a kiss. I found a smile, something true in it at the spark of victory. He drew me back against him, seeming content to just have me close.
I had to swallow back more bile.
Cuddles were Umbra’s.
A tear tracked my cheek before I could stop it, and I let him wipe it away. “What makes you sad about this?” he asked.
“I’m not sad,” I told him. “I just… I’ve been dreaming of you for so long. I thought after the party you would hate me forever. I thought I wouldn’t be worth saving.”
I understood it at last: the power of an omega, and not just from the lists I’d made watching movies with Roxy. I had learned it from the push and pull between me and my pack—only they cared for me and for who I was.
Flynn Lincoln might not care about me, but he did care that I made him feel powerful. And right now, I was the broken omega he could save.
“I’m here, now.” His touch caressed my waist as if he wanted to know my body more.
I clung to my conviction.
To my plan.
I clung to that as I drowned in the coconut and plum scent that haunted my nightmares. As his body pressed to mine. As he tried to claim an omega from the pack he’d almost destroyed.
My pack.
So I held tight to the knowledge that Flynn Lincoln was going to pay as his fingers dipped under the hem of my shirt.
I tensed, letting out a breath of shock.
“Is that…?” He trailed off, lingering, but not drawing back. “Triggering the command?”
“I don’t want that command to mean you’re…” I swallowed. “You’re disappointed in me. I can push through?—”
“No.” He withdrew his hand at last, but I didn’t miss that he didn’t do it until I’d spoken.
I was still putting all the pieces together, figuring out how he worked.
I knew, now, that the idea of me was more than the reality of claiming me. He was willing to wait if the trade was the power I made him feel—if he thought I was becoming desperate to please him.
His knuckles drew along my cheek. “It will be all the better after I’ve freed you.”
I wound my fingers around his wrist, holding his touch at my cheek as I stared up at him. “You truly want me?”
“Claiming you is all I can think about.”
I smiled, heart aching at this act, but he was the catalyst to everything, so I spoke the words that would sow his fate.
“I don’t care what the others say,” I breathed. “I want you to keep pack lead after the negotiations.”