4. Jonathan
Chapter 4
Jonathan
A lex is pacing again, his footsteps creating a relentless rhythm across the floor—a soundtrack to his anxiety. The tension radiates from him, each step a testament to his unease. He's been like this since Fox was taken from us, his worry a tangible presence that fills the room. It reverberates inside me too, though I keep mine under tighter control.
Three years it's been. Three long, brutal years of not knowing where Fox is or if he's even still in Crescent City, and the silence is eating at us.
“We got here," I tell Alex, trying to break through his agitation. My words sound more like a plea than reassurance. "We did it." We're the youngest pack in Crescent City to run the Omega House, a testament to our determination. We’ll find him,” I insist.
We have to find him. Yet the uncertainty hangs thick in the air.
Alex stops pacing and finally looks at me, his eyes bright with frustration and an emotion I recognize all too well—desperation.
"What if we're wrong, Jonathan?" His voice wavers, a raw edge to it. "What if he’s not here? It’s been three years." There's a tremor beneath his words, the kind only I would notice as his twin. He’s always been the hopeful one, but even his optimism is wearing thin.
I shake my head, refusing to entertain the possibility. "We’re not wrong. We'll find him. He has to be here. We just need to look in the right places."
They’re not just going to let a male omega roam around with the other omegas. They are considered an abomination. A disgrace to the system. They can’t breed a new generation of omegas. But they can service elite alphas in rut. I’ve heard the whispers, even as a young boy. I know what they do with male omegas like Fox. And I just hope we’re not too late.
Alex nods, but his face is still clouded with doubt. "I need to check the files again. Maybe there's something we missed." His determination is fierce. A mirror of my own. He turns, the sound of his footsteps growing distant as he heads for the records room.
I watch him go. The sight stirring something in me that I usually bury deep. Alex's love for Fox is relentless, and I know he'd tear the city apart to find him. Fox was his best friend. Just like Reed is mine. We promised to make a pack. The four of us. Only Fox was a beta back then.
Alone now, I scrub a hand over my face, feeling the exhaustion settling in my bones. It's late, and I need to check the Omega House again for any secret doors that might lead us to where they’re hiding Fox before I can even think about sleep.
I turn to the monitors, expecting to see the same thing I have the past week that we have been here. Instead, a flash of movement catches my eye. I lean closer, and there she is—slipping through the rec room with her wild curls and defiant stride.
Storm. The little beta from the underground now turned omega. She turns to the camera and flips me off. Like she knows I’m watching her.
Never had a beta draw my attention like her. Reed was taken by her. I know only because he let her alpha leave before the fight was called. The bond we have is always closed off. He might be my packmate, but we don’t share more than we need. I offered help to her alpha, Rook, that night, only because I wanted to look at her a little longer. Figure out why I was drawn to her in that underground fight club. Maybe it was the hidden omega inside her that drew me to her.
Even here she’s defiant. The staff told us that the beta-born omegas are usually the most troublesome. There weren’t many here. Only a handful compared to the elite born omegas.
She’d not been taking her blockers or heat suppressants. I watched her the last two mornings as she took the pills from Veronica and did a show of swallowing them. Only when her back was turned a moment later, she’d spit out the two pills and slipped them under her pillow. Where she then proceeded to flip me off again. Having now found the camera in her room.
When I first saw it, I brought it to the attention of the doctor and beta staff. They told me she will feel the pain of her heat and won’t miss a day again after that. That’s the only way to teach the beta-born.
I step out into the hallway, the dim lighting casting shadows that stretch and bend along the walls as I make my way out towards the garden. My thoughts drift to Alex’s words. He’s right—it has been a long time. But I can’t let go of the belief that Fox is still here, hidden somewhere beneath the surface of this house, waiting for us to find him.
It’s the waiting I can't stand, not knowing what state Fox will be in when we finally reach him. Not knowing if he even wants to see us after what our parents did, taking him away like that. I clench my fists, the frustration of it all threatening to tear me apart. We’re so close, the closest we’ve ever been, and yet it feels like he keeps slipping further and further away. The image of Fox as we knew him haunts me, and I’m terrified of how we will find him.
I slip out into the garden, the night air cool and laced with the scent of flowers and earth. She’s there like I knew she would be, waiting with a stance that defies everything around her. Storm. Her tense silhouette stands against the soft glow of the lights, and in that moment, I remember the raw suspicion etched into her eyes when I told her I’d take care of Rook. The way she'd looked at me with a disbelief so fierce, it left a bitter taste in my mouth. She doesn’t trust me. I never expected her to. But what she doesn’t realize is that I always keep my word, no matter the cost.
“Storm,” I call out, watching her closely as I approach. Her eyes are sharp, assessing, roaming over me. She cocks her hip, an act of defiance that speaks volumes.
“Did you do it?” she asks, her gaze flicking to the camera as if to remind me that she knows I’m always watching. Her uncertainty clings to the air, buzzing between us like static.. She looks wild, untamed, and her scent—usually sweet—has turned bitter.
“I did,” I tell her, keeping my voice steady, controlled. “Rook is no longer welcome in The Pit. I can’t stop him from fighting elsewhere. But he won't ever fight there again. I made sure of it.”
A lot of money changed hands to make that happen. A hell of a lot. I told myself it’s because I need her compliance here at the Omega House while I look for Fox, but I know that’s not the truth.
The memory of that deal is still fresh. It took all the power plays I've learned from being a Kingsley and then some. And it drained more than just my finances. The Pits don’t give up fighters like him easily, not without a price that leaves a mark and none of it landed in Rook's hands.
I paid a four-year lease on a small apartment near the last foster home he stayed at with Storm. He received it when they set him free, was told he had done a good job, and this was his reward. He has no idea who was behind it. And I will forever keep it that way.
She shifts her weight on her feet, and I can smell her scent changing. Not sweet but has less of the bitter taste on the wind. Something in me stirs when I see her reaction, a protective instinct I don't understand. I push it aside.
“Do you have proof?” she fires back, her voice laced with suspicion. Storm’s eyes narrow, and I can’t blame her for asking. Deep down, I’d ask the same if our roles were reversed.
“Yes.” I pull my phone from my pocket and flick to a photo from the investigator I hired to make sure the deal was complete. I turn the screen to her, and she takes a step forward, her eyes focusing on the image.
When she bites her lower lip in concentration, I feel a strange tightness in my chest that I refuse to acknowledge. It's just the omega scent affecting me, I tell myself. Nothing specific to Storm. Just biology, instinct. Nothing more. I look away as the silence stretches.
“How do I know you’re not lying? Or that this is a fake photo.” Her words come fast now, fueled by doubt, each one hitting harder than the last. She looks away from me, as if the lights in the garden suddenly need her full attention.
“You’ll have to trust me, Storm.” At the sound of her name, her eyes snap to me. Her pupils are dilated, her eyebrows furrowed in uncertainty.
“Do you have any idea how much he means to me?” Her breath hitches, like she’s said more than she meant to, like she’s given away a piece of something she’s kept close. It shifts the air between us.
“I know.” My voice comes out low and rough, a growl that betrays my thoughts. She’s not mine. I don’t care about this omega—more lies, I tell myself. I glance away, hoping she won’t see how she affects me. There's something about her that sets her apart from the other omegas - a defiance that shouldn't intrigue me, but does. When I look back, Storm is watching me like a hawk, and I swear I see a flicker of something. My chest rumbles in warning. My alpha, close to the edge.
She bares her teeth when she’s cornered and I can’t decide if she means it as a challenge or if she’s trying to protect herself. It twists something in me all the same, stirring instincts that I don’t want to acknowledge. I find myself drawn to her spirit, her defiance. It's dangerous territory, and I know it. It’s a reminder of how dangerous this game is, how easily Storm can unravel me if I’m not careful. I find myself stepping closer, curious about the way she stands her ground when everyone else here falls in line.
Her eyes follow me, every step of the way, but she doesn’t back down, doesn’t try to run.
Then my phone rings, snapping me from the moment, a jarring intrusion into the singular focus I had on her. Fuck . I take a deep breath, trying to clear my head and focus on what matters as I glance down at the phone in my hand. Reed’s name flashes on the screen, and it feels like the world tilts, shifting everything. My entire focus changed in an instant.
“Talk,” I say as I answer, my voice raw.
“I found him.” Reed's tone is controlled, but I can hear the urgency beneath it. My fingers tighten around the phone, the smooth surface feeling cold against my skin as I try to steady my heart.
“I found Fox.”