Chapter 18 #2
“So, big bad alpha,” Kane teased, raising an eyebrow. “Aside from learning to bake, what do you think you’ll do when we have freedom again?”
“If I don’t have to choose between pack life and a job, I think I’d choose to open up a tattoo shop.
After everything they did for us, I thought I’d want to work with the Alliance.
They’re the reason we found our omega, but I’m not sure I’d like the violence of it all.
It makes me feel less in control and like I’m fulfilling all those shitty stereotypes.
Plus, tattooing has always been my dream.
I’m out of practice but if we have time to settle, I could get back to where I was before. ”
“Our gentle giant,” Kane said fondly. “I think that you should work on that again. You’ve put in the effort and just because you had a forced hiatus doesn't mean you can’t hone that skill again.”
“Maybe I will,” Rydell said but didn’t look convinced. I hated that they’d built an insecurity in him he never deserved. “Unfortunately, a lot of my future doesn’t rely on what I’m capable of, or how I truly feel. I still have monster status, remember?”
“Fuck that,” I growled. “I’m so fucking tired of hearing that. Monster status, my ass.”
“You may have to fight a little harder than the rest of us,” Kane said, “but keep showing this side of yourself. Embrace it. Talk in therapy, and I have a feeling you’ll convince them to let you go.”
Footsteps echoed in the hallway, and I was surprised to see Ansel and Ledger joking about something, laughing freely as they walked in.
“No, I’m just saying fantasy has always been better than reality,” Ansel said.
“You mean to tell me I should spend multiple hours of my life watching a marathon of movies where the whole purpose is them walking to find a ring?” Ledger let out an exasperated sigh, but the smile never left his face.
“You make it sound so simple,” Ansel groaned, throwing up his hands in exasperation.
“No,” Ledger argued. “Simple is an action movie. They fight, they blow things up, they beat the bad guy. The end.”
Ansel gave Ledger a look. “I’m going to make you watch them someday.”
“I’ll try to stay awake,” Ledger deadpanned before he took a breath and his head snapped our way. “Oh my god, it smells incredible in here.”
“Kane made some tea for me to recover after my heat, and Rydell’s making brownies.”
“No shit.” Ledger grinned at Rydell. “Hell yeah. And they smell incredible.”
Rydell looked pleased at everyone’s reactions. “If this is the reaction I get, I’m going to have to cook more.”
“Damn straight you do,” Ledger said with a grin. “Ares might be out of a job.”
My red-haired alpha walked in to join us. “Good, because truth be told, I’m not much of a chef. I just know my way around a grill.”
“We’ll figure it out,” I said, giving him a grin. When he didn’t smile back, I froze. “What’s wrong?”
He sat down heavily. “The chief wants to meet us here. Now that the heat is over, I told him I was taking an extra day, but apparently, whatever he has to say is important.”
“Improtant enough to interrupt our last night?” I asked. “About what?”
He met my gaze. “I have a feeling he wants to know more about what happened to you. Maybe about your captors. Unfortunately, you’re the closest contact we have that knows about these places.”
My stomach sank. “So, they didn’t find her, did they?”
He shook his head.
“Did you see any familiar faces while you were stuck there? Other girls you met over the years?”
I thought it over. There wasn’t an easy answer.
“Probably, from time to time, but I don’t really remember a lot,” I admitted.
“We all kind of kept to ourselves. They didn’t exactly want us to band together against them, so they rarely put us in groups.
I don’t know that I would have recognized them if I did. ”
“No, I imagine not,” he agreed. “It’s just that after everything he’s done for me, I want to be able to give something back. Maybe he can show you pictures of the victims, and you can see what you remember?”
I knew Ares well enough that if I refused, he’d send the chief away no questions asked. But how could I refuse after all of this?
“Ten years is a long time to remember small details,” I warned him.
“It is,” Ares said. “I’ll make sure to ask him. Don’t worry, he’ll come prepared.
“Okay. I just don’t want anyone to be disappointed. I found that, mentally, I’ve blocked a lot of it out.”
“Of course you did,” I said softly. “I’d never push you to do anything. I’m just presenting the information.”
“If they didn’t find the chief’s daughter where they were keeping Audrey captive this time… who did they find?” Ansel asked.
“Too many omegas,” Ares said, his eyes shadowed now, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the full answer.
“We thought this was just a local operation, but I think we’ve uncovered an entire omega auctioning ring.
There were girls and guys from all over the country, all ages.
Most of the data was minimal, and it seems the man running this facility wasn’t even high-ranking. ”
“I imagine not if he was willing to risk it all for the money they paid for me,” I murmured.
Ares nodded. “My thoughts exactly. He wasn’t willing to let you go, and I’m not sure why he was so obsessed with you in the first place. It feels like there has to be something more.”
“We weren’t scent-compatible. Maybe it was the challenge,” I said.
“My body didn’t comply for him like the other girls did.
I didn’t have heats. It was finally starting.
I think after years of me being ‘broken’ and coming back when I had a pack, he thought this was his chance.
He was just too greedy to pass up a payday like that,” I said as my stomach churned.
Even talking about that monster made me sick.
“Alphas like that don’t like to let their self-claimed possessions go,” Ares said. “Your omega denied him for so long he was willing to risk anything to see it happen.”
“She always did seem to be protecting me,” I said quietly. Something I was forever grateful for.
“Part of going back will likely include a physical. Malik clearly wasn’t managing anyone’s health the way he was meant to. The doctor there might be able to tell you more on why that happened and if your heats will stabilize,” Ares said.
“The chief isn’t coming until tonight, and you’re not meeting any doctors until tomorrow at the earliest. So, I vote we spend this last afternoon together, subjecting Ledger to that movie marathon Ansel was talking about.” He gave the other omega a wink.
“Do we get popcorn?” I asked, perking up at the prospect of a genuine movie marathon. Another new experience with my pack.
“Oh, no doubt,” Ares promised, pulling me in and hugging me tight.
The bond was practically glowing with how happy we all were as we settled in to watch our movie.
Something simple, yet, I couldn’t shake the dread bubbling under the surface.