Chapter 22 #2
Unfortunately, I couldn’t close my eyes for long before a feeling of unease started to creep back in.
We’d met Larissa, but we had yet to meet our therapist or the new doctors.
I didn’t exactly have a good track record with those, except for Ares.
We all knew damn well he should’ve never stayed our therapist once he realized we were a pack, but we had no other choice.
He did the best he could, given the circumstances.
No matter how pretty they made this building look, we’d seen the darker sides of ARC too many times to believe it. We’d had to fight through medication changes, cruel staff, sedation, and isolation.
Cross was still here, but so was David. It was as if the two versions of ARC were warring and I couldn’t make peace with it.
“Can’t sleep?” Caspian’s soft voice startled me enough to make me jump.
He chuckled quietly before crawling over Kane and wedging himself beside me. Kane shifted in his sleep, rolling over and snuggling into Rydell’s back.
I almost wished I had a phone to snap a picture. My pack was adorable sometimes.
“I’m just freaking out a bit about the staff changes, I guess,” I admitted.
“It goes deeper than that, but it feels like every time we’ve taken a step forward, we’ve been shoved violently backward.
I just don’t want to feel like that anymore.
It would be nice to feel like we’re heading in the right direction for once.
I know Ares says to trust him, but… trust is hard. ”
“I’ve been feeling the same way,” Caspian admitted. “I know I’m close to seeing my little girl, but so much has happened over the last several years that it’s not like I can just pick up where I left off.”
“No,” I agreed softly. “You can’t. You’re both different now. But that doesn’t mean you can’t heal together and start down a new path.”
“I want you on that path, Audrey,” he said, his hand resting on my cheek as I looked up at him.
His blond hair fell over my arm so he was all I could see. I loved him so much my chest ached and I could feel how deep his own feelings went as they echoed back to me.
“Having a kid means I’m asking more of you, but I want you and Lilly in my life. I want all of us in her life.”
“We are going to love that little girl to pieces,” I promised him.
“Every single one of us. Our pack is alike in a lot of ways, and in others, so different. Imagine Lilly and Rydell in the kitchen baking cookies around Christmas time, or us having to stop Ledger from fighting off every boy that looks her way when she’s older. ”
Caspian grinned. “Okay, now I can see it. And I’m not mad about having all these alphas around.”
I snuggled closer, resting my nose against his chest and breathing in his scent. Sage, honey, and cedar, a calming scent that felt like home as much as being in his arms did.
“There’s too much to look forward to for us to freak out now,” he said gently. “We’ll get out of here and tell our stories to the world. Make sure no one else gets caught in their web.”
“You want the world to know?” I asked. The thought unsettled me. Everyone had already seen me at my worst right there on national news.
“I do,” he said firmly. “Our lives were stolen from us here. If it happened here, what’s to say there aren’t other facilities just like this one?
I know the alliance is looking, but I’d like to join them, help them find places just like this and weed out the abuse.
No organization is infallible, and the Omega Network proved that. ”
“They did,” I agreed. “I just don’t know if anyone would believe me after my face was plastered all over TV.”
“I bet most of them have forgotten,” Caspian said. “The news always moves on to something new. I’m sure there’ve been plenty of scandals since you were sent here. And with the new information, that scandal will make more sense. You were never crazy,”
“It was never my fault in the first place,” I said quietly, anger and hurt creeping back in. “Now, I don’t even know if I was sent there on purpose.”
I still couldn’t believe I’d found my parents in that book. They might’ve thought I missed it, but I knew Ares was still looking into whether they were truly my parents. No one had gotten back to me yet, and I was almost afraid of the answer.
It could mean my life was even more insane and complicated than I already knew.
But it could also mean that I had family out there somewhere, one that wanted me. A good home I was taken away from.
If not, it would be fine. I had a new family in my pack. With Lilly, and Sarah, and whoever else we met once we were finally free of this place, I’d have plenty of love to surround myself in.
Caspian was right, we had a lot to fight for. I wanted to experience life. Play music. Explore the world. Getting out of here was just the first step.
“All of that comes tomorrow,” Caspian said. “And we’re going to face it all together. Now close your eyes, omega. You need sleep.”
It wasn’t a command, but my body reacted as if it was. My eyes drifted closed as I snuggled into his warmth, breathing him in, and finally, I let my mind drift off to sleep.