Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Audrey
“Now you’re going to shape your dough,” Bethany instructed from her place at the front of the kitchen island. The counter was covered in flour and small mounds of dough, each of us following her directions meticulously to shape the bread.
She was a kind, older woman from a nearby bakery who came in to offer classes. She never looked at us with pity. Instead, she treated us like an extension of her grandchildren. How could you not trust an older woman who calls everyone ‘baby’ and tells it like it is?
“Now we have one final rise, and we can clean up in between. Once your bread is baked, you’ll want to put it in the loaf pan to rise and make sure that you’ve greased it properly, which you should’ve done when I explained earlier,” she added, giving the room a side eye for good measure.
I was oddly proud of my little dough baby. It looked like hers and it was satisfying to create something with my hands like this.
We made quick work of cleaning up after ourselves before she added another paper to our growing binders. She’d come by three days a week for the last two weeks to help teach us, adding recipes to the binders she brought each time.
Alice had been true to her word in making sure they implemented life-skill classes.
So far, we had learned how to balance and budget finances, started the process of requesting our important documents so we’d be able to function outside of these walls, and how to properly clean and do laundry.
All the things some would take for granted.
Some of the patients opted out, and I couldn’t fault them for that. If they had those life skills it wasn’t necessary to learn again. Ansel and I went to nearly every one, though.
The cooking class had been my favorite, so far. Bethany was incredible, and having Rydell and Ansel in here with me made it even more fun. We talked and joked around in between steps and Bethany often joined in. It felt like those days I used to spend in my grandmother’s kitchen as a kid.
Back then I was too young to really be able to help but I loved it all the same. It was a nice nostalgic reminder of one of the few good memories I had.
Just as we were finishing cleaning up the workspace, Ares hurried in, waving us over. I caught Ansel’s attention and grabbed Rydell before following him. My heart was pounding from the intense look on his face. Something had clearly happened.
We got a few curious looks from the other patients, and Ares quickly explained something to Bethany before ushering us out.
“What’s going on?” I demanded.
Rydell took my hand, pulling me close and tucking his arm around me. I used my free hand to grab Ansel’s, knowing they were just as nervous as I was.
“They’re going to make an announcement with everyone else,” Ares said, his voice low. “But you guys get special privileges because… well, because I am who I am.”
“What does that mean?” I hissed under my breath.
“Word got out about ARC. Let’s go to our wing before we talk more.”
We had no choice but to follow him. My stomach twisted tighter with every step.
When he finally closed the door behind us, Kane was already there, picking paint off his hands.
Caspian was next to him, still glowing from his daily visits with Sara and Lilly.
Ledger was sitting in a chair by the window, foot bouncing nervously.
The second we stepped in, and the door shut, he was on his feet.
“We’re all here now. What is it?” he demanded.
“Someone leaked the story about ARC,” Ares said grimly. “Including everything with Malik… and Audrey’s capture.”
“Show me,” I demanded, knowing damn well something had already aired or he wouldn’t be so worked up.
Everyone but Ares looked confused. He sighed in defeat and pulled up his laptop. It didn’t take long before an array of news articles filled the screen along with a few videos. He clicked the first one… the one with thousands of views.
Bile rose in my throat as the broadcast began.
“We have a breaking news story for you tonight,” the anchor said in a somber voice.
“The Alliance, an elite branch of the military focused on omega safety and disbanding trafficking rings, has allegedly taken over a former Omega Network facility. This facility was not just a clinic, but a group home for those with broken bonds. The tortured souls involved were subjected to relentless experimentation and abuse at the hands of one twisted doctor. Everything from abusing patients, to experimental medications, to keeping patients locked up for money.”
“They know so many details,” I gasped in horror.
“They haven’t even gotten to the part about the victims yet,” Ares muttered, scrubbing a hand over his face.
I turned back to the screen.
“Our sources tell us that, despite the high security of this location, several patients have gone missing over the years. Including the daughter of Chief David Anderson.”
“It has to be someone close to the Alliance,” Ansel said. “No one else would know that information.”
“Our thoughts exactly,” Ares agreed. HIs eyes were still glued to the screen, face hard. It was about to get so much worse. I could feel it.
“The latest abduction was none other than Audrey Walker, the girl who made national headlines. She stalked a pack after multiple forced bonds she endured during her time in an omega trafficking ring left her mind in pieces. Word is that she survived this horrific attack, though not unscathed…”
The anchor made a sad face that looked more like a grimace. I could barely hear the rest of what she said now as my pulse thundered angrily in my ears.
When the clip ended, Ares clicked out of the video, but my photo was right there on the screen below it. A picture of me was front and center, linking viewers to another article that detailed my time on the run.
“If I was reluctant to move before,” I said quietly, fighting back tears now. “I’m convinced now.”
“I won’t subject you to the comments,” Ares said tightly. “But they’re disgusting. A bunch of bullshit speculations about your whereabouts, and calling you crazy.”
The fury in his eyes rippled through the bond, echoed by every one of my men.
I couldn’t find words, so I stood instead and walked out of the main doors, heading right for the old wing the Alliance had taken over.
I made a beeline for the data room, not stopping until I found the man Ares had introduced me to.
The one who helped them find me.
“Audrey,” he said, confused until he saw the pack pile in behind me. “I’m guessing you saw?”
“I did. What have you found out about my parents?” I asked, redirecting the conversation.
I’d let him dance around it for over two weeks while we focused on classes and therapy. But now I needed answers.
“If you think it’s them who leaked the information, you’d be wrong,” Sanchez said carefully. “We’ve had eyes on your entire parent pack since you identified them from those pages.”
“So, tell me what you know. What did you uncover? There’s no way you found nothing.”
He hesitated. “Well, we found nothing on the Walker pack. That was the name they were registered under in that file.”
He stood up and walked around the desk to grab a file. He sat down next to me, elbows resting on his knees as he studied me.
“Are you sure you’re ready for this? It’s not pretty.”
“Yes,” I said firmly. “There was no love lost in that family anyway.”
He handed me the folder. Once again I felt like I might be sick but I swallowed down the urge and opened it, too desperate for answers to delay it this time.
“That’s a long list of names and aliases,” I said slowly, flipping page after page. “Why are there so many names on here?”
“The more I dug, the more I found,” Sanchez said.
“The most common name they used was Blake. Different first names, same pack name. Still not sure which are their true identities. Like I said, we didn’t find anything with your last name outside of basic information.
For anyone doing basic background checks, they’d look squeaky clean. ”
“But why?”
“Likely money. The funds in their various accounts were sickening. And get this, the only untouched account was a trust fund in your name.”
“What?”
“Let me guess,” Ledger said. “She was eligible when she turned eighteen?”
“Bingo,” Sanchez said. “It should’ve been hers the week after the abduction.”
“I never even knew about it,” I said quietly.
“That was likely on purpose. If they got you out of the picture, they could access it as next of kin. Especially if you were presumed dead for ten years.”
“So did they drain it?” Ansel asked.
“No,” Sanchez said. “There was a failsafe, put in place by your grandmother.”
“She was the only person to ever be kind to me,” I admitted. “Mom wasn’t abusive in any obvious way, but she was too strict for us to ever be close.”
“Trying to control you ahead of time,” Ledger said, his lip curling into a sneer. “Fucking assholes.” We definitely agreed on that.
He ran a hand through his buzzed silver hair and stood, starting to pace while Sanchez forged on. We couldn’t take much more news at this point.
“Your birth certificate is real, but the names aren’t,” he said finally. “They were already using aliases at that point, one they’d built their ‘real’ life around. Hence why your grandmother was likely none the wiser.”
“My own mother sold me into an omega auction… over money?” I said.
“Yes,” Sanchez said quietly, eyeing me like he expected more.
“That tracks.”
He frowned. “You’re taking this surprisingly well.”
I wasn’t. My emotions were a raging inferno through the bond, but I’d gotten too good at hiding that. Outside, I was numb.
I took a steadying breath. “How do we take them down? Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Have they tried to get you to sign anything since you’ve been found?”
I shook my head. “Not that I can remember. I kept running away from them and getting thrown into facilities.”
Then a memory hit. My father screaming at me to sign the papers. The memory of the way the pen trembled in my hand that night had me curling my fingers.
“Wait,” I said suddenly. “They tried twice. The first was this huge fight right before I was taken the first time. I was mad because I wanted to go to something, I can’t even remember now but they never let me go.
This was just another thing I’d have to miss and I was furious, so I refused to give in.
I didn’t sign. Then the last was when I got out.
They tried to say it was so they could make sure I was taken care of.
The concept was so fucked up after all that I’d endured, I couldn’t believe them. ”
“What pieces of shit,” Kane muttered. “She was barely holding on and they wanted money?”
“I think they sent her here on purpose,” Ares said. “Malik was interested in her, and he tried everything he could to prove she was incompetent.”
“Then she bonded, gained a pack and her sanity back, and her alpha broke a counselor’s leg for touching her,” Ledger pointed out proudly. “That backfired beautifully.”
I let out a humorless laugh. “Guess that’s why they took me the second time. Didn’t want to deal with your reaction.”
“Probably,” Sanchez said. “But they didn’t expect the chief’s daughter to be involved, or for the Alliance to get wind of it.”
“Malik hated me from the moment I protected them,” Ares agreed. “It was wild how much he hated this group.”
“Have her parents tried to contact ARC?” Kane asked.
“They have. For weeks, actually,” he said grimly. “Alice discovered the calls when she started working on Audrey’s new treatment plans.”
“Why didn’t anyone else know?” Caspian demanded. “Cross just didn’t share this with us?”
“Not defending him, but he was fielding the calls because she went no contact. They gave up any rights to her when she enrolled here,” Ares said. “He just assumed it was jilted parents. At least he made notes in the files.”
“They probably expected you to still be incoherent when they came to visit last time. What would your response have been if they’d asked you to sign a trust back then?” Ledger said.
“To get bent,” I laughed darkly.
“Exactly,” Ledger said. “They knew Malik. They knew why you were here. They likely tried to have you taken again.”
“Did they really send me here? I thought that pack I stalked paid.”
“They did,” Caspian said. “They just got someone else to pay for it. They were on TV, crying for sympathy. Nobody suspected a thing. They perfected their smokescreen.”
“They still don’t know we have eyes on them,” Ares said. “We’ve caught more than a few sketchy activities and are on standby, hoping they’ll lead us to these assholes.”
The wheels were already turning in my head.
“What if we put out a press release of our own?” I suggested.
“Someone speaks on my behalf, says you’re working hard to make things right, searching for the missing, and to please respect the victims’ privacy.
Add a comment about me not doing well. They’ll eat that up and call in themselves.
They’ll think it’s the perfect opportunity.
Plus, with new management, why not try one last time, right? ”
Ledger grinned. “That’s genius, wilding.”
“Does that mean Audrey has to face her parents again?” Ansel asked.
“No,” Sanchez said. “The moment they show up, we’ll take them in for questioning.”
“Then do it,” I said. “I’m leaving this place behind anyway. If they’re involved in trafficking, they shouldn’t be free.”
“I’ve been tracking everyone else involved,” Ares admitted. “We’re close to finding the facility you came from.”
“Have you been skipping missions because of me?” I asked quietly, realizing he knew everything but had barely left our sides.
He sighed. “I figured I should be near my pack.”
“Or you trust your pack and go do your damn job,” Ledger growled. “We need everyone out there helping and you’re one of the best.”
“He’s right,” Rydell agreed. “The sooner they’re locked up, the sooner we’re free.”
“Will saying Audrey isn’t doing well hurt our chances with the Alliance?” Caspian asked.
“No,” Ares said. “The network’s out of the loop now. The chief’s making sure of it. They’re the ones under fire.”
I nodded. “Then let’s do it. Why wait?”