Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
Audrey
Every minute that passed filled me with dread. I knew Ares was alive but it wasn’t enough to calm my worries.
I could feel him through the bond, but it was only a whisper. He shut it down tight before he went in, which I was grateful for. I didn’t want to distract him.
I just needed to know he was safe.
“Wilding, I need you to stop pacing,” Ledger said, snatching me as I made another lap across the common area of our wing. He pulled me into his lap and wrapped his arms around me.
I breathed in his scent, smoky leather, bourbon, and pine. A strong, calming force that was important right now. My fingers curled into the sleeve of his shirt as I held on tight.
We had three guards stationed outside, standing watch. We’d been told to stay together. They’d even brought our meals here to us, staying true to their promise to keep us safe while Ares was working.
The door slammed open. Caspian, Rydell, and Kane jumped in front of us while Ledger’s arms tightened around me.
“They found the squad and the girls,” the chief announced as he barreled in. His eyes were set on me, and I knew instantly I wasn’t going to like whatever he was about to say.
“Ares?” I asked, panic rising.
“Breathe for me, wilding. Ares is fine. You can feel it,” Ledger murmured in my ear.
“I’m going to be blunt with you, Audrey. I feel like we’ve got that kind of working friendship now, right?” the chief said.
His face was red, his expression tight.
“What is it?” I asked.
“The girls, they’re terrified,” he said. “They’re compliant but clamming up on us.”
“You need me to talk to them,” I realized before he could say it.
He sighed, but nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. I know we’re asking a lot of you. Again. But we need to make sure there aren’t more facilities nearby. If there are more girls we don’t know about, or hidden rooms…. Well, with your help, there might be fewer casualties.”
“Okay,” I said, ignoring the guys’ protests. “On one condition.”
“Name it.” The chief didn’t hesitate.
“If the man who captured me is there, I want a chance to speak to him. Restrain him. Hell, hold five guns to his head, I don’t care. But I need to talk to him.”
“Ares isn’t going to like that,” he warned.
I shrugged. “I deserve answers, and Ares isn’t my keeper. Besides, this better get us out of here.”
Another way to prove our ability to function outside of these walls.
“Come on. We’ll get you fitted,” he said.
“This is crazy, Audrey,” Ansel rushed out.
“We have to all go. To protect her,” Caspian said. “She’s not going in alone.”
“I’m going to get my ass kicked for even thinking about taking one of you out of this facility. I can’t take everyone,” he muttered, scanning my pack before settling on Rydell.
“I’ll go,” Rydell said before he could ask. “I’ll keep her safe.”
“Alright, son,” the chief agreed. “Let’s go.”
“I don’t like this,” Caspian argued, but he didn’t try to stop me. He just pulled me into a hug, squeezing tight before Kane did the same. Ledger was silently fuming. I could tell he wanted to go, but he wasn’t going to fight Rydell being by my side.
I walked up to Ledger, my hand resting on his cheek. He locked his blue eyes on mine and sighed.
“Ledger, I need you to stay with the others. Don’t let anything happen to them, especially if there’s retaliation for this,” I said.
My alpha exhaled slowly, running a hand over his buzzed hair before nodding. “No taking stupid chances, wilding. You hear me?”
“Yes, alpha,” I teased softly.
Then his gaze shifted to Rydell. “You better kill that motherfucker for me.”
“The plan is to get your asses out of here, not put him in jail for murder,” the chief huffed, ushering Rydell and me toward the exit.
A few of his men were waiting outside.
“Get them outfitted,” Chief ordered.
They suited us up in kevlar armor, a helmet, and boots. Rydell, of course, looked perfect while I looked like a kid playing dress-up.
The chief stayed behind, sending us off with one of his men. He gripped the guard’s shoulder.
“Kent, that girl right there comes back in one fucking piece. You understand me? Your life depends on it.”
“Yes, sir,” Kent said firmly.
Then we were off, driving toward the city that broke me.
The city was calm when we arrived. If it wasn’t for the flashing lights, it might have seemed peaceful.
Body bags littered the ground. Far too many to count. It looked like a war had torn through the streets, leaving blood and bodies in their wake.
We parked in front of a large church. The front door hung open, floodlights casting harsh shadows against the night. Ambulances were scattered outside as EMTs worked to patch up wounded soldiers.
“Oh, fuck no. Absolutely not,” Ares’s voice thundered as he ran forward, glaring at Rydell like he’d lost his mind. “Why is she here?”
“The chief asked me—” I started.
“He doesn’t make choices for my pack,” the alpha growled, cutting me off. My cheeks burned. I hated the way he was talking to me now, like I wasn’t competent enough to make this type of decision.
I needed a pack who trusted me and my choices.
“I can talk for myself,” I snapped. “Last I checked, you’re my alpha, not my guardian. The chief wanted me to talk to the girls and that’s what I plan to do.”
Ares’s chest rose and fell rapidly, his jaw tight. His voice was low, rough, full of adrenaline and exhaustion.
“Take me to them,” I said firmly, refusing to argue when there was work to do.
He didn’t like it, but he followed when Vance took the lead, ushering me inside. At least others thought I was capable.
An omega met us at the door. A man in tactical gear. His soft brown hair was slicked back, and despite the blood splatter on his uniform, he smiled.
“You must be the infamous Audrey.”
“And you must be Colt,” I said, finally putting a face to the name. We’d teased Cooke and Vance about him enough. “You’ve got quite the pack here. They even let you go on missions without fighting you every step of the way?” I added, side-eyeing Ares, who looked completely unrepentant.
“‘Let’ might be a stretch,” Cooke replied dryly.
“More like they don’t have a choice,” Colt said with a grin. “I usually don’t go on missions, but I’ve got a few specialties. One being security systems. They needed yours truly to reach the omegas and betas they had locked up in here.”
“How are they?” I asked, though I already knew the answer.
“Traumatized. Refusing to leave,” Colt said quietly.
“I’m sure they’re terrified he’s going to come after them,” I murmured. It was the same fear that lingered in the back of my mind since I was taken again. Only my pack could chase those away.
“Exactly.”
“Did they capture anyone alive? The men behind it all, I mean,” I asked. What I really meant was, did they find Seamus?
“So far, just mercenaries and guards,” Colt said. “It was oddly empty of any wardens or overseers. That’s why you’re in tactical gear. We don’t know if they’ll come back.”
“Or where they’re hiding,” Cooke added. “We’ve been surveying the church all day. No one’s left. They’re here somewhere. We just have to burn them out like the vermin they are.”
No wonder Ares was on edge about me coming. Not that he had to react the way he did.
The men stopped outside a heavy metal door with a biometric panel. I didn’t need to hear it beep out loud, I could already hear it in my mind.
When they opened the main door, the smell hit first. The seals around the door had kept it hidden from the outside, but the damp, grim air was all too familiar.
Rows of cells lined the walls. The bars faced the front, concrete keeping the other cells hidden from view, including a single concrete wall that bisected the hallway.
They wanted us isolated and alone, yet we were so close all along. Talking meant punishment, it was safer to simply comply.
“My cell was that way,” I said, pointing down the left side of the hall. “The only time I left was for the heat cells, or the rooms.”
“What rooms?” Colt asked.
“Where we met the buyers. Then there was the auction floor,” I said, my voice flat. “They never put me up for sale, but sometimes they’d march me by during them to remind me what waited if I didn’t behave.”
My feet were moving before I realized I was walking. They let me lead for once, Ares and Rydell falling in step beside me, Colt, Cooke, and Vance behind us.
When I reached my cell, I stopped. It was exactly the same as I remembered. The filthy mat, the threadbare blanket, a rusted bucket in the corner, a forgotten tray of moldy food.
“Once a week they’d hose us down,” I said quietly. “Icy cold water that made your skin sting. Through the bars, of course. It’s a miracle none of us died from it.” No one stopped me. Maybe they knew I needed this and I was grateful for their silence.
My hands were fisted at my sides, old memories tempting me but I couldn’t let them take hold.
I needed to do this.
Turning away, I walked down the hallway. My steps were well-practiced as I navigated through the cold hallways.
I turned a final corner and pressed one of the bricks. They never thought I watched, my head always turned to the floor, but I was always doing both.
A click echoed through the hall as it pressed in.
When the door started to swing open, Rydell shoved me against the wall, pressing me to the cinderblock as gunfire erupted.
“Keep eyes on the outside! No one escapes! We found the rat’s nest!” Cooke shouted into the comms as the team burst in.
I sank into Rydell, squeezing my eyes shut and praying to any god that might be listening to keep them safe.
The firefight echoed around us, the air filling with shouts and screams. The stench of gunpowder and pheromones was thick enough to choke on.
“You’re safe, omega,” Rydell said fiercely. His alpha was out, his body tremoring with adrenaline as he kept me barricaded against the wall. “If they try to touch you, I’ll rip their heads off.”
I believed him.
Then I smelled it. A scent that made my blood turn to ice.
Cigars and stale coffee.
Seamus.
The moment I peeked around Rydell’s side, he saw me. His face contorted in pure, raw hate. The feeling was mutual.
“You did this!” he roared, lunging past the guards who barely managed to catch him. “I should’ve killed you when I had the chance. I could have had my taste, then slit that pretty little throat.”
“I suggest you shut the fuck up.” The air cracked as someone’s fist slammed into his stomach. He doubled over, gasping.
“Chief ordered him secured,” someone said. “The omega wants to talk to him.”
“What?” Ares growled. He already knew I’d want answers, whether he wanted to admit it or not.
“We can do it right here,” I said, pressing against Rydell’s arm. He didn’t let me go but shifted so I was shielded still, but able to see.
Seamus stood there, bound now, with blood running down his chin and bruises already blooming over his cheeks and jaw.
“Why did you come back for me again? Why kill my buyer?” I demanded.
“He didn’t die,” Seamus rasped, his tone cold and emotionless.
“Why?” I pressed. “How were my parents involved?”
A twisted grin spread across his face. “Tell them to let me go, and I’ll tell you everything.”
“Talk first,” I said. “Then maybe I’ll ask for leniency.”
We both knew his fate was sealed and I had no say in this regardless.
He smirked after a few moments of a silent stare-off. “Your mother cheated on me.”
I froze. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“That slut cheated. The only reason I kept her alive was because she promised to give you to me. Your life for hers.”
That made no sense. He wouldn’t know if I was useful to him for years.
“And if I’d been a boy?”
“Didn’t matter either way. If you’d been a boy, I’d have trained you. Either way, you’d have ended up here all the same. It was her life or yours. And guess what? That selfish bitch chose herself.”
My stomach dropped.
I turned and vomited against the concrete while Seamus laughed… until someone shut him up with another hit.
“Sanchez said he recorded that,” Ares said through gritted teeth. “Can we get him out of here now?”
“Yes,” I managed to choke out.
“Wait,” Rydell said, stepping forward. “One last message. This is from Audrey’s pack.”
Everyone but Ares turned away.
Rydell’s fist cracked against Seamus’s body, a brutal, wet sound. Seamus screamed as another blow hit. The sound of bones snapping was sickening, but I couldn’t bring myself to stop him.
“Okay,” Ares said finally. “Get him out of here.”
I waited until they carried him off to turn around. We moved past the cells. The Alliance was photographing the captured alphas, every last one. Some were silent, others furious. All of them guilty.
“I’m not talking to the girls until they’re gone,” I said, turning toward Ares.
He nodded. “We’ll handle it.”
It took hours, but once the building was clear, I finally let them lead me to the girls.
“I know most of you don’t know me,” I began, voice steady despite the chaos.
“My name is Audrey. I was kept by these people for ten years. When I was dying, they threw me out, but I survived. They took me again, but my new pack found me. The Alliance saved us. These soldiers, they’re the good guys.
They’ve cleared the auction and taken Seamus, the man behind it all, into custody. Let us help you. Please.”
Slowly, omegas and betas emerged from their cells. One by one, they stepped into the light on shaking legs and stared around with haunted eyes. It was like looking into the past at the girl who lost her mind.
As the guards led them out, I scanned each face, searching for the chief’s daughter.
“We have to find her,” I said to Rydell.
“Who?” he asked.
“The chief’s daughter. She’s here somewhere. She has to be.”
They let me walk the rows, searching every face and every cell, but my stomach sank with each pass.
“We have to get one of the rescued girls to talk. She has to be somewhere else. She had privileges. This isn’t everyone. We’re missing something.”
“We’ll keep looking.”