36. Red
Chapter thirty-six
Red
Well, bye-bye freedom. We had a good thing going. My leg jumps with nerves as I sit in the OCB office, toying with the rim of my paper cup. The adrenaline from the fight with Rickon’s ex slowly leaches from my body, leaving me cold and antsy as the OCB officers buzz about on the other side of the door.
I wince and rub at my temple, a dull ache running up my forearm and shoulder, all the way into the back of my head. No surprise I’ve got muscle strain from stabbing a full-grown quarterback like a rotisserie chicken, but the real problem is all three voices in my head returned in full force once the car took me a block away from Rickon.
No one would believe me, right?
Scent matching is real. Bonds are real. But being able to sense my alphas’ presences like a hum in my head can’t possibly be real. So the world says. My throbbing brain begs to differ.
The door swings open, making me jump, and Samantha walks in, accompanied by the OCB agent who drove me to the Bureau office.
I quirk my brows. “Fancy running into you here.” I promptly turn away and look out the window again like I don’t give a shit.
She sighs softly. “Hello, Red. I was worried about you.”
“Sure, sure,” I scoff under my breath. Maybe it’s a tad passive-aggressive, but I feel like I’m entitled to a mood swing right about now.
The nurse leans one hand on the table, scanning me. “Are you okay? Any injuries? Did you bond with anyone?”
I snort. Like I had time for that. But now she mentions it, I should’ve taken care of that right away with Rickon. “Yes, no, and would that get me out of here faster?”
“I’ll take that as a no for bonding.” Samantha drags a chair out noisily, sagging into it with relief. “I should congratulate you on being the first omega to leave the Center undetected in five years.”
I grin. That’s not a bad cred to have. “Do I get a medal? Be nice if it’s got a bit of value so I can pawn it on my next run.”
Samantha rests her hand on mine, and I twitch. “We weren’t keeping you hostage, Red, but we do need to make sure it’s safe for you to leave and that you’ve got somewhere to go.”
I roll my eyes around until I meet her gaze. “I saw the shrink report.”
Samantha winces, but her cutesy act isn’t fooling me.
I curl my lips back in a snarl. “According to your ever-so-helpful crew, I’m unfit to be out in society, so you weren’t letting me out anyway. Well, here’s the fucking headlines: I did just great for five whole days.” Even found two scent match alphas and a job. Well, I hope I got the job. I cross my fingers under the table.
She gets a sad look on her face that makes me want to throw up. I don’t need her pity. “And did you happen to go into heat during that time?”
Fucking low blow. I switch away to look back out the window where the setting sun plays golden light tricks on the city. “Not due yet. You’ve seen me now. Tick me off as A-okay and let me get back to my life so I can find out.” I jerk my thumb at the scene outside the window where everybody else gets to go about their business without busy bodies butting in saying what they can and can’t do.
Samantha sits in silence, fingers locked together and thumbs crossing back and forth over each other.
I grit my teeth. “If this is about what I said about your family, and your eye, during my heat, I really am sorry. But I found my alphas—well, one alpha, and I got a job and everything. You can wash your hands of me, and I’ll be just fine.”
She’s still silent and panic claws up my throat in a way it never did even when I faced off against Rickon’s ex. At least I had a weapon then. In here, I’m as defenseless as a mouse, at their mercy and losing a war I don’t know the rules for.
“I’ll even come in for weekly counseling or something,” I add as the tension in the room reaches snapping point. “Just let me go.” I loathe the whine in my tone, but it’s there. This is a desperate matter; I want to go home to my alpha. I don’t even know if he’s okay. All I can see is those purpling finger-shaped bruises circling his throat.
Samantha sighs heavily. “I’m sorry, Red, but we have these protocols for good reason. Your alpha can apply at the Center like everyone else so we can vet his history and make sure a new home’s going to be safe for you long-term.”
Rules, red tape, safety. It’s all bullshit to tie me down and trap me in a room with the shrink so she can poke through my bruised mind. I clench my hands into fists and Samantha stiffens.
She looks pale as she speaks again. “A few years back, I worked with an omega who’d been used as a rut partner at an underground joint. Worst part is she was bonded, and it was her alphas who whored her out.”
My throat closes up and I look away.
The nurse leans on her elbows. “When we rescued her, she was sweet and compliant. Lisa was her name. She asked us to reach out to a friend she’d known when she was younger, and she was adamant he’d be good to her. There was a family reconciliation in place, so we released her prematurely.”
Samantha’s voice falls, and she clears her throat. “Ten days later, she was dead.”
I cross my chest in silent respect for the unfortunate omega, bracing against the explanation I know is coming.
“Lisa’s new alpha ‘forgot’—” She twiddles her fingers in the air to quote the word. “—to help her through her heat and she died of heat fever alone in her nest.”
I shudder and wrap my arms around myself. I know a thing or two about how that kind of death feels. Thought I was gonna die so many times back at the House Bitches.
Samantha chews on her bottom lip. “That’s just one of a hundred reasons why I’ll stick to the Omega Center protocols every time, Red. I’m sorry you saw that report, but it’s just the preliminary evaluation. Every omega coming out of that illegal hub is a high-risk case for falling into further abuse, so we have more steps to go through before your release into society. Please, let me make sure that tragedy won’t happen to you?”
I hate the pleading in her voice because it shoves all her baggage onto me. Who knows if that story’s even true? Could be a guilt trip to make me compliant. But heats are no joke.
I fold my arms across my chest. Problem is, I know the kind of shit that went down at the House of Bitches. I knew I was trapped there, no matter what I did, and I could never talk about it. The few times I did, the omegas disappeared within days. For all I know, this “Lisa” might’ve been one of them.
I want to throw the chair through the window and leap out or bulldoze my way through the OCB agents outside the door like I did with Rickon’s ex, but I remain rooted in my seat, frigid. I already know no amount of talking’s going to buy my freedom.
The only option left is to hope Rickon keeps his word.
I clench my jaw. “Then can we get out of here? ’Cause I’d like a shower and a meal, and sitting here’s making my ass go numb.”
Samantha pulls something out of her pocket and holds it out, her mouth twisted wryly. I smirk as I grab the familiar Center wristband and slot it over my hand. “So it didn’t get on a plane? Pity.”
She shakes her head. “I can’t believe you did that.” Thankfully she doesn’t seem pissed. Is it possible she’s actually relieved to see me again? Samantha points to the agent waiting by the door. “Before we leave, this man needs your statement about what happened at the house where you were staying.”
I nod curtly. The sooner I get out of here, the better.
A knock at the door interrupts us and an agent pops his head in and signals Samantha. “Ma’am, I have a man on the line who claims he’s the lady’s lawyer.”
Samantha whips back to look at me.
I can’t resist a faint smirk since I only know one lawyer in this cold, cruel world. “Is that Callisto Wren?” I ask. Talk about poetic.
The agent jerks in recognition and glances at the other agent in the room before answering. “Y-yes.”
“He’s my lawyer,” I say.
Samantha scrubs a hand over her face. “I see you work fast, Red.”
I shrug, a faint bubbly sensation running through my chest. “It’s in the name; Red goes faster. I’d like to take that call.”
They can’t refuse me, and a moment later the phone on the side bench rings. I pick it up, my heart pounding. “Wild omega hotline, you’re speaking with Red Jones. How may I help you?”
An indrawn breath whispers down the line. “Red Jones? I like the sound of that.”
Damn, his voice sounds good. I shrug even though he can’t see me. “Yeah, has a nice ring to it. Could use a little polishing.” I swallow my nerves. “How is he?”
“He’s pretty bruised but doing okay. The paramedics are taking him to the hospital now as a precaution, and I told him to stay the night. I hear I have you to thank for stepping in.”
I grip the phone with both hands as a nervous shiver runs through me, releasing a lump of tension in my chest. Worry for my alpha had me twisted up inside. “I just did what any girl would do when her mate’s threatened.”
I like the way the word mate rolls off my tongue, but it reminds me the man on the other end of this phone is also supposed to be my mate. The knowledge sours my happiness.
“I’m not sure just anyone could chase off a big man like that alone, but well done.” Callisto goes silent for a long moment. “I have a feeling it’s not the first time Ricky’s been hurt.”
Wrinkles score deep in my brow. I turn my back on Samantha and the agent, huddling into the phone for a false sense of privacy. “You really don’t know him that well, do you?”
Callisto clears a cough. “No. I have a lot of mistakes to make up for. Where are you now?”
I’m still annoyed with him, but the melodic thrum of his voice soothes some of the anxiety battering at my skull. “OCB office, about three floors up on the west side.”
He chuckles. “You can see the sun getting low?”
I glance through the window at the nearby high rises, which flare a burnished bronze in the sunset, and smile. “Yep.”
“I’m sorry I can’t say ‘duck’ and come swinging in through the window.”
I snort. “Would be a waste of good tinted glass anyway.”
“Very practical.” He chuckles. “You’re entitled to have a lawyer present for any statement you give. If you nominate me as your counsel, they must notify me every time they move you to a different location.”
I nod slowly, sorting through my thoughts. “They want to know what happened at Rickon’s house, and then they’re taking me back to the Omega Center.” I clear my throat and scrunch my wrinkled jumpsuit legs with my left hand. How much should I tell him? Gotta start somewhere. “Oddly enough, it appears I didn’t quite have all my exit paperwork in order before I left. Not sure how that happened.”
He laughs, a strangled, gurgling sound somewhere between humor and despair. My cheeks heat.
“Red,” he says. “Please let me officially be your legal representative. I—” Another pause. “I know everything. I know I fucked up, and I know why the Center won’t release you. You see, I’m assigned to the prosecution of those caught at the omega trading hub, so I know what they did to you.” He chokes again, and his labored breaths sound down the line as he struggles to speak. “Let me help you find freedom.”
Tears prickle their way up the back of my nasal passage, but I absolutely refuse to cry in a situation like this. Undeniable sincerity shines in his voice; makes me wonder what kind of expression he’s wearing, which in turn makes my heart throb painfully.
I sniff down my hateful tears. “You know all that, but you still want the job?”
“Yes, unequivocally.”
I lean against the wall. “That’s a big word.”
“Yeah, it is. Means absolutely, definitely, or without a doubt.”
The pounding in my head won’t go away, and it’s only getting worse with Rickon’s alpha buzz back in the mix. I don’t want to get tangled up too tightly with Callisto, the alpha who rejected me. But I can’t free myself alone.
“Okay. I’ll pay for your services after I get my acting sign-on payment.”
“No, Red, I’m offering—”
I interrupt him. “A business relationship, that’s all we have. I’m too busy to consider anything else.” I inspect my fingernails, as if something important lodges on the hardened tips. Throwing his words back at him was supposed to feel like a victory, but it leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
The line goes silent, and I switch around to look at Samantha and the OCB agent, who both do their best to pretend they can’t hear a thing—which is impossible in the small space.
Callisto sighs. “All right, Red. Whatever terms you want. Do you want me to come in for your statement? I can be there in ten minutes.”
I catch Samantha’s eye. “No, I think I can handle this.”
Callisto’s voice hums down the line. “Okay. Tell them the truth about what that bastard Hudson did, but don’t comment on any way you touched him. You can say ‘no comment’ if they ask for specific details.”
“Roger that.” I suck in a breath and find myself trembling. Well, it has been an exciting day, more so now I know this man who rejected me heard the gory details about my stay at the House of Bitches. Is that why he suddenly sounds like he’d give me the world if I asked? He should have done it when we first met, if he was going to bother.
“And Callisto?” I grind out. “I hate pity more than anything. It’s very unattractive.”
“Understood.” The pain’s back in his voice, notching it to a lower resonance. “I’ll be in touch soon.”
Let him be in pain. Let him feel the sting of rejection since it canes like a bitch.
Am I trying to punish him? No. What I said was truthful—too much is going on to entertain another relationship right now, and I’m worried sick about the alpha who did accept me, since last I saw he was struggling to breathe.
Just because Callisto’s my scent match, it doesn’t mean he’s my soulmate, no matter what tradition dictates. As they say, timing is everything, and Callisto missed his chance.
I hang up the receiver and draw myself up before turning around. “I’m ready to give my statement now.”
Let’s hope I can get through it with an alpha howling in my brain.