55. Red
Chapter fifty-five
Red
The front door flies open and the tall, sweet omega I spent years with at the House of Bitches barrels out, followed by a lean, shirtless alpha with shoulder-length hair and tattoos over his knuckles and up his arms.
“You’re here! Am I dreaming?” Rose grabs me around the waist, lifting me off my toes.
“Down, girl, down!” I laugh, hugging her back.
She’s filled out since the last time I saw her, curves spilling into my embrace, with healthy red spots flushing her high cheeks. She looks so normal in jeans, sneakers, and a tank top. Tears burn in my eyes as I hug her tight.
I slap her on the back, distracting us both. “Look at you,” I whistle, holding her at arm’s length. “You look half your age.”
“Shut up, you.” She pushes me playfully.
The second man steps closer and wraps and arm around her waist. “And ever so beautiful.” He’s definitely her alpha because he can’t take his eyes off her, plus he watches me and everything in the street with suspicion.
Rose giggles and offers him a lingering kiss.
Damn, she’s ridiculously happy.
I swat the air. “Gross, that’s enough of that. I want to hear everything except for the sex stuff.”
Rose chokes on a laugh.
Colt chuckles too and moves to stand protectively behind them both. “This is Luka. Please don’t touch him.”
“Sure. Hello.”
The alpha with long hair smiles shyly before lowering his gaze, and it strikes me something out of the ordinary is happening there. But who am I to say what’s normal?
I nod slowly, and Rose jumps forward and grabs my hand again. “Come on, let’s go inside. I’ll show you my kingdom.”
Warmth spreads through my heart as she leads me inside. I’m so grateful she’s found her happy place. Maybe it really is possible for the likes of us damaged omegas to have a peaceful future.
Luka, her second alpha, makes us cups of tea while Rose drags me around her tiny house, made all the smaller because two rooms are taken up with hulking alphas behind bars wearing nothing but tiny shorts.
One, a golden-skinned man with dark hair and intelligent eyes, watches me from behind his bars. The handsome fellow exudes a dangerous intensity that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
Rose beams. “This is Zane. He’s learning how to eat from a spoon and take baths without fighting us.”
Rose steps across the clearly marked line on the floor and I gasp and grab at her elbow.
She chuckles. “It’s okay. I can cross when Colt or Luka are in the room.”
I watch, stunned, as she offers her face to the vicious-looking man. “Kisses?” His tongue pops out to swipe across her lips like a tentative puppy.
Rose’s smile fades as she tips her head toward the second cage around the corner. “And my other alpha is Scar. He’s not a people person like Zane is.”
One whiff of the vibrating alpha lurking in the shadows back there has me convinced he’s more of a ghoul than a man. Everything about him is dark, telling me he’s been through hell like I have. Maybe this is what I would’ve ended up like, if I didn’t learn how to act. A shell.
I pop my fists on my hips. “Okay, I need details to understand this.” I slide into a chair at the table, which looks well-polished. Like, the wood absolutely gleams. “Start at the beginning and don’t leave anything out.”
Colt sits down beside Rose. To my surprise, Luka kneels beside Colt’s chair and the bigger alpha pats his head affectionately. I should’ve picked up on their different energy, but I was rather occupied with Rose. It looks like the two men in cages aren’t the only pets in this home. Colt catches me watching and flashes me a wink before offering Rose his hand.
She takes it with a smile, bracing herself as she starts the story of how she came to keep two dangerous alphas like Dobermans in her new pack home. I listen in silence, soaking in her pain and also her newfound joy. The way she’s weathered the trauma and come out smiling is sensational, but the brutality of the underground world is even more shocking.
I mean, I knew because I suffered from it, but to think the same abuse could happen to alphas makes me feel shaky inside.
I sip the delicious lemon and ginger tea to whet my dry mouth, and then lean my elbows on the table. “After you left the House of Bitches, I felt I’d wronged you by not telling you the truth. But the way you talked to O-18 when she had doubts made me think you wouldn’t have been able to accept it.” My shoulders slump. “It must’ve been ten times worse finding out when you got sold.”
Her pretty green eyes widen. “You knew?”
I flash her a lopsided smile. “Unfortunately, yes. But the two times I mentioned it to an omega, they disappeared, so I knew I had to keep my mouth shut.”
Uncertainty flashes in her gaze. “But how’d you know?”
I grip my cup tight in both hands, watching the pale brown liquid shimmer. “I was their haze cow.” Her two uncaged alphas stiffen, recognizing the word.
“A cow? I don’t understand.” Rose flicks her gaze to her OCB partner.
His jaw works a few times before he answers. “It means they extracted haze from her, even though she was unwilling, to sell on the black market.”
Rose gasps and covers her mouth with her hands. She’s always been this way: tender-hearted and brimming with love. It’s a relief to see she hasn’t changed. Even her scent’s as overpowering as always. It smells like a damn perfume aisle here, and gets worse now because she’s worried about me.
I cough lightly. “Rose, I love you, but do you have any idea how much you stink?” Add to that the scents of four powerful alphas in the room, and a fifth I haven’t identified, and I’m about ready to throw up.
Rose laughs and the tears that were shining in her eyes leak between her lashes. “Sorry. I forgot you’re extra sensitive.”
Luka gets up and opens the sliding door, allowing a gust of fresh air to thin the stench. He moves with an easy grace that makes almost no sound, and his scent is quite perplexing because it’s barely present, but even the tiny hit I’m getting feels a little intoxicating. Rose sure doesn’t do things by halves.
I turn to look at her mate, Zane. The entire time we talked, he stood like a sentry, leaning into the bars. “So, Rose, do you mean to tell me dozens of alphas like him fought in the underground rings?” I hum under my breath. “What do you suppose they think about?”
She swivels in her chair, following my gaze to the olive-skinned alpha. “Yeah, there were ten more just in the kennel I was a part of. When I first met him, Zane used to growl continuously, like, every waking moment. He seems much happier now.” She gets a wistful look on her face. “It’s my hope I can teach them and one day they can leave their cages and live like normal people.”
I nod, but my brain’s consuming her words like a delicious treat to savor one mouthful at a time. Ten more alphas, who snarl. This hum I hear all the time in my thoughts could be described as a continuous growl. “So, what happened to the rest of them?”
Rose slumps, resting both arms on the table. “They’re all at the Alpha Lodgings. It’s a prison for alphas. I went there once to prove these two were my scent matches. It was awful. Cages smaller than Zane’s over there, and row after row of them. It’d be torture for these sensitive men who only know about fighting and defending their territory.”
Unfortunately I can picture it, and I wrinkle my nose in sympathy. That many scents jammed together would be a nightmare for me.
The other omega sighs. “They picked up so many feral alphas they’re overflowing and some of them are destined for euthanasia. We’ve been trying to raise money to fund their rehabilitation, but—” She shivers and wrings her hands together. “There’re too many of them.”
Her words send a shard of ice through my heart. Some of them will be killed? No.
My gaze flicks to Colt as he reaches for Rose to comfort her. “Tell me about your visit,” I murmur, doing my best to look calm when inside I’m seething.
Rose is special. She has a quality about her that makes people want to protect her and earn her trust. Me? I have too many sharp edges for that. No one’s going to believe that I hear my alpha’s voice in my head.
For a moment I consider asking Agent Colt if he’d take me into the prison like he did Rose, but I chicken out. He’s already done a lot with me turning up like this, without my pack. Who knows what protocols he might have to follow. Could send me right back to Laversham. If I ask too much, I might end up creating a trap for myself.
As Rose talks, a pang of loneliness hits me out of nowhere, knotting up my stomach. I miss Rickon, and that bastard Callisto. And I feel like something else is missing too. Will I ever be at peace like Rose is?
I take another peek at her shifty alpha who lurks in the back of his cell. Okay, maybe everything’s not as peaceful as it looks.
The front door bursts open, making me jump. “Hey, guys, I’m home. I’ve got the biggest stiffy and I’ve been dreaming of eating Rose out on that damned table—” A good-looking alpha with black skin and long, elegant hands swerves around the corner, carrying shopping bags. The mystery fifth scent in the house thickens. The man blanches. “Shoot! We have company. A little warning would be nice, fellows.”
Luka slaps a hand to his brow and doubles over, laughing silently. One side of Agent Colt’s mouth twitches up. “Guess you didn’t read the chat, Kye. This is Rose’s friend, Red.”
Kye’s words register a few beats behind his appearance. “Table? This table?” I snatch my cup off the polished wood and push my chair back. “Rose, you’re filthy.” I add a glare for good measure.
Rose blushes furiously and covers her face. Luka loses his battle to stay silent and breaks out in gut-wrenching laughter, while Agent Colt grins. Kye stiffens, drops the bags, and does a complete one-eighty. His muttered curses sound from outside the front door, and then a moment later his car engine revs.
My brows pop. “He actually left.”
Rose giggles. “Forgive him. He’s a little . . .”
“Flighty,” Luka supplies. “And bashful. We’re a feral family.” He shrugs. “And don’t worry. I sanitize everything thoroughly after we’re done eating .”
I glance at Rose. She sucks in her bottom lip, failing to hide her grin. I scoff lightly and drain my teacup. When I consider setting it down on the table, I hesitate. I don’t want to come within a foot of their weird sex playground. Although, the longer I sit here, the more I wonder how Rickon would look—
Nope. Head in the game, Red.
Rose jumps up and grabs the cup out of my hand. “I’ll take that.”
I nod, and stand, dusting off the imaginary cloud of their filth clinging to me. I’ll have to shower and change clothes as soon as I get out of here to ditch the cloying aromas. “Well, I think I’ve taken up your time long enough.”
Rose looks crestfallen. “Where will you stay? We don’t have spare rooms, but if you want to, you can stay in my room.”
I barely hold back a gag at the thought. Gingerly I lean over and kiss her forehead. “Rose, I love you, darling, but I can hardly bear your scent, let alone this pack of super-strength alphas.” I tap the side of my nose. “Besides, I think your men have plans for you.” I look over her head and return Agent Colt’s wink to him. “I just wanted to see for myself that you’re happy.”
Rose looks up at me through tears and wipes at her face. “But do you have somewhere to stay?”
I shrug. “No, but I have this magic device called a credit card, and I believe hotels love them.”
Rose laughs wetly and I hold my breath to hug her close once more. “Your alphas are taking good care of you, then?”
I grin. “Yes, but this card’s all mine. I’m an actress now, so look forward to seeing me on the big screen.”
She tips her head to the side and smiles, like she isn’t sure if she can believe me. But it’s okay.
“Nice to meet you all.” As they see me out, I take a few lingering looks at her pets.
I knew something was urgent, but I couldn’t define why. Now I know. This noise in my soul burns terribly, but what if it suddenly disappears? That I couldn’t bear. A shudder tingles down my spine.
I don’t have a second to lose.