Chapter 57
Chapter Fifty-Seven
~Harlow~
Raidon is waiting in the car when we reach the parking lot. He winks at me as I climb in. "Heard you got caught?" He smirks and I glare at him.
Rhen climbs in the front with Raidon. Thane slides into the back with me, and Leon sits on my other side.
"Why are we leaving early?" I ask, and Thane scoffs beside me.
"Are you seriously asking that?" he asks. "Your little stunt caused quite the stir. The whole building can smell you through the air-conditioning vents."
My cheeks flame at his words. I turn my attention to the front window. As we drive home, I wonder about how much trouble I’m in.
"Did your parents question you about the blood sample?" Thane asks Raidon, and he nods.
"Did you tell them?" Thane asks and Raidon sighs.
"They won't tell anyone," Raidon finally says.
"I'm not mad; I expected you to tell her.
I know how excited your mother will be," Thane says, gripping his shoulder.
Raidon visibly relaxes, but I only become more tense.
The more people who know about me, the more people there are to be disappointed.
I wonder if his parents would forgive me if they knew who I truly am.
"Mom asked if you’re going to allow us to mate her?" Raidon chuckles. Thane sits back, leaning slightly on the door and watching me.
"His mother is sweet. You'll like her. She was best friends with my mother," Thane tells me, which makes me cringe. Great, she will definitely hate me if she believes lies about me killing her best friend.
"Yeah, Mom took the death of Thane’s parents pretty badly. It's also why I didn't want to lie to her."
"I said it's fine, Raidon. Relax," Thane tells him.
"So, all of your parents are close?"
"Mostly for business purposes, except Elaine, Raidon’s mother. She even tried to help us find Harlow."
"She did?" I ask nervously.
"Yeah, she was worried we wouldn't go through with it," Thane sighs.
"Go through with what?"
"Killing her. Elaine suggested that once we got a few kids out of Harlow, we should kill her. She wanted vengeance."
I gulp, wondering how the woman could hate someone so much when she only knows one side of the story.
"I just don't understand how you can be so certain that Harlow killed her."
"You're seriously defending that whore? She killed my mother, destroyed my family," Thane growls.
"You can't know that for certain though," I tell him.
"I can know for certain, and I do. My mother mind-linked to my fathers as her neck was slit. Her last words were, ‘It's Harlow’. Harlow killed her and stole her car. Then she ran some poor, innocent man off the road and destroyed his family too. She’s lucky the rogues got her because if they didn’t, I would have made her death torturously slow," Thane growls.
"And your father?" I ask him.
"Fathers, I had two. Both of them killed themselves three weeks after her funeral. They weren’t the same after the bond severed," Thane says peering out his window.
I look away from him, tears pricking my eyes at all the heartache I have caused, without actually being the one responsible.
But Thane’s words make it abundantly clear that they can never find out who I really am. No way they would believe a single word that comes out of my mouth. Not when his mother's last word was my name, which just hammers an extra nail in my coffin.
When we finally get home, Raidon parks in the garage and shuts the roller door behind us. My mind is still trying to process everything I just learned and how I’m going to get myself out of this situation. It seems like running is still my only option.
I climb out of the car, and Leon smirks at me. I glance around to find Raidon and Rhen gone.
"Where did they go?" I ask, looking around to find the door leading into the house wide open.
"They bailed. They try to avoid Thane's punishments. They don't like being spanked; not that it ever stops Thane," Leon chuckles.
Spanking, as in like a child? Surely, he didn't mean it the way it came out.
"There will be no spanking today, Leon," Thane says, and I jump, having forgotten he was still waiting for us. I peer over at him, and he suddenly seems much more imposing. My eyes go to his huge-ass hands. Nope, I am not playing whatever fucking game is going on here.
I heard him say at the office that Leon would be spread across his lap, but I thought he was joking. Now, I see Thane differently. Who is this man? And why does Leon look excited? I sure as shit don't share the excitement that Leon is pretty much vibrating with.
Leon nudges me toward Thane, but I take a step back. Nope, I'll pass, thanks.
"Better to just take it and get it over with. You may even enjoy it." Leon whispers.
Is he insane? Nuh-uh, I am not having it. I shake my head, and Thane quirks an eyebrow at me.
"You run, and it will only be worse," Thane warns.
"Please run," Leon whispers behind me, laughing. "I dare you," he adds.
Thane looks like he is running out of patience. He clicks his tongue, and I wonder at my chances of escape. I’m not above shoving Leon in his path, just to give me a few extra seconds to get away.
There are two things I fear: Alphas and spiders. When it comes to facing either of those two things… sorry Leon, but I will throw your ass in the fire so fast.
After a few moments of our strange standoff, his patience wanes when I don’t move, and he takes a step toward me. I stare at Thane. My eyes grow impossibly wide, and my bottom lip quivers. How can he think of such an outrageous thing?
I have no idea where this sudden wave of confidence comes from, but I know I need to stand up against his attempts to bully me into submission.
"And what if I don't want to? You don't own me. I never agreed to be a part of your weird pack punishments. You don't have the right to punish me for anything. Leon, yes, as much as I hate to admit it, you have power over him, but not me, Thane," I growl.
"Oh, this is getting good. Keep going. I wanna see him get really mad," Leon urges before shoving me toward Thane, who grips my arms before I can stumble into him.
"You do realize your little stunt back at the office ended with three of my employees being knocked out cold by security?" Thane growls in my face.
"Again, not my fault. Blame peer pressure," I tell him.
"I’ll give you one chance to correct that answer, Zara.
Just remember, most Alphas have their Omegas tucked away where the world can't see them.
You don't strike me as the type who likes to sit at home, playing house. So, either you accept your punishment with Leon and keep your job, or you’ll remain locked in your Den all day from now on," Thane tells me.
"Does that mean I’ll get to sleep in?" I ask, and his canines slip out, making me gasp. At this point, I'm not sure what scares me more—his threat or the look on his face.
All this point, Leon steps aside, looking down at his feet in shame, as if he knows something I don't. Has Thane been doing these punishments for a while? I can only assume Leon doesn’t bother running because he knows there is no escaping from Thane.
I suppose I should act repentant too, since I'm just as guilty as Leon. Though I am sticking with the peer pressure story. What’s one spanking if it means I get to keep my freedom?
Without it, I would have no way of escaping once they learn who I am.
"Fine," I snarl, raising my voice a little just to prove a point. Thane can take all the pleasure he can get from this, but I will continue to show him how much I hate his idea of discipline, of holding up the order he creates.
Thane leads Leon and I up the stairs toward his room, a smirk playing on his lips. I roll my eyes at the ridiculousness of it all.
He opens the door to his room and shoves us both inside.