Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Brooks
I drop Sage off after the picnic and then drive straight to the lavender farm. Riley and Vee seem to have been expecting me, the front door swinging open as I’m walking up the porch steps. Riley’s sad eyes greet me, and I pull him into a hug.
“We’ll get her out.” I fold my arms around him, one hand slipping into his soft blue hair, and he scrunches his fists in my shirt.
Neveah leads us into the kitchen and we all sit down at the table.
“Saturday?” Riley asks.
Vee and I exchange a look.
“I think it’s our best shot,” I agree. “We don’t know if or when they’ll leave again before her heat. We had a few hours last time, so I think we can count on at least three to four again. That gives us time to help her pack up and grab whatever she wants to bring.”
“She can come here, right?” Riley turns puppy-dog eyes on Neveah.
I do think the farm would be the best option.
“Here or my place, but I live nearby her brother’s so it might be safer to have her a little further away, just in case. I don’t want her to feel like she’s in another cage or has to keep watching her back every second.”
“I agree,” Vee says. “We can offer her a room here. Backup options can be your place,” she nods at me, “or we can offer to help pay for a hotel room if she’s not comfortable staying with any of us.”
Riley makes a distressed noise at that idea, and internally I agree.
I think—hope—she’ll choose to stay here, but the truth is we really don’t know her all that well yet.
The three of us talk for a little longer, sorting out the details, and I agree to share the plan with her in two days, giving her a little time to think about it first.
The next couple of days pass in relative quiet, and we all follow our new normal. I meet up with Sage during her morning walks, and we all contribute to the group chat, although Riley is the most talkative.
The seconds eat away at me. I can’t stop thinking about her life in that house.
How the alphas treat her, what she must have gone through in previous heats.
It’s eating me alive and my alpha instincts become more unsettled by the hour.
I have to force myself to stop thinking about it, because I’m truly concerned that I’ll act on the new, violent fantasies I’ve been having.
I’ve never cared to have an omega before; it wasn’t something I ever dreamed about.
I’ve always been a bit of a loner, and didn’t think I’d end up in a pack.
But this omega has stolen my heart, and she makes me feel things I’m not used to feeling.
Violent and protective, for one, but also… interest, desire.
I don’t know the last time I had sex, nor the last time I wanted to have sex.
I’m not normally physically attracted to people, so it’s been years, but getting to know Sage is bringing out a sexual side of me I didn’t know I had.
I’ve never been one to be turned on easily, having to form an emotional attachment before I even consider becoming physically intimate, and while this is following that same path, it somehow feels different. More.
I contemplate it as I wait for Sage on her morning walk, but the clock is ticking by and she hasn’t shown up yet. It’s nearly ten; too late for her allotted walk time. I pull out my phone to message Vee.
She hasn’t shown up for her walk
Not good. Maybe she has her phone, we could call her
It’s better than nothing, and if we want to whisk her away tomorrow, we need to give her time to come to terms with it. It’s got to be today.
I click into my message thread with just Sage.
Hey, Petal. I missed you on your walk today. I hope everything is okay. I’d love to video call with you if you get a chance, since I didn’t see you this morning. Let me know if/when it might be possible
They did not want me to leave the house. I do not know why. They are mad about something.
Maybe after dinner I can call you
Perfect, I’ll have my phone on.
I rush through the rest of my day and take a quick shower, then drive over to the lavender farm. Riley told me earlier that the two of them have been cleaning the guest room.
“We don’t even know what colors she likes! What if she hates it?”
I can hear Riley from outside, as they have the windows all wide open to help air out the dust.
I knock and then walk in, following their voices up the stairs.
“We’ll figure it out,” Vee says, her voice soothing. “She might not know what she wants, so we’ll help her all together. If she hates it, she can sleep in one of our rooms.”
“Hey,” I say, knocking on the open doorframe.
Neither of them is surprised to see me. Riley glances up, grinning and then bounding over to me. I’m unprepared for them to jump into my arms, but I catch them easily as they wrap their legs and arms around me.
“Hi, alpha daddy,” they say.
“Cheeky beta,” I reply, grinning as I scent mark their cheek.
Vee shakes her head, all exasperated fondness, then Riley is scrambling back down my body to show me what they’ve done so far.
“I texted her,” I say. “It sounds like she’s not being punished or anything, she said she doesn’t know why, but they didn’t let her leave the house. Anyway, she’s going to try to call after dinner, so it could be anytime.”
Sure enough, a video call comes through as we’re heading down to the kitchen to grab food for ourselves.
“Hi, Petal,” I say, holding the phone up. “I’m at Vee and Riley’s, do you want to talk to them too?”
“Oh,” she whispers, face flushing as she glances behind her.
“They won’t care that you’re in the bathroom. Smart idea, turning the shower on for noise,” I say, hoping to calm her nerves.
“Okay, yeah,” she says, her voice remaining soft.
I round the counter and lean against it, Riley on one side and Vee on the other so Sage can see all three of us.
Riley waves with a grin.
“Hi, Sage,” Vee says. “How are you?”
“I’m good, how are you?”
Vee forces a smile. We all know Sage is not good.
“Better now I get to see you,” she says.
I huff, that was a good line. Wish I had thought of it first. Neveah shoots me a knowing look.
“We came up with a plan we’d like to run by you,” I say. I don’t know how much time we have, so I want to get the important things out first.
“Okay?”
“I know it’s fast, but you said your brother and his friend are going to another game tomorrow, right?”
Sage nods, her eyes darting past the phone to what I assume is the bathroom door. I wait until her gaze returns to me.
“We’d like to get you out then. As soon as they leave, we’ll come get you.
Pack up whatever you need and zip you right out of there.
You can come stay here,” I gesture around me.
“They’ve set up a room for you upstairs.
Or you can stay with me, but I don’t live far from where you are now.
Or if you prefer some space, we can set you up in a hotel for now. ”
“Um, what do you want?” she asks, biting at her lip.
“What we want is secondary to what you want,” Vee says, taking the words out of my mouth while I nod in agreement. “None of us want to pressure you. We’d be happy to have you stay with any of us, but we also understand if that’s moving too fast. What do you want, Sage? What does your omega want?”
Her eyes widen with that last question, and I wonder about her relationship with her omega designation.
She shifts, jarring the camera, and it’s easy to read the fear on her face.
“I want to stay with you,” she says, but it’s unclear who she’s talking to.
“Me?” I ask. “Or Vee and Riley?”
Her eyes drift around the phone screen, looking at each of us. We’re all holding our breath, and Riley is practically vibrating as we wait to hear what she’ll say.
“I… Can you stay at their place, too?”
I don’t think any of us expected her to say that, but we probably should have. Her omega would want to be around her scent matches as much as possible. Riley is bouncing with excitement, and I clamp my free hand on his leg to still him.
I glance at Vee, but she’s already speaking. “Brooks is welcome to stay, but I can’t speak to his work schedule or any other commitments.”
“It’s not a problem,” I say. “If you want me here, Petal, I’ll be here.”
“Okay,” she whispers with a nod. “Let’s do it.”
“That’s our brave omega,” I say.
My heart thumps in my chest, a battle cry of vindication and determination. We’re getting our omega out. We’re going to care for her, keep her safe, make her happy. I’ve never had a purpose so strong as this one.