Chapter 10 Caelan #4
At least until I can get her away from here and work on softening Dax’s rough edges a bit.
And if she meets them and the Bond appears the way it did for us? Even fucking better.
I sigh, and my long exhale causes Idril’s hair to flutter gently against my hands. If only I could be sure she was Fated to my brothers, none of this would even fucking matter.
Fates. What a fucking mess.
“Caelan.”
Idril breathes my name, forming the syllables like she’s tasting them on her tongue. The sound moves through me like a thousand fireworks exploding against my skin, sending a shiver down my spine.
Yes. This is right. My name should always be on her lips.
She tilts her head and her brows furrow in confusion. “Why—I mean. Why are you here?”
I huff a laugh. What the hell am I supposed to tell her?
The truth, a little voice whispers, and I lean into it, deciding to be as honest as I can.
“Your father—”
She recoils, her expression morphing from confusion to terror in the blink of an eye.
“He sent you?”
She cringes, scrambling back in obvious panic until she hits the wall.
Well, if I needed any proof that she isn’t involved in whatever the fuck her father is doing, she just gave it to me.
Her eyes brim with betrayal, and seeing it there guts me.
“No!” I raise my hands, palm out to show I’m not a threat. “Shit. No. He didn’t send me. The opposite, actually.”
She stays where she is, but cocks her head, waiting for an explanation.
Alright, I guess I’m doing this.
I can’t lie to her. I’ve lied to a lot of people in my life, almost all for good reasons. Protection, a rescue mission, gathering intel.
But not to her. Even the thought makes me sick. I have to give her the truth without exposing the mission. There’s no other option. I have to keep her safe first and foremost.
“Your father,” I begin, choosing my words carefully, “is involved with some bad people.”
I wait for her response. She nods in resignation, like it’s something she already knew and was just waiting for verification.
It makes sense. I guess Dax is right, in a way. It’s not like she could live here and have no idea what her father is up to.
I sigh. It was a pipe dream, but I really hoped she was totally ignorant. If only to prove Daxen wrong and make this easier on all of us.
Yet another reason why I can’t tell him anything. I’m already fucked after tonight. I well and truly pushed my luck with him, and he won’t care if she says she’s not involved. It won’t matter to him where the line is drawn.
If he finds out that she knows anything, he’ll be even more confident that she’s a problem.
And problems get eliminated.
“He’s been meeting with someone,” Idril whispers. “I don’t like him. I met him once, and he’s…” she trails off, frowning like she’s searching for the words to explain.
But I know exactly what it feels like to be around one of the Severed.
“Wrong,” I finish for her, knowing I’m right.
Her eyes light up in recognition.
“Yes,” she nods urgently. “Father has always been… unkind. But since he started meeting with that man the last few months, he’s been…” she grimaces, staring at her hands.
She’s sitting cross-legged, her shirt hanging off one shoulder, and even now I can see her collarbone jutting under her skin.
Too thin. She’s far too thin.
Taking a deep breath, Idril straightens.
“He’s not a good man.”
Tears swim in her eyes, and my heart hurts for her. She knows what kind of man her father is, but she’s clearly been helpless up until now.
Now she’s got a decision to make. This is the moment she has to choose.
She can either tell someone who can put an end to his shit, or she can protect him and keep her mouth shut.
Her decision will determine how I handle things moving forward. If she chooses him, it won’t matter what I feel—Daxen and even Gav will never allow her anywhere close to any of us.
If she chooses him, I’ll have to take her and run.
Fuck, how did things escalate so quickly?
“Are you—are you going to stop him?” Her eyes are so fucking bright it’s hard to look away.
“That’s the plan.” I hold my breath, waiting for her response. I see the moment she hardens herself to the man she’s called Father for two decades. She lifts her chin, expression set in determination.
Pride shoots through my veins.
“Good,” she says. We both ignore the way her voice cracks on the word.
A tear slips down her cheek, and she angrily swipes it away. “I don’t know what he’s doing, or who the man is that’s been coming here, but if he’s dangerous to other people, then he needs to be stopped.”
My brave, sweet Omega. I should have known. Of course, she’d never choose him.
“Idril,” I hate putting her in the middle, but I know I have to do this. “Is there anything you can tell me? Anything you might know or might have heard?”
She takes a moment to think, then shakes her head sadly.
“Not much. He doesn’t let me around anyone else, but I did overhear them through the vent.” She swallows thickly. Her eyes are shiny with tears, and her lower lip starts to tremble. I want to take her in my arms, but I make myself stay where I am.
“I heard Alexander tell my father that he has something, some drug, to jump-start an Omega’s heat. Artificially.” She shudders, and more tears pool on her lashes. “I think he wants me for something, but my father said he’s considering what he wants to do with me.”
My blood turns to ice.
“He wants you for what?”
There is no fucking way he’s getting his hands on her. I’ll die first.
“I don’t know.” Her fingers twist in her sweatshirt nervously. “I think—I think he wants to sell me. I overheard him asking about genetics, but I don’t know why. He mentioned that selling my heat would help fund my father’s research.”
Fuck. This is so bad.
“We need to get you out of here.” It’s a struggle to keep calm. I don’t want to scare her, but every cell in my body is on alert.
My Omega is in danger, and there’s not shit I can do to help her right now.
Her lower lip trembles harder, and she wraps her arms around her middle. Watching the way she tries to comfort herself is quite possibly the most painful thing I’ve ever seen.
“I tried to escape a few days ago,” she admits. “He caught me.”
That unfamiliar pressure from earlier once more builds behind my eyes. “Sweetheart…”
Something brushes against my chest, and I nearly spring to my feet, reaching to my hip for my blade.
When I see the cat staring up at me like he’s embarrassed by my reaction on my behalf, my shoulders sag in relief.
It narrows its eyes at me in a way that’s far more judgmental than I’ve ever seen from a house cat and jumps on the mattress, curling up next to Idril. A purr springs to life, vibrating loudly through its chest.
Idril smiles softly, running delicate fingers through its thick fur. I raise an eyebrow and gesture toward the feline.
“That is the largest cat I’ve ever seen. Did it get hungry and eat all the other cats, or…”
She laughs. It’s a soft, tinkling sound that’s full of joy.
My chest tingles. I’d do anything to hear that sound again.
Anything.
“He hunts outside, I think.” She shrugs. “He’s not really mine. He just shows up when he feels like it.”
Before I can respond, the feeling of Dax viciously beating against the block on our Bond startles me. Realizing I have no idea how long I’ve been sitting here, I glance at my watch and curse. It’s been twenty minutes. No wonder he’s losing it.
Idril’s expression falters. “You have to go.”
“I do.” I reach out, taking her hands in mine once more. They’re so soft. So small and delicate. I bring them to my lips and press a gentle kiss to her knuckles.
“I’ll be back, alright? I promise you.”
The last thing I want to do is walk out of this room, but I’m fighting a losing battle. I can’t stay here, and I can’t take her with me.
Not yet.
It doesn’t matter how badly I want her; I can’t bring her to HQ until this shit with her father is resolved. Which means I need to up my game.
“I don’t understand why I feel this way.”
“I don’t know either,” I admit. “But I’m not going to abandon you. I have to stop your father and the man he’s working with. I’ll end it before it gets worse, then I’ll get you out. Okay?”
She nods, but her eyes shine with tears. “This isn’t normal.”
I force myself to stand. “No, it’s not. But it’s going to be okay. We’ll figure it out together, alright?”
Taking another look around her empty room, I feel my anger rising all over again.
“Are you safe here, Idril?”
Her head snaps up, startled by the shift in my tone. When she realizes what I’m referring to, her cheeks heat. She offers me a sad smile that tears my heart in two and whispers, “Safe as life.”
Erasing the few feet between us, I bend down and gather her in my arms.
At first, she freezes, her body going stiff like she’s unused to touch. Then she relaxes, melting into my arms. Her lack of scent doesn’t stop me from nuzzling my cheek against hers. Scent-marking her, even though I have descenter on, too.
I cradle her head in my hands. Her hair falls through my fingers, and I use it to gently tug her head back so I can look in her eyes.
“I will come back for you. Give me just a few days,” I swear with a ferocity I pray she believes. “As soon as I can, I’ll come back. ”
It isn’t a promise. It’s a vow. One I’ll die before breaking. It settles in my soul, filling me with purpose.
Protect her at all costs.
Even from my brothers, if necessary.
Because, fuck, I have no idea how I’m going to explain any of this, even after we eliminate the threat of her father.
The stolen vial of blood in my pocket weighs a thousand pounds.
Idril gives me a shaky smile and sets a hand on my chest that burns through the cotton.
“Go,” she says, and I can tell she’s trying to be brave. “Before someone catches you here.”
The cat—Shade—uncurls and rises to his feet. He glares at me and hisses, facing the door with stiff movements.
A moment later, I hear the sound of a car pulling into the circle drive out front.
“Shit.”
I take one last long look at my Omega, committing every detail to memory until I can see her again, and escape through the open balcony doors. I climb onto the railing and jump, hanging suspended in the air for a breath before my boots land soundlessly on the ground below.
I waste no time sprinting for the treeline, but once I’m hidden by the shadows of the forest, I turn back around.
Idril stands on the balcony, her long white hair blowing softly in the wind behind her. I can still feel her inside of me—that churning silver pool writhing and begging me to go back.
I know she can’t see me, but I smile when she lifts a hesitant hand in farewell, like she knows I’m watching. Like she has enough faith in me already to know I had to look back just one more time.
I press my fist to my chest, right over my heart.
I’ll come back. I promise.
With one last lingering look, I turn and sprint back to the Denali.
I wish I could say I’m strong enough not to look back again, but that would be a lie.