Chapter 37 #5
Dax looks caught off guard. He clearly didn’t expect me to agree with him, and doesn’t trust it. But when Vae groans and rubs his temples in frustration, Dax inclines his head in acceptance. Grabbing Vae’s shoulder, he pushes him toward the stairs to leave.
“Can I please have a blanket?” I ask, before they can get far.
They both freeze. Then Dax glances at me over his shoulder, and his lips tip into a cruel smirk. “Just light something on fire if you’re cold.”
“Fuck off, Daxen.” Vae snarls, wheeling around to glare at him.
When he turns to me, his expression softens.
“Yes, I’ll get you some blankets. And a pillow and…
I’ll bring them down here in a bit, alright?
This is just until we can figure things out.
What’s going on with your blood and who you are and—”
“I get it.” I cut in gently. “It’s fine, I understand. Thank you.”
With nothing left to do, I curl up on my side and wrap my arms around my middle. My eyes flutter closed almost instantly.
I wish, with everything in me, that I had never been born. I wish my mother had never told me those stories about Fated Mates and happily ever afters. I wish I’d never begun hoping for something better, because watching hope die over and over is too painful.
I can’t keep doing it. I can’t.
Will Caelan even want me anymore once he finds out about my blood?
I can hear Vae and Dax making their way up the stairs, their boots scuffing along the rough concrete. They’re almost gone, and the knowledge that I’m seconds away from being all alone in a dark basement yet again starts to creep in, making my muscles tense and coil with fear.
The door at the top of the stairs flies open, cracking against the stone wall with a BANG.
“Is the Omega down here?” Silas’s frantic voice rings through the stairwell.
Dax’s reply is cool and clipped. “Yes. She’s staying here for a while. Did you tell Lenora she needs to bring her shot down there? She’s already late.”
He’s all business, and I’m back to being just another thing on his checklist.
Get the Omega down to the dungeon.
Get the suppressant.
Figure out what’s for dinner.
Make sure there’s still some B-negative on tap.
“Yeah, see… that’s the thing,” Silas shouts back, and I realize that this isn’t his normal chaotic tone. He sounds panicked.
I sit up slowly, straining my ears to hear what he’s saying.
”Lenora’s going to have to wait a bit. You guys might need to come upstairs.”
“What’s going on?” Vae asks, sounding exhausted.
“You told me to go tell Lenora to bring the shot, yeah?” Silas asks, even though we were all right there when Dax gave him the order. Their voices are getting closer, like they’re making their way back down the stairs.
Their bodies cast long, eerie shadows on the wall, and my fear skyrockets. What could they possibly be coming back down here for? What do they think I did now?
“Are you high?” Vae asks incredulously.
”No!” Silas replies, affronted. “I mean… maybe, like, a little? But not enough to affect my duties, alright? I was on task. I was going to do everything you told me to do, until…”
Dax groans. “Oh, fuck me sideways. Just spit it out!”
“So I’m walking past the security room on my way to the med wing—because you told me to tell Lenora and I’m super good at following orders—when I noticed a few perimeter alerts going off.
Nothing major, just some blips. Looked like an animal at first.” He pauses to take a breath, which he sounds like he needs.
“But it was circling the property line. Right up against the edge but purposely not crossing over. And it was—it was massive. Like a fucking Direwolf, but bigger.”
“Wolven,” Dax growls.
“What the hell would a wolven want?” Vae mutters. “We’ve never had one come that close before.”
“Right?!” Silas exclaims. “So I watched the big guy do laps for a bit and then bam—four more show up. They just stood there. Staring at the camera like they knew I was watching. So I unmuted the mic, and gave ‘em the ol’ what-for.”
“…The ole’ what now?” Vae asks.
“You know.” Silas clears his throat. “‘This is Bastard Property. Halt and state your Wolfy intentions or face the most dire of consequences. Up to and including the summoning of the Great and Honorable Last Shield.”
Vae snorts out a laugh. “You’re an idiot.”
”What happened?” Dax pushes.
”Well, one of ‘em shifted. Turned into this giant-ass Viking mother fucker. Long blonde hair all braided back, bare chest with tattoos. He had to be at least six-foot-seven, Dax, I mean, we’re talking—”
“Silas!” Dax cuts off his tirade right as all three Alphas reach the bottom of the stairs. They round the corner, coming into view.
“Right. Sorry. So, this guy looks right at the camera, super calm, dead serious, and says, ‘You have my Mate. I want to see her.’”
They come to a stop in front of my cell, and Silas’ eyes land on me, wide and a little fearful. He lifts a slightly shaky finger and points it right at me. It feels like a curse, and I tense up to keep from flinching.
“I’m guessing he means her.”