Chapter 20 Escape Plans
Chapter twenty
Escape Plans
“What are you doing?” I asked, shocked as Darren dragged me from the corridor and into the dark cleaning closet, shoving me behind him and looking both ways down the corridor before shutting the door.
“Shhh,” he said, putting his finger to his lips.
I pulled the cord light, and we were bathed in a floating orange glow.
“What are you doing?” I asked again in a hiss of a whisper.
“We’re travelling to Pack Hail tomorrow for the assembly,” he told me, like I didn’t already know. Like I had been able to sleep more than a couple of hours each night, knowing I’d be back in Pack Blizzard soon with Ashford and how undoubtedly angry he would be.
“I know, Darren,” I answered.
“You can’t go back there,” he said.
“It’s not like I have a choice,” I told him.
“No, I mean you can’t go back. Not just because you’ve become kind of my best—okay, more like my only—friend, but Harriet…
I’ve seen you over the last couple of years.
I’ve seen how he treats you; I’ve seen the bruises.
And if that’s what I’ve seen, I can’t bring myself to imagine what else—” He shook his head.
I looked away from him, the familiar feeling of shame swelling within me, making me feel sick.
“As I said, it’s not like I have a choice. She doesn’t want me,” I said.
“I have a friend in Pack Frost,” he said and looked behind him as if someone might be standing between him and the closet door.
“They’re neighbours, Frost and Hail. He owes me; it’s a big line.
The National Assembly is so hectic that no one would notice you missing, not right away.
You could lie low in Pack Frost until Ashford stopped looking.
After that, you could go wherever you want.
I’ve got money. It’s yours,” he told me.
“You want me to run away and hide?” I asked.
He nodded seriously.
“Darren,” I said, pausing to think of what I wanted to say, because he was so sweet, so kind, and I realised in that moment that he was my best friend too, and I loved him for being my friend, for concocting a plan that I was sure he had put a lot of thought into and was fully planning on following through with.
“You’re my best friend, too. And I love you.
But no. It’s too dangerous. I think you forget that I’m an omega. ”
“That shouldn’t matter,” he said.
“It shouldn’t, but it does. Is this friend from Frost Ryu?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he answered sheepishly.
“I get why you’d say he was a friend. He’s kind. He’s also a loser. Gambling-wise, I mean. He owes a lot of money.” Probably more than Ashford did. “And I’m technically valuable—”
“He’s not like that; he’s a beta,” Darren interrupted.
“I know,” I assured him. “But sometimes we don’t have the choices we wish we did.
And how is he going to hide me? Keep me under his bed?
I’ve heard him talking; he lives with his gran and uncle.
And say he did manage to keep me hidden long enough that Ashford stopped searching and I get away, where am I going to go that’s safe?
The law is archaic; any alpha could claim me; I could be kidnapped, bought, and sold. ”
“But you could also just go and live a normal life in some big city where no one knows you and where no one wants to know anyone,” he said, pleadingly.
“Yeah, but the odds are terrible. Astronomically low. And I’ve seen countless more bet everything and lose it all than win big. I’m not a gambler. You’re asking me to bet my life.”
He didn’t reply. Instead, he crushed me in a hug that felt like my ribs would crack. The kind of hug you give someone if you think you might never see them again.
“It’ll be okay,” I told him. “You’ll see me around at the games.”
“It’s not the same. I don’t want to see you like that,” he said with a croak, like he might cry. “If you change your mind, just let me know—a thumbs up, blink twice or something. We can make it happen,” he told me.
“I’ll let you know if I change my mind,” I assured him.