Chapter 46 Calliope
I woke up in a bare room with my head pounding. Blinking a few times, I managed to clear my vision enough to make out where I was. It was an open room, the dirt walls told me I was in a crawl space, a basement sized one at that. Scanning the rest of the room, I started to stand and walked toward the only door I could see. The weight of something on my ankle brought my gaze down. There was a shackle around my ankle that was attached to a heavy chain anchored in the concrete of the foundation above us.
I hated the feeling of being restrained. My breaths started to come more quickly, my heart threatening to pound through my chest. “Panicking won’t do any good. Better to stay calm.”
A high voice made my head snap towards it. A small male omega sat there, covered in dirt and chained similarly. “What is going on?”
“They brought us here to break us.”
Well, that sounded ominous.“Break us for what?”
“For sale.”
“The fuck that’s going to happen to me,” I growled.
“The more you fight, the worse it will be for you.”
“I’ve already survived this shit once, I’ll do it again and kill the bastards on the way out.”
That made him get to his feet, using what slack he had to approach me. “You’re Calliope, aren’t you?”
“How do you know my name?”
“The alpha talks about you all the time.” He started to skip around the room, the chain making a tinkling sound as it hit the floor. “He tells all of us about what he’s going to do to you. The omega that got away.”
“Fucking Jeremy.”
He stopped so abruptly I thought he was going to fall over. “We aren’t allowed to call him by his name. He’s Alpha.”
“Not my alpha,” I murmured.
He went back to skipping and singing. “One, two better stay true. Three, four, trust no more. Five six, crossing the Styx. Seven eight, it’s too late.”
I tuned him out as best I could, focusing everything on the shackle on my ankle. Sitting against the wall, I brought my ankle up so I could study it. It was a solid metal contraption with a padlock. No getting out of that without breaking my foot. That wasn’t a thing I was likely to do unless I had no choice. My gaze moved along the chain, checking each link for a weakness. Again, I found nothing, so I focused on the anchor. Wrapping the chain around my arm, I stood as it shortened until the tension held my arm in the air. My hand gripped the chain and tugged. I pulled again and again until I was sore from trying. Releasing my hold, I allowed the chain to unravel.
My gaze flicked over to where the omega was still skipping around in circles, reciting that damn rhyme. I was debating knocking him out when I heard the creaking of a door. Heavy steps came down the stairs until I could make out the man who entered. Jeremy looked exactly like I expected him to. Uptight and reeking of entitlement.
“Calliope, the crown jewel of my empire.” He crossed the space until he was able to grab my chin. Tilting it to one side and then the other, he studied the mating marks. “Those certainly take some of the value off you, but that’s easily fixed.”
I managed to swallow, making a show of showing him fear, when all I felt was victory. My pack would come for me and when they did, he would taste my vengeance. “How?”
“I don’t suppose you will tell me who your alphas are?” When I kept my mouth closed, he shook his head. “No? I didn’t think so. We only have one choice then.”
He released my chin and went to the other omega. Kneeling, Jeremy unlocked the chain and pulled the omega to his side. “Care to fill our guest in on what we have planned for her, Caleb.”
Caleb released a giggle that reminded me of some cursed doll before speaking. “Well, since you won’t tell us who your alphas are, two of my alphas will cover those marks for us.”
“So, you’re a traitor to your designation and a freak of an omega,” I snapped at him.
“Selling omegas is good money.” He shrugged. “And bad little omegas like you need a firm hand from an alpha to keep them on a tight leash. It doesn’t affect me or my pack, aside from providing structure for the omegas that work for us.”
“Well, that’s officially the most fucked thing I’ve ever heard.” I moved forward, lining my hand up with the chain.
“You won’t care too much after I knot the fight out of you.” Jeremy cut in.
“You won’t ever get close enough to touch me with that vile thing you call your cock.” I was goading the alpha, hoping he would get closer to me.
He did as I hoped, stepping closer to me so he could grab my throat. I allowed it, letting him close the distance between us. Freezing in place, I let him think I was submitting to his will. He was so focused on intimidating me that he missed my hand coming up. The chain had enough slack that I was able wrap it around his head. My free hand caught the other side of that chain. Using every bit of strength I had, I pulled it tight until his eyes widened in shock. He released my throat, grabbing the chain and trying to pull it off his throat. I used the leverage it gave me to take him to his knees. His face was turning red, the rasping sound of him struggling to breathe was music to my ears. The life in his eyes was starting to wane when I felt a prick on my neck.
It was dark when I awoke. With my hands in front of me I moved around the space, trying to figure out where I was. When my hand met dirt, I knew I was still in the crawl space. That wasn’t good. That meant I had failed to kill Jeremy. I didn’t know if I was going to get a second chance. But if I did, I wouldn’t fail again. I was staring upwards when the door at the top of the stairs opened. The light blinded me so I couldn’t make out who was coming down.
Two sets of footsteps neared me as my vision cleared. Neither of them were Jeremy. Dax had run me through the pack’s names, but I wasn’t even sure if they were pack. One came to kneel next to me. His eyes were serious when he asked, “You aren’t going to be a problem, are you?”
“What if I am?”
His eyes moved to the other man, and I followed them until I could see he had a large knife in his hand. “Then I’ll allow Baker to make a few new scars.”
I glued my lips shut, refusing to give either of them the satisfaction of hearing my voice. The man unlatched my bindings and pulled me to my feet. He dragged me up the stairs to the main floor. Kicking the door closed behind him, he kept moving until we entered what I assumed was the living room. He released me so abruptly that I fell to my knees.
“You’re going to dance for us like the omega whore you are, and then we’re going to use you.” Jeremy’s voice was so sure.
“I’m going to keep you alive while my mates tear your pack apart.”
He leaned forward, the confidence in his voice made me sick. “Such bravado for a captive.”
“And when Dax gets here, he is going to have lots of fun torturing your omega. You know he’s kind of famous.”
“Some washed up son of a serial-killing senator doesn’t scare me much.”
That made me double over from laughing so hard. “The senator isn’t the serial killer, you dumb fuck.”
Whatever he was about to say was cut off by the crashing of the front door as it was kicked open.