Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
LEVI
Flynn is even more gorgeous in person than I imagined. Even with the bruises shadowing his pale face, even with the haunted look in his wide, terrified eyes, he’s fucking breathtaking. Seeing him beside Sasha makes my gut tighten. My cock hardens despite the absolute wrongness of the moment.
But now isn’t the time.
Because he’s afraid.
Of me.
It’s difficult to tell under the smell of rot, but his natural scent must be of citrus, perhaps orange, and bold red wine. The realization is a fist to my chest, knocking the air from my lungs. My omega—mine—flinches away like I’m just another monster in this fucking place.
Rage coils in my gut, sharp and searing, but I swallow it down. Not for the first time, my alpha instincts are at war with my common sense. Every single cell in my body is riding me to fix this. To make him see that I won’t hurt him, that I’ll take care of him, that I’ll burn the entire world to the ground if it means keeping him safe.
But he doesn’t know that yet.
All he sees is another alpha. A threat.
I force my voice to soften, fighting against every instinct that tells me to claim, to comfort, to fucking fix this now. “Hi, Flynn. I’m Levi. I won’t hurt you. Won’t even come near you until you’re ready. Let Sasha take you home, Stone and I will be there later.”
I shift slightly, making sure not to step any closer. I can feel his fear like a live wire between us, his scent rots with panic. Even covered in filth, it’s enough to make my instincts snarl for control. I want to wrap myself around him, bury my nose in his throat, and soothe the terror out of him.
But I don’t.
Flynn flinches anyway.
It fucking guts me.
The house around us feels suffocating. It reeks of blood and fear, of stale sweat and suffering. The kind of place that tells me he’s been here too long. Been through too much. But I can’t think about that right now.
Not when Flynn is looking at me like he’s waiting for me to hurt him.
Sasha rubs Flynn’s arm, whispering something too low for me to hear. Flynn’s breath comes out shaky, but he nods.
“Who is Stone?” he whispers, barely loud enough to hear. His head tilts slightly, like he’s expecting another nightmare to step out of the shadows.
I exhale slowly, steadying myself. “Stone is your other alpha,” I tell him. “He’s around here somewhere, making sure no one else gets in our way.”
He stiffens slightly at that, eyes darting around the room. Another pang of guilt claws through me. He’s been kept in a place where alphas are something to fear, where every new presence might mean more pain. My hands flex at my sides, the need to protect, to comfort, clawing at me with unbearable force.
I want to touch him. To pull him in, wrap around him, and let him feel what it’s like to have a real alpha who fucking protects what’s his.
But I don’t.
Instead, I take a slow breath and force myself to stay still.
“Let’s get you out of here. No surprises. No visitors. I’ll take you to my place, and you can rest. Recover,” Little Brat soothes him, talking in a sweet and gentle tone.
Flynn’s fingers curl tighter around Sasha’s arm. He’s considering it, his mind running through whatever horrors he’s already survived, trying to decide if I’m the next one.
My alpha is howling at me to prove myself, to fix this, to make him feel safe. But safety isn’t something I can force. He has to believe it on his own.
So I keep my voice low and firm. “No one will bother you. If they do, I’ll fucking gut them.”
Sasha smirks, clearly approving of my promise.
Flynn, though, just nods slowly, exhaustion settling deep in his features. “Okay. But only Sasha right now.” His voice is hoarse, like it hurts to speak.
I nod, forcing my hands to stay at my sides, even though every instinct I have is screaming at me to pick him up, to get him out of here now. Instead, I let Sasha guide him out.
Because right now, Flynn is choosing to walk out of here.
And when he’s ready, he’ll choose me too.
I watch them go, my omega leaning into Sasha’s support, his steps unsteady but determined. The sight of him, fragile but still fighting, does something brutal to my chest. I should be at his side. Should be carrying him out of this fucking hellhole myself. But I meant what I said—Flynn will set the pace, and I’ll follow.
For now.
My hands curl into fists as I let my gaze sweep the house one last time. The air is thick with the stink of fear, blood, and the kind of rot that clings to places like this. The bastards who did this to Flynn thought they’d get away with it. Thought they could break him.
They thought wrong.
I need to find Stone. We have unfinished business, and I’m not leaving loose ends behind.
Because once this is handled—once there’s nothing left of the people who hurt Flynn—I’m making sure he’s safe. He’ll be taken home, to a place where he can finally breathe easy. Where he’ll learn that an alpha’s hands aren’t meant for harm.
Where he’ll finally be ours.
I move through the house, stepping over booze bottles, food wrappers, and the remnants of whatever sick shit these bastards were up to. The stench of blood gets stronger as I near the master bedroom—it mixes with the sour reek of something else, like a grease-soaked gym sock left to rot.
Stone is already there, standing just inside the door, taking in the scene. His massive frame is tense, arms crossed as he surveys the carnage.
Bart is in the bed, his throat slit wide open, a dark river of blood soaking into the mattress. His eyes are open, empty, lifeless. Andrew isn’t any better—he’s sprawled on the floor in a pool of his own blood, a nasty gash torn into his arm, and dead just like his friend.
I lift a brow. “Damn, Stone, you didn’t even wait for me?” I cross my arms, feigning disappointment.
Stone whirls around, eyes sharp as steel. “I didn’t do this. Found them like that.” His nostrils flare, his gaze flicking back to the bodies before landing on me again. “But the room smells strongly of him. I don’t know how I know—it’s not like I’ve smelled Flynn before—but the bond is screaming at me. Kismet. It’s him. He was here. Scared to death and sickly, but it was definitely him. They must have been in here together.”
That sends another wave of fury through me, but I push it down. Focus. Flynn is out. Safe. Sasha got him out.
“Sasha found him and took him home,” I tell Stone, keeping my voice firm. “He’s terrified of alphas. Go slow, Stone. We move at his pace.”
Stone gives a slow nod, his expression shifting, softening. “No problem.” He pauses, eyes flicking back to the bodies. “That means Sasha did this?” He motions at the two dead alphas.
I smirk. “Fuck yeah, it does.” I glance down at Andrew. “And now I’m even hornier than before.”
Stone snorts. “You’re a sick bastard.”
I shrug, grinning. “Never said I wasn’t.”
But my amusement fades as I take in the room again. As I imagine what Flynn must have endured here, how scared he must have been, how much strength it took for him to survive this.
Yeah. We’re not done yet.
Not until everyone who touched what’s mine is in the fucking ground.