Chapter 33
Iggy
"Alright, Iggy, you win." Melanie shoves a tray into my hands and points to the pantry. "Go eat this in silence."
I look down at the tray of appetizers, cock an eyebrow, then look back at Mel. Her head tilts, and she's tapping her foot impatiently. When I paced the kitchen, it annoyed her. When I crowded the door to glimpse Imogen, it annoyed her.
To keep themselves busy, channeling their energy and worry for our mate, my brothers finally just started helping Melanie with the gig while she directed employees to prep, plate, and serve.
"What am I supposed to do with this?" I set the tray down on the table behind me.
"Eat something. Keep yourself busy. Stay out of the way."
I growl, not intending to scare her. I'm just frustrated. She softens, "Look, I know you're worried about her, but she's in a room full of other people. And she's with Phe."
As if she were summoned, Phe barges into the kitchen, frantically searching around. Red and Cass abandon their trays and crowd her.
"Where's Imogen? What the fuck Phe, you're supposed to be with her."
"Yeah, about that… you haven't seen her, have you?"
Phe's mates trail into the kitchen after her, and Sully pipes in. "Actually, I can't seem to find Stevens either.
"What?" My brothers and I shout. I spin on my heel to head out of the kitchen, but Red grabs my shirt. "Get the fuck off me," I shrug out of his grip.
"Think, Iggy. You're lookin' ragey, but we need to think."
"I'll think after I have eyes on her."
"I'm the only one they don't know, and I'm technically wearing a disguise. I'll go," Cass says. His hair is in a man bun, he shaved his beard, which does make him look different, and he's wearing the catering clothes and button-up vest, unlike Red and I, who couldn't be bothered to even put it on.
My fists clench, but I snap, "Hurry the fuck up."
Cass nods and disappears out the door, past the real caterers and staff. But he returns a minute later with Theo. "Stevens are here. I just saw them. No Imogen." Cass's face is tight. He's worried.
I'm fucking worried. I look back at Sully. "Were they gone at the same time?" Turning to Phe, without giving him a chance to answer, I ask, "Would she have gone to look without you?"
Phe shakes her head. "No, I don't think so. I got caught up talking to Fletcher. I'm sorry, Iggy. It's been like twenty minutes since I last saw her. We looked all through the party, I checked the bathrooms…"
Something doesn't feel right. "We need to ask Stevens where the fuck Imogen went." I turn back to the door. Fuck the plan. I need eyes on my mate.
Red grabs my shoulder again, "Wait. Man, think. If you storm out there, they'll just kick you out."
"And I give a fuck why?"
"Iggy, you and Phe go look for Imogen upstairs. Phe needs to get into the office anyway, let's just get this shit done. Red and I will look down here," Cass delegates.
"I trust you'll keep my mate safe." It's not a question, but I nod at Sully. Phe's like a sister, she's safe with me. "Red, Cass, stay in here. My brothers and I will look through the party again. Try to stay out of trouble," he adds sarcastically before kissing Phe and disappearing back through the kitchen doors.
Without wasting another second, I follow Phe. She taps my shoulder and nods toward a long hall right after we slip out of the kitchen. Big houses like these always have multiple exits and meandering hallways. Enzo tags along, and we follow her down a long corridor, passing several doors, finding a staircase at the end.
"You know this was here?" I ask.
"Nah. Rich people always have extra hallways and staircases," she muses.
"I was just thinking the same thing."
Phe rushes up the stairs, and we pause, opening random doors along the way. "This is taking forever," she complains. Some doors are locked, but I don't want to waste time breaking into every one. We listen closely, and when we hear nothing, we keep going.
At the end of the long hall on the second floor, I catch it. It's faint, but my mate is nearby—dark, sweet cherries filter around me.
"She's close," I tell them. We keep trying doors, but all the remaining ones at the end of the hall are locked. I try each one, rattling the doors, but nothing budges. No longer giving a shit if someone hears me, I yell for Imogen, but there's no response.
"Her scent. Maybe it's coming from a vent or something."
I look around, feeling anxious and frustrated. Worried for Imogen. Nodding, I agree. "Okay, let's go." Enzo and Imogen turn to hurry back down the hall, but my alpha won't budge.
"Iggy?"
I shake my head. Then look at the last door. I tried it already. It's locked, and I didn't hear anything. But my alpha won't move an inch unless it's toward that door. Gripping the door handle, I lean back, then shove my shoulder with all my might. The handle cracks, and I give it one more shove, then the door swings open.
And I'm hit with an overwhelming scent of cherries, sour and bitter like she's terrified and angry. And there's my mate, upside down with her leg in her mouth, eyes wide, tied to a bed.
"Iggy!" she shouts.
I rush over to her, taking her face in my hands. "Baby, what the fuck, are you okay?"
"Get me out of this, Iggy, please," she begs. I tear the ribbon she was trying to bite through. Phe helps me get through the rope, then we pull it off. Imogen collapses into my arms and she's shaking, her skin cold, energy vibrating with fear.
"You're safe, Im. Are you okay? What happened?" I kiss the top of her head, holding her tight, but she pushes out of my arms and shakes her head.
"I'm fine. We're not done yet. We need what we came here for."
"Imogen, we need to get you out of here. What did they do to you?" I ask, my blood boiling with fury at finding my mate tied to a bed.
"They didn't touch me, they just tied me up. I'm not ready to unpack that. But we can't let them get away with this, Iggy. We need to find proof of what monsters they are." Her voice quivers, eyes wide with anger, but she's also terrified I'll deny her, not let her finish this plan. This is important to her.
I'm by her side now. She's safe. So I nod.
"Okay, where to?" I look at Phe, but we just passed a bunch of locked doors. I don't know how the fuck we're going to find the right room.
"Follow me," Imogen says, then storms out of the room in her bare feet, heels abandoned. My omega is done giving any fucks. "They gave me a tour," she throws up air quotes. So that's how they got her alone.
Phe follows, with me and Enzo on their tail. Imogen walks right up to a door at the other end of the hall and tugs on the doorknob. She looks at me for help, and my alpha puffs his chest.
The same way I got into the nest, I grip the handle then shove my shoulder against the wood, hearing the crack within the door. It takes a third try this time, but I break it open. The girls follow me in and start frantically searching the room.
Imogen picks up random stacks of paper, rifling through, while Phe digs through drawers. She finds a couple of locked filing cabinets, digs a pin out of her hair, and shimmies the locks open.
"Why didn't you tell me you had a pin?" That would have been easier than breaking the door down.
Phe looks at me like I'm an idiot. "I'm a girl. With hair. Of course I have a pin."
"You can break a lock with just a pin?" Imogen asks, delighted.
"Yeah girl, I used to break into shit all the time," Phe replies proudly. Imogen looks at Phe like she's impressed, not alarmed, so Phe adds, "I'll teach you sometime."
"Great," I mumble, then start looking through Stevens's shit, too. "What are we looking for, exactly?"
"I don't know. Something. Anything. We need to hurry, though. Enzo?" Phe asks, realizing her mate's sitting at the computer.
"Yes, love?"
Phe and Imogen stop their frantic trashing of the office and crowd behind Enzo. "Enzo, honey, whatcha doin'?"
"Finding your proof."
"You think it'll be on there?" Phe asks. Enzo looks at his mate like he wants to respond as he would with anyone else who asked that question, but he swallows the retort.
"Yes," is all he says.
"Did you know all along that's where we'd have to look?"
"Yes."
"Did you plan all along to come with us?"
"...Yes."
Imogen giggles. "This seems obvious now that I think about it." Realizing if there's anything incriminating, it'll be on their network, not scribbled on a piece of paper like this were a gumshoe 1950s detective flick, she stands with me, and I wrap an arm protectively around her while we wait.
"What is that?" Phe asks, watching the computer screen while Enzo types away.
He indulges Phe in a way he would no other. "I assumed if we were to find anything, it would be in their financial records. I'm copying everything on their hard drive and in their banks, transferring the data to my computer. I'll go over everything later."
He pauses typing, pressing his glasses further up his nose, then looks at Phe. "Did you really think we'd find evidence lying around on a piece of paper?"
Phe shrugs, and Enzo smiles indulgently.
"Hurry the fuck up, please," I say before they can get lost in each other. I found it annoying this past year until I met Imogen. Now I understand. Nothing else matters when you have your mate close by.
"Oh. Wow." Since Enzo doesn't emote much, we all lean closer.
"What is it?" Imogen asks.
"This is… worse than we thought." He glances at me, then back at the computer.
"We should hurry," Imogen whispers, but I squeeze her arm. Her anger at being tied up is still fresh, but she'll be adrenaline-crashing soon. I can't even think about the state I found her in or what they had planned for her. I plan to think about it later, when I map out their murders, but I know I'm growing as a person or whatever because Imogen's safety is more important.
Enzo wraps up a minute later. Of course, he doesn't say he's ready, he just stands and tugs at his sleeves.
"Ready?" Phe asks.
He nods, so we head out. Phe sneaks us back downstairs, but when we reach the kitchens, my brothers aren't there. Melanie points out the door with a worried look on her face. That's when we hear the shouting.
We follow the voices, and sure enough, there's Red, up in Kenneth's face, gripping his suit jacket. "I don't give a fuck who you are, you piece of shit. Where is she?"
Sully tries to pull him off while Cass is in a similar state with Jonathan in his clutches.
Red and Cass scent Imogen immediately, letting go and rushing over to her. They wrap her in a hug, breathing her in to see for themselves that she's alright.
"I'm okay, I'm okay," she whispers, but then Red holds her hand and sees the red burn marks from the rope around her wrist.
"What the fuck?"
"We'll talk about it later. Just get me out of here."
"Imogen? What is the meaning of this?" A shrill omega asks from the crowd. Her blonde hair and soft features, the same square jawline, tell me this is Imogen's mother. She pushes her way through the crowd, standing in front of Stevens Pack. "Imogen, what on earth do you think you're doing?"
"What am I doing?" Imogen growls. "They tied me up!" She screams, pointing to Stevens. They hold their hands up, saying a bunch of shit like they don't know what she's talking about, while Cass and Red start shouting back. But everyone quiets when she speaks again.
"They tied me to a bedpost because I was a misbehaving little omega, and they bought and paid for an obedient one. They said it was your idea, Mother! How could you?"
The woman gasps dramatically, hand coming to her chest. "I have no idea what you're talking about, young lady. This is all very untoward. I'm certain Kenneth would never do such a thing—"
The man in question cuts her off. "This crazy omega bitch is lying. If this is the breeding stock your family produces, we want nothing to do with it. The wedding is off."
Imogen wrenches free of Cass and Red's grasp, and she stomps right up to Kenneth. "There was never any wedding, you lying, stupid… jerkface! I have mates. And they're ten times the man you'd ever be, and I wouldn't marry you if you were the last man on earth. You're a predator, and you disgust me."
Then she pulls her arm back and punches Kenneth right in the face. The crowd gasps while Kenneth, who's barely bleeding, snaps at Imogen.
I step in between them and pull her shoulders back. "That was beautiful, baby. But remind me to add some fighting techniques to your workout routine."
Imogen smiles up at me. I kiss her forehead, then turn to Kenneth. "A little more like this," I tell her, then punch Kenneth so hard he falls flat on his back, out cold. It barely scratches the surface of what I want to do to him.
Imogen turns to her mother, shaking her head. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I could have forgiven you for everything else. Selling me to them. For the way you've treated me my entire life. You're a product of our society, and perhaps it was wrong of me to expect more from you. But you told them to lock me in a nest until the wedding. Who knows what they would have done to me," her voice shakes. "As far as I'm concerned, you're just as culpable as they are. I never want to see you again."
"Imogen, don't be ridiculous—"
She doesn't listen to a word her mother says in defense, she just turns her back on the woman, who has the audacity to roll her eyes like her daughter is being overly dramatic.
I take a quick glance around our people and determine its time to go. We pile out, and while Phe shouts her goodbyes to Imogen, we don't pause for a long goodbye.
It was the right choice because as soon as we get in the car, Imogen falls apart. At first, with Cass driving as fast as he can to get us home, she tries to smile, using her mask to hold herself together, but her omega knows she's safe and can let it all go.
By the time we get back to the warehouse, she's sobbing.
Until we get upstairs, and in the kitchen, she rips off her dress, bra, and panties.
"Burn these," she says. I take them from her, stuffing them in a bag.
"Tell us what you need, Im," Red encourages.
She stands a little taller. "I'm okay. I swear. I was really scared, but I got out of there before they could do anything. I'm just glad it's over. And I'm home."
Cass kisses her cheek, then lifts her up, cradling her in his arms. "You're home. Now let's wash the party off you and start our life together, yeah?"
"Yeah. That's perfect," she whispers, voice quaking.
We take Imogen to the nest. Cass washes her while Red and I change clothes, and we spend the night together, eating and watching movies and indulging our omega in whatever way she needs.
"It's finally over," Red says, kissing her temple.
"Almost," she says.