Chapter 40
June
“Let her go, Dad,” Callum says softly from the dining room doorway.
Three months ago, if someone had told me I would be this happy to see my scent matches, I would have laughed until I cried.
They hurt me with their words, their neglect, and their refusal to look at me, let alone touch me. I swore I would hate them back just as hard. Forever.
Now, as Callum’s dad holds a needle to my throat, they look like they would burn down the world to save me.
“You shouldn’t have come,” I say, trying not to breathe too hard.
Breathing hard means the needle William is holding to my throat presses into my skin. Wilke’s had a needle upstairs that he said the contents would trigger my heat. If I go into heat now, I have no idea what my scent is going to do to the four alphas in this room.
Nothing good.
William’s hand tightens in my hair, and I wince. Callum’s lips flatten as his dad chuckles. “Now, son. Not so fast. There are things we need to discuss. Sit.”
“We’re not sitting anywhere,” Callum bites out.
Archer catches my eye. “Are you okay?”
“Not really, but you’re here now, so that’s something, right?” I say, trying for humor. He doesn’t smile. Neither do I. Now doesn’t seem like the time. “Is Lottie safe?”
Torin nods. “She’s safe.”
It’s like being back in the Haven Academy ballroom, and they’re claiming me as their omega when Callum tells William, “Give her to us, or we’ll take her.”
“You’re not in control here, son,” Callum’s dad says, his left finger caressing the side of my neck and brushing one of my claiming bites.
Shuddering, I lean away from his touch.
Callum clenches his jaw. “Don’t touch her.”
William yanks my hair. The motion pulls painfully at my scalp, and I cry out. But with my arms pinned to my sides, courtesy of the thick rope he used to tie me to this dining room chair, I couldn’t dislodge him even if I wanted to.
“I’ll do what I want, the way I always have,” William says calmly. “And you will do what I want.”
“She’s not part of this,” Torin says, moving forward a quarter of an inch.
William’s laughter rings out. “Of course she is. Stop right where you are.”
Torin jerks to a stop, and I desperately hope he hasn’t noticed Archer has moved closer, slowly approaching from his left.
“Let her go,” Callum repeats.
“And why would I do that?” William’s voice hardens. “All you had to do—all I expected from you—was to be my son. To be mine and not hers.”
“I didn’t belong to Mom,” Callum snaps. “I was never an object for you to control. She loved me, and I loved her. You don’t know the first thing about love. You never have and you never will.”
“She was weak.” Spittle flies from William’s mouth, hitting my left cheek.
“She was strong,” Callum snaps, his gaze locked on his dad while Torin and Archer move closer with their eyes fixed on the needle at my neck.
“Stronger than you. She was an omega, and she was still stronger than you. You tried to control her, but her love for me was so much stronger than you ever knew. She would have died before she let me become like you. She did die to stop me from becoming like you.”
Callum’s torment-filled eyes dart to me. “I nearly destroyed my mate because I started turning into you. But I never will. Let her go, or I will tear you limb from limb.”
William’s laughter rings out, deep and throaty. “And what do you think I’ll do with this needle if you push me too far, son? This dose won’t trigger her heat. It will stop her heart.”
No one breathes.
I keep hoping he’s threatening to use the needle on me to get what he wants. But I see the fear filling Callum’s eyes, and I know the truth. His dad will stab me in the neck if he’s pushed too far. It’s no idle threat, no matter how much I might want it to be.
Callum takes a breath and lets it out. “Back up, Archer. Torin, move away as well.”
Slowly, they all retreat.
Callum’s eyes lock on mine, and his expression turns blank. He’s donning a shield. No, a mask. I saw the look in his eyes just before that mask went up: terror.
And I know I won’t like what he says next.
“What do you want me to do, Dad?” Callum asks. His voice is quiet. Resigned.
Williams is smiling; I hear the glee in his voice when he says, “You’re going to take the blame, son. When the police come knocking, as they inevitably will, you are going to convince them you were responsible for all of my wrongs.”
A brief flicker of surprise passes across Callum’s face before he can hide it.
His father laughs. “Do you think I wouldn’t have guessed what you would do when your mate freed Charlotte Meeks? And you will be convincing, son. Or…”
I whimper as the needle digs into my neck. I feel a sharp prick and hot blood slides down the side of my throat.
Torin’s jaw hardens. Archer clenches his fist, and Callum glares. But none of them takes a step closer because if they do, I will die.
Torin’s eyes flick to my left.
One rapid dart, and the mood in the room changes as Torin’s shoulders relax the tiniest degree.
“Move a quarter of an inch, and I pull the trigger.” This new male voice is cold and familiar. It’s as cold as the last time he threatened my scent matches when they tried to stop me from leaving them.
Kylian Sutton.
William’s grip on my hair tightens, but Kylian isn’t done yet.
“Take one step back, I pull the trigger. Turn around, I pull the trigger. Do anything at all that makes me think I can’t trust you, I pull the fucking trigger. You get all that, old man?”
Silence.
Kylian laughs, and it’s a terrifying sound that sends shivers up and down my spine. “And if you’re still thinking about using that needle on her, I will do things to you that will make you wish you were never born. And I will take my sweet time doing them.”
The grip in my hair loosens, proving I’m not the only one convinced Kylian means it.
William pulls the needle away from my neck, and I start to believe I’ll live through this nightmare.
Kylian jerks Callum’s dad away from me. The clatter of something hitting the hardwood floor is music to my ears.
Callum, Archer, and Torin are suddenly there, pulling at my ropes and freeing me from the dining room chair.
I can’t stand. My legs refuse to support me. They just shake.
“Take her and go,” Kylian says.
I look at him for the first time since he snuck up on Callum’s dad from the door that leads to an adjoining room. He was so quiet, I never heard him until he was right there.
He has a gun pressed to the side of William’s head. I have never seen a hand as rock-steady as his or a look of such fierce determination in my life. No wonder Callum’s dad didn’t try to stab me with the needle. I see the fear in William’s eyes, though he tries to hide it.
Kylian looks at me and says, “Go.”
Archer swings me into his arms, and we sprint out of the house, toward a sleek black BMW parked on the graveled circular driveway in front of the house. Archer is urging me into the backseat of the car when I flinch as a gunshot rings out.
He freezes for a split-second before he slides into the seat beside me and slams the door shut. Callum gets behind the wheel of the car while Torin gets in the passenger seat.
I can’t stop shaking. My teeth are chattering so loudly, the sound fills the car until Callum starts the engine.
Archer wraps his arm around me and pulls me onto his lap.
He holds me against his chest and runs one hand up and down my back. “Shock,” he says quietly, “you’re okay now. You’re okay.”
I bury my face against his throat and let out an ocean of tears.