Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Cal
Ankle monitors.
They’d put fucking ankle monitors on us like we were some kind of animals. Maybe we were deep down, and that’s why we were treated like royalty one minute and trash the next.
If alphas weren’t so motivated and ruthless when it came to being the best of the best, I was sure betas would have had us locked away by now. And who knew, maybe that would one day happen. They outnumbered us plain and simple.
I propped my foot on the coffee table and stared at the solid green light that let me know I was within the range they’d laid out.
We were allowed within a twenty-mile radius of our house but couldn’t go anywhere near the academies or compounds here.
Like we were interested in any omega other than Kara.
Alvaro came down the stairs, his own ankle accessory also glowing green, and sat next to me with a heavy sigh. “Avery’s playing video games.”
Thank fuck. I thought we were going to have to lock him in a room or tie his ass to a chair. He kept saying he was going to go find Kara, and we believed he would.
Avery was a mess and had been since we were detained the night before. We’d been questioned all night, gone through assessments all day, and now we were home after a short flight from Oregon.
The rest of our tour was canceled—not by choice—and so now we awaited our hearing in a few days to find out what the next steps were. For now, everyone thought we were sick, and in a way, we were, and hopefully it stayed that way.
That was really wishful thinking on my part.
“Do you think they’re going to put him in a facility? He doesn’t seem feral to me. More like... heartbroken.” I leaned my head back on the couch and stared at the ceiling. “I think I’m going to go for a ride.”
Alvaro grumbled and leaned his head back too. “Now is not the time to go pick up women.”
I growled and sat up, smacking his chest with the back of my hand. “I would never do that. Not now. Not ever again. If we don’t get Kara back, I’ll... I’ll... cut off my dick and send it to her.”
Alvaro shut his eyes and sighed. “I don’t even feel like laughing at that.”
“I’m not joking. This dick is never touching another pussy, ass, or mouth again. As soon as I have the balls to do it, I’m tattooing her name down the side of it.” I sat back with a huff, knowing I was being a bit dramatic, but also not caring.
I was dealing the best way I knew how, just like the rest of them were dealing in their own ways.
Alvaro was holding himself together by a thread; I could see it in his eyes and the tension in his neck and shoulders. He’d been occupying himself with Avery and making sure he was settled.
Avery had woken up from being tranq’d with a growl so vicious I was half tempted to sedate him myself.
I don’t know how the agents managed to interview him or do assessments, but they didn’t keep him, so he’d clearly snapped out of it.
Besides muttering he needed to go get Kara, he’d been silent since they let us go.
As soon as we got home, Tate had gone straight out to the backyard and parked his ass in a lounge chair. He was usually rock solid, and it worried me he was retreating from us.
Alvaro’s phone rang, and he answered it on speaker. “Hey, man. How is she?”
I still could hardly believe that Anya had been shot pushing Kara out of the way. It made my blood boil that someone had a real gun out, not just around our omega but our beta and dog too.
“She’s doing really well. They are probably going to release her tomorrow and we’ll stay in a nearby hotel for a few days just to be on the safe side. How are you four doing?” Jonathan had a lot to deal with, and the last of his concerns should have been us.
“We’re hanging in there. Glad to be home but still processing everything that happened.” Alvaro rubbed his forehead like he had a headache. “I’m sorry you two got dragged into this.”
“Why are you apologizing? It’s not your fault a broken system can’t let you guys find your happiness.
They interviewed me earlier today and I told them as much.
” Jonathan must have been outside the hospital room, but now the beeping of machines could be heard.
“Anya is awake. I’ll check in tomorrow when we’re released. ”
“Sounds good. Love you, man. Tell Anya we love her.” Alvaro hung up, and we sat in silence for a few minutes.
Anya was going to be fine, but the bullet had come close to really messing her up. Luckily, they’d been able to get the bullet out.
“You know what?” I jumped up, wincing as the movement made the monitor pinch my skin. “You should all come with me to blow off some steam. It’s like ten miles away.”
“We don’t have motorcycles.”
“We’ll take a car instead. It’s where I go when I need to let my alpha out, and you just assume I’m fucking around.” I went to the sliding door and opened it. “Hey, we’re going to my top-secret spot. Want to come?”
Tate sat up and looked back at me. “And where’s that?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know.” I left the door open, knowing Tate wouldn’t be able to resist having his questions about where I went several times a week answered.
Alvaro went to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. “I’ll pack us some drinks.”
“I have drinks there.” I usually started my nights with a few beers when I went and had a fully stocked fridge.
I ran up the stairs and jogged down the hall to where Avery should have been playing video games. The TV was on, but Avery and Gizmo were nowhere to be found.
My eye caught on the slightly ajar door to the primary bedroom and my chest started to pound. What the hell was he doing?
We’d spent countless hours preparing the room for us and Kara. If he was messing it up, I was going to fucking kill him.
“Avery?” I pushed the door open, and Gizmo made a sad whimper from the bed.
The bed he shouldn’t have been on. I rolled my eyes and grabbed his collar, pulling him off the custom-made mattress that was big enough to fit all five of us comfortably. The thing had cost a small fortune.
“Where’s Avery, Gizzy? Did he climb out the window?” If we had to chase his ass down, I was not going to be happy.
Gizmo went to the French doors leading into the nesting area and looked back at me. I couldn’t say I was surprised Avery had come in here; I’d been tempted to as well. But it wasn’t like it smelled like Kara; Pack Health had taken all of her nesting stuff as evidence.
Fuckers.
I knocked gently and opened one of the doors. The area had once been a small sitting area that was part of the main bedroom, but we’d walled it off and put doors in. The ceilings were high, just like the bedroom, and we’d constructed a tent-like structure to hang lush draperies from.
Right inside the doorway was a little area where there was a half-sized refrigerator and freezer and a cabinet to keep things we might need.
I pulled back the curtain door and peered inside. Avery was lying in the dark in the center, the Squishmallows and pillows surrounding him.
“Hey, man. Can I come in?” I wasn’t sure if he was going to be irritated by me or not. We’d just started to heal our bond with each other when shit had hit the fan.
“No.” He grunted, rolling to his side and hugging the Squishmallow he’d picked out. “Leave me alone.”
“Well, too bad.” I looked back to check that Gizmo wasn’t about to come into the nest, but he was back on the bed again. Damn dog, but I guess he deserved some comfort after trying to protect our omega and beta.
I let the curtain fall shut and we were bathed in darkness. The area was about the size of two full beds, and I flopped down to the right of where I’d seen Avery.
“So, what’s up? Just hanging out in the dark?” I itched to turn on the fairy lights we’d strung with the drapery, but I was already pushing it with Avery.
He didn’t respond, and I reached over and poked him in the back. He let out a low growl but didn’t move or speak.
“We’re going to my secret spot. Want to come? It’ll be good to get out some of that angsty alpha energy.” I poked him again.
“Stop fucking poking me!”
I poked him in the ass, and that was apparently the line I shouldn’t have crossed. He growled and grabbed my wrist, his grip brutal.
“Ow!” I sat up and tried to yank my arm away. “I was just playing around. Fuck!”
He shoved my arm away. “Get the fuck out of here before I make you.”
I sighed and rubbed at my wrist, which would probably have marks. “Maybe Pack Health is right and we shouldn’t be around omegas.”
“I shouldn’t be around omegas.” His voice was muffled like he had his face buried in a pillow. “Just leave, Cal.”
“You know what? No, I’m staying right here until you agree to come with us.” I reached over and pressed the button to turn on a strand of lights.
The nest was just as epic as it had always been, but seeing it now made me sad. We’d been so sure things would work out for us.
“Then you’ll be waiting there forever. I’m not leaving.” He grabbed a pillow and threw it at me.
I caught it before it could hit me in the face. “Well, what if you have to pee? Or take a shit?”
He didn’t respond, and I sat quietly for a few minutes, collecting my thoughts before speaking again in a soft voice like I was talking to a wild animal... which wasn’t too far from reality.
“From the moment we all met, we had this connection.
This brotherhood that grew into the best thing that has happened to me.
.. to any of us, I think. It brought me three brothers who push me to be a better person, even though I sometimes might not act like it.
We formed a pack, bonded... we worked our asses off to create a name for ourselves in an industry that even the best of the best might not make it in.
“And then we let an immature omega take the only thing that really mattered away from us; our bond with each other. Our family. It fucking hurt. Every day I watched you suffer, Alvaro worry, and Tate ignored it. It’s a miracle our career is what it is when we were merely roommates.”
Avery turned over to his other side, his lips in a tight line and his eyes intense. I had to look away as I continued.
“And then Kara showed up. The hope we had for her being our omega brought us back together—not to how we once were as a pack, but it was getting there—and everyone was so damn happy. We were healing. She was healing us. And then she showed up on our bus and...” I shook my head, suddenly feeling ridiculous that I was detailing everything Avery already knew.
“Keep going,” Avery rasped.
“I thought, this is it, this is the defining moment of my life. Our omega was with us, and we were taking care of her. Nothing else mattered but her... and then they took her from us. It sucks ass, but if we give up now when we are so close to having everything we could ever want? We can’t give up on her.
She’s ours, and if we have to spend the next twenty years fighting for her, then that’s going to have to be okay.
Kara is worth every sleepless night and every tear.
We have to keep trying and that means being a pack and fighting like our lives depend on it to get her back. She deserves that much, doesn’t she?”
He shut his eyes and took a deep breath before letting it out, causing his cheeks to puff out. “I’m tired of never being good enough, Cal.”
“We are good enough. Don’t let people who don’t even know us or Kara dictate if we’re good enough for each other. Maybe if we all started believing that, so would they.”
“How did you go from going crazy and licking my dick like it was an omega popsicle to being so... rational?” Avery sat up and ran his hands through his messy hair as I chuckled about him calling his dick an omega popsicle. “You said you have a place to get out angsty energy?”
I got to my knees and rubbed my hands together. “The more I think about sharing it, the more excited I am.”
Maybe a few months ago they would have been worried about me, but now? Not a chance.
Twenty minutes later, I pulled off the freeway and drove toward the warehouses. I could feel the tension in the SUV as my pack mates wondered where the fuck I was taking them.
Most of the buildings were dark, but a few had late shifts. I turned into a parking space of a darkened building and shut off the SUV.
“Is this where we find out you moonlight as a serial killer and you have a freezer full of bodies?” Alvaro peered out the window, trying to see where the fuck we were.
“This is where he’s manufacturing omega popsicles,” Avery said, deadpan.
Tate snorted. “What the hell are omega popsicles?”
“Alpha dicks coated in slick.” Avery opened his door and got out before anyone could respond.
Alvaro looked over at me. “What did you say to him?”
I shrugged. “Just told him that Kara deserves for us to try.”
We got out of the car, and I walked to the door where Avery was leaning against the wall, a thoughtful expression on his face.
The alarm beeped in warning as I opened the door, and I quickly entered my code before flipping on the lights.
“Holy shit.” Avery walked in first, his eyes widening. “I don’t know whether to be mad you’ve never brought us here or excited you finally did.”
I let the three of them take in the five thousand square feet of old cars, furniture, appliances, electronics, and other breakable fun.
“I went to a place one night where you could destroy shit, and well... I wanted more. The only things off limits are the sound system, the refrigerator, and the couch over in the corner.”
I headed toward the opposite corner we entered from. “Beers?”
“Fuck yes, I want a beer.” Avery followed me, excitement in his voice.
I had a feeling he’d like this place. Was it healthy to beat the shit out of inanimate objects? Probably not. But it was a hell of a lot better than letting my anger and unhappiness fester.
And besides, destroying stuff was fun.
After we all had beers in hand, I handed them safety glasses that had conveniently come in a pack of four.
“Where do you get all this stuff?” Tate took a sip of beer after putting the safety glasses on.
“I pay someone at one of those junk hauling places to bring me stuff. The cars I have another guy gets me from auctions. My favorite thing is to stand on the top of a car and beat the windshield in. Makes me feel like I’m a badass.”
Avery grinned and grabbed a sledgehammer I had leaning against the wall. “Let’s show these inanimate objects just how strong a pack we are.”
And we did just that.