Chapter 33 #2
The world makes me more understanding of why Isolde chose to kill to keep her sanity by working with the crime families across the country. It’s a way to help people in her own way.
“I just want to wrap Isolde in bubble wrap,” I groan. “I can’t feel her the way I did earlier, but it’s more like she’s unconscious. There’s a small pulse coming from the bond that tells me she’s alive.”
“Hearing how you all talk about her, she would hate being overly protected,” Adira says, struggling to get up as Leila begins to make faces.
“I got her,” Alesso says, standing quickly to walk over and pick up the baby. “She’s been struggling to poop. I’ll walk her around.”
“Poor baby,” Adira says, watching as Alesso begins to whisper to Leila and holds her in one arm as he massages her belly. “You’re all so good with her.”
Jed glances at her as she makes a face, grimacing. “I’m taking you home soon, Adira. This stress isn’t good for you.”
Adira makes a face at him as she rubs her stomach. “I’m not due for ages. It’s fine.”
I shake my head, noting the signs.
“When are you due?” I ask.
“Early March,” Adira shrugs. “It’s only the second week of February. It’s too early. I’m not going anywhere. I also refuse to miss Nova’s charity event. I’m going to be there.”
“Our midwife,” Kane explains. “You haven’t met her yet because we haven’t had an appointment with her while you’ve been here. She’s amazing.”
“Nova and Kane have a passion for baby wearing and making carriers,” Adira adds, smiling. “I love how patient she’s been.”
“This pregnancy has been a lot,” Quinn says. “She came over once a week with hydration IVs for me when I was puking my guts out. Okay, I’m not patient, boys. Why are you so quiet?!”
“I found it,” Oliver whispers.
“Me too,” Callum says, gritting his teeth. “It’s an open invitation to watch an omega get torn apart during a rut. There’s no details about what she looks like, because to people like this, it doesn’t fucking matter.”
“Where?” I ask, my voice completely ruined as I growl.
We’ve been running in circles, have looked into every property we can find under Rock’s name, and have kept striking out.
“It says to message for an address,” Oliver says. “I’m creating an alias to send a request now. I don’t want to be connected to this in any way so Ophelia can’t deny me entry.”
“She’s asking for a thousand dollars per person,” Morris mutters, looking over Callum’s shoulder. “Ophelia is a real piece of work. I wonder what name this place is under.”
“Can’t be my father’s,” Damon says, shaking his head. “We used our men to clear those places.”
When Rock was killed, his sons also took over his men after killing the ones that they knew they couldn’t control. We’re all exhausted, so we delegated and made sure all the men had cameras on their bodies so we could watch as we continued to work.
“That doesn’t mean Ophelia didn’t fuck other people,” Adira mutters.
“Gross,” Jed says, making a face. “I’m sure his dick was diseased. Now that we’re this close, my body wants to move. We need to make sure we canvas the area and…”
“Are you fucking kidding me,” Oliver groans. “She says she will put me on the list and won’t release the address until the day of.”
“We’re not going to be able to save her from whatever they have planned,” I realize.
Adira blinks as she sits up tall.
“No, but we can make sure she lives through it,” she says, squeezing Quinn’s hand as she begins to cry silently. “It’s going to be a bumpy few days. Make sure you ask for a few tickets for entry, Oliver. I’ll pull in some people to be in the crowd to help. No one lives who attends this.”
“Agreed,” I breathe. “She’s hurt too many people. This ends with us.”
Isolde
“I suppose you no longer care about bruising me?” I ask, licking the cut on my lip. Ophelia woke me up with a slap, and I’m losing track of time.
Maybe it’s a way for my mind to protect myself by disassociating from reality, because I’m going to have a very hard time getting out of this alive.
No one is coming for me.
“They won’t care when they won’t be buying you, because they’d prefer the experience of watching you die,” Ophelia says smugly. “I think that it’s the universe’s way of correcting the day you killed the alphas who bought you.”
“I’m not going to sit around and let someone literally fuck me to death,” I snarl.
Avery has come by periodically to force me to eat a piece of bread or drink some water. She says that the alphas coming will want a little fight in me. I can’t wait to fillet her like a fish from sternum to throat.
“You won’t be able to do anything about it,” Ophelia grins. “It’s almost time, and this has to go exactly the way I want it to. I need to prepare you for this.”
Shuddering in my kneeling position, I shake my head. I won’t fucking beg, despite the subservient position I’m in. My knees ache from the heavy wood stocks, and my shoulders hurt. Yet, I raise my head and collect what little saliva I have.
When she pulls out the needle, I begin to breathe heavily, because it could be filled with fucking anything. Borrowing time, I spit on her when she leans forward to jab me with it.
Ophelia screams obscenities at me, while I watch her clean her cheek with her sleeve. Her hair is pulled back into a severe bun, her beady eyes enraged. And still, I tell myself that she doesn’t scare me. Ophelia’s power is in the unknown.
I know I’m going to die. How it happens, is up to me. She can do whatever she wants, and I’ll endure it…until my body gives out.
This is my mind continuing to disassociate, but I can’t panic. If there’s a chance at escape and a little murder, I’ll take it. However, that feels like a very slim possibility.
As black spots threaten my vision, I suck in a breath of air.
“Is your day making you crash out?” I tease Ophelia. “I hear bad karma can follow you around like a bad smell.”
“Albin!” Ophelia calls out. I pretend not to stiffen, but it’s difficult to do.
God only knows what she’s up to.
“I only have four hours to get you ready for this, girl,” she hisses at me. “I don’t have time for your bullshit. I’m out of time.”
“Madam Ophelia, you called?” a man asks, his heavy footsteps falling along the ground.
“Hold her still, please,” she says. “I need to run to my lab to get a few more things.”
Ophelia hurries off and my long, tangled hair is pulled back sharply. I can smell moldy cheese and gym socks and gag at how awful it is. Albin won the lottery for terrible, stinky alpha pheromones. Fuck, that’s rancid.
His hot onion breath wafts into my face as he presses his lips to my ear, but I can’t get away from him due to his grip on my hair. I would puke if I had enough in my stomach to do so.
“Madam Ophelia said I could join the guys in fucking you tonight,” he says, his tongue licking up my neck. “Fuck, you taste sweet. She always gives me the best presents. I like to ruin and kill omegas, and I wasn’t around while you were here last time.”
Yes, I think I’d remember what he smells like. Goddamnit, someone should kill him so he doesn’t continue to contaminate the air.
“Alright, here it is,” Ophelia says, bustling through the room.
She has a fucking bag of things, which can’t be good.
“Ugh, I have to wash your hair, wax your cunt, and make sure you’re perfect for tonight.
This better be worth the hassle. If I didn’t think they’d all come after me, I’d just disappear with the forty-five thousand dollars I’ve collected so far. ”
“Don’t forget that you’re streaming it too,” Albin says helpfully.
“That added money is why I have to stay,” she complains.
It’s as if someone took all of my words. I don’t know what to say in the face of such callousness. My death is a paycheck. I know what type of person Ophelia is, yet I’m still shell shocked.
Taking advantage of my silence, she pulls out a needle as she places the bag on the ground.
“Let’s see if this works,” she says, bringing me back to my senses.
“No, Ophelia—”
Plunging the needle into my skin, she emptied its contents into my vein. No amount of struggling helps since I’m immobilized. I can’t even feel my legs. I’ll be lucky to be able to walk again anytime soon.
Lucas? Alesso? Grant?! I attempt to open the bond as I scream for them in my mind, hyperventilating as I wait to see if this was the bond breaking medication.
“Next, here’s a low level heat medication to get you warmed up. It might take time for the bond to break,” she says. “I’m certain that it’ll take.”
The fact that I have to wait to know if it’ll work or not feels cruel.
The next injection feels like raw heat being pushed into my vein, making me scream. It fucking hurts, but that fizzles out, and there’s not a hint of cramping in my stomach.
Grinning triumphantly, I glare at her.
“Not a damn thing happened,” I growl.
“She’s talking too much for me and I have no need for her mouth, Albin.”
“It’s too bad I can’t stuff it full of my cock,” he says wistfully, shoving a gag past my lips before securing it behind my head.
“Fuck,” Ophelia mutters under her breath, shoving one last needle into my skin. “Sleep so you’ll stop annoying me and I can figure out how to save my own ass.”
My body begins to feel heavy as Albin unlocks the wood at my elbows and ankles. Everything feels hazy too, and I feel as if I’m falling down a long tunnel. I can hear my mates yelling at me, and I can even hear Oliver.
How is that possible? Oli?
We’re coming, Lucas promises. I sw—
The bonds snap so hard, my head feels as if it’s about to explode. Ophelia wipes my nose, the only hint that I’m bleeding.
“Maybe things are looking up, or perhaps I’m killing you. I don’t need you healthy for tonight, just your holes.”
As Albin picks my body up, my hair drags along the ground since my head dangles over his corded arms. I lay there paralyzed instead of unconscious during the walk to the bathroom, and I beg for oblivion.
I don’t want to be awake during this, I can’t stand the way Ophelia touches me as if I’m a hunk of meat.
Albin shifts me in his arms as he walks behind Ophelia, seeing that I’m still awake. His fingers pinch between my thumb and my index finger, and I promise to give him a quick death in my mind if he can pull this off before Ophelia notices.
Blessed darkness fills my vision and I pass out just as he walks into the bathroom. I may as well shore up my energy. I have an escape plan to hatch.
My alphas are coming.