Chapter 3 #3
I raise my chin.
There is only one solution.
I hate it.
Why couldn’t Fiorella simply have torn out my throat? Quick and easy. I’ve been expecting it for most of my life.
“We both know that there is one way out of this. You hand me in to the authorities first yourself.” I straighten my shoulders. “Then the pack will be safe. You can pretend that you didn’t know about my powers.”
To my shock, Mars picks up the bowl of chicken broth and hurls it at the wall. The bowl smashes, and the broth sprays across the room.
I don’t even flinch.
I’m numb.
This is my nightmare.
Every night that I read and memorized The Rogue Scare: Dark Myths, Fables, and the Hunts, I have been terrified of my hidden identity being discovered. Then of being locked away because of it.
Fiorella has controlled me by holding this fear over me.
Strangely, there is a sense of freedom in the worst finally coming true.
The secret is out.
I can be who I was meant to be.
No more hiding.
“It was me who wasn’t good enough.” Mars is breathing hard.
I know that he must be in agony. The cover has been pushed down, and red is blooming on his bandages, where his stitches have been pulled out.
“I was the one who was rejected. I take ownership of this. It was my fault, not Ro’s.
Send me to the Billionaires. But don’t you fucking dare make my sister do this. ”
“What did you call her?” Fiorella demands.
“My sister,” Mars replies with a pride that makes my chest warm. “One of us is being sent away today, so I will finally claim her as my sister publicly. What’s the point in hiding it?”
Fiorella huffs a laugh. “Finally discovered your knot, huh? A little late now.”
I could place a bet that Fiorella wouldn’t allow me to address her as Mom, despite her intending this to be the last time that we see each other.
“You’re not going to the Billionaires, brother.
” I narrow my eyes, defiantly at Fiorella, who appears to realize that she has lost control.
Fuck her. I smile at Mars, who gives me a watery smile back.
“Rosa would also bond some elite Alpha, while you were forced to become their Rut Alpha. You would suffer every day, when you deserve to have a loving pack who appreciate just what an amazing Chief Alpha you will be, understand?”
Suddenly, Nico grips onto my ankle like he can somehow keep me here that way. His distressed scent washes over me.
When he glances up at me, I realize that he is silently weeping.
I reach down to stroke his hair in comfort.
He desperately nuzzles against my hand.
“But they’ll kill you, Ro,” Mars snarls.
“Unlikely.” Fiorella kicks Nico away from me. I glare at her. “My contacts in the government tell me that they don’t burn Rogues anymore. One of the Senators, who works with us on the less legal side of our business, informs me that there is a secret facility where they hold the Rogues.”
“A prison.” My eyes cool.
“The ABO Facility. They study those with abnormal pheromones.”
“Do experiments on them,” I correct, flatly. “Lock them up and torture them.”
Fiorella’s expression gentles just for a moment.
She traces over the gouges that her nails have left in my cheek, before fussily cleaning over the trail of blood.
“Why do you think I ordered you not to reveal your powers? You did this to yourself. In normal circumstances, it doesn’t matter how much someone suspected you, nobody would turn in a member of the Adonis pack to the authorities.
They would be signing their own death warrant.
Our name protected you. Except, Damio isn’t intimidated by us. And remember, this is your solution.”
True.
I stand by my choices.
I’ve had to make my own decisions and stand by the consequences since I was a kid.
When I study my brother and feel Nico’s tears wetting my trousers, I know that I won’t regret this one.
Mars wouldn’t survive being sent to the Billionaires. He barely survived a single meeting with them.
Yet I was built and trained to survive.
Just let them lock me up. Let them think that they can trap me.
I’m the hunter and not the fucking prey.
“Don’t,” Mars begs. His blue eyes swim with tears. When he reaches for my hand, it kills me to pull away from him. “Please, don’t…don’t do this, Ro. Please, fucking, please…”
My eyes are dry.
They always are.
But my heart is breaking.
I smile, and inside I swear to myself that I will find a way to return to Adonis Hall and my brother.
I will return to protect him, Nico, and the trafficked Omegas.
And I will take my revenge on Fiorella and the Billionaires.
For now, however, it breaks my heart to meet my brother’s gaze.
“Behave for Nico. Remember that you’re perfect as you are.
The heir of a fucking mafia empire. Focus on that.
Also, eat the chocolates in the advent calendar for me and know that each day, I’ll be thinking about you too. I’ll miss you, bro. Goodbye, yeah?”
I force myself to ignore Mars’ yelling, as I march without looking around out of the bedroom for the last time.