Chapter 4 #2
When she blinks rapidly, I know that it’s to make sure that the tears on her eyelashes don’t fall.
“What does it matter?” I say without thinking, moving as close to the bars as I can to make sure that we’re not overheard. “These knotheads have stolen years of your life, but you’re still you. Caring and good. They can’t take that away.”
“They took my brother,” Colette replies, quietly. “My pack.”
“How?”
Colette rests her head against the bars. “My parents had the most loving bond. We were a happy family. My Beta brother was amazing. Do you have siblings?”
She lights up when she talks about her family. It seems strange to imagine that true bonds like that exist.
“I have an incredible brother too,” I reply, unable to resist talking about Mars to someone. I’ve never had anyone to chat to about things like this before. “But my parents definitely aren’t loving.”
“There was an accident.” Colette’s eyes become glassy.
“My parents died. And I didn’t know why, but my brother was taken away from me.
I know now it’s because I’m a Rogue. I guess that he was made into an orphan ward of some wealthy pack.
Companions aren’t allowed to bond, but I still hope that he’s treated well and loved. ”
I doubt it.
Companions are treated like property.
They grow up alongside wealthy Alpha kids to mentor them in their schoolwork, sport, or other extracurriculars.
They are unpaid servants.
Yet it’s better to let Colette believe that her brother went to a family who would be as loving as her own pack was.
See, I can be kind too.
“If you can be cheerful here, Col, then I am sure that he’s happy somewhere out in the world,” I reply.
Colette nods.
“You’re right. Well, I also come bearing gifts.
” She reaches into her pocket. “One of the nicer guards gave me a present last night. It’s a box of chocolate reindeer.
He intended to toss them in the trash because he doesn’t like white chocolate.
He saw me and threw them to me instead. I’m going around giving them out to everyone.
I know that it breaks the rules, but hey, it’s the holidays.
Here. Eat it quickly, so the other guards don’t catch you with it. ”
I take the melting contraband from her.
I sniff it quickly. I can’t smell any poison, which is something I have been trained to check for, so I stuff the chocolate hurriedly into my mouth.
Then I moan, as the delicious sweetness melts on my tongue.
“Good, yeah?” Colette gives me a thumbs up.
“Heaven. You’re an angel.”
Colette flushes, purring at the praise.
The small amount of food makes my hunger pangs roar to life, but this small celebration for Christmas is worth it.
I will miss Colette when I escape.
Somehow, the Omega appears to catch my change in expression; I must be losing my sharpness.
“If you ever think about escaping, Sev,” she whispers, “you will take me with you, right?”
“Shut up.” I glance around.
I haven’t been able to see a camera in the cell because the electricity would short-circuit it. But that doesn’t mean the one in the corridor can’t pick up her words.
“Please,” Colette mouths.
“My original Adonis pack threw me away like that guard did those chocolates. So, I have no pack but the Rogues. Everyone who is locked in this facility is mine. Do you understand?”
I can’t say more.
I won’t promise to take her with me when I break out of here. But I will come back, rescue everyone, rip out the throats of the guards, and burn this place to the ground.
Colette is smart.
She must be able to tell what I am not saying.
Her eyes gleam with understanding, before she breaks into a wide grin. “Now that’s the Christmas gift I needed.”
I cock my head, recognizing the heavy footfalls coming down the corridor.
Greco, the most brutal of the guards.
“Stand up.” I hiss. “Don’t let him see…”
“Nine, why are you here?” A deceptively gentle voice says behind Colette. Her eyes widen with alarm. She scrambles to her feet. “Aren’t your duties to clean the staff quarters today?”
Wearing the white shirt, black trousers, and sweater with the ABO logo on the front of a head guard, Greco is the only guard who wears it with pride like it’s an extension of his personality.
I bet that he’s the type of Alpha to jerk off to memories of giving wedgies to the smallest Betas at high school.
He is huge, muscled, with a shaved head and tiny eyes that are so dark they look like they’re black.
Sets of keys dangle at his waist, along with a thick Discipline Strap.
“I’m sorry, sir, I’m just a dumb Omega.” Colette lowers her head. She is panting hard in fear. “I must have mixed up my duties. I believed that you’d be at home with your family.”
“Did you, now?” Greco strokes the back of his hand down Colette’s cheek, and she struggles not to flinch.
“Is that why you thought it was safe to act like a bad Omega?” I clench my jaw.
Bad Omega is the worst thing that you can call an Omega.
Colette is in fact the best Omega in this place.
“I hoped that after all these years I had trained you better. I would beat my own Omega black and blue if they dared to defy me like this.”
I bet he would.
When Greco slips the Discipline Strap into his hand, I slowly stand, rumbling a deep, growl that would have most Alphas baring their necks.
Greco cringes, before remembering that I’m the one behind the bars.
He clears his throat. “What are you going to do about it, Seventy? Try your weird pheromone shit? Oh, wait. You can’t. You’re fangless.”
I roll and flex my shoulders, adjusting my stance.
Then I give a fiendish grin. “Come in here and say that.”
Greco pales. “Like I’d risk getting close to a psycho Alpha like you.”
Unexpectedly, something shifts in his expression.
Wait, what have I missed?
Suddenly, alert to the danger, I snarl.
Why is Greco here, skulking outside my cell on Christmas Day, when he should be spending the celebration with his own pack?
Greco shoves Colette to the side. Then his dark gaze meets mine.
“The Billionaire pack says hi.” He rests his hand on the bars.
Shit, I should have guessed that the Billionaires would find a way to take their revenge even inside here.
I realize what Greco is going to do. But there is nothing that I can do because I am too far from the safety of my rubber mattress.
This is going to suck.
“Please, don’t…” Colette pleads.
Then Greco flips the switch.
The only warning is a humming in the walls, before heat sears my bare soles, followed by a wrenching jolt that snaps my muscles into spasms.
My toes curl. My heels are pinned to the searing floor.
White-hot needles race up my legs, hips, and spine.
Inside, I’m howling.
Yet I don’t make a sound because my jaw is clamped shut. The electricity has taken me over.
I’m not in control of my own muscles.
Shaking, white stars burst in front of my eyes.
Stop, please stop.
My heart is hammering. Adrenaline is surging.
This is agony.
Pure. Devastating.