9 Kashmir
Anika, the Beta of the compound, was who guided us through another maze of hallways.
We were informed that we would be attending a dinner tonight to discover more about what the hell was going on here.
Jericho also kept asking us too many questions about Kit because he ran into her the other night.
It had been a few days of settling in with his endless questions we were all avoiding.
Franco bristled, prickly as a cactus from it, so he wasn’t helping ease Jericho’s mind that Kit wasn’t someone to worry about.
Ryatt didn’t know what to do with all the new information, but I could see how much it bothered him the moment we walked in and found Kit with a mark on her neck.
None of us were prepared to be slammed with that news, and I would be a fool if I didn’t admit how much it sucked for me.
Anika stood just a hair shorter than me, making her quite tall for a female. Her build could rival mine as well, so I knew she was capable of handling herself. My eyes had been sizing up all the bigger people in this place because you never knew when they would turn on you.
“Does it bother anyone else to know that Leia stayed in contact with Kit?” I finally asked the group what had been eating at me. Leia promised us protection, but she knew better than to say the name of who offered us sanctuary.
“Omega,” Anika corrected ahead of us from hearing me.
I nearly forgot about her presence over the last few years, but she was a face I couldn’t forget either.
Though, I had only seen her a handful of times before we left for our training.
“The Alpha likes everyone to respect his Omega, so do not call her Kit. Her title is Omega.”
“Is yours Beta?” I asked her.
“I am third in command in this place, Kashmir. I am the one Alpha trusts the most after her. Through me, he found his Omega.” Tensions rose high between both parties, but Turner reminded me to keep my mouth shut.
The surgical team was able to handle his wound, but he’d be stuck in a sling for a while.
We told him to rest for the night, but he didn’t want to sit around.
“You never answered what your nickname is. I find it hard to believe that the Omega has one but not the Beta.”
“And what would yours be? Hump them and dump them?” The second she said it, my veins turned to ice, and a chilling death switch began shutting off my humanity. Right as I went to launch for her, Kayos held me back.
Anika didn’t act afraid of me, taking a few steps toward me as I was held back. I kept trying to break the grip of the guys around me, but it wasn’t until Ryatt whispered in my ear that I understood what I revealed. “Jericho is with us.”
Trying to collect myself, I fixed my suit. Anika smirked at my response, knowing I had to hold my tongue for our Omega. “You’ll do well to remember to respect me, Kashmir. Our empire wasn’t just built with numbers, it was also built on secrets. You and I both know I have quite a few.”
Keeping my mouth shut, I knew Jericho had been kept in the dark about a lot of our past. None of us were able to talk about Kit, not after what happened to her when we left for training.
At the time, we all thought nothing of it, planning to return to her during the school breaks, but we learned last night that she didn’t get the life we thought she would.
She still got sired to the darkness after we weren’t enough to save her from it.
As protectors, we moved as a group by keeping Jericho in the center.
Kayos and Ryatt guided us down the hallway right behind Anika.
Hearing her confess that it was she who introduced Kit to her Alpha unsettled something that unnerved me.
I irrationally began blaming her for losing Kit when it’d been my own na?ve fault to begin with.
We could hear several voices coming through the door she began to open.
We found ourselves in a ballroom of sorts that was completely underground and had no windows, but it wasn’t the large room that kept my attention.
No, that went to the packs sitting within it.
All around us, we could see the families who had been targeted and taken out.
We believed most of these people to be dead, so our surprise was genuine when we found the other heads of our empire sitting with their people.
“Your table is over here, follow me.” When Anika waved us to the empty one in the corner, the rest of the groups perked up from our scent.
With all the others lingering around us, it made my nose twitch just a little.
The smoke problem from a few days ago did come out in the shower, and I healed rather quickly from the lung burn.
We seated ourselves and tipped our chins to those we recognized.
Anika left us at the round table draped in silk linens of emerald and black.
“Was anyone else expecting this?” Kayos asked the group.
“It looks like we weren’t the only ones to call in for a rescue,” Ryatt muttered, paying attention to all the faces we knew.
“Anyone else think it’s kind of weird none of us have even heard of this Alpha in the city, but he managed to save all the heads of households that run the city?” Turner readjusted his sling for his neck to swivel easier our way.
“We need to watch ourselves in this place, and we can’t be making enemies.” Ryatt swung his gaze my way. “That includes your beef with Anika.”
“Did you know her too?” Jericho popped off, sulking in his seat. “Or is that another one you were going to hide from me?”
“Kit and Anika knew us before we came into power,” Franco answered him. “We don’t talk about those days because they mean nothing now.”
I was impressed he could say that with a straight face, but I knew better than to declare anything against it.
Jericho needed to feel eased and coddled during this transition, and the blast from our pasts weren’t conducive for that.
Grabbing a pitcher of water in the center, I poured myself a glass and took a sip.
Maybe it was time to be a little more real with Jericho, and I knew better than to ask permission before speaking about it.
“Kit was once our Omega, and she doesn’t just mean nothing. ”
Everyone around me locked up and stopped breathing, but I just kept drinking my water. Ryatt growled as though he was going to pounce over the table to take me out. His authority drilled into me, so I bowed my head to my Alpha. “What the hell were you thinking by saying that?”
Setting the glass down on the table, it wasn’t his eyes I met when I finally lifted my gaze.
I let Jericho see the honesty within mine.
“We left to our training at a private school only for the packs of power. Kit had been ours before we left, but unclaimed Omegas weren’t allowed to come.
We all questioned if she was made for our hard life, so we never marked her. ”
“But I was?” He had every right to be angry like he expressed.
“You were made for us,” Turner jumped in. “We marked you and chose you.”
Now that Jericho was upset, it made us all restless because we could sense it.
Being hardwired to be attuned to his issues, I knew the other men’s hearts pounded just as hard as mine.
Telling him the truth was still a better option than to keep lying to him.
Before he could ask us anything else, the door swung open in a way that made everyone turn their heads at the sound.
Kit strutted in wearing a violet dress that shined against the light.
Her heels were platformed for more height, and she walked perfectly in them.
She managed to become more regally powerful in her femininity than I could’ve ever imagined.
She still struck me stupid by her beauty, but I missed her wearing the oversized sweatshirts with leggings.
Her sneakers were always tattered and nearly ruined as she taped them together to last a little longer.
She always refused us to buy her new ones.
That woman was gone, and this was who remained.
“Welcome!” She raised her hands in a way to honor everyone in the room.
“We are so pleased to be hosting all of you amazing packs. We wanted to take tonight and honor the fact that none of you guys fell when our adversary thought you should.” She let the crowd insert an applause before continuing.
“As most of you know, my team has been trying to figure out who we’re up against. While we’ve been coming up short, we’re still pursuing.
We were able to follow someone from this week’s earlier raid, so we will be following up on it.
As always, I will give you more information when we have it. ”
“And when are we going to meet your Alpha?” Apparently, it wasn’t just us who was troubled by not seeing that person here. Kit gave him a warm smile and placed her hands together.
“I am the spokesperson for my pack. I know that alarms a lot of you because you believe Omegas should be kept hidden to not get hurt. My Alpha knows what I am capable of, and he understands that I am not someone who wants to be locked away and forgotten. As a courtesy, it would be wise to remember our kindness to you all when you question how we run things here. The door is always open, and you’re more than welcome to leave.
This is the final warning to stop disrespecting me just like I do not disrespect your Omegas. ”
The room fell silent because they all understood that one. We’d be slaughtering and getting those who offended Jericho in any way. It came over me right now on Kit’s behalf, but I knew better than to acknowledge phantom feelings of my former self.
Darius McAllister cleared his throat, standing from his table.
He was no one to be pitted against, so I it made me happy to see his pack here with us as an ally.
“I would like to send one of my people out when you follow up. It would bring me ease for one of my own to take part in what protects us.”
All around the room, other Alphas began chiming in with the same idea.
None of us liked this being out of our control, so offering a soldier was the only way we could take part and learn more about this place of secrets.
Unlike when her ability came in question, Kit smiled at his offer.
Dipping her chin, she wasn’t bothered by the idea of letting our men join her ranks.
“What a fantastic idea! By having your men join, mine can get more rest. If each pack would like to send one Beta, I am more than willing to make teams where they can help. As of right now, we’re still tailing the person to see all the places he goes.
From where he went last night, I will need three stakeout teams. If each of you were to give me one Beta, I’d have more than enough for each team. ”
With there being seven tables, we all concluded that she would be teaming them in pairs of two or three.
She might go to four with her own men because I knew there was no way she would have our guys on the same teams without hers supervising.
Each table had someone stand from it, offering their services.
Without consent from my Alpha, I was the one who stood up at ours.
Franco growled at me because it came between me and him, but I also knew he would be better staying back with Jericho.
“Also,” Kit started. “We cannot have anyone being seen or photographed in public because the world right now presumes you're dead. For safety, you will be ordered to wear a disguise. Give me a few days to procure the necessities to provide your safety before teams receive tasks. This will also give my guards adequate time to prep for the shift in teams.”
None of us were going to argue that because we wanted our men to be safe as well. Raphael and Anika were already standing pretty close to Kit, so she leaned in and whispered to them to go collect the information. They went about each table and gathered what they needed as Kit watched over them.
“Now that we have that business taken care of, I think it’s time you guys deserve a proper meal.
” From the other end of the room, we watched the double doors open that must’ve been hiding a kitchen on the other side.
Roller trays came out with what smelled of roasted meat.
They placed a salad bowl, baked potatoes, rolls and a heaping plate of meat on each table.
The staff hurried to deliver everything they were supposed to like they had been formally trained to handle food.
None of them had wavering hands and not one spill was made.
We were all eager and excited to eat such a delicious meal, and the smell of the meat was making my stomach growl.
When everyone’s eyes were taking in the feast, I felt someone looking our direction.
Ever so gently, I let my peripheral take in how Kit observed us.
She hid her curiosity well, but I knew she had just as many questions as Jericho.
It also didn’t help that I had nearly a thousand for her because none of us knew how she fell in this life we tried protecting her from.
When I moved my head her way a little bit more, she hurried and removed her gaze from me.
Among our pack, Jericho was our center. He always felt our love, but we allowed ourselves to dabble in female pleasures outside our mate bonds.
We usually brought one home to share every once in a while, but we always focused on Jericho.
I knew we were going to have to do just that tonight because he was hurting from our lies.
Kit began to move, leaving the room for us to enjoy our meal.
Under the safety of her Alpha, we were finally able to relax for just a minute.
If she was able to keep all of these guys alive within the last several months, that told me her safe haven hadn’t been breached whatsoever by our adversary.
Of course, none of us knew about her secret world below our city.