Chapter 14 The Resistance
The Resistance
The hush of the crowd makes me want to run back out to the streets of Foreen and fight to the death with the Beta’s Path.
This tension-filled silence as they stare at me like I’m the answer to their prayers, like I’m some kind of Saviour, is sick.
Some eyes are filled with awe, some are filled with envy, but they are all staring at me, waiting for me to speak, and I have nothing to give them.
So, they smother in that toxic blend of fear and hope, and I do and say nothing.
Legion walks in behind us, breaking the glass-like expectations, and claps Jarek on the shoulder. The ease with which the two touch people is something I am deeply envious of, but right now, I’m glad that they have stolen the gazes of the people from me.
“Our friends have made it home,” Legion announces like we’ve just come home from war.
I turn my head and glare at him, grinding my teeth so I don’t lash out in front of all these people.
Home? No omega or alpha will ever find a home in Foreen. And we are not friends.
I brush my hair back and sidestep away from Legion when he reaches out to place a hand on my shoulder. A subtle warning that I will not just go along with his plans.
He withdraws it with a wry smile. “I forget that people don’t like to be touched.”
“It’s a stupid thing to forget; one day you’ll touch the wrong person, and it will get you killed,” I mutter under my breath.
Legion just laughs. “I’ve heard you were hard.”
Mordecai grabs him and pulls him away, which is a good thing because my temper is soaring. I think if he hadn’t been Resistance, I might like him, though. Maybe is a world far from this one.
Bear approaches, and I glower even harder. The cocky swagger and confident leader aren’t being masked by the chains now. His arrogance is almost a crime.
“You left us!” I accuse.
He shrugs. “I did, but it was for a good cause.”
And therein lies my entire issue with the Resistance. They don’t care about stomping people in order to achieve the bigger picture.
“I want to introduce you to my council of leaders.”
I stare at him, listening to the nuances of words. There are two things wrong with that sentence: introducing me and council. He doesn’t give anything away though as he gestures for a handful of people to approach.
“This is Marshall.” I take in the tall man.
He’s got dark skin and dark brown hair down to his shoulders.
He looks intelligent and deadly. An alpha that has a reputation even I have heard of.
His aura is nice and calm, though, but he must be wearing scent suppressant patches because I can’t catch even a trace of scent on him.
“It’s nice to meet you, Keres.”
I stare at him, refusing to be drawn into this meet and greet. Next, I’m introduced to a middle-aged man named Banks. He gives me a wide smile that doesn’t reach his brown eyes. Again, frustratingly, there is absolutely no scent.
Benji is next. He looks younger than me and has messy dark brown hair and pale skin; he could pass for a corpse. He doesn’t smile at me; in fact, he doesn’t react to me at all. I almost like him more because of it.
Legion points out Hernan, who bobs his head and then stomps off, snapping orders to people, who jump to do his bidding.
“Hernan is in charge of our supplies and making sure everyone has what they need. Banks is an expert on Foreen, and Benji is one of my best fighters,” Bear explains proudly.
I turn my head and study Bear, wondering how quickly I would die if I hit him.
“What does Legion do?”
“Legion is my left-hand man; he does a bit of everything,” Bear says, and to add insult to injury, he winks at me. “And last but most importantly, I have Amelia, who is in charge of omegas; Ava, who is my spy master; and Charlotte, who goes out and explores territories before we can get there.”
Amelia has tanned skin, black hair and eyes.
She watches me with a welcoming smile and stars in her eyes.
Ava is blond and has her eyes on Jarek, which irritates me to no end, and Charlotte has red hair and a wide welcoming smile that she gives me before drifting off.
None of them are showing even a trace of their scents, just a flat, almost nullified chemical scent.
“Your entire cabinet is here,” I say flatly, unimpressed.
Bear starts and then lets out a roar of laughter that draws the eyes of everyone around us. “I didn’t know you knew that much about the Resistance.”
I snort. “I make it my business to know. How did you get everyone here without getting them all killed, Bear?” My voice has risen, and I sense the Resistance is closing in on me.
Cadel steps in front, stopping Benji from getting closer. When the latter flashes a hand out, intending on grabbing me, Cadel acts faster and boots him in the chest, sending him flying.
I blink as he travels a good ten feet before crashing into people who are anxiously watching our interaction.
“No one touches Keres,” Cadel snarls low and deep. His warning travels from one end of the massive room to the other, and every person lowers their eyes.
Bear watches him with interest. “Where did you say you were from?”
“None of your business, Bear,” I snap, jumping in for Cadel so he doesn’t have to answer.
I step back, frustrated and ready to leave, but Mordecai steps in front of me and glares at his leader.
“Stop it.”
“I was just—”
“Bear, knock it off and send your rabid dogs to harass someone else. Kaida is mine.”
I’m not sure I like him pissing on me like that and marking me as his territory. But it’s effective. The tension from Bear’s supporters leaches out of them, and they turn away, their interest in me gone.
When Mordecai turns and looks down at me, I lose the anger; it just slips right away. Have I ever had anyone look at me like this, with such complete and utter intensity, a softness, and a hint of a smile?
I have to tear myself away from it, seizing my anger and turning to focus instead on the smiling leader of the Resistance. I don’t know what will happen to me if I keep looking at Mordecai.
“I want to know what you all think you are doing here. Do you have any idea of the stupidity of what you have done?” I say, letting my horror bleed into my voice. “Everyone here is going to die.”
Mordecai sighs, reaching for my hand. Once again, I evade being touched, but his amused smile has me burning hot inside.
“I can’t tell you everything just yet, but I can tell you a bit.
But how about we go and have something to eat?
It’s been a couple of days. They also have showers set up, so you can go and get clean.
Have a couple hours of sleep, and then we can sit down, and I will answer all your questions. ”
Legion stands off to the side, watching with an expressionless face. I wonder how much of what he’s shown us is a mask.
I don’t trust anyone here, I realise.
“Okay,” I say to Mordecai, “but we all stay together.”
He smiles slightly, and I can see how happy he is that we’re here. I don’t want to break his heart and ruin this for him, but the Resistance are living in the clouds.
Nothing can beat the Beta’s Path.
And I am not the prophesied warrior that they all talk about. I don’t care who left that bit of word vomit; it is not about me. The very notion that I can save these people leaves my skin crawling like I’ve walked through a spiderweb.
Legion leads us through the school and to a stall of ancient showers that has a series of buckets with ropes, balanced about seven feet high.
Someone has come in and scrubbed it clean, and though it lacks the polish and shine it once had, they have done an exceptional job, and the idea of being clean lifts my mood considerably.
I go on one side of a dividing wall, while the guys go on the other. My fingers hesitate on the hem of my top, my cheeks burning as I look towards the divider. This is stupid. I’ve gotten naked in front of so many people. Why am I suddenly having issues?
Finding my courage, I peel off my clothes and get under the drip-fed icy water before I can find a reason not to. I refuse to look up. I don’t want to know whether they are looking at me or what they think. Instead, I reach for the bar of soap and scrub my skin red-raw.
The material to dry myself is thin, and it’s cold, but my clothes have disappeared, and there is another stack folded neatly.
I almost protest, but the soft leather pants and black shirt look so much better than my rags.
I find a wide leather belt that almost works as a corset; it takes me a minute to get it on and get it tight, but when I bend, I still have a full range of motion.
“Keres?”
“Hmm?” I turn, still playing with the belt, and look up. My brain cells short-circuit, and all the words vanish.
Mordecai is in all black leather-like armor. It’s got a blue embossed wolf on the front of it beneath a crescent moon. This is armor designed to intimidate your enemies.
Jarek is similarly dressed, but his wolf is orange, and his outfit lacks the decorations that Mordecai’s has. Both of them look like they are comfortable wearing clothes like this, like they were born to wear clothes like this. They look like they could lead countries and win wars.
Cadel, though, is wearing a black shirt similar to his last one and leather pants, with a belt that crisscrosses his abdomen before going up and over his shoulders. He looks mysterious and deadly, like he’s part of the shadows or that they are simply part of him.
I exhale slowly, aware I’ve flooded the room with my sweet scent but, for the first time, not caring. I couldn’t pretend to be disinterested if I tried.
“Come on, this way.” Legion is staring up at the broken window, his expression lost. Whatever his motive around all this is, he’s keeping it close to his chest. I sincerely doubt even Bear knows what he’s here for.
“Right,” he says, snapping his jolly mask back on. “Let's get you fed and into a bed.”
We follow him to a large room where there is an enormous pot over a fire and a woman filling and handing out bowls.
She’s got an infectious smile, a bubbly countenance, and blond hair that she’s got in pigtails.
She grins at Legion as he approaches and leans into him without putting the bowl and serving spoon down.
“How’s my favourite omega?”
“Working myself to the bone feeding you monsters,” she teases.
They both chuckle, and she turns friendly eyes on us. There’s no awe, just curiosity.
“Welcome to the Resistance.”
I have to bite back the urge to correct her.
“This is Mia, and we wouldn’t be able to do anything if she didn’t always find ways of feeding us.”
Mia does not look like she belongs in a place of war, and I feel a momentary fury at Bear for dragging her here.
She fills up a bowl and hands it to me. It looks like normal porridge, but I can’t be certain. I glare at it, sniff it, and then pass it to Cadel. The next bowl she gives me I pass to Mordecai, the third to Jarek. The fourth I keep reluctantly.
Legion takes the bowl she offers and leads us away. No one calls me out on my rudeness. I sit down against the wall and eat with single-minded intensity. It does taste amazingly good.
“How many did we lose?” Mordecai asks.
“Five. Tallow, Speers, Brighton, and the Osgood brothers.”
“Fuck. They were good people,” Mordecai says quietly.
I refuse to reach out and lay a comforting hand on his thigh. This is not my war, and these are not my alphas.
“It’s only going to get worse. We’re going to lose a lot more people unless we can make this work. It’s war.”
I snap my head around, glaring at Legion and Mordecai. “It’s not war; it's genocide.”
“We have a plan,” Legion says. “It’s going to work.”
I try not to laugh, but I can’t help it. They are all insane. And they think that this plan is going to work? It’s not. It will never work. The Beta’s Path won years ago.
I return my attention to the last of my food and deliberately block out the insanity I’m hearing.
Legion and Mordecai walk away, and I glare at them as they go. The sting of Mordecai’s betrayal burns.
“Explain this to me,” Cadel says quietly. “Why don’t you think it can work?”
“Because the Beta’s Path have been in power for seven hundred years.
They have the power, the technology, and the rituals to destroy us.
There are too few alphas and omegas, and those that are left are broken from systemic abuse and horror.
But worse, bringing their entire force into the one place where you are guaranteed to have all the Beta’s Path power base is stupid.
It’s not like you kill one person and you win the game.
If you kill the High King, another is crowned.
If you kill the Beta’s Voice, well, the beta gods just choose another willing victim to possess. ”
Cadel studies me. “You have no faith in them.”
“No. I don’t. They need a lifetime of miracles to even survive attempts.”
“And you, what’s your issue with the Resistance?”
Jarek stares ahead, his eyes getting dull.
“My mother was an omega, but my father was a beta. The Beta’s Path wanted them dead because of who she was.
But the Resistance killed them because of who he is.
Oh, I know it was a misunderstanding, and the person who did it was punished with cleaning duties and never achieved rank, but I can’t see how either side are different from each other in their need to get things done no matter the cost.”
“They killed your dad?” I ask softly, reaching out and covering his hand with mine. He turns his hand over and threads our fingers together. I stare at the place where our bodies are joined and can’t find it in me to pull away.
“It was a long time ago,” Jarek says in a thick voice. “But I don’t trust their motives.”
“Is Mordecai going to be an issue?” Cadel asks.
It’s the one thought I’ve been trying to ignore. How involved is Mordecai, and how strong is his loyalty to the cause?
“I don’t know; I guess we can hear what he has to say and find out why they are all here. But if it’s to attempt a master strike and take out the Beta’s Path, then I’m out,” I say softly. “I’ve survived all this time keeping my head down; I’m not throwing myself into a suicide mission.”
I look across the room and see Mordecai frowning at us. What will he tell us, and will it change anything?
Secretly, I’m afraid it will change everything.