The exposed wire bottom of the cage dug into my knees, each bump and turn in the road jostling me painfully against the sharp metal. The windows were covered, leaving the back of the car in darkness. The rhythmic pounding of my heart mocked me—a reminder that I was alive and my alphas…
I gripped the sides of the cage and waited for something to wake me from this nightmare.
The car took a hairpin turn, and I was thrown against the side of the cage, my bracelet catching on the bars.
The bracelet.
I cursed myself, a pit forming in my stomach as I tried to keep myself from vomiting. In the chaos, I had forgotten all about the bracelet and enclosed alpha tabs. The weight of it on my wrist taunted me. If I had acted faster, been smarter, been better, I could have used it to incapacitate the soldiers so we could get away. It was my fault my alphas were dead.
I squeezed my eyes shut, refusing to let a single tear fall. I didn’t deserve to cry.
I felt myself falling into that dark, numb place where I’d spent so many of my days. I could almost hear my alphas yelling at me to use the tabs now to get away, but their voices were distant. I would never hear them speak to me again.
My fault.
My fault.
My fault.
Was my life worth saving? Glen had won, and the only thing I could see in my future was darkness, where I was a prisoner forced to bond him or someone else against my will.
I ran my finger along the silicon bumps in the bracelet, recalling the tenderness in Theo’s eyes as he attached it around my wrist. Earlier, I’d been training with Cam, planning a future with Ben and… and…
I choked back the emotion that threatened to spear through my haze of numbness, but hard truths began needling their way into my mind all the same. I might not believe I was worth saving, but that didn’t mean I had the right to give up. I thought of Donovan’s paintings, Angie’s bravery in providing medical care, Jewel’s determination to survive what the government had done to her, and Luc putting his safety on the line for a group of omegas who wanted to train in his gym. They were all fighting, risking everything to fight Glen and his government. Could I really just give up hope now? What would my alphas think of me if I did?
I could remove a tab from the bracelet and have it ready to use the second the door opened, but wherever they were taking me was sure to be well-guarded. I wasn’t sure how many alphas each tab could incapacitate, but I only had five.
The car turned and this time, the cage vibrated, digging deep grooves into my skin. It sounded like we were on gravel.
Shit. Was this a driveway? Had we arrived already? If I was going to do anything, I needed to decide on my plan.
Bile filled my throat as my mind flashed back to all those times I’d laid helpless and naked on the metal slab, and I realized that anything I wore would likely be removed. Where to hide it?
My hands traced down my body, frantically thinking and coming up with nothing until I had an idea. Glen might have them take things off my body, but what if…?
Before I could second guess myself, I removed the bracelet, shoved my hand down the front of my leggings, and stuffed it into my vagina. I clamped my legs together to make sure it was secure. Knowing Glen, he’d be prepared for me to try and escape now. Maybe it was better to bide my time. I hoped beyond all hope I wasn’t making a colossal mistake. And if someone did find the bracelet…
I shut down the thought. I could only deal with one nightmare at a time.
The car stopped and voices sounded before the trunk was opened. Rough hands pulled me out of the cage. In the split second before they blindfolded me, I caught the familiar facade of Glen’s mansion.
Oh god.
Ice flooded my veins and I regretted my decision to wait to use the tabs. I’d been forced to spend so many evenings here growing up, but I knew something much more sinister than a dinner party awaited me inside. The only comfort was that I knew this house—I had run through the halls with Sam as we escaped the tedious parties and explored its secret rooms and passages.
My heart raced. The secret exit by the kitchen.
Before I could act or even consider a way to get to the hidden door we’d found all those years ago, multiple hands grabbed me. I tried to keep my panic from drowning me, but the disorientation of the blindfold, combined with the alpha scents and their hands all over me, left me gasping for air. They dragged me for what felt like ages. When they removed the blindfold, I was in a small, dark, windowless cell that looked like something out of a medieval film.
The cell door clanged shut, and I was trapped with a monster.
Glen’s scent surrounded me, thick and putrid with arousal. I locked my knees to keep from collapsing.
“Welcome to your new home, little bird,” he said with the air of a bed-and-breakfast owner. “I prepared this room just for you.”
“Why?” I asked, hating the pathetic whimper in my voice.
“Because you’re mine,” Glen said simply, as if that explained the years of torment he had put me through.
“I’m not,” I said, fisting my hands. “I never will be.”
Glen’s arm shot out, gripping my throat tightly and cutting off my air.
“Don’t lie to me, little bird. You have always been mine,” he growled, a crazed gleam in his eyes. “Ever since you perfumed at my house those years ago. I know it was all for me. That scent, all for me.” He pulled me close and pressed his nose to my neck.
My vision turned spotty and I tried to pry his fingers from my throat. My movements became more erratic as my lungs screamed.
“I told your fathers back then that you belonged to me, but when it came time for me to claim you, they denied me. Who do they think they are!?” His shout echoed around the cell and he threw me to the floor. My body screamed in pain as I hit the hard concrete, but relief flooded my lungs as I sucked in gasping breaths of air, my bruised throat burning with each inhale.
“I had a plan. I would punish them by forcing them to watch as I made you suffer. But it didn’t work!”
Glen paced around the cell, and I slowly inched away from him until my back hit the wall.
“Turns out, they wanted to see you suffer just as much as I did. You should have seen how hard they got when I sliced into your skin to place the first device.” He let out a maniacal laugh.
He stopped, his demeanor changing in a flash as he hunched into himself. “No, no,” he muttered. “Have to wait, have to play nice.” He cupped his crotch with a growl. “Make them think they won.”
He whipped his head back to me. “Your fathers were the ones who sold you to Pack Madden. Don’t they know they can’t sell what doesn’t belong to them? Mine! The little birdy is mine!” Spittle flew from his mouth and he tore at his hair. “They don’t deserve my little bird.”
He crouched down, running his hand over my cheek. Inside, I was screaming, but I refused to react. I sat stone still, separating my mind from my body. He moved his face close to mine and for a horrifying moment, I thought he would kiss me. But then the cell door opened, interrupting him.
Glen stood up, his body blocking the entrance. When he stepped aside, I saw a person I never thought I’d see again.
Genevieve.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the omega who had been my best friend turned traitor. I had fantasized about killing her so many times during my days in isolation at the DA. But there would be nothing satisfying about killing this person in front of me. She was frail, bruised, and there was a distinct nothingness behind her eyes.
“Ahh, my little petal,” Glen said, reaching his hand out to her.
She walked towards him with steady steps, her face betraying nothing as she took his hand. But she couldn’t mask her scent. She had always smelled like wildflowers, but now her scent was twisted with decay.
Glen turned back to me, a sadistic smile stretching across his face.
“What a happy reunion this is! My birdy and petal together again.”
I averted my eyes, breathing through my mouth to keep from choking on the toxic mix of scents.
“Help our guest get dressed, my petal,” he said, squeezing her arm tightly.
Genevieve flinched and when Glen moved his hand, I saw numerous scars littering her skin. Scars like mine.
“Strip,” Glen barked at me, his eyes gleaming. “It’s been too long since I inspected my birdy.”
My body betrayed me, moving to obey his order without hesitation. His bark couldn’t stop my hands from shaking as I fumbled with my clothing. I stood before him naked, clenching my vagina to keep the bracelet from falling to the floor.
Glen circled me, a predator surveying his prey.
I imagined I was anywhere but here.
Time slowed and blurred, but then Genevieve was in front of me, slipping a short, threadbare nightgown over my head.
Glen said something, but I was too far in my head to hear it.
The cell door slammed, leaving me once again alone in the darkness. I crumpled to the ground, curling my arms around my legs, and sobbed.
