The knock at my door startled me, my heart racing even though I knew it was probably just Donovan bringing me lunch. I’d gotten out of the shower a few minutes ago, relieved to finally wash Glen off my skin. If only my memories washed away that easily.
“Come in,” I called out from my spot at the window. I kept looking out, needing reassurance that I wasn’t trapped anymore.
I bit my lip as Genevieve slipped into the room. She was bundled up in black sweatpants and an olive-green sweatshirt, her damp hair pulled back in a braid. She’d always had a good poker face, but her scent gave away her stress.
“Can I come in?” she asked.
I nodded, making my way to the bed and sitting down, patting the spot next to me.
We sat side by side in silence, our shared history heavy between us.
“How’s your leg?”
“Hurts a bit,” I said with a shrug. “Angie said I should make a full recovery, except for the scar. But what’s one more at this point, right?”
Genevieve’s hand went automatically to her upper arm.
“Everything went to shit after that night,” she said, her voice low.
I glanced at her, knowing exactly what night she was referring to—the night that had changed my life when we planned to escape the DA. For years I had fantasized about confronting her for betraying me. I had imagined screaming and raging at her, inflicting even a fraction of the pain she’d caused me. But now that she was next to me, I found I was just tired.
“I was so close to our meeting point,” she said, her words coming quickly now as if she had stored them up all these years. “Everything was going to plan, and then they caught me. Glen and Dr. Bishop were there, along with a shit-ton of guards. Dr. Bishop held up a scalpel and the device. Glen explained what the device was and told me they would put it in me if I didn’t tell them who I was meeting. So I told them.”
Her voice hitched and my chest was so tight I could barely breathe. I could imagine the scene perfectly.
“I knew I was betraying you, and it made me sick to do it. I chose to protect myself.” Genevieve gasped for air, her distress radiating off her so severely that I almost reached out to grab her hand. “I chose wrong. After I gave them your name, Glen thanked me and called me his obedient omega. Then they held me down and put the device in anyway. I’ve had to live with that guilt all these years.”
I turned and looked out the window, trying to make sense of my jumbled thoughts and feelings. It was a sunny day and the leaves had fully changed color while I was in captivity. The trees were radiant with their bright orange and red foliage.
I wondered what I would have done if our positions had been reversed—if I had been the one Glen had caught instead. I wanted to believe I wouldn’t have betrayed her, but I would never know for sure. What she had done had cost me so much, but ultimately, I had gotten out. She had been the one trapped with a monster all this time.
“I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I just wanted you to know that I’ve regretted what I did all these years,” Genevieve said softly.
I picked the fringe on the edge of the blanket wrapped around me.
“It seems so unfair that the world has just kept going these past years—the sun shining, leaves changing, and we’ve been in darkness,” I said, my eyes fixed on a red leaf as it broke away from the tree branch and fluttered through the air, guided on the wind in a curling, dancing pattern. “I held my anger towards you like a shield. It protected me, taught me not to trust anyone. Or, at least, I thought that’s what I needed to stay safe. I hated myself for missing you, for wondering where you were and if you were okay.”
The leaf I’d been following finally fell to the grassy lawn below. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before continuing.
“Deep down, I think I always knew you wouldn’t have betrayed me for nothing. You had a choice that night, and I wish you had chosen differently. But you also had a choice yesterday, and I never would have escaped without you.”
I looked over at Genevieve. Her jaw was set, her shoulders tight. I thought I saw a hint of silver lining her eyes, though I knew better than to expect her to cry. Genevieve had always been unusually stoic for an omega.
“I think I’m ready to let go of that anger. I forgive you,” I said, a tear streaming down my cheek. “You were in an impossible situation, and I’m sure they would have found an excuse to give me the device sooner or later.”
As I spoke the words out loud, I knew they were true. Glen had given me the device in the most emotionally painful way possible—by using the betrayal of a friend as an excuse. But he didn’t need an excuse to torture or control me. It was always going to happen.
Genevieve nodded in a jerky movement. I took a risk and reached over, grasping her hand in mine. She squeezed my hand hard and it was like all the words we couldn’t say were poured into that touch.
I looked away and released her hand.
“I don’t think I can be friends again,” I said, a lump in my throat. I meant it, that I forgave her, but being around her reminded me of my deepest trauma. It was too much, too painful.
Genevieve released a steady breath, her posture relaxing, and I wondered if I was the same reminder for her as well.
“There’s no going back,” she said, her voice resigned. “I’ve been waiting for death all these years. I guess I’ll have to figure out how to live again. We did have great escape mission banter, though,” she said, a lightness in her voice.
A smile tugged at my lips. “So true. I don’t remember most of it because, you know, I had a bullet wound like the absolute badass I am,” I said with a sniff. “But I’m sure I was super witty.”
“You were just okay. I definitely carried it.”
We grinned at each other. For the briefest moment, it felt like we had been transported back to a time before the devices, the abuse, before Glen Jacoby and his schemes. Just as quickly as it came, the moment passed.
“Tomorrow, they’re transferring me to a safe house,” Genevieve said, standing up from the bed. “I’m going to give them as much intel as I can. I’ve seen a lot of shit the past few years. Hopefully, some of it will help take these fuckers down.”
She walked towards the door, pausing with her hand on the door handle.
“I hope those alphas are good to you,” she said, glancing at me over her shoulder. “You deserve every good thing.”
“You do, too, Genevieve. I hope you find it,” I said, meaning every word. Tears fell freely down my face and she nodded curtly before slipping out of the room.
The door clicked shut with finality, and I knew we had just said our last goodbye. It wasn’t a fairytale reunion, but it was closure, and it had stitched up one of the gashes I had carried in my heart. I wiped my tears and pulled the blanket tighter around me.
Determination filled me. We had the intel we needed on Glen. The Alliance was prepared to take him down, and I was going to get my alphas back.
