“What will your family do if they see me?” I asked.
It was nighttime by the time we reached El Paso since it was a ten-hour drive. I was exhausted, but I was ready to fight for my aunt’s life just like she had saved me a long time ago.
“You’ll pretend to be my friend from school,” she said, parking the car in a vast garage.
“But omegas don’t have beta friends. It’s not believable,” I said.
“Some do.”
“Okay, then what happens?”
“We’ll have to wing it,” she said, sighing. “I’m doing this for my mom so she doesn’t go deeper into her depression. When an omega feels rejected, it takes a toll on her mentally and physically.”
“Oh, that’s not good,” I said, understanding her better. I just wanted to save my aunt and get the hell out of here. But now I was feeling a little bit bad for this omega and her mother. Her fathers were ready to abandon them without leaving. In omega-alpha communities, when they mated- they mated for life.
We walked to the front door, and Ruby rang the doorbell.
I had no idea how I would get my aunt out of there before the alphas marked and claimed her for life. I would plead for her life if I had to.
“Ruby, what are you doing out this late?” asked an older woman standing at the door. She had matted black hair and crooked yellowing teeth. Her face was covered in acne, and her dress looked dingy.
“My friend is staying over for the night,” said Ruby, turning to me with embarrassment on her face. “That’s my mom.”
I was shocked that this was the state her mother was in. But I politely reached a hand out, and her mom recoiled from me.
“Err, hi,” I said, confused by her reaction.
“Come in, I made tea in my room,” she said, leading us inside the lavish home. She left a trail of body odor, and I bit my tongue from saying anything to offend Ruby. I wanted to reassure Ruby that it was alright and that I didn’t care, but I had to pretend that I didn’t notice.
We walked into a grand entrance with a polished marble floor. It had intricate detailing lit by a massive chandelier in the center of the home. Floor-to-ceiling windows offered panoramic views of manicured gardens lit with fairy lights. Ruby was living in opulence, and I started to have doubts about her.
There was no way a rich omega like her would be interested in helping me.
It was probably all a trap.
“Here we are,” said her mother.
I made sure there wasn’t anyone in the room before I followed them inside. Her mother had a golden bed with a tea kettle plus a mini stove underneath it. There were even cookies and dates on a platter to serve guests. If it hadn’t been for the smell of her room, I would have been able to enjoy the experience.
Halfway through tea time, I was starting to get impatient as I listened to Ruby’s mother tell wild tales about the universe and trees. Half of it wasn’t making sense, and I knew then that her mother was unwell mentally. I didn’t know what it was, but she wasn’t okay.
“If you really want to heal, the secret is not to use soap,” said her mother with a serious expression on her face. “Whatever they invented in this day and age is poison.”
“Mom, I’m going to show my friend around our house,” said Ruby at last. She looked desperate to leave after entertaining her mother for an hour.
“But we’re having so much fun,” her mother whined in a childish tone.
“I’ll be right back, it’ll be okay,” said Ruby gently and her mom nodded, resigned.
I took a deep breath once we left the room, which was surrounded by her mother’s pungent smell.
“I can see why you watch out for your mom,” I said.
She nodded gratefully. “I need to take care of her. My fathers claim they need an omega to love, but she needs their attention. My mom has schizophrenia and refuses to take her medicines.”
“Oh shit, I’m sorry,” I said.
“It looks like my fathers aren’t home yet with your aunt,” she said, looking out the living room window.
“Can you give me your number?” I said. “I’m going to go somewhere quick, and I’ll be back.”
I didn’t dare tell her where I was going, just in case she was lying.
“Sure,” she said, typing in her phone number on my phone with long pink nails. “I’ll text you when they’re here.”
“Sounds good,” I said. “Thank you for everything.”
With that, I left the house and headed down the road on foot to my aunt’s house. I needed to grab weapons. Anything to help me prepare for my confrontation with Ruby’s dads. Only the wealthiest alphas were the closest to Henry. They believed in his ways and were the closest confidante to him.
Which was why I couldn’t trust her.
The darkness of the streets was a welcome reprieve as I scurried around corners to avoid detection by the werewolves prowling about.
I finally entered my aunt’s house from the back, and the familiar smell of burnt cookies almost made me want to cry. It was years since I’d been here, but after switching on the lights, I could see the last remnants of all the mess we made, leaving in a rush out of this horrid encampment.
There were toothpicks spilled all over the kitchen floor and articles of paper all over the living room. She had thrown out everything from the refrigerator before we left.
As I looked around, feeling nostalgic, I felt a hand slap over my mouth.
“Welcome home, daughter. We’ve been waiting for you.”
Zaff
“Is this where she lives?” asked Chad as I parked right in front of her trailer.
“It is,” I said. “We’re going to be nice and respectful. Oscar, do you have the flowers and chocolate?”
“I do,” he said gruffly.
“Hopefully, he didn’t squish them,” said Ruston, and we all laughed with a nervous hint in our tone. Deep down, I was fucking terrified that Breanna would never forgive us.
Because I’d rejected her.
Buttoning up my suit, I walked towards her home and knocked on the front door. We stood there for a few minutes, waiting for her to answer.
“Call her,” said Oscar.
“I did before we got here, but she didn’t answer,” I said. “I figured that she was just ignoring me.”
I tried to twist the doorknob, and it opened.
The scent immediately hit me. The smell of alpha werewolves lingered in the trailer. My first thought was that Breanna had gone off with a pack of new alphas, but that was irrational.
“Do you fucking smell that?” I shouted.
“Yes.”
“Other alphas were in here,” I said, looking around the trailer for any clues of where Breanna could be. I found an abandoned phone covered in a purple case on top of the kitchen counter. It wasn’t Breanna’s phone, but I could see that she had called the phone recently.
“If other alphas were in here…,” said Ruston. “They must have only come from one place, and we know where.”
“But how do we know she’s in El Paso now?” I asked.
“There are scratches all over the door and the floor,” observed Chad quietly. “I don’t want to panic you guys, but it looks like she’s been taken.”
My stomach twisted with dread.
“We must go to El Paso then,” I growled, my hackles rising instantly at the thought of alphas forcibly taking my Breanna from her home. “We must find her, and if we have to kill any alpha who has her, we will.”
“But what if they mated her?” asked Ruston.
“Same rules apply,” I said darkly.
“How the fuck are we going to get to her in time?” said Ruston.
I pulled my phone out and dialed a number.
“We need a helicopter,” I barked into the phone at my pilot. “We’ll meet you in ten minutes or sooner. Get it ready.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Nice,” said Chad, and we all rushed to the car while Oscar clutched the bouquet of flowers for dear life.
As we drove to the helicopter site, I couldn’t help but wonder if Breanna was hurt, struggling for her life, or in the throes of passion with the alphas.
“You should never have broken up with her,” said Ruston.
“Don’t you think I fucking know that?” I snapped, tired of him blaming me. “I regret it, and I know all of this wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t withdrawn my protection from her.”
“We all feel sick about it,” said Chad. “But I agree with Ruston.”
I sighed as I pressed on the gas pedal to get there faster.
