“Please tell them I left.”
She blinked repeatedly. “What?”
I exhaled slowly.
“Let me slow down.” I licked my lips. “Those Alphas I came with. I have to get away from them?—”
She raised her hand, and I clamped my lips together.
“Say no more. I know exactly what you mean. I’ve had my share of stalkers.” She pulled out a glittery bottle and sprayed the intense smell. “Follow me.” She guided me through a door on my right that blended in with the wall. “Go all the way down the hall to the door at the end. You can hang out there until I get rid of them.” She closed it, leaving me in silence. None of the loud music reached this sliver of peace. I strode down to the end like she directed and opened the door to a carpeted room with bright walls and plenty of places to lounge.
A woman sat inside, lying across the entire couch against the far wall.
She peeked through one eye, then closed it. I shuffled inside and sat on one of the love seat couches across from the television.
I’d wait until they were gone. Then I’d find a way to the closest ORD.
Chapter 26
The woman sneering at me was unrecognizable to the frightened girl that used to always hide behind me.
“You know, if you gave up, we wouldn’t be doing all this.” She waved her hand around. “Mess.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder and huffed like we were inconveniencing her.
What was happening?
“Mess,” I repeated, numb. I’d resolved myself to claiming her as the Pack Omega, believing that my duty was to her. Incorrectly placed loyalty.
“Yes, all this drama. I didn’t want to break your hearts.”
Rafael scoffed. “Unbelievable.”
“You crazy bitch,” Cade tacked on, but there wasn’t any heat behind it. They were just as shocked as I was.
“Oh, shut up, Cade. All you do is whine.”
Cade laughed in a sharp burst, and madness edged it. “You play the ‘pitiful, victimized, abused Omega’ card well, you fucking snake.”
Before he could lunge for her, I was there, squeezing her throat in my hand, digging so hard that blood burst under my fingernails. Her eyes bugged.
When she first arrived at the orphanage, she’d sobbed about everything. Even when she stole food from other children, she’d come up with stories excusing her actions . . . and I’d believed them, not caring whether they were true or not.
By the time she arrived, Cade, Rafael, and I had already formed the pack bond which was unusual at such a young age. Of course she’d spat out all her bullshit. She wanted protection.
I squeezed, watching her legs kick out. The tip of her shoe kicked my shin, but I felt nothing. Her face turned an unpleasant purple. One by one, I lifted my fingers until she fell to the ground with a hard thud.
“You had nothing to do with the Forest Peak’s bullshit stopping.” We’d never looked into it. After it all ended with her disappearance, we were just grateful. She hadn’t even crossed my mind as being the reason it all stopped. She’d always been a coward.
Then, years later, she found us and spouted on about reporting what happened. Her being backed into a corner about accepting the adoption even after we’d planned to age out of the system and start our lives together.
“I took beatings to save you from them,” I gritted out through clenched teeth. I crouched, taking pleasure in her flinch. “Was you finding us again by chance?” She blinked up at me, face pale. “Speak!”
She screamed. “No! I saw you in a magazine. Your wealth, your fucking app! I wanted the money. Don’t hurt me. My Alphas will end your fucking life?—”
She fell back from the force of Rafael’s kick to the face. Her piercing scream echoed, muffling the sound of the opening door.
“What’s going on?” the Beta from the front counter scanned the room.
“They’ve been trying to kill me!” she wailed.
