I take a chance and lightly wrap my arm around him, holding my breath. Gabe tenses slightly, but he doesn’t pull away and his scent deepens. Breathing in deeply, I let myself have a little hope.Please,I pray silently.Please be good for us. I don’t want to lose him.
The car door bangs and Gabe hisses with excitement. He darts back from the window, and I ignore the pang as he tears himself away from me. He leans casually against the wooden counter, crossing and uncrossing his arms. Chuffing in amusement, I pull up a seat at the table. “At least put some coffee on, Captain Obvious.”
Gabe rolls his eyes at me but turns to get the cups out.
Rogue comes in first, his strained face telling me that their time at the compound might not have been the easiest. Dev is close behind him, brow furrowed as he mutters something fervently that I don’t catch. Gabe is too wound up to notice.
“You’re back! How did it go?”
I see the look they share and my suspicion jumps. Gabe seems to twig at the same time, slowing his exuberant bouncing and glancing between them.
“Sit down, Gabe,” Rogue suggests. He grabs Gabe by the shoulders and manoeuvres him into a chair. Rogue and Devlin both stay standing.
“Okay, now I’m worried,” Gabe laughs, a hint of nervousness in his tone. “What’s the matter? Was it not good? Can we not get one?”
Devlin opens his mouth and closes it again. He looks to Rogue for help. What’s with the weird expressions and secrecy?
“You didn’t kidnap someone, did you?” I’m joking, but they don’t respond.
“Holy shit. Did you actually kidnap someone?” I start to calculate possible exit routes in my head in case we end up surrounded by police.
Rogue shakes his head abruptly.
“No, nothing like that. But… we did bring someone home with us.”
There’s a stunned silence in the kitchen, Gabe and I taking in the news. Gabe is first to recover and flies out of his seat eagerly with a whoop as elation trickles through me.
“Fuck yes!” he crows. “You should have messaged – we haven’t got a room set up; I haven’t put anything together for dinner because I was too excited- where is she? Is she driving – oh no, I forgot. Why did you leave her in the car? Is she nervous?”
His excitement sinks like a stone in the quiet, the grave expression on Rogue and Dev’s faces telling me that not everything is as it seems here.
Shooting out my hand, I grab Gabe by the wrist as he darts past me towards the fridge. “Sit down,” I urge him gently. “There’s something going on.”
Gabe looks around at the solemn faces and his excitement ebbs away, belated realization setting in. “Oh.”
ChapterThirteen
Harper
Soft fur brushes against my cheek. Nuzzling into it, I relax into the softness and stretch out my legs. They hit something hard. Realization jolts into me, making me sit up sharply and bang my head on the metal bars with a yelp.
The two alphas, the Director, Jason… I sink my face into my hands as emotion overwhelms me. He didn’t bitemark me. I got away. I’m not bonded to him. I’m safe.
Pull yourself together, Harper. You have no idea what you’re heading into.
This situation might be much, much worse. Although thinking back to the Director’s office, I didn’t get a bad vibe from either of these alphas. Drawing in a deep breath, I realize their scents are all around me. Brown’s smoky leather scent fills my nose like smooth whiskey, Green’s freshly cut grass dancing around the edges.
It’s mixed with a hint of something fresh. Almost like the coast.Sea salt and driftwood, my mind supplies. And is that… my mouth waters at the faint scent of fresh bread. It reminds me of the baking my mother used to do so well, laughingly pretending to smack my father and me with a spoon when we’d try to sneak cookies off the tray as they were cooling.
Maybe they cook. Not that it really matters. I won’t be allowed to have any anyway.
Curling my fingers around the wire bars of my cage, I press my face to the cool metal and look around. I’m still in the back of the truck but it’s dark, and I can just make out lights through the window. Maybe we’ve stopped at a gas station? There’s a chill in the air, and I pull the blanket around me, frowning as I run the material through my fingers. I can’t remember them giving me a blanket. It’s definitely not from the OC. The matrons would lose their shit. We must have stopped at some point, and they put it over me. A little flurry of warmth fills me at the thought, and I turn my head to inhale their scents again. These are so much nicer than Jason’s harsh lemon.
The sound of footsteps crunching on gravel breaks the silence, and I instinctively huddle into the corner of my cage like a scared animal.
I remind myself to behave. I don’t want to be sent back to the OC. They might decide to put me back in the Phoenix project, and with a failed match behind me, I won’t get another shot. It’ll be straight back to Jason, and I won’t make it out a second time. This is my one and only chance.
Forcing myself forward, I push the blanket away and assume the kneeling permission, awkwardly twisting my limbs to fit within the confines of the cage. I force my head down, although I’m desperate to look around at my new surroundings. The beep of the car signals the alpha’s approach, and the door opening sends a wave of frigid air flowing over me. I shiver, wishing I’d kept the blanket around me.
