Lynn
I’d figured out a few things, got the lay of the land. The Alpha Knights were bikers, and some sort of saints committee that went around rescuing people from abusive partners, abductions, traffickers, sadistic families, and whoever else got on their bad side. They had a network across the whole city, maybe even further, that allowed them to find out when omegas were in danger. That was probably the only reason they were at the farm, not because of betas like me. Omegas were prized and precious and deserving of protection. Rescuing our little beta barn was just a bonus.
I’d learned the first part by eavesdropping on people in the corridors, and from the stubborn bitch who sat outside my door and literally never shut up. The last part I’d guessed.
Apparently this sanctuary was a halfway house, a place to heal and rehabilitate before going back to the great, wide world. Like I had any sort of life out there waiting for me. Being theKnights’ rescue/ward was a better existence than what waited for me outside.
A bare mattress in a shitty bedsit, a fridge with a grand total of two things in it, a TV so old I had to kick it to get it to work. Silence. Emptiness. And I wasn’t sure I could handle that silence with all the darkness and noise inside my head.
My comfortable new surroundings must come with a price, but I hadn’t worked out what the Alpha Knights wanted yet. The obvious option was they wanted to rent us out, or sell us to the highest bidder, or the simplest motive: keeping us around for their own personal use. And yet.
The persistent bitch sitting outside my door said they didn’t want anything. The Knights were mostly alphas, and rescuing and providing for people in need helped take the edge off their protective instincts. Fulfilled their base needs. I just found it a little suspicious that we weren’t fulfilling theirotherneeds.
Not that I was in any shape to fulfil anything right now. It had been three weeks since the bikers swarmed the farm and got us out of that shithole. Three weeks since I was brought to the building they called the clubhouse. From my glimpses through the windows, the grounds were massive, grass stretching as far as I could see. One time I even saw a burly, inked up alpha riding one of those sit-on lawnmowers, keeping it manicured and flat. It was almost civilised.
Almost.
Because I heard the parties outside, heard the raucous laughter—both male and female. And I wondered if they appeased some of those protective alpha instincts by putting the choice of being their whores inourhands. The illusion of choice, anyway. I didn’t trust these people, no matter how comfortable their beds were, or how often Ndidi came to check on me. Devil dropped by daily with food, too, plus the annoyance on the other side of my door now.
Fuck off,I’d told her multiple times, giving the door a solid kick even as pain blacked out my vision.
Come out here andmakeme fuck off,she threw back with the same wicked edge in her voice.
I’d rolled my eyes and limped back to the bed, sweat dripping from my forehead. That was yesterday. Today, I didn’t have the energy to kick the door. Didn’t have the strength to even shout for her to go bother someone else. I didn’t know what she looked like, but I pictured a goody two-shoes woman in a cardigan and calf-length pleated skirt, both in pastels, with her hair in a blonde coiffed updo. I was basically picturing Sandy from Grease. Mum and I used to watch that musical every time it was on TV.
A pang twisted through my heart, blurring with all the other pains in my body. I should have let Ndidi in, should have at least opened the door for the Knights’ doctor so he could give me more morphine. The original dose wore off weeks ago, but I could handle the pain. I could survive it. I’d survived everything else in my life, and pain was no stranger.
And it was easier than trusting, than opening the door, than asking for help.
Would I die here in a pool of my own sweat and loneliness because I was a coward? Probably.
“You know, you could eat a slice of gooey, seven-layer chocolate cake if you opened the door,” the pain in the ass outside my door taunted. “It’s dripping with chocolate, andfullof ganache.”
I tried to roll my eyes, but my eyes were closed. Fuck. She’d advanced onto trying to tempt me to open the door with food, but I hadn’t had an appetite for days, even for luxuries I’d normally snap her hand off for.
“All you have to do is open the door, Mystery Bitch,” she coaxed. That was my name, because I refused to give any ofthese bastards my real name. I’d made that mistake once with one of the ‘customers’ at the barn, and he’d said the most vile, unthinkable things. He twisted my name into poison.
“Let me die in peace,” I moaned, my lips so dry they cracked and I tasted blood.
“Uh, that doesn’t sound good, Mystery Bitch. Why do you sound so weak?”
I groaned, about all I could summon, and then there was blessed peace. I let my body absorb itself into the luxurious mattress, letting out a sigh as the tension released itself from my muscles. I should probably have asked for help. I wondered if that was my last chance, if I’d given up my life because I was too… afraid. That was the root of it all—my stubbornness, my distrust, my suspicion. Fear.
Peace drifted in around me, shattered by a bang so loud it jolted my whole body.
“—are designed to withstand even an alpha,” someone said outside my door. Male, alpha, unfamiliar. “We wanted everyone to feel safe, even from us.”
“Yeah, well, fine fucking job they’re doing of it. That pig-headed bitch is in there dying—”
Another crash, and their voices were louder, closer. The door must have caved. Shame. I liked that door.
“Jesus,” someone breathed. Giant, the doctor. I recognised his voice from the times he tried to encourage me to open the door. Like I’d be stupid enough to let a stranger into my room when I was safe in here. “Shit, can you hear me?”
The pad of a fingertip lifted my eyelid, and light pricked my eyes until they watered.
“Thank fuck,” Giant breathed. His eyes were exceptionally blue, his face broad but full of kindness where other faces were mean and scowling. Right now, panic made his eyes round and his features tight. Why? Why did he give a shit about me? I’dnever even met him properly. “We need to move her to my clinicnow.And call Ndidi and—fuck.”
Arms jostled me. I tried to glare as the bastard scooped me into his arms.
