Whining. Whimpering. Clutching their chests as their bodies shake like leaves.
It dawns on me they are terrified.Because they are not alphas, I realize.
They areomegas.Male omegas.
Emmet buries his face in my hair, and I squeeze his hand. “Do you think we have room for a few more omegas?” I ask, my voice raspy.
Gage nuzzles my neck as he says, “Where?”
I nod to the shaking men who are now huddled together. “Looks like I’m not the only experiment that was successful,” I say.
“We can bring them to the institute with the females,” Diego says. “I think the facility–more of a school, really–is coed.”
“I’ll get them,” Emmett says.
“I can help,” Diego answers as Gage grunts out a sound that tells me it truly is over.
I look behind me, almost afraid that Sneed will pop up from his heap on the ground like some cartoon villain.
But he doesn’t.
Because I killed him.
“Come on; let’s get you cleaned up,” is all Gage says.
I nod because words are difficult right now. So, I don’t speak. I let Gage guide me out of the dark basement to the Jeep, where Olly waits with the five women we rescued. I don’t recognize any of them, but they all look the same. They look just as I did before I’d escaped. Thin, washed out. Scarred.
My gaze meets Olly’s, and I know I must look like an absolute wreck because he covers his mouth and furrows his eyebrows. The girls look at me with fear. They must think I’m here to hurt them, but they couldn’t be more wrong. Gage rubs my arm, and then it’s all slow motion as Olly launches himself at me.
He pulls me into his tight embrace and doesn’t say a word. But I can feel his relief, his love echoing deep within me. When he lets go, I see I have left bloody prints all over his tactical gear, and I know I must be covered in Sneed. I sniff the air, scenting my beta and breathing a sigh of relief when I smell rain and earth, when cherries and bourbon and spice settle on me like a blanket.
“Time to go home,” Emmett says.
“Couldn’t agree more,” Gage says as he loads me into the Jeep. He buckles me in, and I let him, my bones and muscles like Jell-O.
I close my eyes for just a moment, relishing in the cool air against my warm skin, and let darkness come for me once more.
Chapter 44
Diego
While Gage and Olly usher a very exhausted Auryn home, Emmett and I hotwire a van we found on the Orions’ property and load up the rescued omegas for a trip to the academy.
Our new charges are all older than the typical student at The Delta Institute, which was founded as a finishing school for runaway omegas, delinquent alphas, and overall late bloomers. Still, it’s the best place for these poor, altered souls to learn about their new lives as omegas. There’s a cafeteria where students are provided three squares a day, full dorm facilities, and plenty of professors who have experience teaching those who, for whatever reason, didn’t have access to adequate learning about their designations in their home lives.
At first, Em and I hesitated to take on this part of the mission. We didn’t know if Sneed’s device had harmed our mate’s baby, and we didn’t want to leave without reassurance that everyone was okay. Thanks to Olly’s sharp wits and keen eye, we now know that Auryn’s baby is safe. Sneed, bumbling idiot that he was, hooked his “Killswitch” to the tracking devices he implanted,notto the chemical release. Auryn, Em, and the rescued omegas all will experience some mild chest discomfort for a few hours, but her child will be fine.
Her child.Ourchild, really. Because no matter who the father ends up being, we’re all going to be there for them. For Auryn and the baby.
“Why are we going to an academy?” one of the omegas asks as we drive away from the burning remains of the Orion house. “We’re all grown.”
Emmett fields the question while I drive. “It’s not just a kids’ school. They can teach you guys how to deal with being omegas.” He coughs, and I understand why. Even though a few of our charges are males, all eight are perfuming. Not that it would normally be a problem, but all the sweet and flowery overlapping scents are cloying and overpowering. It’s hard to breathe in the van, and I push the button to roll all the windows down just to help air things out a bit. “Besides, we don’t have enough room at our compound. The school has enough empty dorms to house all of you.”
“Will this be permanent?” one woman asks timidly.
As tempting as it is to reassure her, I don’t want to lie. “We honestly don’t know. Em here was only partly omega after his capture, and only for a few days, but Auryn still has both alpha and omega tendencies. She’s been hybridized, and hers might well be permanent. But you guys? We just don’t have enough information. Maybe our beta, Olly, can run some tests to see how extensive the changes are.”
“Olly smells good. Safe.”
