"It's my friend, Farley!" Emory said to David.
David sighed in relief. "Oh thank God you're alive. I was worried you might've been eaten, or worse, if the other alphas found you and caught you again…"
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Instead of being angry at me, he was glad. Was it possible that David hadn’t been as bad as I thought he was?
When I looked at him beside Emory, they were the same. Just two young men raised in the wrong environment, one that slotted them into opposing roles. But they weren’t opposites at all. If they’d had the chance, they could have been working together this entire time.
Just like me and Quinn.
Right. Quinn. I can't keep him waiting much longer. We have to do this now.
"I'm going to make this quick," I said to them. "I'm here with my mate. We’re going to help all the omegas escape the Society." I glanced up at David, gauging his reaction. "If you want to help us, great. If not, I have to warn you to stay out of our way."
"Oh, we're escaping! Wait, you have a mate?" Emory asked.
"Not the time. I'll explain it later," I promised.
"I’ll help in any way that I can," David said.
He sounded genuine. And if he wasn't, I was much bigger and stronger than him in human form. But honestly, I doubted that he was lying. He had the same naive innocence about him that Emory did. Maybe that was why they were drawn to each other so much.
"There is a way you can help, David," I said.
"How?" he asked.
I raised an eyebrow. "The leg bands?"
He just blinked at me.
No fucking way. Did he not know what I was talking about? But he was an alpha. How was that possible?
"Only alphas can remove the leg bands that prevent us from shifting," I said to him slowly. "The mechanism reacts to pheromones you give off."
"It does?" David sputtered. "Santino and the others never told me about that! Wait, was that why they warned me never to touch them?" His face fell, horrified. "I didn't know that was the reason why…"
Figures. The other alphas had been keeping David in the dark the entire time. That seemed to be a common trend around here. But not anymore. Quinn and I were going to shine a spotlight on this place.
"How much time left in the flight run?" I asked.
"About fifteen minutes," David said nervously. "But I have to warn you, if I take all the leg bands off now, the alphas will know. They do a head count and check the cages every day now to make sure that I haven't messed anything up again."
I swore under my breath. "Fine, keep them on for now. Just tell everyone about our plan and act like everything's normal. We’re all getting out today." Just before I turned to leave, I paused. "By the way, there’s something I should probably tell you so you don't freak out. My mate is actually a fox shifter."
Emory squeaked. "Aren't you worried he's going to–"
I cut Emory off before he could finish the sentence. "No, Emory, he's not going to eat me," I said in exasperation. "It's a long story, but we're fated mates."
Emory looked like he was about to explode with a million questions. "Fine, but after this is all over, you're telling me everything!"
I had to laugh at his enthusiasm.
After that, we split up. I flew close to the ground back to the trees where I left Quinn. When I found him, his fur was all fluffed up, looking twice his regular size. I freaked out.
"Quinn, what happened? Are you okay?" I asked.
Since we were hidden, I shifted to human form and stroked his fur. He sighed and leaned into me. He was shaking.
"I met Animus," he said.
