Lark stands in the driveway as three ATVs head up the road.
My stomach sinks as fear coats my body, freezing me in place.
I can’t go back. I can’t. I refuse to be owned, to be forced to be with someone sexually. I can’t survive that again. I’d rather die.
I look down at the gun in my hand, my body trembling as I contemplate what to do.
If they try to take us, I’ll fight. But if I know we can’t win, that all hope is lost for us, I’ll use the last bullet on myself.
The men get off the ATVs and raise their guns. Lark raises hers. We can’t hear what’s going on clearly, but Lark starts to yell.
Silva steps up and says something too, the girls standing side by side.
I should be out there with my sister. She’s always been there for me, fought for me. It’s time I do the same.
Yet, my body doesn’t let me go, too afraid to move.
Silva takes over, shouting at the men. They pause when Lark takes out a phone.
They look at one another, then the man in the middle takes out his phone.
I’m assuming he’s calling someone, Gideon maybe?
He nods his head a few times and holds the phone out. Silva starts talking, then Lark. The two of them go back and forth before the man hangs up and puts his phone away.
They shout at the girls, then get back on their ATVs and leave.
“They’re leaving,” Luna says shocked. “Are they really leaving?”
“It can’t be that easy,” Briar says.
Silva and Lark make their way back into the house. We’re off the couch and running to the door.
“What just happened?" Aries asks.
“Are they really gone?” Briar asks.
“We told them that if Gideon or any of his men find us, try to hurt us, or to take us back, Lark’s friend will leak everything she was able to get on Gideon’s whole operation to the authorities. They didn’t believe us and were ready to take us by force when Lark took out her phone and demanded they call Gideon. They were reluctant, but they did. We told Gideon all the information we had on him, and if he didn’t want to lose everything, he was to leave us alone. Let us be in Widows Peak. We will keep what we have to ourselves, and he and his men are to leave us alone.”
“And... he just let it go?” Luna questions, brows furrowed. “No fight? He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who would do that.”
“I told him I have a man on the outside with all the information, and if he doesn’t get a text from me weekly with an updated photo, he’s to make sure the information gets out. I’m not sure if he’s going to go down that easily, but for now, Widows Peak is ours.”
“I’m sure he will be watching us. And honestly, I don’t care. As long as none of us are bothered, that’s all that matters. Plus, once we fix this place up, we’ll get better security,” Silva says. “We will find a way.”
“So, what do we do now?” I ask, my body still in shock. I feel so stupid, so useless. I hid when I should have been out there by my sister’s side.
“What we’ve been doing.” Silva looks at Lark, and she nods. “There’s a town a few hours away. We can get jobs, start over. Or... we can see what we can do with this place.”
“I want to stay here,” I tell her. “I don’t like the idea of leaving to go back out into that fucked up world for another person like Gideon to take us. There’s no safe place for Omegas like us. We’re used and abused by the Alphas of this world.”
“Then we stay here and make this place a home for us. For Omegas. And if there's anyone else who wants to join us, we welcome them.”
“No Alphas,” Luna says.
“No Alphas,” Silva agrees.
We head upstairs to our room, and I crawl into my bed, my mind racing with all kinds of thoughts.
