Prologue
Early March
Thursday, 5pm
Lucky
Blood sprayed Lucky’s cheeks to mingle with his tears.He wanted to fall apart but wouldn’t give these bastards the satisfaction.
He’d already made one mistake.He’d been lured into a false sense of security, thinking that the east gate exit to campus, still technically on campus grounds, would be safe.
Now he was trapped, held to a strange alpha’s chest while they beat Jack so badly that he didn’t even resist.Lucky wasn’t sure if he could.
Jack had been hanging between two strong alphas when Lucky had arrived, sporting a black eye, with blood trickling from his lip.It was obvious they’d beaten him, probably to force him to send the text that had brought Lucky here.
Why?He barely knew Jack.They’d grown up on the same street, but nowadays Jack was just a druggie friend of Lincoln’s.He’d said maybe ten words to Jack in the last year.
“That’s enough.”The leader raised a hand to stop the brutal assault.
The alpha holding Lucky released him as Jack sank to the ground, unable to support himself.Lucky should have run for help, but there were a dozen alphas and he couldn’t afford to make rash decisions.He raced to Jack’s side, worried about the blood on his face and hands.One eye was swollen and his knuckles were scraped with defensive wounds.
“Can you hear me?”Lucky eased his sweater sleeve over his hand and wiped Jack’s mouth, surprised he had the energy to wince.
Jack swallowed, then coughed up blood.“Lucky?”He tried to move, but screamed and held a hand to his side.“You need to go.”
Lucky shook his head, because he couldn’t see a way out.The road was blocked and it was the end of the day.Most of campus had left or were using the other exits.The east gate only led to country paths—it was a shortcut few people used to enter or leave campus.“I can’t leave you.”
“You both need to leave,” Jack bit out between clenched teeth.“Now!”
“Both?”
“Gigi,” he said, barely above a whisper.
Lucky stood, anger mixing with fear, while Jack struggled to roll onto his side.“You have Jack’s sister?”These alphas must work for the Market, which traded in omegas—kidnapping, selling and torturing them until they became so compliant they were afraid to speak without permission.“She’s only fifteen.”
The leader cocked his head and tucked his hands into his jeans pockets.He barely looked twenty-five, dark hair peeking out from beneath a beanie hat, with intense blue eyes, his clothes two sizes too big.“Don’t fight and she can go.”
Lucky glanced at Jack dragging himself along the ground, and swallowed his fear.“Let thembothgo, and you have a deal.”There was no other choice.He couldn’t let a fifteen-year-old girl suffer the Market, and Jack might already be dying from internal injuries.
His choice was clear.Lucky had to be patient and remain strong.If it was only Jack involved, he might have fought for an escape or died trying, but not with Gigi’s life on the line.No omega deserved to experience the Market, especially at her age, and he could only imagine the unbearable guilt Jack would live with, if he survived his injuries only to realise he hadn’t saved his sister.
Lucky was strong, had been raised by a cop and a freedom-fighting protest organiser—he could last a few hours in the hands of the Market.His parents would move mountains to get him back, but he couldn’t say the same for Jack’s.
“How about we leave them here and take you?”the leader suggested, careful not to mention what condition he’d leave them in.
If he thought Lucky would fall for that, he wasn’t very smart.“If you touch either of them, I’ll scream bloody murder and fight until you’re forced to kill me.”That was a promise and a warning.Lucky could defend himself and wouldn’t hesitate to put these assholes in hospital if it meant escaping.But not until Gigi was safe.
“Deal.”
With a single gesture from the leader, the alphas grew restless.At the end of the lane, the back door of a truck blocking entry to the east entrance opened.A man stepped out, pulling a young girl who had been gagged and had her hands tied in front of her, tears streaming down her face.
Lucky breathed a sigh of relief that Gigi looked unscathed.She glanced at the man from the car, who said something Lucky couldn’t hear, then Gigi made eye contact across the distance.Lucky smiled to show her it was safe, relieved that she made the smart choice and ran for him.He hugged Gigi and brushed the hair from her face, removing the gag from her mouth and untying the knot on the ropes around her wrists.
“They’re letting you go.Run straight to the quad and get help.”He almost said more when a moan drew her attention to Jack.Lucky held Gigi still, because she didn’t need to see the state Jack was in.“Jack needs medical attention.Get to a crowded place and scream for help.”
When the leader signalled with a casual wave of his hand, two of the men behind Lucky moved aside, leaving a clear path toward campus.
Lucky swallowed his fear and stepped aside.“Go.”He could have grabbed her hand and run, but there was no way they would make it.These thugs would target Gigi, then they’d be back where they started.It was more important to get her to safety.
