“Leave him alone,” I warn, turning to face Hudson once I pull the door shut. “Stay away from him.” I growl, glaring at him. He holds his hands up in surrender and takes a step backward into his room.
“Alright, Omega. Odd behavior for a Beta, though. Seeking comfort in a closed space. Almost like a nest,” Hudson says before disappearing into his room. I’m pacing the floor in front of the king beds when I put my earpiece back in.
“Apollo, if you can hear me, I’m calling dibs on strangling Hudson if he becomes a problem,” I grumble as I climb under the blankets and turn off the bedside lamp. There's a sheathed blade under my pillow, one in the top drawer, and the third is on the floor under the bed.
“We can share.”Is his only quiet reply.
HUDSON
Thor left hours ago, but I fucking swear I’m being watched. Beau is curled into a tight ball in the tub, and Dream is little more than a lump on the king-sized bed she was supposed to share with her boyfriend.
As I pace the hotel room in the silent darkness, the only light coming from under the bathroom door where Beau sleeps, I can’t shake the feeling of eyes on me.
If either of them has a phone, they keep it so close to their bodies I can’t get my hands on it. Just want to call my fucking father on a phone that isn’t being monitored.
Scott texts me every three hours, stopping at midnight. Five hours of peace. Only one more until he starts messaging me again. I need to sleep. I can’t stay like this all fucking night.
At least I can schedule messages on this fuck-ass track phone from what has to be twenty years ago, I swear.
I’ll do one last check on Beau and Dream, and then I’ll sleep.
Beau murmurs in his sleep but hasn’t moved since I tried to pull him out of there. Fucking tried to bite me for it, too. Dreamhas kicked her blankets off, though, a frown creasing her brow as she whimpers, a little Omega whine slipping from her parted lips.
I jerk forward at the sound, catching myself and reeling in my instincts before I lose my head. Her nightmares are not why I’m here.
Saving them isn’t my job, but why the fuck is Beau sleeping in a tub when I know he’s sober? Not a sip of booze since Scott was in the room. Why did they both pretend to drink the entire night, and why the hell did Dream look equally shocked and sad when she saw Beau in that tub?
I’m smarter than this. I’m just too goddamn tired to put the pieces together.
I set an alarm on the bed stand. I need four hours, and then I’ll fit all these jagged pieces together. I pull my shirt off, tugging on sweats.
Sad blue eyes fucking with my head.
Damn hazel eyes sparking with violence throwing me off.
And their scents? Beau’s is all wrong, clearly being blocked or altered, but I can sense his anxiety. Never desire, though.
Dream hasn’t been turned on since I walked in on her riding… No slick, just lusty perfume. Still the strongest scent I’ve ever smelled, but…fuck. I’m too tired.
I’m missing important shit, and I can’t think clearly.
Sleep now, think later.
Chapter Nine
DREAM
“We go together,” he says again, taking his hand in mine and lacing our fingers. It’s the first time a boy has held my hand. I glance up into his dark gray eyes and smile.
He looks at me with so much fear and desperation that it steals my breath. No one has ever needed me. Dad never prepared me for this, or Mom. Poor sweet Mom. Losing her was scary. I thought I would die from heartbreak, but this is a different kind of pain and fear. He’s relying on me to save him, but I’m only sixteen, and I don't know what the hell I’m doing.
Felix is all alone. I wasn’t. I had Mom, until I didn’t. He needs me.
He’s so scared. That was what I noticed first. Pale skin, dimples, ginger-red curly hair, and this aura of pain. We’re all Omegas here. Some are forced to perfume earlier than they should. Drugged and abused, some from a very young age. It’s not natural. Fucking evil. But Felix isn’t an Omega. He’s rare, harder to kidnap.
The others avoid him. Alphas aren’t safe, but Felix would never hurt anyone. He’s been hurt. Every day since he was dragged in through the doors screaming and covered in blood.
They’re scared of him, but he’s only sixteen, like me. He barely even has the whisper of dominance because he’s so young for an Alpha. It’s not fair.
