“Yes,” Cassidy says, playing with my hair. “I’ll get something for your feet. If you tell us what they did, I can make sure to draw out the kill. Ansel likes to strangle people with their own intestines to really fuck with them.”
“Sounds like a cool party trick,” I mumble sleepily.
“It does the job,” Abbott says. “What do you think?”
“I want people to hurt,” I sigh, meaning it. “I’m tired of being the victim.”
“You can come play with us or not. You’ll never be a victim again,” Cassidy says, her touch making my eyes shut. “We aren’t going anywhere, Lovey. I’ll see what I can do to keep the nightmares away.”
Believing her, I let myself drift away. While there are still nightmares, I also dream of Cassidy and Abbott murdering those who have hurt me.
Chapter
Eight
ABBOTT
Leaning against the bathroom doorway,I watch as Cassidy quietly breaks apart in the shower. Bellamy and Winter are finally through the detox period after close to a week of hell. Riley admitted that he didn’t think it would get this bad, and at one point he considered medication dosing to help. The only issue with this is that Bellamy and Winter refused whenever they were lucid, and I didn’t have the heart to go against their wishes.
The nausea was pretty awful, but Bellamy also had hallucinations, something that Riley said was atypical of opioid detox. It meant that Winter screamed and cried because all he could see were people who had hurt them, and he ripped out his IV to begin strangling her. He didn’t see his stepsister, but a woman he kept calling Clara.
Now, we’re out of the woods, and while Bellamy and Winter are both exhausted, they’re also hungry enough to be eating in the kitchen with Ansel and Shi.
I won’t lie, my heart is shredded from watching them go through this. There’s nothing I could do but hold Bellamy downso he wouldn’t hurt Winter, or encourage them to drink water or eat bread when they were receptive to it.
Their previous owners didn’t care about the long term effects of these drugs, they simply wanted their money’s worth from them. Omegas were disposable. I really hope Bellamy meant it when he said he’d be willing to help us track down the people who have hurt them, because with or without his help, we’re doing it.
Cassidy is crying so hard, she hasn’t seen me yet, and I’m content to let her blow off some emotions before I join her. Even with all of us puttering around the house, I’m finding that my girl still feels alone.
It’s when I see her pick up the razor and break it for the blade that my feet begin to move. Cassidy Tremaine hasn’t cut in five fucking years, and I’ll be goddamned if I allow her to relapse.
“Don’t you fucking dare!” I yell, ripping off my tank top. I drop the remains of it on the ground without care, because my only concern is for Cass. A suit and tie aren’t the most comfortable thing to wear while watching over very sick omegas, which is why I’m in workout attire now and barefoot.
Work is a suggestion this week, and one I’ve been ignoring in the face of our pack emergency.
My joggers hit the ground as well as I shove them off my hips, my feet escaping as I use them to step out of my pants. My glare makes Cassidy’s eyes widen as I yank open the glass door, and her numb fingers drop the blade.
Reacting without thought, I catch it in my palm and toss it into the trash angrily. I’ll throw it out after I’m done with Cass. I fucking refuse to regress into this hell. We are not fucking doing this.
Stepping naked into the shower, I catch her as her knees buckle.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “It’s too much, too loud, and I just need it to stop.”
“I know,” I purr, following her to the ground so she’s sitting in my lap. My arms wrap around her so I can hold her properly, and I kiss her temple. “So we’ll sit here together, as long as it takes until it stops. I feel it too, baby.”
“How could people do this to them?” she sobs.
My girl is an empath. She is already attached to Bellamy and Winter, and I’m not surprised. Every alpha in this pack feels the pull to these sweet and broken omegas. What they don’t know is that none of us are perfect or whole.
There’s a reason that we’re in such an aggressive career path, and kill without remorse. I don’t even remember the faces of the alphas I killed just a short week ago with kill shots to their faces. My form of death is brutal and harsh.
Don’t fuck around and you won’t find out, but once the gloves are off, we will do whatever is necessary to end you.
“People are greedy and suck,” I remind her. “Cruelty is a learned behavior, Cass. It’s up to us to make sure that doesn’t pass on to Bellamy and Winter. We need to help them understand how much better life can be, but to do that I need to start with the girl who first won my heart.”
“What?” she asks uncertainly, her lashes wet from more than just the shower.
“You heard me,” I say, kissing her lips. “You want to quiet the noise? Use me, and let me remind you of why you love me.”
