I laughed and took another bite of food.
ChapterTwenty-Nine
Josie
The scrape of metal startled me out of my sleep. My head pounded and nausea rolled through my empty stomach. It was clear I’d been drugged for however long I’d been here, and the drugs were now leaving my system. I had shivered all night from the withdrawals, and after a few hours, Ben, Theo, and Cam disappeared. I had wailed in agony, feeling like I’d lost them all over again.
My heart felt like it’d been ripped apart.
After the worst withdrawals subsided, I remembered the alpha tabs. I’d reached down, relieved to find they were still somehow tucked inside me. I needed to use them to make an escape attempt. I could incapacitate the guards and run to the hidden exit, but I had no idea where in the mansion I was or how many guards awaited me if I fled. I was frustrated by my still-clouded brain and fumbling indecision. I needed Theo to help me formulate a plan, but he had left me.
A sliver of light reached its long fingers into the cell as the door slowly drew open, scraping against the concrete floor. I used the wall to force myself into a standing position, not trusting my legs to hold me up. I trembled from stress and lack of food, and every part of my body screamed in pain from having to sleep on the hard, damp floor. I pressed myself into the corner of the room, cringing at what an easy target I was. Everything about me screamedprey. This had been so much easier when I’d been out of it. Now I had to face the reality of my situation.
Two guards entered the room. One had a mustache so massive I was momentarily distracted from the terror flooding my body. I heard Ben’s laughter in my head, and his voice saying, “Does that idiot think he’s attractive? How much gel does he put in that thing?” I almost cried out in relief. He wasn’t the ghost version of himself anymore, but I could still hear him.
“Put this on,” the second guard, a stocky alpha with a mullet, said, tossing me what looked to be a silk nightgown. It fluttered to the floor and I realized I would have to step towards them to pick it off the disgusting concrete.
“Hurry up, omega,” Mustache guard said, his voice harsh as he toyed with the trigger on his gun. It looked like the same model I had used at the shooting range. I hoped he accidentally shot himself.
I bent down to grab the dress while desperately trying to keep the dirty nightgown I had on from riding up. I scurried back to the corner and looked at the material in my hands with apprehension. There was no way this would cover me.
“Why do I have to put this on? Where are you taking me?” I asked, desperately trying to postpone the inevitable.
“Do I fucking look like someone who’s going to explain this to you, omega whore? Put it on, now!” Mullet guard barked.
I flinched, waiting for the bark to take control, but it didn’t. I felt the compulsion to do what Mullet said, but I could choose not to do it.
Holy shit.
My heart sped up as I realized the serum had worked.
A thread of hope cut through the horrifying daze of the past few days. My body was no longer fighting me. The device had been disabled. Before I could allow the revelation to sink in, it hit me that I couldn’t let them know. This was one of my few advantages against them, and I had to be smart about it. I lurched, allowing myself to succumb to the guard’s bark. If my delay in obeying had been suspicious, neither of the guards said anything. I turned around, trying to find some semblance of privacy as I stripped off my rough nightgown.
“Face us,” Mustache barked. I whimpered, my limbs leaden as I turned to face the guards’ lust-filled gazes. I tried to get the dress on as quickly as possible, but my hands trembled so much I kept fumbling it. Mullet cupped his growing erection. I wanted to vomit.
I finally managed to get the dress over my head. As I suspected, it barely covered my boobs and butt. It was more of a silk slip than a dress. I tugged at it as if that would make more material appear.
“Time to go,” Mullet said, yanking me towards him and gripping my arm painfully. I couldn’t stop a whine from slipping out.
The guards flanked me as they led me out of the room, half dragging me through the twisting maze of halls until we came to an elevator. When Sam and I ran around the mansion at those dinner parties when we were younger, we had no idea this secret labyrinth from hell was beneath our feet. I tried to memorize each turn, but I’d always been terrible with directions, and now it felt even more hopeless with how disoriented I was. The guards’ scents filled the elevator, making me cringe. They kept brushing against me, and my skin burned with every touch.
They dragged me off the elevator into a brightly lit hallway with plush carpet on the floors and golden picture frames on the walls. This was the part of the mansion I was familiar with. We rounded the corner to the large dining hall. In the center of a room sat a long table covered with ornate candlesticks, floral arrangements, and glasses of wine. And sitting around that table were Glen and Pack Madden.
The air left my lungs as I laid eyes on Hale, Duke, Pierce, and Henderson. Their vile scents assaulted me as they stood to face me, all wearing smug, satisfied expressions.
A lump formed in my throat, and I squeezed my hands into tight fists to keep from crying. This time, I didn’t have my alphas waiting for me in the next interview room. They couldn’t save me.
Glen Jacoby clapped his hands, a grin spreading across his face. “Isn’t this exciting? A pack separated from their omega, back together again. What a love story.”
I stared at Glen, unsure if he was trying to make a joke. He had a wild energy to him, as if he were a ringmaster, controlling the ceremony of a circus from hell. Pack Madden’s unimpressed expressions told me Glen wasn’t fooling anyone. All of us knew this was the furthest thing from a love story. Pack Madden needed me for status because even in a world ruled by alphas, they still needed to bond an omega to be viewed as complete in the eyes of society.
My eyes flicked between Glen and Pack Madden as I tried to understand the dynamics. If Glen thought I belonged to him, why had he brought Pack Madden here? I wished I were smarter, more strategic. Then I could pit them against each other instead of standing here frozen like a complete idiot.
Hale and Duke stalked towards me, and it took everything in me to hold my ground.
“We got you a courting gift,” Hale said, his lips curling with disdain.
“Aren’t you going to say thank you, slut?” Duke snarled, gripping my arm.
