They set me down in my cell. Their hands slipped so I was slammed against the floor, the metal wire of the cage cutting into my knees and making them bleed. I screamed after them as they retreated from the cell, begging them to let me out, but they ignored my pleas as they slammed the door shut.
Leaving me alone with my hopeless despair.
ChapterThirty
Josie
The door to the cell opened and my heart stopped when I saw my mother walk in, Genevieve trailing behind her. I stood up in the corner of the cell—the furthest away I could be from the cage on the opposite wall. The guards unlocked it this morning when they dropped off a single piece of bread for my breakfast.
My mother looked around the room, a frown on her face. For the briefest whisper of a heartbeat, I thought she was here to rescue me. But then she turned to the guard.
“How are we supposed to get her ready here?” she asked in a polite tone that belied the viciousness she unleashed when she didn’t get her way.
Mustache and Mullet just shrugged.
“Well, find out where else we can go,” she snipped. Her eyes seemed to snag on the cage in the corner where I’d spent the night. “We need seating, a mirror, and good lighting.”
When the guards realized she wouldn’t budge, Mustache mumbled something about making a call before he left the room.
An awkward silence fell. I crossed my arms, hating how vulnerable I was in this tiny nightgown. My mother primped her perfectly styled hair, and a faint whiff of burnt chocolate wafted over to me. It was her scent. It had been so long since I’d scented her that it had all but faded from my memory. It was as if the mother who loved me had faded away with her scent. I couldn’t catch the slight chemical edge of de-scenter, and I wondered not for the first time if she was wearing it or if there was another explanation for the loss of her perfume.
“Why are you letting them do this?” I asked, the desperation and agony clear in my voice.
“You brought this on yourself with your petulant behavior. I taught you better than this.” Her voice was cold, but I thought I saw a flash of distress in her eyes. I probably imagined it.
My eyes watered. I didn’t want to cry in front of her, didn’t want to show weakness, but as tears spilled over, I realized it didn’t matter anymore. I was locked away, controlled, the way she had always wanted me. So what if she saw how much her words affected me?
“They made me sleep in that last night. They said that’s my new bed,” I said, pointing to the cage.
My mother’s face was blank as she fiddled with the edges of the dress she was holding. I assumed it was what I was supposed to wear for this farce of a mating ceremony.
“Pack Madden hates me. They’re just using me to further their position. They’re going to rape me, hurt me, keep me locked away. How can you stand by and let this happen? Don’t you love me at all?” Tears streamed steadily down my cheeks and I didn’t bother wiping them away.
Mullet guard shifted his weight, as if uncomfortable. I fixed him with a glare. If he was going to participate in the imprisonment and torture of omegas, he could face the reality of what he was doing head-on.
“It’s always hard to join a pack,” my mother said, her voice robotic. “You have to learn how to please your alphas. Once you do, things will be better for you.”
It was the same thing she’d told me my whole life, but I knew now it wasn’t true. Loving my alphas had beeneasy. They’d never made me feel like I had to change myself to please them. They had always prioritized my safety, my desires, my pleasure over their own. And now they were gone.
“I had a pack,” I choked out. “I had three alphas who loved me more than anyone ever has. It wasn’t suffering with them. But they were taken from me.” I was on the verge of hyperventilating. “I’m sorry for what’s happened to you to make you this way, sorry that you have alphas who treat you like garbage. Why would you want that for me? Please, mama, please help me.” I hadn’t called her that since I was a small child, but something in me desperately hoped that she would show up for me and be my mom today.
“Love is suffering and pain. Nothing else,” she bit out. “You’re not a child anymore. Let go of these romantic fantasies and accept what life gives you. It’s the only way to survive.”
For the briefest moment, I saw the depth of her suffering in her eyes, and it took my breath away. This might have been the most honest thing she’d ever said to me. She’d always said no pack would want me the way I was. I’d heard it as an insult, a condemnation of being a defective omega. But maybe part of it had been a warning. She was living every omega’s worst nightmare—being bonded to alphas who didn’t want her—and maybe, in her own twisted way, she had been desperately trying to tell me to change myself so I could avoid the same fate.
Mustache guard returned and grunted for us to follow him. He led us to the elevator, and my heart pounded faster. If they were taking us to a room on one of the main floors, I could try to escape.
We exited the elevator and I stumbled, my legs stiff from being confined in the cage all night. Genevieve caught my arm and gripped me tightly, supporting me as we followed the guard’s brisk steps. Part of me wanted to shove her aside—her betrayal had put me on this path—but her touch was gentle and comforting and I couldn’t find it in myself to reject it. As we turned the corner of the hallway, she darted her hand down to grab my own, giving it three quick squeezes.
I kept my expression blank, but I was sure my heart would explode.
It was a signal we had used back in the early DA days. We had joked that three squeezes usually meant, “I love you,” but for us, it meant, “Fuck them all.” I quickly glanced at her, not wanting to draw the guard’s attention. Genevieve’s jaw was set, her face expressionless. But I returned the gesture—squeezing her hand three times—and she gave me an almost imperceptible nod.
Genevieve was still in there.
Glen didn’t have full control over her like he thought.
My mind whirred as I tried to figure out what to do with this information.
