With each breath, my heart beat faster and harder. My gaze scanned the small room, landing on an antique wooden jewelry box. It sat upon a dresser with a large mirror on the back. My reflection stared back at me. I looked like a ghost of myself—wide-eyed and haunted.
I rifled through the drawers of the box. Inside were necklaces and bracelets, bands of gold and silver encrusted with gemstones and diamonds. I gathered them in my hands and stuffed them in my pockets, taking as many items as I could find.
Fear gripped my heart in a vice. All I could think about was getting caught. Afraid that the owner of the house would wake up and hear the commotion, that he’d come downstairs and we’d all be done for.
As if summoned by my thoughts, a loudcrashsounded from down the hall. I jumped and spun around in time to hear someone shout. Barely a heartbeat later, alarms began to shriek. They were deafeningly loud, and my mind went into panic-mode.
My heart ratcheted up into my throat, choking me as I flung the door of the bedroom open and tore off towards the exit. I turned the corner in time to see my packmates hightailing it out of the mansion with armfuls of valuables in tow.
For some reason, I stumbled to a stop in front of the stairs. Something didn’t feel right. The large front picture window was shattered, as if smashed in with a baseball bat. What? Why? I didn’t understand.
Run. Run. Run.
I couldn’t breathe. Suddenly the air was too thick, viscous.
I took off after Jacks and the gang, my shoes slapping over hardwood, but I never made it to the front door.
A growled voice from behind shouted, “STOP!” and my heart nearly tore out of my chest. Panic gripping me, I spun around to face the cold, hard truth of the situation—I’d been caught.
Standing on the stairs was a tall, willowy man with mussed brown hair and a pistol, pointed at me.Oh god.I choked on my next breath.
I dropped the jewelry I’d been gripping and scrambled back with a cry. It landed at my feet and scattered, golden rings rolling across the floorboards.
“No, please,” I pleaded, but the gun was aimed right at my chest. I held up my hands and backed away, only to trip over my own two feet. I hit the ground with a softoof.
The man—an Alpha and the estate owner, no doubt—trained the weapon on me and slowly approached, descending the stairs one step at a time.
I didn’t move.
Outside in the distance, sirens wailed, and my heart dropped into my gut.
Jacks and the gang were long gone. They’d left me behind, the scapegoat. They got what they wanted, and I was conveniently here to take the fall.
It sank in deep, stinging like a blade. I didn’t want to believe it, but… The broken windows? The alarm triggering? This had to be part of their plan.
I blinked back tears, saying nothing. I couldn’t even look up at the man. The guilt weighed on me like a sack of bricks.
The police arrived shortly after, immediately placing me under arrest. One of the cops cuffed me and yanked me to myfeet. Then he frisked me for anything else I might have stolen, pulling jewelry from the pockets I’d stashed them in.
By the time he finished, I was shaking like a leaf.
“Am I going to jail?” I whispered, barely able to manage that.
The officer, a portly man with reddish-brown hair and a beard to match, huffed a laugh. “Yep, you’re in for a long night, kiddo.”
I hung my head, my chest aching. “At least I won’t have to sleep on the streets tonight,” I murmured, more to myself than anyone else.
I looked up at the other cops, who were speaking with the homeowner. The man Jacks had robbed. Someone who lived a life completely opposite my homeless, always-hungry one.
From where I stood, this Alpha seemed like he had all the money in the world. Good looks. Probably his pick of any Omega he could ever want.
Yet, he was looking at me.
I met his eyes from across the room. “I’m sorry,” I murmured, shaking my head slowly before dropping my chin to my chest.
The cop huffed. “Yeah, yeah.” He grabbed me by the wrists, which were bound behind my back, and pushed me out the front door.
He took me outside and marched me down the sidewalk, to the police cruiser sitting on the curb. Its lights flashed red and blue in the dead of night. He opened up the back door and ushered me inside.
