Page 43 of Freed

“What book? What are you guys talking about?”

“I’ll give it to you to read.” When Lexi sees my frown still in place, she sighs before lowering her voice to the quietest of whispers as she adds, “When alphas bond to omegas, their powers increase.” Then, she places her finger over her lips and glances around, as if telling me not to speak about it here.

I sit up and take a sip of my drink as I consider what she said. I glance at Gage and ask through the bond, “Did you hear that?”

I watch him shake his head once so I tell him, “Lexi is going to give us a book on omegas.” Even here, I can see his eagerness to get his hands on more knowledge.

“Can I ask you something?” Erica says, reminding me of my current conversation.

“Sure.”

“If you’re a hybrid, does that mean you can shift into your other form.” She’s asking about my phoenix.

I shake my head. “No. At least I don’t think so. I don’t feel it the same way I feel my wolf. I think Gage described it as a latent gene. I have the ability of one, but I can’t actually shift.”

She nods as her eyes move to my ear. “Are those tattoos?” she asks, gesturing behind my ear to my heart marks.

I shift uncomfortably as I shake my head. “No, one appears each time I… You know…” She shakes her head and I frown. “Each time I die.”

Her eyes widen as they dart back to my neck. “How far down do they go?”

“Far.” I don’t want to get into those details, especially not here in public so I change the subject.

“So, Lexi. I’ve met Alaric and Finn, but you have another mate, right?”

“Yes, Soren.” She gestures over to where my mates are, and I notice another man sitting alone at the table behind them. His arms are crossed, and he’s just staring at Lexi with a lot of intensity. “He’s a panther shifter.”

“He looks intense.”

She laughs. “Oh, he’s just jealous cause Finn gets to sit so close.” I look at him again and realize he does look like he’s pouting, which makes me smile. My eyes move to Bain, who’s staring at me. But unlike Soren who looks like he’s pouting, Bain is looking at me like he wants to come over here and cover me in bubble wrap to stop me from getting hurt.

I glance back at Lexi as my mouth pulls into a smirk. “Do you have problems going to the bathroom in peace too?”

She bursts out laughing as she nods, and in that moment, I know we’re going to be great friends.

Chapter 15

Maddox

The laughter of all three girls fills the coffee shop, bringing me some semblance of ease.

She’s happy. She’s safe.

But I can’t stop my mind from picturing her pressed against the wall by that doctor, with a knife at her throat and his hand down her pants.

Every time I picture it, I want to kill him all over again. It’s my fault she was taken, and my punishment is having to remind myself of what was done on my watch. She was stolen from our pack, killed, skinned and violated. All because I didn’t properly protect her.

I should have ensured more protection at the house. I should have taken her with us. I should have ensured the panic room was built tamper free.

But I didn’t. And because of mistakes as our pack leader, she was taken.

But at least I could try to make sure I do everything in my power to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Which is why I’m happy to have a chance to speak with the mages.

“You’re sure he can’t be walking around in some sort of invisible suit?” Gage asks Philip again. I don’t blame him, wanting clarity on that. Since Cherry had suggested it, I haven’t been able to stop looking around, wondering if he’s in the room with us at any given time.

“No. Spells don’t work like that,” Philip reassures him. “A car is different, but even that is extremely hard to cast an invisibility spell on. And there aren’t many mages who can do it.”

“Can you?” I ask curiously and he nods. “Yes, my family had that ability, though my brother was far better at it than I am.” Ah, that’s right. His brother Edwin, who died at one of the facilities. That reminds me why he’s so invested in helping; he hates these places as much as we do.