AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It was the right thing to do.” My words rang hollow. “She would never have gone otherwise.” Jameson didn’t even look at me.
“Let’s go home.” His voice sounded like gravel. I started the van, and we headed back toward the border checkpoint under our guise as an Eastern Province delivery service. Even though we were headed back, I dreaded going home. Nothing was going to be the same.
Chapter 59
Bella
My life was now unrecognizable from before. After I went into the police station, all hell had broken loose. The few police officers that were there had no experience with kidnappings, which was a blessing for me. It took only a short while for the news to break that I had been found. Social media was going wild, and I requested a lawyer before saying anything else. Piper had taken the first flight out to get to me, and found me sitting in the station wrapped up in a blanket and holding a hot cocoa. I felt a small bit of relief for the first time since I had woken up when I saw my one and only true friend fling open the door to the station, her eyes searching wildly as her pack followed in behind her. When she spotted me, she rushed over and wrapped me up in a hug, nearly lifting me off the floor.
“I thought I’d never see you again!” she whispered, and despite all I had been through, I finally cracked a half smile. Someone did want me, and it was my friend. I had lost faith in her, but she’d never stopped looking for me. Piper pulled back and assessed me, her eyes concerned as she looked me up and down. “Are you safe? What happened?” I grabbed her hands and tried to get her to calm down.
“I’m alright. I’ll tell you everything in time, but right now I need a good lawyer. They are asking questions, and I don’t want that.” Piper had been interrogated when she arrived in Haven, and she hated it. An alpha had barked out commands and she’d been forced to answer truthfully. She nodded at me.
“We’ll get you the best lawyer possible. For now, just tell them you can’t talk. I’ll be here the whole time.” She was right. Between Piper and her pack, no one bothered me. They said I was too traumatized to have another alpha handle me. In an hour, an expensive-looking lawyer had shown up and told me my rights.
“You have the right to deny interrogation, as you are not suspected of any crime. Any tips you do want to offer to find the kidnappers will be of your own volition.” I nodded, satisfied.
“The only thing I want to say is that I was taken, and I have no idea who took me. They kept me healthy and locked away in a room, and I believe they were after Celeste Harringday. I’d like to get a message to her, if that’s possible.” The lawyer nodded.
“I’m sure we can work something out. I also have great news for you. You are now about to be a very wealthy omega, miss Carter. Since you are technically the one who saved yourself, the reward money will all be going to you.” I stopped what I was doing as the reality hit me. I was now going to have more money than I knew what to do with. My lawyer talked me through the details and how to get my accounts set up as I sat there in a haze.
The media flurry surrounding my case had tipped my reward fund to over three and a half million dollars. After taking some time to absorb everything, I booked the next flight home to Haven with Piper and her pack. We left the station together, and I sat next to her the entire flight. It was my first time on a plane, and I was a bit nervous.
It turned out that my lawyer was more than good - he had encouraged me to sue the Darlington Ball for delaying my missing person report and for sweeping my disappearance under the rug. It turned out that my chaperone had reported me missing and complained to the wealthy organizers, but they had covered it up to protect their image. They settled with me to keep the trial out of the news. But it landed me enough that I was now worth over ten million dollars, more money than I had ever imagined I’d have in my life.
I was a media sensation. I had reporters breathing down my back trying to get the details on what happened when I was kidnapped and how I escaped. Luckily, I had enough funds to hire security for the time being, as well as an agent who handled everything for me. The official story was exactly what I had disclosed to the police - that I had been kidnapped, they realized I wasn’t the intended target, and I had miraculously escaped when they made a mistake leaving me unmonitored. Rumors swirled online about how it could be that an omega made it across the border unscathed, but the town I turned up in was only a few miles away from the nearest town on the Eastern side of the mountains, so it was plausible that I had made it through. My lawyer and agent advocated on my behalf to not harass a kidnapping victim, and most people left it well enough alone. I was still the most sought after omega for interviews and stories, and most surprisingly of all, I was the most sought after omega in a whole other way.
My story of kidnapping, the mixup with the famous heiress Celeste, and my infamy now that I had escaped along with my newfound wealth were a magnet to all available packs. I suddenly had an enormous influx of offers to be courted. Even more shocking, packs were offering a bite to me without even meeting. My image had been circulated so much that they already knew what I looked like, and I suppose most packs also wanted guaranteed funds and a trophy omega on top of the intrigue. My agent was handling the offers, which included some of the most eligible packs in the country and across the world.
I was having my morning tea when the door rang at my villa. My agent already knew it was safe to answer, seeing as we were in a gated community and my security vetted anyone coming past the front gates. I had purchased a home in an upscale, secure area not too far from where Piper and her pack lived. The most important feature of the home was the existence of a luxury casita that was included on the property. My first order of business after buying my place was to send two first-class tickets to my parents and tell them to come straight to Haven since they no longer needed to work anymore. I’d seen them briefly when I returned after my amazing escape from my kidnappers, and they were beside themselves. They had been begging the authorities in Goldpine to check up on me, but of course were dismissed as the local police there were bought out by the Deloney Pack and didn’t care much to look into my disappearance. It was sweet vindication for my parents when my name and face suddenly appeared all over the news. All kinds of people in my hometown were buzzing at their door when the news stations covered the kidnapping conspiracy that I had been unintentionally wrapped up in. But my parents were still living paycheck to paycheck, and I never wanted them to work again. Once they showed up with their luggage, I gave them keys to the casita and told them they never had to work another day in their lives.
My agent went to the front door, and the guest turned out to be another delivery man. It was no surprise as I had been getting courting bribes from packs every day. My dining room table was already overflowing with bouquets, all different colors and sizes. Some of them were extreme, like the bouquet of over two hundred roses that barely fit on my massive dining table. Or the bouquet of rare flowers that bloomed for one day only, sent on a private flight from the other side of the world by a pack that lived thousands of miles away.
Other gifts included free trips, jewelry, offers to various exclusive events, and even a car which was currently parked in the front driveway. I had given it to my parents as I wasn’t interested in that pack. I wasn’t interested in any pack, and that had just made my notoriety grow. I was known as one of the most exclusive omegas now, and every pack was vying for my attention. Plenty of packs that courted me in the past suddenly wanted to reach out again, asking for another shot. Like I’d ever consider them now. They were packs that didn’t have much to offer in the first place, but I had tried my best and even dreamed of being with them at one point in the past, only to get rejected. Now it was my turn to be picky. But I didn’t even have the heart to try being courted anymore. Something in me broke after this last rejection, and it changed me.
“What’s this new gift?” My father asked as he came to the entryway from the kitchen. My agent read the note that came with it. “Looks like a rare vase. The note says it's made from rare stone and hundreds of years old, won at auction for two hundred thousand dollars. The pack who sent it would like to court you Bella.” My father raised his eyebrows at me as my agent put the vase in the dining room with my other gifts. I sighed and rolled my eyes.
“You should just try and meet one of them, Bella.” He said gently. I knew my parents couldn't understand why I wasn’t jumping for joy at the prospect of a pack. They didn’t know what happened in the past, and they sure didn’t know what happened when I was kidnapped. My mom followed him into the room, looking relaxed and healthy for the first time in a long time.
“Wow! Another gift! You’ll have so much to tell Piper about these new suitors vying for your hand.” Piper was scheduled to stop by later. My parents loved her, and between Piper, my agent and my family, they were all pushing me to attend the upcoming Haven omega ball. More specifically, one that would be hosted for me so that these competing packs could all meet me in person. I wasn’t sold on the idea, but I’d reluctantly agreed to get them to stop bothering me about it.
Just before I started to head upstairs and make my escape from their comments, the gate security rang to let me know Piper was on her way to the house. I waited for her at the front door, smiling as I saw her pull up. She ran up to the door and grabbed my hands, bouncing excitedly. I swear she was more excited than I was about my omega courting, despite not being interested in courting at all when she first presented. Aiden, one of her pack mates, followed her in and sat down to make small talk with my parents. He waited downstairs while I dragged Piper up to my room. “Well? Have you picked a dress yet for your ball?” It felt so long ago that I had been the one borrowing a dress from her for the Darlington Ball, and now I could get any dress I wanted and had no excitement.
“Not really. Why don’t you pick one out for me?” I suggested and opened my walk-in closet for her to see the dresses I’d accumulated. Her face fell.
“Bella, you used to be the most positive and excitable omega I’d ever met. Now you get a whole ball just for you, with packs from around the world coming to fight for your attention. What happened? Are you really still hung up on that awful pack?” She was the only one I’d told the truth to about what really happened. She’d stayed up with me all night while I cried into her shoulder, telling her about the new feelings I’d developed for the pack and how it pained me like nothing else when they had rejected me. Every day since, she had shown up with tea, cookies, or a request for a walk outside just as an excuse to get me out of bed. It helped to have her there. But something changed inside of me, and I couldn’t be as positive and hopeful as I once was.
“I don’t know, Piper. I’m just not sure I believe in true love anymore. What’s the point of the ball other than a business alliance? That’s all these packs see me as.” She watched me with concern as she sat on the edge of my bed.
“Real love is true, Bella. I found it, and you can too. You were there telling me to give my pack a chance when I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to meet them. It wasn’t easy for me or my pack at first, but we made it through our issues and being with them is a dream come true. Now I’m here to tell you not to give up.” She stood, walked into the closet, and grabbed an armful of clothes. “You’re going to try on these dresses. We’re going to get you feeling good about yourself and you are going to have the best courting ball ever! Now stop moping and let’s get you out there again!” I sighed and looked at the first sparkly dress. She was trying her best to make me excited, but nothing was going to compare to the feelings I had when I was in the Eastern Province with the guys who truly broke my heart. It was something I felt deep down, that my omega side was mourning. But I couldn’t let the rest of my life be sad. I did get my parents out of Goldpine, and I was at least out of the Omega House and into my own villa. Speaking of that, I had news to tell Piper.
“Remember Olivia from the Omega House?” I asked. She pursed her lips, thinking back.
“Oh yeah, I remember her. She had just arrived shortly before I left. What about her?” I told her the story of Olivia and Brent and how they had mocked me before I went to the Darlington Ball. Piper became visibly upset on my behalf.
“I hope you don’t ever listen to nonsense like that again!”
“It’s okay, Piper. A lot of the omegas were like that. They were rude to me because I was there for a long time, and it was an anomaly. No one wanted whatever was wrong with me to rub off on them. It’s why I was really happy to have a friend like you.” Piper smiled a little after I said that, and I continued. “Anyway, guess who has been trying to request me nonstop on social media? Both of them. Actually, everyone from the Omega House has been trying to get into my good graces since I became Haven’s newest celebrity.” Piper laughed and covered her mouth at my gossip.
