“I’ll help,” I mutter, heading for the stairs. I need air. The stench claws at me. I need to leave this place as soon as possible. My wolf is itching to get out, pushing me to run. Back to Sofia. Away from this place that reeks of pain and shame.
“You want to go up with them, sweetheart?” Caleb asks before helping the female to her feet. Her head hangs forward at all times, her dark hair hanging like a curtain in front of her face. Fates, I wonder what she has been through. She doesn’t have any visible scars, but who knows what’s hidden under her jeans and sweatshirt. Rafe offers her his hand and leads her away from the pit of desperation.
“Close your eyes; it’s not pretty up there,” Rafe tells her. “We’ll get you away once we have the other females freed.”
We trudge up the stairs, and Rafe and I head to a body each; I turn over the young shifter in front of me, still in human form and dressed like a soldier. His jaw is slack, and his eyes are glassy. Fuck, he can’t be more than twenty-five. I should feel bad. He’s someone’s son, could be someone’s mate. But he’s here, and that means he’s rotten to the core.
I don’t give a fuck if his alpha commanded him to be here. It’s impossible not to follow a clear, direct order from your alpha, but there’s always a loophole with extended commands. An alpha can command you to go somewhere or do something, but once you have done the task, the compulsion ends. It’s why the omegas are being kept under lock and key instead of just being commanded not to leave.
And following orders is never a fucking excuse for this shit.
“Got them,” Rafe says, pulling my attention back to what we’re supposed to be doing. Rafe throws the keys to Caleb as we reach the bottom of the stairs, and he takes a breath before turning the key and yanking the door open.
The room behind reveals rows of cots and a huddled group of female omegas wearing next to nothing. Heavy-looking steel collars and sleepwear. A diverse group of females with varying skin tones and hair colors, and right in the center: Katie Clark.
“Shit, you actually did it,” she says, standing up and walking towards us. Wearing a light slip dress, she’s thinner and obviously a few years older. She looks the same, and yet somehow completelydifferent. Same long sandy blonde hair, same brown eyes she shares with Jackson. But her soft features have hardened; her once warm smile and the way her skin crinkled at the corners of her eyes are gone.
Jackson lets out a choked sob. Tears rim his eyes as he takes in the sight of the sister he spent years believing was dead. “You’re really here. I’m so sorry I didn’t come sooner; I… I thought you were dead.”
Katie’s gaze softens for a second, then hardens again. “We can do the family reunion later. We need to get out of here—”
A loud clang rings out, and we are plunged into darkness, save for the low lights in the room where the omegas are. “What the fuck?” Ryan yells, running up the stairs and finding the door locked. His skin sizzles as he tries to punch through it, meeting the internal silver.
“Who do you have upstairs?” Katie asks, her tone harried and frantic. “Tell me you didn’t all come down here?”
“It’s just the girl, the one who was in the medical room,” Caleb says.
“What girl?” Katie yells at him. “All of my girls are in that fucking room. What did she look like?”
“Dark hair? I didn’t get a good look at her,” I offer, running my hands into my hair and tugging it. What the fuck is happening?
Katie’s face drains of color, and her jaw hangs open for a moment. “Sarah? You leftSarahupstairs alone?” She lets out a bitter laugh as she glares at us. The fire in her eyes is visible even in the low lighting. “How did you not recognize her?”
“Shit. I wasn’t paying much attention; I just knew she wasn’t you,” Jackson answers. His voice cracks at the thought of letting Sarah get one over on him again. She’s the female who distracted him from patrol seven years ago when Lunar Eclipse was attacked and Katie was taken.
“Her hair was covering her face, and I didn’t recognize her scent,” I explain.
“I can’t believe she has fucked me twice with idiot males who can’t fucking think straight!” Katie seethes. “You found her and left her up there unsupervised? What the fuck is wrong with you all?”
“I have warriors on the perimeter. I’ll mindlink them,” Ryan offers.
“You can’t,” Katie cuts him off. “This entire basement is reinforced with silver and magic. Will they move in if they don’t hear from you?”
“I hope so,” Ryan says, his shoulders deflating. We told them to hold their positions until they heard otherwise, so it’s unlikely they will. They have their orders.
The sounds of the omegas fill the silence between our group. Some of them are crying, while others are speaking to each other in hushed tones. I don’t know about the rest of the group, but I’m feeling like a damn fool. And I can’t help feeling Sofia being here could have made all the difference.
“Is Camille here?” Landon, Caleb’s older brother, asks. “Is she alive?”
“Yeah,” Katie replies, her tone defeated. “Come on in, at least this time we will get to say goodbye.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Sofia
He shot me.
My fucking mate fucking shot me. Asshole! It’s been a little over eight hours since I woke up from my impromptu tranquilizer-induced nap, and I’m no less pissed. I’m still practically vibrating with rage, and I keep having to actively unclench my white-knuckled fists around the steering wheel, so I don’t snap it in half.
