“Come on, little brother! I’ve got a flashlight in my car, and I’ll chase you if I have to. Please just show yourself. Don’t make me put us both in danger.”
Zeller almost wept with frustration. He’d left his room forty-five minutes ago. He had been free for less than an hour.
With as much dignity as he could summon, Zeller stood. “How did you find me?”
“I saw your backpack on the floor earlier today. Out of place. I had a hunch, so I put a tracker in it.”
“You did what!?”
Asher rushed over and put an arm around him. “It’s a good thing I did, too. How did you think you were going to make this work, exactly? Our parents would never let you go. Not when it might make them look bad.” He guided Zeller toward the passenger door. “C’mon. I’ll get you back to the house and hopefully they don’t find out about this.”
Zeller debated making a run for it, but he’d never get past his brother. He eyed him with disdain. “I won’t forgive you for this.”
“That may be true,” Asher said. “But at least this way I know you’re safe.”
“Safe in my prison.”
Asher opened his mouth to reply when two sets of headlights appeared, coming from the direction of the house.
“What the fuck?” Zeller shrugged out of his brother’s hold. “Did you call them?”
Asher looked genuinely confused. “No. Of course not.”
“Then why are they here?”
“No clue.”
The cars approached quickly. One parked next to Asher’s sedan. Zeller made out the boxy shape of Antoni’s older-model SUV. The other vehicle passed by, then spun around to shine its headlights on them all.
Zeller lifted his hand to his forehead, blinking at the emergency room brightness of the LED high beams. He did not recognize the car, but his parents got out of the front seats.
Two men, tall betas dressed head-to-toe in black, exited the back.
Antoni ran to Zeller as his fathers approached. “I’ll help however I can,” he mumbled hurriedly. “I didn’t realize what was happening until I heard Deveron crying in the library—”
“What? What’s happening?” Fear gripped Zeller’s chest as he saw the determined look on his alpha father’s face. Placing a protective hand over his belly, he whispered to Antoni, “Please do everything you can.”
“I will. You have my word.”
“What do you mean?” Asher leaned into Zeller. “What does Antoni need to do? What’s going on?”
“I’m out of time,” Zeller mumbled to his brother. “I believe you that you didn’t call them, but somehow they found out…”
Father halted ten feet away, as though he could not stomach being closer to his recalcitrant omega child. The headlights outlined him in a sinister glow. Daddy cowered behind, next to the black-clad betas.
“Asher? What are you doing here?” Father snarled. “Must I deal with two defiant sons tonight?”
Zeller stood tall, his belly protruding almost comically. “Asher came to find me,” he declared with bravado. “That’s why he was putting me in his car. To escort me to the house.”
“And he was listening.” Asher stepped forward. “So there’s no need to get upset. Zeller was on his way back.”
Father raised his eyebrows. “You should go home to your apartment. Me and Daddy will handle it from here.” His features remained impassive, but he vibrated with tension.
“I’m okay,” Asher said shakily. “I can go back to the house with you all.”
“Go home.”
Asher’s sharp inhale cut through the cool air.
