Page 17 of Hidden Fates

“Darling, the label won’t care where we live so long as we keep making them money. If they do, we can afford to cut our contracts. Not that it will come to that. The East Coast office is located here in Starburgh.”

Onyx stalks by with his bag and mine, taking them through the living room to our bedroom. I press a kiss to Skye’s head and leave her to talk with Quentin. He’ll have to convince her it’s okay to want to move here. A task only he can accomplish without her drowning in misplaced guilt.

Floor to ceiling windows cover the rounded wall of my bedroom, a massive hammock bed hanging in front of them, providing me the perfect place to write.

Dropping our bags, Onyx runs a hand over the dark red bedding, his shoulders relaxing now that we’re behind closed doors.

Instinct moves my feet until I’m plastered to his back, arms wrapped around his wide chest. “Talk to me.”

He’s been subdued since we learned Orbital Somatic’s manager was missing. During the drive here, a label exec called Quentin with an update that left us all reeling. One I know hit my mate harder than the rest of us.

The FCDA believes a breeding ring here on the East Coast kidnapped her. They’re abhorrent organizations rooted in human trafficking and aiming to create more Omegas they can sell to the highest bidder.

“Kocruz.”

Of course. Kocruz Hills is an isolated community in western Iowa where fucked-up shit happens daily. Like many places in the darkest parts of the country, it’s home to an anti-designation cult.

And it’s where we grew up.

“What’s happening to that manager… this is shit he would do.”

Onyx doesn’t have to explain who he is, because there’s only one person it could be: Nathaniel Calbroh. His father. The leader of the Kocruz cult. A deranged man who gets off on other people’s misery. He hates Alphas and Omegas so much that he manipulated the entire town into participating in a ‘breeding program’ he promised them would push non-Beta designation genes out of their bloodlines.

The thing was, this ‘program’ wasn’t optional. Married, single, barely-legal, every woman in that hellhole was forcefully bred to further his agenda.

Onyx’s mother bore the brunt of his father’s derangement, suffering brutal beatings each time she failed to conceive after he raped her.

The abuse his mother faced was the first nail that sealed Nathaniel’s coffin.

“We did what we could. We got out,” I remind X, burying my face between his shoulder blades.

Anger still burns hot in my stomach each time I remember the events that led to our escape. Calbroh took it upon himself to ensure the single women in town were meeting the breeding standards he set, visiting their homes and claiming they weren’t ‘doing their duty to purge the bloodline’ before he raped them.

His father’s poor timing led to me walking in as he tried to force himself onto my mother. Onyx barely stopped me from killing the bastard.

My mother wasn’t Calbroh’s first victim, but we made sure she was his last. We fled with her that night. Stole a pack car and drove to Chicago with a trunk full of photographs and documents raided from his father’s office.

And we never looked back.

“Doesn’t mean someone like him isn’t behind this shit,” he growls. “Things never change. When will the rest of the country see the damage they’re causing?”

Chapter Six

“Change takes time. More than what will ever feel justified in situations like this.” Quentin’s voice cuts in. He’s leaning in the doorway, hands tucked into his pockets.

“Apologies for interrupting. Our Omega is putting together her nest, so I thought now would be the best time to discuss Mr. Michaels.”

Right. Caleb. The Alpha who broke my mate’s heart.

I always knew Skye still had feelings for him. What I didn’t expect was for him to feel the same. Not when it was his decision to leave her.

“What about him?” I grunt, hands running up and down Sly’s back to distract myself from the jumble of emotions still pounding through my skull.

Sly is the one who answers. “He’s her Fate-matched mate.”

Frowning, I glance at Quentin, who nods solemnly. We knew it was likely, but my feelings for the other Alpha are still muddied by his decision to leave her.

A throat clears, and Emmett appears.