Page 25 of Captured By Chaos


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A few days passed, a new normal settling over the Compound with Nolan’s presence after the full moon. Although, something still hung in the air, a muddled tension that no one understood.

The more he acted like nothing was wrong, the more confusion rippled through the Hierarchy. Did he think that pretending everything was fine would make it that way? Was he trying to lure us in with a sense of false security before showing his true, ruthless colors, using our past to blackmail us into submission?

I rolled my neck a few times, the muscles stiff from staring at my desk while filling out our armory inventory. I hadn’t talked to Nolan since our little fight before the Full Moon Camp. I’d expected him to show up in Lunestia Tower and try and drag me there, but my guess was someone had convinced him not to. Each day that passed, more unease formed in my chest every time I thought about him. He had just been a man in a tavern when I first met him; now every time I saw him, I second-guessed myself and my place in the Faction. The power he had over me made me slick with sweat and left me buzzing with an energy I could barely comprehend. I wasn’t exactly sure why, but my guard wasn’t going to drop any time soon.

Voices drifted down the hall, my ears perking up at the sound, pulling me from my weary thoughts. I had closed the curtains on the windows of my front office wall, wanting privacy, but as the voices got closer, I realized exactly who it was, his laughter drifting to me, bringing me back to childhood.

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite little sister!” Ollie’s effervescent presence instantly lit up my office as he let himself in.

I leaned back in my chair, my skin prickling. “I’m your only little sister.”

“So?”

“So? I just win by default. Where’s the fun in that?”

He laughed, bending over to kiss the top of my head before rounding my desk and plopping into the chair across from me, his long legs sprawled out in front of him. “Fine, then. How is my favorite person ever to exist doing?”

“Better, now that her true status has been recognized.” I stuck my tongue out at him. “Seriously, what are you doing here?”

“It was my day off, and I wanted to come visit you.”

“And check up on me?” My eyebrow peaked, staring him down.

His shoulders sagged. “Maybe. Forgive me for caring about you.”

“It’s fine.” My heart warmed; Ollie knew I hated being coddled, even more so this past year, but I still appreciated where the concern came from. “You’re always welcome here, you know that.”

“I figured I could try and twist your arm to go into the city and grab lunch at some pub.” He leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. “And I also hoped to get a good look at the imbecile who stole your job. Maybe teach him a lesson or two. That is, if you haven’t already kicked his ass so hard he ran away screaming.”

My stomach sank, trying to remind me of the dark realization I came to a few days ago. Still, I forced a laugh. “I tried, believe me. But he seems to be stubbornly sticking around.”

“Eh, you’ll probably wear him down eventually. What’s his name, anyway?”

“Nolan.” A deep voice came from the doorway. “But you knew that already, didn’t you, Mallanis?”

Ollie and I both shot out of our chairs, my hands bracing on my desk as he swiveled around to see who was talking. Damnit, Ollie always forgot to close the door behind him.

“Carragan?” Ollie’s eyes widened in disbelief.

My insides rumbled, heat sizzling along my arms. “Do you two know each other?”

“We were Omegas together,” Ollie laughed, completely forgetting that mere moments ago he was threatening to beat Nolan up.

Nolan came forward, the two men clasping forearms before embracing. “We were also quite the degenerates back then.”

Ollie threw his head back, bellowing a deep laugh. “Oh, did we get under the skin of our Hierarchy! Remember when we snuck into the training rooms one night and painted their names onto the dummies?”

“Oh, Goddess, I almost forgot about that.”

The two couldn’t seem to stop talking, going back and forth trying to outdo each other on who could remember the most deviant act.

“Well, just perfect,” I gritted through my teeth. A part of me had hoped Nolan would never learn about pieces of my life outside of the Faction, but it seemed that wish would never come true.

“So, wait,” Ollie took a step back at last, his gaze shifting between the two of us. “You’re the new Alpha here?”

“Sure am.” Nolan’s chest puffed out a bit, an eyeroll escaping me at the motion.

“Oh, Goddess.” Ollie scraped his hand down his face, realization finally hitting him, shocking the smirk right off his face. “Well, this is certainly awkward.”

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