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Cozy gives me the tiniest smile, just a subtle twitch of her lips before she clears her throat.
“Turn around. I’ll try to see if I can untie you.” I do as she says, giving her my back.
“You’re going to need some rest to build your strength. I have faith in you, Ripley. You’ll get out of here and get back to your mates. Your omega,” she whispers as she works on my binds.
The rope is thick, chafing the skin of my wrists even more as she works, and I wince, hissing, as she tugs, and the rope rubs a particularly sore spot.
“Maybe you’re right to be cynical, Cozy. You’ve been with him for a year. Why did I think I could ever go up against an alpha and make it out if you couldn’t?” I say softly, staring ahead but seeing nothing.
I spoke a big game before Victor walked in. I promised her I’d get her out, even when she said she’s a lost cause. And even after he walked in, even though I was scared, I still held strong. But after having his hand around my throat, my vision darkening, and the feeling of complete helplessness as I dangled in front of him, my life literally in his hands, I don’t feel so sure. I’m questioning everything now.
She finally gets the rope loose, and it slips from my hands, falling to the bottom of the cage. I groan as I move my arms around, working the numbness away. A bruise is quickly forming on my right shoulder from when Vick dropped me like a sack of potatoes, and I figure I have a prominent necklace of finger-shaped bruises wrapping around my throat as well.
When I finally turn around and face her again, her lips are tucked under her teeth, her cornflower blue eyes searching mine. She really is such a pretty omega, despite her physical and mental scars. She deserves so much more than the hand she’s been dealt.
“Do you love them?” she asks.
My lips wobble as I think of my mates. “So much,” I rasp.
“Then get some rest. He’ll be gone the rest of the evening, so I’ll watch over you and wake you before he gets back. I’ll help you make a plan. Or I’ll try to.”
“I won’t listen unless this plan involves you helping and getting out of here, too,” I cough out stubbornly, giving her pause.
“We’ll discuss it after you’ve had some rest. Sleep, now,” she tells me gently, pushing me to my back and laying her body alongside mine.
I lay there for what seems like forever trying to fall asleep, my eyes heavy and burning from crying, but I just can’t. I finally roll to my side and face Cozy.
“Can we cuddle?” I ask her softly, almost shyly.
To me, it’s not that crazy of a request although I normally wouldn’t be asking an omega, aside from River, to cuddle. She might think it’s completely weird, though. I mean, it kind of is. She shoved a needle in my neck and is completely naked, but if I don’t get a cuddle, I might never fall asleep or I might cry again, and I really don’t think I have the energy to expend on more tears at this point.
Cozy looks taken aback and a little uncomfortable with my question, and I fidget, picking at my nails as I wait on her to respond to my odd request. She bites her lip, but eventually nods her consent, opening her arms for me. I scoot closer to her and wrap an arm around her waist. She does the same, pulling me close to her. I ignore her nakedness, already used to it at this point, and snuggle into her hold. A relieved sigh puffs out of me and I close my eyes, breathing in her lemon bar scent, finding at least a small amount of comfort in it.
She’s stiff at first, but slowly she relaxes until she’s squeezing me close, holding me tighter than I hold her. Her nose nuzzles into my hair, and she breathes deeply. I think she needed this as much as I did, if not more.
She’ll probably never understand how much her doing this means to me, but I hope it helps her to understand that she’s not alone anymore. She has me now, and I’m not going to leave her.
When I finally pass out, Cozy is full on cuddling me, chasing away the dark thoughts threatening to pull me under and I let the stress and worry over how I’m going to get us out of here go, even if it’s only for a few hours.
Thirty-Five
Nico
There’s a rage inside of me, one like I’ve never experienced before in my life. The longer my Kitten isn’t in our house, in my arms, the more it festers inside of me. I’m going to destroy whoever took her, and if they’ve put hands on my omega, there’s nowhere they’ll be able to hide from me. I’m going to set fire to everything if she’s hurt.
It’s been almost two days and we’re no closer to finding her than the night she disappeared. None of us have been able to feel her, which terrifies us even more. We should be able to feel her.
River is despondent, locked away in his nest where he won’t let any of us near. He’s burrowed himself in anything that carries Ripley’s scent. Her blankets, clothes, pillows. Anything he could find, he brought into the nest before promptly slamming the door in all of our faces and effectively locking us all out. He shouldn’t be alone, but none of us can get through to him. It’s breaking all of our hearts to see him like this.
River isn’t the only one beside himself over Ripley’s disappearance. We all are, of course, but Ripley’s mom more so than anyone. Her dads are furious, much like Knight, Syn, and me. They’ve been at our house since we called to tell them she was gone the other night, working together with us as we try to find her our own way. No offense to the cops, but we could lose her in the time it takes them to find her. None of us want to take that risk, so while they work the legal channels, my pack and Ripley’s parents are taking less... legal channels to look for her. Damien still has connections, despite having left his illegal activities in the past so long ago.
Apparently, he left on good terms with most of his buddies back then and has been in contact with them to keep an eye out for his daughter. He’s got everyone he knows out there looking for her.
Knight is working a different angle with his hacker buddies and Syn is doing everything she can with her connections, trying to see if she can figure out who that alpha was that was stalking Ripley all those months ago. We’re all running on minimal sleep, but I don’t think any of us can rest until she’s back, safe in our arms.
I’m standing on the other side of the nest, staring at the door with a frown and my arms crossed. I’ve been trying to coax River out for an hour now, but he’s completely ignoring my attempts. If he doesn’t come out soon, I’m going to kick the damn door down. I growl low under my breath and card my fingers through my hair in frustration.
“He still won’t come out?” a soft voice asks behind me.
