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Achilles is the last to make it to the door after making sure Blake is still safely upstairs and away from this. Whateverthisis. His eyes go wide as he gags at the smell. Covering his nose with his hands steepled over his face, his voice comes out muffled as he asks, “Is that ashirt? Why is it here covered in rotten strawberries, and why is it all… holey?”
I didn’t notice before, but he’s right. The shirt looks ancient. It’s so thin, it’s basically see-through, and it’s littered with holes. The neckline is so stretched out I can’t see how it would stay on a person. It takes me a second to notice Hades is absolutely frozen, just staring at the shirt with a single tear rolling down his cheek.
Crouching down next to him, I rub my hand across his shoulder. “What is it, D?”
He looks at me as another tear falls and whispers, “It’s my shirt.”
Of all the things I expected him to say, that wasn’t even in the same stratosphere of possibilities that had crossed my mind.
“I—what?” I choke. “What the hell do you mean, it’syourshirt?”
Back to staring at the shirt again, he’s quiet for a minute before answering in the same small voice.
“When Blake first came to the foster home, all she had was a small backpack with a few clothes and her favorite stuffed animal. She never asked for anything, or complained because she didn’t have something. She was just content with what she had. I mean, God, she even gave me heronlystuffed animal because I had nightmares. And she absolutely refused to accept gifts because she said they always came with strings. About a month before she was taken, the sleep shirt she wore every night got caught on a nail that had been sticking out of that rickety ass roof. It tore straight down the middle of her back and just barely missed her skin, but the shirt was ruined.”
He gives us a sad laugh.
“You know she didn’t say one negative word? She didn’t cry, or whine, or say anything about how her only sleep shirt was ruined. She looked up at me with those beautiful eyes and laughed, saying, ‘I’m so glad that didn’t scratch me. Phil and Dianne never would have let me go to the doctor for a shot.’ She threw the shirt out the next day and I knew she wouldn’t ask for another one or accept anything I gave her, so I grabbed one of my favorites and left it on the ground. I never did that, so when she asked me about it, I said it was too small for me and I needed to toss it when I got home from the rink.
“I came home late that night and she was fast asleep wearing my shirt. I had never felt so good in my life than I did being able to give her something she needed. From that night on, I let her think she ‘stole’ it, and she was so damned cute thinking she got away with something. I can’t believe she kept it all those years.” He finishes with an incredulous tone.
I’m still rubbing his back as I look at the rest of the guys, hoping they’re on the same wavelength as me. This had to have been the foster father.
Achilles clears his throat. “I’m going to call the pilot and have them on the runway a few hours earlier. We need to get Blake out of here as soon as possible.” With that, he brings his phone to his ear and walks back into the house.
Kai is just grabbing the hose to spray down the door and porch when the doctor shows up. I’m thanking my lucky stars he had the forethought to ask for a female doctor. My instincts are riding me hard to have my Omega within eyesight and make sure she’s as safe as possible. Having another male around her right now might tip me over the edge and into feral territory.
I take a deep breath as Kas greets the doctor and Hades takes the shirt inside to bag it up so we can have some friends of ours look for fingerprints or scent ID. Silas, Owen, Grayson, and Gabriel O’Connor are Alphas we’ve known forever who also happen to work for the Designation Bureau. Whenever we need something looked into under the table, we go to them. They’re good friends, and I fully trust them to handle something so important.
Part of me wants to go find this fucker right now and end his life. The rest of me knows spending the rest of mine in jail would hurt Blake, so we’ll save that as a last resort.
* * *
I’m brought back to the present when D growls, “I fucking know. I can’t wait to get her out of the… ohshit!” he yells.
The sound is so jarring it makes Kas jerk the wheel slightly before he manages to right the car, and Blake startles awake. Eyes wide and wild, she whips her head around in a panic. Achilles gently cups her face in his hands and whispers soothing words I can’t make out in her ear until she snaps out of it, looking sheepish.
“Sorry, guys. I didn’t mean to fall asleep. What happened?” she asks quietly.
Kas is still grumbling in the driver’s seat. “I’d really like to know, too. What the hell, D? Blake could’ve been hurt,” he says angrily.
Hades looks slightly distraught when he says, “We can’t take her out of the fucking country. She doesn’t have a passport.” I chuckle at the look of panic on his face, and he growls at me. “What the fuck is so funny about that, you dick?”
Rolling my eyes, I say, “It’s funny, because finding Blake has clearly made you forget who we are. I called Si the day after we found her and had them rush us a passport. It’ll be waiting for us on the jet.”
His face flushes lightly. “Oh.”
Blake’s eyes are once again wide behind us. “Wait… where exactly are we going? I thought… you saidHQ. I assumed that meant Lockwood. Why would I need a passport to go there?” she asks, sounding slightly panicked.
Kai’s eyes light up and he throws her a wicked smirk as he turns back to look at her. “Oh no, Sugar. We’re headed to London.”
ChapterTen
PINCH ME
Blake
In the last week, I’ve gone from being locked in a nearly windowless basement to sitting on a massive private jet, preparing to fly toEngland. With my childhood best friend and his pack, all of whom want me to be their Omega. This has to be a dream. Things like this don’t happen to girls like me. Needing to know for sure, I reach down and pinch my thigh, hard.
