AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Uh, the Palace documented the abuse of your sister pretty extensively while they were studying her. They tried to dominate her for years, and she refused to submit. They were using torture methods on her. There’s video and blood test results. They think she’s some kind of evolved omega. They were studying all the omegas, but she bore the worst of it by far. It went on for years.”
My rage spiked with every word out of Max’s mouth. Dio cursed and tipped his chair precariously to hug me sideways, while Dave reached out and grabbed my shoulder. Fuck, I needed more than cold water for this. I gripped the glass so hard I heard a crack before Dave grabbed it out of my hand.
“That’s what Ronan was talking about when he tried to kidnap her the other day?” I asked, feeling like my soul was being ripped from my body in tiny strips, leaving me raw and bloody.
Max just nodded. I wanted to bring Ronan back to life so I could kill him all over again. The rest of the scientists at the Palace were dead men walking.
Damon’s voice snapped me out of my murderous reverie. “I know it’s a shock, but we have to deal with the problems we have in front of us now. The Palace is on everyone’s hit list, okay? We need you to focus.”
I nodded at him jerkily, not really capable of words right now. Dio jumped in, always knowing when I needed him to step in and deflect everyone’s attention without me having to say anything.
“Which is why we have to talk about the Palace men tied up in the storage cellar underneath us right now. We need to figure out how we’re going to let them go,” Dio said.
“Let them go?” Leif growled. “They’ve tried to abduct Maia repeatedly. Why would we let them go?”
Max put a hand on Leif’s shoulder, reassuring him, while Damon eyed Dio speculatively.
“We can’t kill them after they’ve surrendered,” Dio said, “and we don’t have the manpower or the facilities to keep them safely secure. The storm cellar is only a temporary solution. I’m surprised it’s held them this long. They outnumber the guards we have on them four to one. I suspect they’re only still here because they want to be, probably to get intel on our movements and resources. If they change their mind, people could get hurt.”
“You’re right. We don’t have a choice,” Damon agreed with a fierce scowl, clearly not liking the situation.
Leif sighed. “I know you’re both right, but it still doesn’t feel right to let them go.”
“We need to at least wait until tonight, though,” Dio amended. “Pala has been undercover with these guys for a while and he thinks some of the alphas in our cellar can be turned. We need to separate them today and make contact. It’s a risk, but I think it’s worth it. If we can infiltrate the Palace from the inside, it will make taking them on so much easier.”
“Do you trust your friend enough to justify the risk? We need more allies, but turning people can be tricky,” Damon said, although he looked unhappy about our lack of good options.
“We’d both trust Pala with not just our lives, but with Lexie’s,” I ground out. Damon looked surprised, but Dio shot me a cheeky grin. He was up to something, but I didn’t have the focus to figure it out right now.
“Okay, then.” Damon rubbed his neck as he sat up straighter and was suddenly all business. “If we release them early this evening, it will give us more manpower and free us up to do the supply run tonight. That gives us only today to get ourselves sorted.
“Max, can you jump onto the satellite and see if you can get a view of the helipad facility and where they were storing fuel? Also see if it’s manned. Look at the route, too, see what kind of inhabited areas we’ll need to move through to get there and back.
“Leif and I will start figuring out what we have that we can trade for fuel if needed. I’d rather trade for it than take it by force-”
The radio loudly interrupted Damon, blaring to life with a strange voice. “Captives escaping. Headed for lower gate. Two cellar guards down. Need backup now.”
“Fuck,” Damon yelled as we all pushed to our feet.
We were out of time.
twenty
Fuckinghell,whataday.I thought to myself as I trudged up the hill to the guest cabins in the darkness, a full fourteen hours after we’d gotten that radio call about the alphas escaping. I was escorting Ava and Cary back to their cabin before heading up to the treehouse to check in on Lexie. Nobody had seen her in a while. Or Bear.
Every one of my years was weighing on me heavily. I was fit and healthy; I made sure of that. Yet, today had been full of emotional and physical chaos that had left me feeling like I needed a hot bath and a hug. Not necessarily in that order. I was pretty sure another night in a hammock was all that awaited me, though.
“How many alphas escaped this morning, and how many stayed?” Cary asked me suddenly as we walked, startling a warning hoot from a nearby owl.
“Six of the Palace alphas escaped and the other six asked to stay,” I told him. Winston, the asshole who had punched Lexie, had led the escaping alphas. My blood had boiled when they told me Winston had wanted to grab Maia, Ava, and Lexie on the way out. Maia and Ava because they were valuable omegas, and he thought it would get him a promotion if he brought them back, and Lexie because he had sore balls and a grudge.
I wouldn’t tell Ava and Cary that, though. I wondered that the Palace didn’t seem all that interested in getting Cary back. If they knew about his attachment to Ava at all, and if it would change things if they found out. Nobody really knew that much about male omegas, they were so rare. He had me curious, but he’d been so closed off until this morning, it had been hard to get to know him.
“Do you trust the ones who stayed?” I didn’t respond right away, not wanting to blow Cary off with a flippant response. The new alphas were in a guest cabin nearby, with Sam’s team between them and Ava and Cary’s cabin, to monitor them. It was a valid question.
“I trust Dio and Sam, and they’re trusting the alphas. Damon has vetted them too, and he has pretty good instincts about people.” I was pretty good at spotting an asshole, but alphas had another layer of instincts I would never have.
“If those six alphas hadn’t intervened this morning to help the guards when the others escaped, and then alerted us on the radio,” I said, choosing my words carefully, so as not to say too much, “the guards would be dead and the escaping alphas would have caused a lot more trouble on their way out.”
