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I hadn’t been around many female omegas, let alone male ones. They were so rare. Yet a male omega attached to a female omega was unheard of. He was almost more of an enigma than Wolf. I was going to need to talk to Ryder. He was better at figuring out people than I was. If he could get out of his own head for a moment.
“What’s wrong with his ribs?” I asked, bluntly.
Ava narrowed her eyes slightly, as if she was trying to figure out what to tell me. “He got hurt badly about a week ago, when the Palace alphas attacked the farm and tried to snatch us back. We were with Lexie when it happened, and he tried to defend both of us.”
The Palace alphas tried to snatch Ava back? Why was I only finding out about this now?Probably because nobody trusted us yet. I was going to have to ask Nick more questions. I needed to know who was gunning for her and why.
“Does he know how to fight?” I asked. Cary was clearly fit, but his movements didn’t indicate any military or fight training. I couldn’t imagine they would let a male omega in the military, or even in a boxing gym where he was likely to run into alphas. I knew the Palace would never let an omega learn any type of self defense.
Ava confirmed my suspicions. “No. He made himself an outdoor weights set-up here, using tyres and whatever he could find to stay in shape, but I don’t think he’s ever had any type of training. He still took on four alphas for us. They toyed with him for a while before they took him out.”
“Shit, he’s lucky to be alive.” I glanced in the direction he’d gone and my respect grew even further. I felt protective of him, which confused the hell out of me because I didn’t feel attracted to him.Would he expect me to mate him too, if I mated Ava?
I didn’t feel as if I could do that. Yet, nobody messed with my omegas.My omegas? Did I just think that?
I shook off my confused thoughts and turned my attention back to Ava, who was also staring in the direction Cary had gone. I wanted to reach out and grab her hand so badly, the way I’d seen Cary do, and the way I’d often done when we were young. But we weren’t there right now. I could feel the ghost of her hand in mine though, the feeling of that touch had never left me.
“After you,” I said, as I gestured down the hallway. Ava startled slightly, but squared her shoulders the same way she used to do when she was determined. Even as a little kid. She’d always had a core of steel. Few people noticed it, though. They only saw the sweet girl. Even Ryder and I had forgotten when it counted most.
“Do you have a flashlight?” She asked.
“Yeah, up in our suite.” I’d left mine with Nick earlier, along with my switchblade, but we had more in our go bags.
“Perfect, let’s go.”
Ava led me back up to the VIP suite, then moved to a section of wall in the living room and looked it over. It was one of only a handful of internal walls that were still bare stone as a feature. They had plastered most others over to help keep the chill at bay, especially in the bedrooms. She ran her hand over a section, then pushed on a broken corner. It depressed with the slightest click, and the wall cracked apart to reveal a doorway.
It was cool as hell.
“How did you ever find this?” I couldn’t keep the awe out of my voice. We’d found other secret tunnels, but they weren’t as cleverly concealed. They were mostly concealed doors leading to service type hallways. They were there to keep service activities out of the public view and kept the labs hidden. These looked ancient.
Ava’s expression turned sad, and I instantly regretted my question. She shrugged and walked into the cold passageway. She didn’t trust me anymore, and the realization was a stab to the heart.
“Hang on a second,” I called out, as I ducked into the room Ryder and I were using. I grabbed a flashlight out of one of our go bags, then grabbed her hoodie off the couch on my way back. I strode into the tunnel and turned on the light, then held her hoodie up for her to slip into. She looked at me skeptically, but didn’t challenge me. I knew I should have just handed it to her, but I was desperate to get as close to her as I could. The pull I’d felt toward her as a kid was nothing compared to the pull I felt to her now. It was all-consuming. She was all woman, and her curves were a siren song. Especially in those tight leggings.
She turned and slipped her arms into the sleeves. I reached over and swept her hair out of the way, so it didn’t get caught on the zipper. I almost groaned as the long silky strands slipped through my fingers. I wanted to sniff them to see if they carried her scent, then bury my face in them, but I didn’t dare. She’d worn it up in a bun last night, but she had it in a high ponytail today. It was much longer than it used to be. She’d worn her hair in a tomboy bob as a kid. It was halfway down her back now.
Ava pulled away suddenly, so I slipped the flashlight into lantern mode and handed it to her. I followed as she started walking, but I wasn’t really seeing where we were going. She had me transfixed and suddenly terrified.
Seeing Ava last night had brought every nightmare I’d had over the last ten years to life. I’d come around the bend to see her standing reckless and vulnerable on the street while a horde of alphas ran at her. A scene from a horror movie playing on a giant cinema screen. Only it had been terrifyingly real. No matter how fast I’d ran, I’d realized with growing dread that Ryder and I would not reach her before the horde. Everything else had faded and the entire world had narrowed to her and the action playing out.
Panic had initially seized me when I’d noticed Wolf unexpectedly veer toward her as well. He’d zeroed in on the lead alpha gunning for her, barreling through everyone between them with a dropped shoulder and a well-thrown fist. Throwing the asshole completely across the road when he reached him. His actions had forced Ryder and me to cover his back, as he’d single-mindedly plowed his way through towards Ava. I owed Wolf, and it wasn’t a debt I took lightly.
Yet the terror I felt now was completely different. I’d waited so long to make things right, but I knew I only had one shot. If I messed this up now, I could lose her forever. And I wouldn’t be the only one destroyed. Ryder thought he hated her, but he didn’t. Deep down, he couldn’t deal with the thought of a life without her knowing we were to blame. Neither could I. I just had different coping mechanisms.
She was walking quickly down the dark hallway when she suddenly screamed and leaped backwards. My heart in my throat, I grabbed her and pulled her into me, as my gaze swung around wildly, trying to find the threat in the spinning light of the dropped torch. A tiny, terrified creature caught my eye as it sprinted back into the darkness.
“Sorry,” she whispered into my chest. “I forgot about the mice.”
“Ava.” The word fell out on a growl that sounded nothing like me. My arms banded around her as my alpha rode me hard. She was finally alone and in my arms, and I couldn’t for the life of me let her go. I didn’t want to move in case this moment shattered, the same as every dream I’d had of her on waking.
I hadn’t been there when she left, so I’d never known if she’d gone willingly. Or if her decision had made her feel conflicted at all. The decision that took her away from us. The wondering had haunted me. But I could feel her now, faintly in our bond, and I felt how much pain she held tucked away inside herself. How much pain we had caused her.Did she hate me? Would she ever forgive me?
Suddenly, every word I had imagined saying to her in this moment fled. We’d never needed words before. Our closeness had always been instinctive and felt eternal. Until we’d broken it.
Her eyes were closed as I breathed in the delectable scent of cherries. The same scent that had haunted me. It caressed my own dark chocolate scent until the two combined turned into a heady mix of lust and need. I counted each heartbeat until she finally relaxed and melted into me. Her arms snaked around my waist and I pressed into her body as if I could mold her to me so closely, we’d become one and I wouldn’t ever have to let her go.
Still, I waited, knowing the next move had to be hers. I couldn’t decide for her what our fate would be. I’d made that mistake once before. Now I could only offer myself and beg for forgiveness. Moving slowly, so slowly, it felt as if time stood still. She tipped her head up towards me and opened her gorgeous green eyes. The shadows in them weren’t only from the torchlight, they were from me, too.
