4. REID

Chapter four

REID

My body aches with every step toward the motel a few streets over, the pain radiating out from my stomach where Lyle’s boot struck. Each shallow breath feels like fire and I’m pretty sure something isn’t right—maybe a cracked rib, maybe worse. I should get it checked out, but what would be the point? I don’t have the money for medical care, not with most everything funneling straight to my parents. And even if I did, any doctor I see would be obligated to notify my Alphas.

Jackson and Lyle would spin the story before I even had a chance to open my mouth. They’d tell the doctor that I’d been careless, that the injury was my own fault, that I was clumsy or reckless. They’d turn my suffering into another lesson about why I’m inadequate.

Just like they did the last time.

The front desk of the motel barely acknowledges me and my emotional state, producing a room key on the second level when I cough up fifty dollars in mostly crumpled-up ones. It takes entirely too long to get up the stairs but once I get into my room, I drop my bag and sprawl out across the bed.

My hands shake as I fumble with my bag and unearth a small, worn photograph, my fingers brushing over the creased edges as I hold it up to the dim light.

The image is of my grandparents, taken long before I was born. They’re standing in front of their old house, my grandmother’s arm looped through my grandfather’s, both of them smiling like the world couldn’t touch them. There’s a warmth in their eyes that feels foreign now, a love so genuine it almost hurts to look at.

Tears prick at the corners of my eyes as I stare at the photo, my vision blurring. My grandparents were the only ones who ever truly loved me. They didn’t care that I was a Beta. They didn’t see it as a flaw, as some genetic failure to meet expectations. To them, I was just Reid—their grandson, their pride, their joy.

If they were still here, they never would have let this happen. They never would have let my parents sell me off like some kind of commodity. My grandmother would have marched into the Wilhelm estate and demanded I be treated with respect. My grandfather would have stood by her side, his presence alone enough to make anyone think twice.

But they’re gone and all that’s left is this photo. A relic of a time when I felt safe as a kid, when I believed the world could be kind.

The tears spill over, sliding down my cheeks but this time I don’t bother wiping them away. What’s the point? There’s no one here to see them, no one who would care if they did. I’m twenty-four years old and instead of building a career, exploring the world, or finding a place to belong, I’m trapped in servitude. My days are spent cleaning up Hailey’s messes, enduring her tantrums, and serving two Alphas who see me as less than human.

I clutch the photo tighter, my nails digging into the edges. This isn’t the life I wanted. It isn’t the life I deserve.

The pain in my side flares as I shift, a hiss slipping through my clenched teeth. My body protests, but I force myself to sit up straight, to breathe through it. The physical pain is grounding, in a way, a reminder that I’m still here. Still alive. Still fighting, even if it doesn’t look like it.

But something has to change. I can’t keep doing this—not for another day, let alone another year. The contract may bind me to the Wilhelms, but contracts can be broken. There has to be a way out, a way to take back control of my life. I don’t know what it is yet, but the thought plants itself in my mind, a small, stubborn seed of defiance.

I set the photo back in my bag. My grandparents wouldn’t want this for me. They wouldn’t want me to waste away in that house, in this life, bound by people who don’t even see me as a person. They’d want me to fight, to carve out a life worth living, no matter the cost.

I lie back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. The pain pulses through me with every beat of my heart, but I let it fuel the rage building within me. Things are going to change. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday. I’ll find a way out of this hell. I’ll reclaim what’s been taken from me. And when I do, I’ll finally be free.

I close my eyes, the faintest hint of a plan beginning to form in the back of my mind. It’s not much, not yet, but it’s enough to keep me going. For now, that’s all I need.