46. Barret

Chapter 46

Barret

I enter the seedy tavern, questioning my cousin's choices when I plant my feet on the sticky bar floor.

Nice. Very rustic.

That passed-out Alpha at the bar really gives the place a nice touch.

This place is a dump, and why would Jeremy ask to meet me here of all unholy places?

I may be debauched, but I am not this debauched.

I have standards.

Thankfully, this place is dead, even at three pm in the afternoon. So it doesn't take me long to spot the Alpha.

He waves his arm, calling me over, and he already has a cold beer waiting for me when I join him in the shadowy booth. The bulb has blown in this corner of the bar, and I'm starting to think that Jeremy has chosen this place on purpose.

We clink beers when I join the table, and now I swig back my drink, letting it fill my head.

Then I drum my fingers on the wood-grained table, ignoring all the sticky black stains.

"So, you have invited me to talk at this shitty bar because…?"

Jeremy narrows those blue-gray eyes, looking up and down the bar. The unconscious Alpha drooling on the counter hasn't stirred once, and maybe someone should check on him.

There are only a few patrons around, but they're too lost in their own drinks, gazing down at their bottles in search of answers.

"I have news that may be of benefit to you, cousin…"

I try to remain nonchalant, but Jeremy is often my go-to man, telling me things he has seen or heard in central government.

"There's a lodge just east of the city… hidden deep in the woods…"

The woods. The place where Lily had her men dump Mila when she was in heat, and my fists curl.

The glass bottle almost cracks beneath my grip.

"Yeah? What of it?"

Jeremy doesn't tell me directly. It would be too dangerous, but that enough tells me everything I need to know.

Whatever it is, it may just be what we need to dispose of Lily and get her out of that seat.

She is the only thing getting in the way of our pack's happiness, and the sooner she is gone, then the happier all five of us can be.

And yes, I included Mila in that. I don't care what anyone says; Mila is a part of the pack now.

She belongs to us.

She belongs to me …

I knew it from the moment my knot swelled inside her, locking me in place between her legs. From the second I gaze into those too-green eyes.

Mila is ours.

And I will do all that I can to protect her.

I don't blame her at all for taking up Lily's offer. At the time, she had no other choice. She was trapped at that school with no way out.

The system would have only destroyed her in the end, dowsing that inner fire that I adore so much.

Mila is not a soft, delicate doll. She is a fighter, a huntress.

And I'll be damned if she ever goes back there again, having Alphas bidding on her as if she's a cow at a county fair.

Jeremy must spy the look in my eyes and now he sighs, gritting his teeth.

"You all fucked her… didn't you?"

There's no missing the disappointment in his eyes as I grab my beer, giving it a smug swig.

"So? What's it to you?"

"I'm just warning you, cuz. Don't get attached."

I place my drink down, studying him now.

In his line of work, I suppose it is vital. His job is to seek runaway Omegas and return them to that piece of shit school. He doesn't care, so long as he gets his paycheck.

Hence why he doesn't get attached.

Suppose he just hasn't found the right one yet.

Because from the moment he does… well, he will finally understand what the birds are singing about.

"That school doesn't have their best interests at heart, and you know it, J. Oliver was fucking miserable there for four years, and he couldn't wait to get out. I just thank our lucky stars that Gryphon had already been his scent match at that point."

"Yet isn't Mila Oliver's scent match too?"

He is. But the government wouldn't care.

They believe Alphas and Omegas should be together.

That's at least something I can be grateful for. Without Lily's inference, we never would have gotten her back.

But she still needs to be stopped.

Because Lily could just as easily take her away from us again.

Jeremy shakes his head, swigging his beer. "Check out the lodge, Barret. That's all I will say on the matter."

Well, it looks like I have a trip to make.

I will go alone.

No point in involving the others yet.

***

I head out the morning after.

And I find the lodge just as Jeremy instructed.

It's a few miles away from the Alpha City, and whoever they are, they do not want to be found.

Well, too bad I have already found them.

I switch off the jeep's engine and head out the door.

I knock on the wood. No one answers at first.

So I bang louder and louder until the door finally swings open, and there I find myself staring at a living ghost.

My skin whitens, and I step back, unable to believe it.

"What?" the Beta snaps, clearly drunk.

I'm too numb with shock. Yet, I still manage to say, "But you're dead…"

It takes the previous Beta governor a moment to register my words, but when he does, he throws his head back and caws like the crows.

A few real crows fly away at his offensive sound.

"So that bitch wants you to believe…"

I still don't speak. We just stare at each other.

Finally, Frederick sighs, opening the door. "I'll get us both a drink."

I gaze into the lodge, wondering if I will come back out alive.

Still. I came here for answers, and I am going to get them.

This may just be what we need to defeat Lily.