Chapter Eleven

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Now Playing: Missing Limbs- Sleep Token

If I’d had any lingering doubts about who these men are to me, hearing their birth names would have been enough to convince me. C, R, W, B. The same initials they use in our Fated connection. I want to laugh, but I know the sound would come out hysterical. Titan has been visibly fighting the urge to touch me, and I don’t want to push him too far when I haven’t earned their comfort.

They deserve the whole truth, not the tidbits I’ve fed them so far.

“I don’t know how much you know about Doctor Harrison–probably only what they’ve released on the news–but he is more hate-filled than my father. Father dislikes alphas and loathes omegas, but the Doctor views everyone with designation DNA as an abomination. He wants to create a ‘cure’ and he will do anything to find it.”

One hand raises to brush over the top of my neck, below my ear. I turn, using one finger to point out the thin red scar I know is visible there. “When I went to confront my father, he was there. He tried to remove my scent glands.”

Growls echo through the small room from all four of the men sitting before me. Even Callisto seems incensed to hear what I experienced after the live feed was cut.

I feel like I’m dreaming, being in the same room as them and not seeing hatred written on their faces. When they’d first walked in and Nebula had fallen to his knees, I was shaken by the regret in his expression. Then watching Nexus break down in the doorway… I’m overwhelmed. My instincts demand I crawl into their laps and allow them to ease the ache in my heart, but my mind sends signals to my nerves and sparks pain in my body as if to remind me how greatly I’ve suffered since they rejected me.

My arms squeeze tighter around my middle as another wave hits. This is agony. Even their scents aren’t enough to ease the ache anymore. The thought briefly crosses my mind that their scents aren’t working because my body has given in to the rejection, but I refuse to accept a doomed future. Not when I’m finally free of my father and can see my sister again.

“They weren’t successful?” Callisto finally asks when I don’t continue speaking.

“Lex stopped them before he could do more than make the cut to access them.”

They seem relieved to hear I wasn’t fully maimed, so I make a note to avoid telling them what happened next. I get the feeling these alphas would not react well hearing my heart stopped beating when I was lying there.

“We’ve heard stories…” Nebula starts to say but trails off.

Titan finishes his mate’s thought. “About what happens to newly presented omegas under your father’s reign. The things they told us… We never thought he would do those things to his own daughter.”

I shrug. “His punishment for me would have been worse because I am a child of his creation.”

We sit in silence long enough I can feel the haze of sleep starting to fall over my body. I can tell they are mulling over everything I’ve revealed tonight. Stretching my legs back out, I wonder again why they are here and what they want from me, aside from a chance to hear my story.

“Omen.” Titan’s steely voice speaks my name gently. His dark eyes pull me in, threatening to drag me into their embrace and never let me resurface. “I’m so fucking sorry. We are sorry. For not giving you the benefit of the doubt, and leaving you to suffer through a hellacious induced heat. For every hurtful decision we’ve made since the moment you walked away from the stage in Boston.”

“Our apology won’t be enough to correct the mistakes we’ve made, or to heal the damage we’ve caused you,” Callisto adds.

Nebula speaks next. He’s still kneeling on the floor, but his body leans toward me now. As if he can barely resist the pull still pulsing between us. “No matter how long it takes, we’re going to make this right. Show you through our actions. We choose you.”

My heart pounds in my chest, the sound ringing in my ears as their words loop in my mind, but I still can’t seem to make sense of them. Nexus drops from the chair across from me to land on his hands and knees. He crawls across the floor toward me, so slowly it makes each second feel agonizing as I wait to see what he plans to do next.

When he reaches me, he drops his head to lay on my feet. “Sweet girl, I will never be able to atone for the harm I have caused you. Walking away after helping you through your heat. Choosing my bonded mates over you when I knew you had no one else to rely on. I’ve already shown you how incompetent I am as an alpha.”

My body is shaking from the adrenaline his touch brings. The small connection from his head to the exposed part of my ankle above my shoes feels like a live wire sending bursts of energy to every inch of my battered nervous system. I couldn’t refute his claim even if I wanted to, not with the amount of focus it is taking to stop myself from crying out. The dual sensations of my pain and the energy have my thoughts staggering to catch up to the present.

“Please, allow us the chance to earn your forgiveness,” he whispers. The words are barely a breath against my shoes but they land like a truck against my chest.

“Let us save you,” Nebula pleads. My head shakes, the words on the tip of my tongue to tell them it is too late. Even with the new medicine delaying my decline, there is no saving me now. “You are the home my soul was searching for. Even if my absence left you worn and broken, I can rebuild. We can fix this and see the future we should have had from the minute you walked into the label’s office for our first Fateful meeting with Brady.”

“Don’t give up yet, firefly,” Titan begs.

Someone knocks on the door, breaking the tension enough to allow me to suck in several deep breaths. Foster looks apologetic as he steps inside and informs us they are closing the venue soon, so we have to leave. He ignores the four men still in various stages of apology around me and helps me stand. I sway on my feet, my heart a little slow to pump blood to my brain with the sudden change in position, but he doesn’t let me fall.

Looking down at the men who shattered my heart and nearly took my life, I find I can’t decide which path to take. “I will think about it,” I finally mutter, before allowing Foster to lead me from the room.

Pack Graves don’t seem appeased by my promise, if anything they look more concerned than when they first walked in. Thankfully, they don’t fight me on this decision. They let me walk away, taking their apologies and promises to fix things between us with me.

Hannah’s hands shake as she carefully folds her dresses and places them inside the suitcase her new husband bought for her. I hover in the doorway to her room, afraid if I step inside I will start to cry. If Mother hears me cry I will be locked in my room and I won’t get to say goodbye to my sister.

“Come here, little gremlin,” she mutters softly, peeking at me over her shoulder with a soft smile. Hannah is the only person who ever smiles at me. I rush to her side, biting my lip hard to stop myself from crying out. Her arms soothe up and down my back while she whispers encouraging words into my hair.

We don’t stand together for long, maybe a few seconds, before she returns to her task. “You’ll be alright, Sarah. I promise I will visit as often as they allow me, and you’ll be able to visit me soon too.”

Her suitcase zips shut and she sits it on the floor beside us. She glances around the room with the same emotionless expression she usually dons before church. The empty space makes my heart ache and tears well in my eyes. I don’t want her to leave me here. Wherever she goes is where I want to be.

“You are stronger than they believe,” she whispers fiercely, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. Fire shines in her eyes when she looks at me. A determination I’m unused to seeing from her.

Footsteps sound down the hall, headed our way. She brushes away my tears and grabs the handle of her suitcase. No one would ever know she wasn’t the poised, submissive wife she is pretending to be. I follow her to the stairs, careful to keep my head down and not attract the attention of my father or her new husband.

As I hurry down the steps after her, they seem to stretch endlessly. No matter how quickly I run, I can’t catch up to her. My lungs start to burn from screaming her name. When I reach the bottom of the stairs the house is plunged into darkness and she’s gone.

Everyone is gone.

I search the entire first floor, not hearing anything but my own footsteps until I reach the back door. Soft noise filters in from outside, so I slowly crack open the door. Tilting my head to the side I study the dark beach and distant fire. There isn’t a body of water anywhere close to Whitlan, let alone in my backyard.

Curiosity draws me out of the house. As I creep onto the sandy shore I can’t help but glance back, waiting for one of my parents to realize I’ve left the house and come after me. The house shimmers before it disappears. My breath stalls in my lungs as panic and confusion flood my body.

What is going on?

The gentle lapping of water on the shore distracts me. I glance down to see the waves are starting to reach my bare feet. With a soft breath of wonder, I step deeper into the water. Only far enough for it to brush against my ankles. I’ve never seen the ocean before.

Beneath the moonlight, I see a face reflected back at me on the water’s surface. I recognize it as my own, yet it looks nothing like me. This woman is much older with blue eyes and black hair. A tattoo runs down her chest, something I would never be allowed to have. Father says putting ink onto your skin is a sin that will prevent you from getting into heaven. I glance down and startle when I see the same tattoo on my sternum. My fingers rub over the image hoping it will smear, but it doesn’t come off.

Noise from my right has my head snapping up. The bonfire is much closer than I had originally thought and I can see the four men sitting there. One of them holds a guitar and is singing softly. The song makes my chest ache. I might cry again listening to the sad lyrics.

Stepping closer, I must make some noise to alert them to my presence. As soon as their faces turn toward me I remember them. My Fate matched mates. Nexus, Nebula, Callisto, and Titan. Fate pulls me closer to them, drawing me into the light of their fire. All four men stand and move to wrap their arms around me. Surrounded by their scents, I feel at peace. Like a missing piece of my heart has been returned.

We stand there for what feels like eternity, soaking each other in. Nebula is the first to pull away. He takes one step back, then two. The farther away he gets the angrier his expression becomes until only the memory of his hatred lingers on the beach.

Callisto is next, but his retreat is quicker. He turns his back on me and simply walks away. No goodbye, no anger, he just fades away. Titan follows my sweet beta, hesitating at the edge of the fire with an uncertain look on his face. But he doesn’t stay. Like the others, he leaves me behind.

I cling to Nexus as each of his packmates disappears. “Nex,” I plead when he also takes a step away. He pauses, brushing his lips against mine before whispering the most cutting words–

“I choose them.”

My knees dig into the sand when I collapse without his weight to support me. Tears glide down my cheeks and sobs wrack my body as I beg them to come back. To choose me.

When I manage to stop crying long enough to look up, the fire has gone out. I’m once again plunged into a dark silence. I stumble around, searching for a clue to guide me from this nightmare. A patch of light appears in the distance, relief has my feet flying across the shore.

As I get closer, my promise of comfort turns to dread. I know this light. The table beneath it and the tray of tools at its side. A monster awaits me there. I try to turn back, but no matter where I look, all I can see is the memory of the church.

“I see you’ve finally accepted God’s will and returned for your punishment.” My father’s voice speaks the words right against my ear. I jump away from him only to find myself crashing down on the exam table. Thick straps cross over my body trapping me against the cold metal. Thrashing does nothing but make the restraints cut into my skin. “What a worthless child you’ve turned out to be.”

I scream when Doctor Harrison appears beside my father, but the sound is silenced by the strap across my mouth. He’s wielding a scalpel and speculum. Flashes of the slick gland removal surgery Father forced us to watch filter through my mind. The memory makes me fight harder to escape, but it’s pointless. I’m trapped and alone. Left to perish in this miserable hell.

Something crashing in the living room jolts me awake. Fear and sorrow war in my heart as I strain to listen for the source of the sound. Bea had passed out in her room long before sleep had finally claimed me, so it shouldn’t be her. A glance at the clock shows it’s only been two hours since then.

The noise comes again, a muffled strained sound. Slipping out of bed, I tiptoe out of my bedroom and down the hallway. The dark room is bathed in small strips of moonlight from the windows, making it difficult to tell what the source of the sound could be. I hold my breath and wait to hear it again, or for something to move.

One second, two, and then it happens again. The front door shudders as something hits it from the outside, but it doesn’t break. Part of the reason we chose this apartment was its security features. One of which is reinforced exterior doors.

I keep my steps light as I move into Bea’s bedroom and knock on her nest door. Knowing my best friend won’t rouse easily, I grab her phone off the charger and slip back to my bedroom. The 911 dispatcher tells me local officers are five minutes away. Waiting for them to arrive has my already frazzled nerves on edge.

Exhaustion pulls at me, trying to convince me to crawl back into bed and sleep away the stress running rampant in my body, but I fight to stay awake. It wouldn’t be safe to fall asleep now. Not until I know whoever is trying to break in is no longer a threat.

Bea stumbles into my room a few minutes later, her eyes wide. I show her the call still connected to emergency services and her shoulders relax. She slumps to the floor beside me, leaning her head on my shoulder and watching the hallway cautiously.

Red and blue lights filter through my bedroom window several minutes before the dispatcher connects us to the officers at our door. “Miss Powell? My name is Officer Faulkner. We’ve searched the exterior of the building, but whoever was here left before we arrived.”

A sigh of relief slips through my lips, but my nerves don’t dissipate. I help Bea to her feet and we both head to the front of the apartment to speak with the officers face to face.

“It is clear someone was here, as you can see by the splintered piece of the door here–” Officer Faulkner points to a spot below the peephole where an impression of someone’s shoulder has left a dent. Fear skitters up my arms knowing whoever was on the other side was strong enough to damage our aluminum door.

“While your security measures seem strong enough to stand if the attacker returns, we believe it would be best for the two of you to stay elsewhere for the next several days. We will post an unmarked unit to watch the apartment. Hopefully, this was a one-time occurrence. A feral alpha who caught your scents but has since moved on, but we won’t know for certain until we capture them.”

Bea and I thank him before he steps outside to speak with his partner and their boss. They aren’t leaving until we do, so I grab our suitcases from the front closet so we can pack our things quickly.

“Well, where are we going to go?” Bea asks with a frown. I pause midstep, realizing she’s right. Normally we would go to her parent’s house, but they are all away for various events until the beginning of next week. I would say we’d go to Foster and Shepherd’s apartment for the night but Hannah is staying there, so they won’t have the room for two extra omegas.

“Shit,” I mutter, letting the suitcases slide to the floor. “I’ll call Donovan. Maybe they can send a bodyguard over to stay here with us until your parents get home.”

She nods, snatching her suitcase and tossing it on her bed. Turning away from where she’s collapsed beside it, I dial Donovan’s number. He answers after several rings, his voice groggy with sleep. I wince when I see the clock on our stove reads nearly three in the morning.

“Bea?”

“Hey, it’s Omen. I’m sorry to call you so late–”

“You are welcome to call me at any hour, kid. What’s wrong?”

I smile, already feeling a little safer hearing his voice. He’s like the grandfather I never had growing up. Something I will never tell him because he’d be appalled to hear me call him old, even with his graying hair he lives like he will never be a day over forty.

“Someone tried to break into our apartment,” I admit. My voice still shakes, but I don’t try to hide my concern. With my history being broadcast on national television, it isn’t outside of the realm of possibility for one of my birth father’s followers to track me down and try to retaliate for his arrest. “They left before the cops arrived, but the officers think we should leave for a few nights as a precaution.”

“And you don’t know where to go, since the Powells are out of town.” He hums thoughtfully when I agree. I can hear the soft sound of him getting out of bed and heading to his office in the background as he considers our options. “While I’d love to send someone over to watch after you two, we don’t currently have anyone to spare.”

My heart sinks a little, but I guess it makes sense. With the breakdown of New Hampshire's state government and my birth father’s cult in New Hampshire, the DAU has had its hands full for the past few weeks.

“For now, I’ll have someone head your way and the two of you can sleep here for the night. Tomorrow I will make some calls and find somewhere for you both to stay.” He quickly ends the call, and a few seconds later a text comes through my phone with a picture of the DAU agent coming to pick us up. I let Bea know what our plans are before I head to my room to pack.

One day I’ll be able to enjoy my nest and our apartment without being driven out of it by threats to our safety.