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Korren’s voice broke through the fog. “You okay, love?”
Ezra stroked my hair, and I had to force myself not to lean into my mate’s touch. “I’m okay.” I cleared my throat, shoring up my strength. “Those are the cells for females who have aged out of the boarding houses. We’re kept there until the Hunt. I lived there for nine months.”
Alpha Wynn took a seat. “We’re going to need you to tell us everything you know.”
So, I told them. I told them how the staff underfed us to keep us docile for the Hunt. I told them about the handsy guards and the workers who were drugged into submission if they resisted their unsavory duties. I told them about the Omegas that went missing and never made it to the Hunt due to Councilman Raza’s selections.
When I finally took a breath, I was met with silence.
Finally, Bishop spoke up and asked, “Why were you continuing to participate in the Hunt?”
“Because I had no choice,” I said. “I was bound by the rules—rules you were lied to about if I’ve heard correctly.”
I told them about the five-win rule, and just like their mate, Alpha Wynn and his unit asked how I knew it was true.
I took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. “My father was a member of the Council. He created the rule.”
It was so quiet I could have heard a fly sneeze.
I ignored it and pushed forward. “He broke his vow and went on the run to protect me. He trained me and taught me how to survive. He also made sure I knew the laws inside and out, just in case we were caught. When I was fourteen, they finally tracked us down. The Council had been hunting us all my life. They called him a traitor and killed him after capturing us.”
Korren laced his fingers through mine, but I felt his shock through the bond. It must have been hard to see Council members as individuals rather than all-powerful rulers.
“What were you going to do after you won?” Alpha Wynn asked. “I doubt the Council would make life easy for an Omega who beat their system.”
“They wouldn’t,” I agreed. “I’d be on my own. No pack. No protection.”
“So, what was your plan?” Ezra asked.
My heart threatened to crack my ribs. I was at an impasse. Telling them about the Council was one thing, but discussing my sister was another.
Sensing my indecision, Valor kneeled before me. He crooked a finger under my chin and drew my eyes to his. “You don’t have to say or do anything that makes you uncomfortable, sweetling. But I want you to know that you’re safe here. And the more we know, the better we can prepare.”
Out of habit, I searched for signs of deception. My instincts told me there were none.
With a drawn-out sigh, I confessed, “I was going to find my sister.”
Chapter 18
Ezra
A sister.
It all made sense now—Brielle’s desperation to win, the torrent of emotions that plagued her through our bond, and her overwhelming sense of failure.
She was afraid of never seeing her sister again.
Brielle told us they were separated during the Council attack, and she never found out what happened to her sister. I didn’t want to say it out loud, but my analytical mind couldn’t help but calculate the odds of her survival. She was a year younger than Brielle, and I couldn’t imagine what she would have had to do in unsanctioned territory to remain alive.
Brielle looked me in the eye. “I know what you’re thinking. She’s alive.”
“How can you be sure?”
Fuck, that was a dickish thing to say—I didn’t need the withering looks from Valor or Korren to confirm it.
Her eyes shuttered. Goddess, I’d put my foot in it this time.
She fingered the locket around her neck like I’d seen her do in moments of thought or tension.
