Denver snorts. “Castle’s a fucking billionaire. He could send hundreds of mercenaries after us, ones who aren’t as nice as I am. These days, it’s almost impossible to live off the grid. If he hires the right people, they’ll always know where to find us. There’s nowhere on earth we can take her where they won’t find her.”
“Then what would you suggest?” I say.
Denver’s face darkens, and I see the soldier who drew blood on the battlefield. It’s fucking terrifying.
“Alphas like the Castles shouldn’t get to live,” he growls. His hand moves to his sniper rifle, safely bound to his backpack. He’s ready to kill for Brooklyn—and honestly, I don’t hate the idea.
“We’re not gonna be any good to Brooklyn if we get caught and thrown in prison,” Camden says.
Denver scoffs. “Worth it.”
“It’s not what Brooklyn would want,” Cam says. “If she wanted them dead, she could have found a way to do it—she could’ve set fire to the house, or waited for a chance to strike. She ran instead. If she draws the line at killing, then so do we.”
Denver scowls, but he shuts his pack and lets go of the gun. Killing’s off the table—for now, at least.
“So the Castles will keep looking for Brooklyn as long as she’s alive,” I muse. “What if we could convince them that she isn’t?”
“She still has the mating bond with Grayson,” Camden says. “He’ll feel that she’s alive.”
“It’s almost faded by now,” Denver says. “Once it’s fully severed, he won’t be able to prove it.”
“How do we know when it’s gone?” Cam asks.
“When she can’t sense his emotions anymore,” I say, burning with rage. The fact that she had to share feelings with her rapist makes me want to snap some necks.
“We can even test it when we tell him she’s dead. He’ll definitely be angry then—if she can’t feel that, we know for sure the bond is gone,” Camden says.
“They won’t buy that she’s dead,” Denver says, shaking his head. “Not without a body.”
“I can help with that.”
Our heads turn at once when we hear Brooklyn’s soft voice. Stepping out of the tent, my blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Her eyes glint with determination.
“I know where a body is,” she says.
TWENTY-EIGHT
—
B R O O K L Y N
Three pairs of Alpha eyes are trained intensely on me.
“A body?” Camden says, looking shocked.
Denver’s brow furrows. “How long have you been listening to us, princess?”
“I just woke up a few minutes ago. When you were talking about the bond fading between Grayson and me. You were figuring out plans, and it got me thinking.”
Denver’s expression softens with something like relief, and I wonder what they were talking about before. Was it something they didn’t want me to hear? Or am I overthinking it?
Cam interrupts my thoughts. “Can we get back to the body?”
“I found it while I was foraging, a girl—an Omega, close to my age. I wanted to move her body and make sure her family found out what happened to her. But it was maybe a month after I escaped, and I was afraid they’d be able to track me if I got too close to anyone.”
“What happened to her?” Memphis asks. “Do you know how she died?”
“She was…somebody hurt her. I could smell Alphas on her, but I don’t know who they were. Whoever they were, they…they did terrible things. “