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It’s hard to get the words out, now that I’m thinking about that poor Omega. I can still see her twisted limbs, the blood soaking her clothes. She didn’t look like me—she had darker skin and her curly hair was cropped short. But looking at her felt like looking at my own body, if I hadn’t escaped Grayson. He would have done this to me and worse, and not felt a moment of guilt.
Cam walks over and embraces me, my head fitting neatly underneath his chin. “I’m so sorry you had to see that,” he says, kissing the crown of my head. “That poor girl.”
He leads me to the small fire, guiding me to sit next to Memphis, who puts his wide hand on my thigh in support.
Denver props his elbows on his knees, leaning forward thoughtfully. “I’m sorry to ask, but did she look like you? Could you tell if she was taller or shorter?”
I force myself to remember, as unpleasant as the thought is. “We didn’t have similar features, but she was my height, my size.”
Suddenly, I can smell them. The Alphas who savaged that poor girl. Musky and smokey and dark, and I practically choke—it feels as real as if I were still standing next to the body. All the hope I felt before feels snuffed out, replaced by overwhelming despair. Evil Alphas like Grayson and Papa are capable of so much harm and cruelty. I feel stupid for even imagining I could escape them.
“We can’t,” I choke out. “Even if they believe that girl is me, they’ll still find me. Someone will see me and report back to Papa. They’ll come for me, no matter what. I can’t leave. If I leave, I’ll never stop worrying that they’ll find me.”
Then, the smell is replaced by hot steel and clover. Denver’s kneeling before me, looking flinty and determined.
“Hey,” he says, running his thumb over my cheek. “They won’t find you. Let us worry about that.”
“Us?” I echo, looking from Denver to the other guys. Camden and Memphis are smiling, like they already knew something and I’ve just caught up.
“Yeah,” Memphis says, taking my hand. “Us.”
“If you’ll have us,” Camden adds quickly, shooting me a crooked grin. He’s offering me a choice to be part of it. Part of ‘us.’
Part of a pack.
I love him for giving me that choice. I love Memphis for letting me lean on him. I love Denver for making a plan to keep me safe. I love all of them, for those reasons and so many more. The way they accept me for my prickly, independent, wild self. The way I feel safe with them, always.
When I answer them, I don’t feel a moment of doubt.
“I’m already yours.”
TWENTY-NINE
—
D E N V E R
“We still haven’t found Brooklyn, but we’re on her trail.”
“Are you sure?” Roger Castle’s voice is fuzzy through the half busted radio I spent hours attempting to repair, but the eagerness in his voice is clear. Once, I might have thought it was a father’s excitement at the prospect of finally being reunited with his missing daughter.
Now, I know better.
The Castles have always known Brooklyn was alive because of the bond between her and Grayson. Once he felt the bond starting to fade, Roger started to get desperate. If it faded completely, he might never track her down. The Omega he thought was perfectly caged and under his control would be free.
“It’s definitely Brooklyn that we’re tracking,” I say. “We got a view of her through the scope. It matches the photos you gave us.”
“Does she realize who you are? Does she know you just want to take her home?” Castle asks. Smart—he wants to make sure that we haven’t spoken with Brooklyn. That she hasn’t told us why she ran in the first place.
“She’s been running from us. We think she’s afraid because we’re Alphas. She doesn’t realize that you’re the one who sent us.”
“You’re telling me that my 18-year-old daughter, malnourished from a year in the wilderness, managed to outmaneuver three professional Alphas?” Castle’s facade is slipping. His words are cruel and cutting, giving me a glimpse of the conniving monster underneath the surface. He’s worried—worried that Brooklyn will slip away, out of his control forever.
“Extenuating circumstances,” I say. “The storm got between us, but we’ll find her. We have an expert tracker on the team for a reason.”
“You’ll find her now,” Castle demands. “No excuses. I expect a radio by the end of the day telling me you’re on your way back here with my daughter in hand, or I will be very unhappy.”
He leaves the words hanging. Letting me know that Castle will use all the resources at his disposal to make my life hell if I mess this mission up. If I know what’s good with me, I better deliver Brooklyn to him immediately.
