Page 37

Ten

Ethan

“No, Kendra,” Dad says, pacing. “Why can’t we get her out? It’s been three days!”

I swear, I’m living in Hell. My father is even more of a miserable bastard than usual, and he doesn’t have a release valve. He’s snapping at everyone, growling, and the only reason his lawyer hasn’t cut him loose is because she’s used to his attitude and he’s paying her really well.

“They’re saying she committed herself,” Kendra says over the speakerphone. “They won’t allow me access to the records, but I’m pushing for a judge to help us. Meanwhile, I have been digging into this place, and forced myself to go to brunch with some of my mother’s friends.”

Dad stops mid-stride in our living room, and I worry he’s going to bite her head off. If she mentioned this, it has to be for a good reason.

“What did you find out?” Dad asks, his voice strained.

Neither of us are sleeping well, the idea that Nina’s mother has been holding institutionalizing her over her headnauseating.

“Omegas are worth a lot of money in certain fiscal circles,” Kendra begins. “The conversation made me glad to be an alpha to be honest. Omegas are sold off to packs, in the illusion of creating a strong marital bond between families. However, a lot of these blue blood packs want omegas to act a certain way. When families have omegas who they consider wild, they will commit them into these ‘mental institutions’ that are really reprogramming facilities.”

“Nina is eighteen,” I finally say, pitching my voice so Kendra can hear me. I’ve been quiet this entire time, but I can’t hold myself still any longer. “Her mother has tried to make her something she’s not ever since we were kids. I always thought it was creepy when she’d stop fighting and just do as she was told. I can’t imagine her being like that all of the time. It’s like being a Stepford wife.”

“Well, that’s what her mom wants her to be,” Kendra says. “I think breaking someone’s spirit and mind under the guise of mental health is disgusting, but I’m going to need a little more time to get her out of there. Is there anything else I need to know?”

“Kendra, she’s mine,” Dad sighs. “She’s my scent match, and we just figured it out when I found her again while she was sleeping in her car. We didn’t have time for solidifying the bond though.”

He was so happy in the short time we had her back in our lives. Everything just clicked for him, and he wasn’t as angry anymore. I mean fuck, she’s done the same for me.

“She’s mine too,” I grunt sadly. It was never odd to share her between us.

We need her back, or neither one of us will be able to survive without her. We’ll always pine for sugared mango and Nina.

“They’ll check her skin for bites so we can’t lie and say you’re bonded,” Kendra mutters. “I’ll try to push that she’s met her scent matches, and insist they release Nina into your care. We are about to go over the seventy-two hour mark. It’s going to throwa corkscrew into your ex-wife’s plans to find her a pack. Unless…”

“What?” I ask. I can feel anxiety clawing at my throat, causing me to feel oxygen starved.

“No,” Dad’s lawyer says, gagging. “It’s so heinous, I won’t allow it to happen. I can’t even bring myself to say it.”

“Kendra, what?” Dad asks, panic beginning to bleed into his tone.

“If they have the ability to change someone’s behavior, it’s possible the doctors can make Nina forget you exist,” Kendra rasps. “Maybe every time she is reminded of something you did or said that could trigger a memory, her mind punishes her for it until she forces herself to forget. The idea of reprogramming someone to that magnitude would leave lasting mental scars.”

“Fuck,” Dad breathes while I rub my chest.

The proper legal pathways aren’t yielding the results I want. There has to be another way, and I need to find it.

“Keep working on it, Kendra,” Dad says. “Thank you for subjecting yourself to brunch for us.”

“I’m going to need hazard alcohol after this,” Kendra mutters.

“I know your favorite kind, I’ll have it delivered to your house once this is over,” Dad promises.

Blowing out a breath as he hangs up, I grab my coat and start putting on my boots.

“Where are you going?” he asks, his hand scrubbing at his hair. It makes him look frazzled and pissed. He prides himself on keeping the undercurrent of his anger under wraps as much as possible, only coming out when students truly manage to piss him off.

Even then, that’s what Brooke was for. He doesn’t have that outlet anymore, and he’d never reach for it now that Nina is in the picture. It doesn’t matter that she’s stuck in an institution, Dad is loyal. He won’t want anyone else.

“I need to go see a friend,” I say, angrily tying my laces. Ineed to look at this from another angle. There has to be something we’re fucking missing.

“Right now…” he drawls, dropping onto the couch next to me. “Are you going to see Riley?”