Page 22

Rumor

It all happened so fast.

One minute, I was looking at bath bombs. The next, I was being thrown into the back of a truck. I didn’t even have time to scream, to call for my mates—anything, before we were on the road. They didn’t even try to hide who they were, which was terrifying. They had no intention of letting me go.

Once, we were my mates. The ones who rejected me. The ones who thought I was garbage. The ones who chose my sister over me and who were part of the plan to sell me.

And now—now, here they were, taking me, binding my hands, binding my wrists, and scenting me repeatedly.

“What the fuck!” I tried to squirm out of their hold.

I wouldn’t have had the strength to stand up to them like that before. I wouldn’t have had the strength to do anything but cower beneath them. I was just an omega after all. A piece of trash to be discarded, one with no power.

And maybe that’s what they were counting on, my weakness.

There were growls, but nothing more. Intimidation tactics weren’t going to work on me. I finally had something to fight for, and I planned to do exactly that—fight.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

All of my rejected mates were in the back with me. But they weren’t alone. No. When I saw who was driving, it was so much worse than that.

Reyna was behind the wheel. Fucking Reyna. My twin.

“Reyna, tell them to let me go.” I was her sister. She might not like me or my designation, but that didn’t change the fact that we shared a womb before we ever took our first breaths.

“Shut up, omega, before we make you.” Reyna didn’t even say my name, and that was enough to tell me loud and clear that she wasn’t going to help me out of this. If anything, she was the one behind it.

And worst of all, I could hear there was truth in her words. She would make me.

They would make me.

I needed to pull back, to fall in line with the behavior I adopted as an omega, become the person I used to be. At least until I could figure out how to get out of this mess. But first, I needed to figure out why I was here in the first place. Had she found a second buyer for me? Was she trying to double her profit? Was it more sinister than even that?

“They don’t want me. They already rejected me. You rejected me. Let me go. I won’t get in your way ever.” I really sucked at shutting up.

“None of us want you. No one wants you. Now shut up. You have been warned.”

This time, I did stop talking in the hopes my true mates would already be on their way to help me. The odds were slim. My sister had choreographed my kidnapping like a boss. But they loved me, and I was pack. They would find a way.

But even if they didn’t, if her plan was far too good, I needed to be smart about things. I had to be prepared in case there was a window where I could fight and possibly escape. Why didn’t I ask my mates to teach me how to fight? That would come in so handy about now.

When we reached our destination, I wasn’t surprised we were on my old pack lands. What did surprise me was, they brought me to the freaking barn, of all places.

Did my parents know this was happening? Was that why I was here instead of at their house? Because, deep down, Reyna knew this was wrong—and they would stop her?

But, would they? There was no love lost there. They didn’t want me or need me. Or even like me. I was a point of shame in their lives, nothing more.

No. Being out here was for some other reason.

They threw me on a pile of hay, and not for my comfort. It likely just happened to be there. Because the next thing I knew, they were chaining me to the wall. If they wanted me comfortable, that was not how to do it.

I wanted to scream, to cry for help, but there’d be no one to hear me. And if I did, they would shut me up, which I had a feeling meant either gagging me or harming me.

Neither was good.

I needed to be quiet. Compliant. I needed to be the omega they wanted me to be, at least for now.

My sister came over to me, checked my bindings, and then cackled.

She fucking cackled.

“Well. At least you’re good for something.” And she walked away.

Everyone left me there in the barn. But I could hear someone outside. I wasn’t sure who it was, but they were there.

Maybe Lily would have a chore that needed doing out here. Maybe she would help me.

I’d help her too.

We’d get out of here together. And my mates would take her in. They’d help her be safe, maybe help her find her own mate.

That was my best bet right now. My sister forgetting Lily had business down here and the timing being perfect. It might be my best bet, but it wouldn’t be a good one.

But the more I thought about it, the more I saw how unlikely it was for my mates to look here. My pack didn’t want me. They made that clear. Them stealing me back was the last scenario they’d consider.

I didn’t know how many hours passed before Reyna came back.

She held a cup in her hands, one with both a lid and a straw. It was pink, thick-ish, and almost medicinal looking. Like maybe a milkshake that had gone bad.

“Drink.” It was a command.

“Is this wolfsbane?” I needed to know if it was time to fight because it was better to go out fighting than go out drinking poison.

“No. It’s vitamins. Protein. Nutrition. Hydration drink.”

I wasn’t sure I believed her. But I drank. One sip. Then another. Then another. It was chalky and gross, but the few times I slowed down, she kicked me—first my ankles then my knees. Places that wouldn’t knock me out but sure as hell hurt.

“Your heat’s coming soon.”

I knew that. But why did she sound like that was exciting information?

“And when it gets here,” she seethed, “you’re going to finally have a purpose.”

She couldn’t possibly mean what I thought she did. “I have mates, Reyna.”

“No, you don’t. If you did, they’d have marked you. They think of you as the piece of trash you are. Try again.”

She was right on one point. They hadn’t marked me. But that was mostly on me. They were so careful, making sure every step was my choice. And now, that was coming back to bite me in the ass.

“They’ll come find me.” I wasn’t sure I believed that, but if the plan wasn’t to kill me but to take advantage of my heat somehow, it was worth the risk.

“They have no idea you’re here, omega. Besides, you owe it to your pack.”

“This isn’t my pack, they are. What could I possibly owe you? You’ve been paid.”

“Your womb.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Deep down, I knew, but admitting it to myself was too much.

“I need heirs. And you are going to provide them for me.”

And suddenly that phone call started to make sense. She couldn’t have children, and she was betting on me being womb-erific. Fuck her.

“No, I won’t.”

“You have no choice. If I don’t have heirs, I lose this pack. And you.” She pointed at me “You share my DNA. You’re my twin. My mates can fill you with a baby, and then, you know what? It’s mine. No one will know, not even with human testing.”

She was disgusting.

“And I will have control of this pack.”

“You’re fucking evil.”

“I’m your sister.” Which didn’t make my evil diagnosis any less true.

“No. I’m your alpha. And you will do as I say.” She kicked my knee one more time and walked out of the barn, leaving me alone to contemplate my fate.