Page 28

I was close to death. I’d barely managed to escape before the tunnel system collapsed right behind me. It wasn’t something I recalled until it was right there on the tip of my tongue and the edge of my brain. The compound was already primed for implosion. A technique and tactic my brother had used in the passed to lure and mass exodus his enemies and former allies he felt betrayed by.

It was a countdown of one minute.

It took longer than that to leave the office where the countdown was initiated.

I assumed he would’ve moved the control for it elsewhere when he actually decided to destroy a compound, and in flash floods of memory, I recalled compounds beind destroyed and leaving behind systems of caved in ground like they were all part of an archeological dig site across the West Coast.

The initial blow wiped me out with the blow of rubble, and subsequent explosion of cars and other combustables trapped beneath. The only thing I was trapped under were memories, filling my brain like toxic honey, slowly dripping and melting, infecting me with former dreams I now knew to be acts I’d committed for the Syndicate.

Part of me wanted to die.

Living with this knowledge wasn’t a life I wanted to live.

It was completely dark out when I came to full consciousness on the surface. I’d been in and out, raising my head, lifting my hands in front of my face, quickly surveying the destruction before passing back out. A nip at my skin had brought me back this time. Bugs had already thought I was dead and down for the count.

The acidic stink of smoke and burning singed in my nostrils. Around me, in sunked parts of the dessert, smoke continued to plume and rise in the air. We were so far away from all civilisation that nobody was ever going to see the damage until all the bodies it had consumd were already fossilised into the sand and debris.

A tug of pain twinged in my chest.

“Soren,” my first word, sour in the back of my throat from the pain of inhaling sand. He was sad. I couldn’t place where he was in my heart or mind, but he was sad, and he must’ve witnessed the place go under.

There was nothing I could do now but push to my feet, and start walking. I assumed I was the only survivor, that, and wherever my brother had gone, hopefully another tragic loss of the implosion. The excuse for it was already built in. My mom would be none the wiser, but I could play dead in this entire situation.

“I’m dead,” I announced with laughter. “I’m dead.” It was the perfect way to leave the Syndicate once and for all. All I had to do was actually play dead. They’d never find me. They’d never know.

With a slight limp and a master plan brewing, I walked.

I walked for ninety minutes until in the pitch black of night, not that dark on my Alpha senses, but to anyone else, very dangerous.I walked until I reached the bar and gas station, it was right where Soren had left his car, still parked up. I’d never seen my blessings appear right before my eyes more than I did in that moment.

“Thank you,” I said, a single wet tear rolled down my cheek, collecting the dust on my skin. I was glad he hadn’t taken the car when he passed it, but it wasn’t like he could load it with the omegas.

More blessings came in the form of the car being unlocked, and the keys to it were covered in sand by the tire. This must’ve been where they’d snatched him up and he’d tried fighting back. I climbed into the car and on the passenger seat, his wallet and phone. The phone was dead. Another surprise to know he hadn’t stopped for either of them. I wondered where he’d gone to without his things, and how long it would take for me to catch up to him.

With a full tank of gas, I drove off and began charging his phone from the plug-in at the console. Soren had mentioned family might’ve tried to contact him, and with everything I knew of the Quillen family, I didn’t want them making anymore noise than what was necessary. All I needed was for the report to say a base was blown up, all were dead, and my name listed as one of the deceased. That was it.

Once the phone booted up, a flurry of texts arrived, as did missed calls. I couldn’t access a single one of them since they were behind a code locked screen. I wanted to send them a message, telling them Soren was ok, but I knew it might’ve been more hassle. I just kept driving.

I continued driving until the sun rose and my legs had stiffened numb almost on the pedals. It was shortly after the sun rose when I spotted the large truck, dirty with dust from the terrain, parked outside a motel I was sure had been a mirage of sorts.

If I had the fluids in my system, I might’ve cried.

Soren stood by the side of the van, staring at me the same way I’ve been staring at the lump that had been the motel in the distance. He was dressed in an oversized t-shirt and some denim booty shorts I could only just about make out. His bottom lip tremebling as I parked up beside him.

“I thought you were—” he began, sucking in air through his teeth. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Almost,” I said, my knuckles aching from the way I’d been wrapping my hands around the steering wheel. “I nearly died.”

“No, no, no, not that, but yes. I—” Soren glanced at his phone on the passenger seat. It ached for me to reach over and grab it for him. “I had to call a friend, and he called my entire family. So, everyone is here. We’ve taken over the motel.”

That was a predicament, because I was to blame, and I should’ve been punished for what I’d done to those omegas who were probably so emotionally scarred from everything they would attack me if they saw me, and Soren’s family even more so, given we were mated now.

“I—” the words were bloated in my throat.

“But you’re here,” he said. “And you’ll have to meet them eventually. Just—get changed first. Please. I don’t want them all smelling that on you.” I gestured to my body as a whole, and I didn’t blame him. I’d sweat so much on the drive that he would need to have it professionally cleaned. “And I see you helped yourself to my snack bars.”

The wrappers were in the footwell of the passenger side. “It wasn’t like you were using them,” I said. “I needed to keep driving. Gas tank is almost empty too, but I did full it all the way up.”

Soren leaned on his car, patting it. “I think after I’ve got all those omegas home, I’m going to retire this for a little bit,” he said. “I need a long vacation, and I need to get my folks off my back.”

I looked into the motel as much as I could from my current angle. There were figures walking around, but nobody approaching. I didn’t know who was family and who was recently saved from the compound. “Do I fit inside those plans?” I asked. “I’m ready to—to pretend I was wiped out in all that mess back there.”

With a finger under my chin, Soren pulled my head out of the window and closer to his face. “I guess I can fit you in somewhere, but you’ll have to know that I’m in charge now, and you’re gonna have to be a good little Alpha for me. Ok?”

Like a fucking puppy, I was nodding and bowing my head at him just for the chance to be good. It’s what I’d always wanted to be. “What should my new name be?”

“You have a middle name?”

“No, but we can think of something. What do I look like to you?”

He smiled. “Right now. You look like someone who needs to a good wash, and a change of clothes. Thankfully, you brought my clothes with you, so we can find something for you in that lot.” He nodded to the mess in the back of his car, filled with strewn clothes. The smell of them had been getting me through the entire ordeal. I was obsessed with the way he smelled, and I part of me didn’t want him to move them, but I didn’t mind the alternative option of wearing them instead, like he’d been wearing my clothes.

The motel was still quiet when Soren walked me through to his room that was being shared with others. He’d told me it was four to a room, over occupancy, but his family had agreed to shoulder any fines the motel received,which they wouldn’t, it’s not like anyone was around auditing them.

After the shower, I was dressed in a nice bright blue button up shirt and a pair of khaki shorts. It was the first time in a while I’d worn something with so much color to it. The way I looked at myself in the mirror and how it glowed against my skin put the biggest smile on my face.

That smile quickly faded when I heard Soren talk to his family. “And I have someone I’d like you all to meet,” he said, loud enough to prepare me for it.

I still didn’t have a name. I walked out of the bathroom where a man and woman in suits stood behind Soren. They were smiling at me. And thankfully, the motel room was empty now. No sleeping omegas in their pile on top of each other on the beds anymore. It meant fewer prying eyes on whatever was about to go down here.

“Hi, I’m Vas,” I introduced myself, I was really bad at coming up with names. Vasilis was the only name I’d known mself by. I extended my hand, and was left hanging for a solid moment.

His father stepped forward and pulled me in by the arm and gave me a hug. Two giant pats on the back. “I heard you helped save Soren,” he said. “Thank you.”

“Thank you,” his mother added. “What was your name again?”

I held myself together, not wanting to cry in the face of all the effection I was recieving. “It’s Vas, or you can call me V, I don’t mind. It’s a name I’m not really all that attached to.”

Once we were standing across from each other again, I could feel their eyes assessing me. “So, you’re the guy our Soren was hiding all those years back,” his father said. “I can’t say I’m surprised. Soren has hidden so much of his life from us. I’m just glad we’re finally being introduced.”

His mother chcukled. “You know, we had wanted to meet you all those years back,” she said. “We knew he had someone over in that house, but we’ve always given Soren a bit of a wide berth when it came to his life. He’s always had his own path in mind, and as much as we’ve wanted him to follow in his siblings footsteps, or even his father’s, we knew he was destined to do his own thing.”

“So, you approve?” Soren asked, looking from his mother and father at either side.

“Well, you’re mate bonded,” his father said, grabbing my hand and shaking it firm. “I assume you’ll be getting married, moving back to Georgia, and we can discuss putting the two of you in positions at the company.”

“No,” Soren said.

“I haven’t asked,” I added.

“No,” Soren countered again. “I only called you because I needed your help. You just admitted I have my own path to walk. I’m not going to follow your plan. Thank you, both, for everything you’ve done for me here. But what we’re doing isn’t about to be dictated by the two of you. I’m sorry, but it’s not.”

His parents both glared at him

“For what it’s worth, I—” I began, and with a single look, Soren cut me off. He hadn’t been lying when he said he was going to begin wearing the pants in this relationship. It was fucking hot. I needed more of it, but not quite as much in front of his folks.

“As much as I want to support you, Soren,” his mother said. “The reason we came was because you were in trouble. We thought you’d understand that meant we were going to take you back home with us.”

“Elizabeth,” his father said. “I think Soren has made it clear. We’ve done what he wanted, and we’re not needed now.”

“Listen,” he said, turning to them both. He pulled them both into hugs with his arms around their necks. “I love you both, but I’m needed here right now. I need to make sure these omegas are safe and are back home, and I’m going to be giving them money. My money, well, money from my trust. I hope you can understand this is what I have to do.”

I could only watch and hope they understood. I was jealous he could have such an open conversati with his family, it seemed whenever I’d done that in the past, my family would just drug me and force them to comply with their commands. I was nearly broken into tears but the time the hug finished, only for Soren to pull me into it.

If there was ever a time to find family, being in my thirties and escaping the Serpentine Syndicate was probably a good time.