Page 29 of The Night Movers: Season One

Ridley raised his brows at that. “Diplomat?”

“He keeps things running smoothly between us and the other packs.”

“Other packs of criminals?” Ridley clarified.

Diesel laughed. “Yeah, princess. Criminals. We can’t buy every omega.

We’ve tried to…eliminate our competitors, but there’s always another crew waiting to take their place.

Trafficking omegas is a good business. These guys come in, snatch omegas off the street or…

acquire them through other sketchy means.

Then they sell them to the brothels, the breeding farms.”

A slow throb of anger formed in Ridley’s core. How many people had the New Guard snatched from the center? How many were just taken right off the streets? How many people were out there silently collecting omegas to sell to these monsters?

“I get these shitheads trafficking omegas into brothels and breeding farms, but…what is it they think you guys do with the omegas you buy? You had Jensen delete them out of existence. But, surely, someone has noticed that none of your omegas reach a breeding farm or brothel?” Ridley said. “Right?”

Diesel heaved a sigh. “We’re not known for stocking breeders and whore houses. ”

Ridley’s insides suddenly felt slippery. “Okay? So, what are you known for?”

That uneasy feeling intensified when Diesel said, “Before I tell you, you have to understand, it’s the only way for us to justify why the omegas we purchase disappear.”

“Just tell me.”

“We run red rooms,” Diesel said.

“I’m sorry?” Ridley said, brows knitting together. “What’s a red room?”

“It’s an underground website that appears and disappears on the dark net. Alphas pay a lot of money to…torture and kill omegas…for fun.”

“You let alphas…murder omegas on camera?” Ridley said, feeling lightheaded at the idea of it.

“Of course not. It’s all staged. We don’t even have to do it that often. Most people think we deal with private clients who want to host parties without cameras.”

“You stage shows where you pretend to torture and kill helpless omegas? You guys make…torture porn.”

“No, we fake torture porn,” Diesel corrected. “Fake. We would never let an omega get hurt.”

“So, they don’t look for the omegas because they think they’re dead,” Ridley clarified.

“Yes.”

“And…the bodies?”

Diesel closed his eyes for a long moment. “We have a reputation for…creatively disposing of the victims. It’s part of the…service.”

“Wow. How…thorough of you,” Ridley muttered.

“I would like to now take the opportunity to remind you that we do not in fact torture and kill omegas. Remember? We rescue them. Rescued you, in fact. But we need to exist in this world, we need to act as though we’re just as bad as they are.

If we look weak, this doesn’t work. Being the good guy around here sometimes means getting real blood on your hands. ”

Ridley turned startled eyes to Diesel. “You just said you don’t kill anyone.”

“No, I said we don’t kill omegas. We’re all killers, princess. All of us. Anyone who comes for us gets sent home in a body bag. Well, what’s left of them, anyway.”

Ridley blinked rapidly, processing this information. “Do people…come for you a lot?”

“Yes. We have a lot of power, money, and influence in the night market. That’s always going to draw enemies.

The moment we take you in public—the second anyone sees our marks on you—there will be a target on your back.

Someone is going to try to hurt you, to take you from us.

And the only way to ensure that doesn’t keep happening is to make sure the blood spilled in your name is so grotesque that they don’t dare mess with you again. ”

Ridley shivered. “I-Is that why you guys are keeping me locked up?”

Diesel frowned. “We’re keeping you locked up because you’ve been in heat and we’re not crazy.”

Ridley pulled a face. “Is that why they’ve all been avoiding me like I’m diseased?” he asked, hating how sulky he sounded.

“Nobody’s avoiding you, Strawberry. Okay, well, Titus is avoiding you, but he’s also working. Sugar and Steele, too. The fights have to go on. We can’t have it look like anything has changed about us. Not yet. Not until your first appearance in public.”

“I’m going to have to make an…appearance?”

Diesel nodded. “We don’t have a choice. You’re Titus’s mate. You’ve been claimed by our whole pack. They’ve seen thousands of omegas pass through our hands for business but never for pleasure. And they certainly won’t expect Titus, of all people, to be the one who chose an omega.”

“Because he’s a douchebag?” Ridley mumbled.

Diesel laughed loudly, his belly shaking once more. “Hah. No. Well, yeah, but we have a reputation for treating omegas like property, like product, nothing more. Arriving with one we…own…is gonna cause a scene. ”

“Oh. What’s it like?” Ridley asked. “The night market?”

“It’s a shopping mall for criminals. A playground for the underworld. It’s a place where alphas get to live out their deepest, darkest, most debauched fantasies without consequence.”

Ridley scoffed, words laced with bitterness. “How is that any different than topside?”

“You’ll see soon enough, princess,” Diesel assured him.

“Am I going to go out dressed like this?” Ridley asked, looking down at his hoodie.

“Of course not. Titus is a lot of things, but he’d never allow any omega of his to appear publicly in rags. The night market has its own…style.”

“Even for omegas?”

Diesel grinned. “ Especially for omegas.”

“Do…Do other packs have omegas?” Ridley finally asked. “Or will I be the only one?”

“You’ll see other omegas. Most packs have one or two for…obvious reasons,” Diesel said carefully.

Ridley gave him a flat look. “To fuck?”

Diesel’s gaze suddenly slipped from Ridley’s. “There’s something you need to know.”

Ridley’s stomach swooped like he was jumping from a high building. “Which is?”

“You’re gonna see a lot of omegas being treated…

poorly. Other gangs buy, sell, and trade their omegas.

At the night market, they’re like cash or…

pink slips. There are gangs who will use their omegas openly, punish them publicly, allow others to use them, too.

Most omegas you see underground will be… collared.”

Ridley stared at him, his heart racing. “Collared? Like…dogs?”

“And…possibly leashed.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Ridley asked, his ears so hot they felt blistered.

Diesel shook his head, an unreadable look on his face. “No, and you’re gonna have to learn how to not react.”

“You want me to not react when other omegas are being abused right in front of me?” Ridley repeated, that throbbing anger inside giving birth to full-blown rage. “You want me to sit there quietly as some fucking alpha humiliates and violates another omega while you all sit around and laugh?”

“You have to.”

“The fuck I do.”

“There’s nothing you can do,” Diesel said, his disgust evident in his tone. “Well, not in any obvious way. Also, you’re only permitted to talk to other omegas in front of your alphas. Both alphas. They don’t want omegas plotting or banding together.”

“This is such bullshit,” Ridley spat.

Diesel gave him an anxious look. “Princess?—”

“Do not princess me right now, dickhead,” Ridley snapped, lightly punching his fist into Diesel’s stomach, making him grunt softly. “How can you say you’re not as bad as them if you just…ignore this sort of thing?”

Diesel was shaking his head before Ridley even finished his sentence. “Nobody is ignoring anything . We try to barter for omegas suffering the most so we can get them out, but we have to be subtle. We’re the bad guys, princess. It’s the only way to do what we do.”

“So…what? I’m supposed to follow along behind you guys with a collar around my neck, keeping my eyes to the floor like the meek little omega while you guys get to do whatever you want?

Fuck that,” he seethed, lowering his feet and spinning so he could sit with his back to the wall, facing the alpha.

“I’m not saying?—”

“I was fine with being your pack omega,” Ridley snapped, cutting him off. “Meeting your sexual needs and…whatever…but I am not gonna be your slave.”

Diesel arched a brow, voice still calm. “Not even to save your sister?”