Page 12 of Unhinged

CHAPTER NINE

ARROW

This can’t be real. It feels like a dream—a sexy, chaotic, messed-up dream I desperately want to wake up from.

I have a Kismet omega.

Gears and Acid stand beside me outside the clubhouse, watching as the dust cloud settles from the GTO. My heart pounds and my nose twitches at her lingering scent of jasmine and orange, a reminder that she’s out there—away from us.

“Was that your fucking sister behind the wheel?” Acid growls, his almost-black eyes narrowing as he stares into the distance, frustration seeping into his every word.

“Appears so,” Gears mumbles, his green eyes flickering with the same disbelief I feel.

We found our omega. We should be over the moon, but all I feel is this gnawing emptiness, a sickness twisting in my gut. She ran—from us, from her alphas. And after what we did, I can’t blame her.

We tied her up, kept her from her son, and let Acid hit her.

We fucked up.

Without another word, I turn on my heel and storm into the clubhouse. My mind is racing. I need to find her, apologize—beg her to give us another chance. We can fix this. We have to. She’s our Kismet, our Renegade Queen, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make things right.

“Where are you going?” Gears calls after me as he follows me inside.

“She’s our omega!” I yell, panic bubbling in my chest. Every second she’s gone feels like another mistake piling on top of the last.

Gears snorts. “She can’t be trusted. Everything she’s said is a lie. Even has her kid lying for her.”

Does he even hear himself right now? I whip around, fury flashing through me. “She’s our fucking scent match, you idiot! Why do you think her scent affected us so much? Why do you think I freed her?”

My voice cracks, the weight of what we’ve done settling like lead in my chest. He knows damn well you can’t fake a Kismet match. She may have lied about being a beta, but we never asked. We just assumed.

Our mom, Bettie, is leaning against the kitchen door frame, her arms crossed, a storm brewing in her blue eyes. She’s mad, and when Mom’s mad, everyone feels it.

“Where is she?” I ask, desperately.

Mom shrugs. “Couldn’t tell ya. All your sister and I had planned was to get her out of here. Where she has your sister take them is on her.”

Gears charges toward our mom, stopping just inches from her, his temper flaring. “You betrayed the club. Helped a prisoner escape—that’s treason.”

Like a flash of lightning, Mom whips a wooden spoon from behind her back and smacks Gears upside the head with it. The crack echoes through the room, sharp and unforgiving.

“You betrayed this club,” she snaps. “Everything your father wanted it to stand for.”

“Mom—”

Whap!

“We don’t touch women and children. Ever. I know there are exceptions for bad women, but this girl? You brought her in here, separated her from her child, and then treated her like she was less than human.”

Whap!

Gears tries to dodge this one, but the spoon catches him on the nose. Blood drips down his face—again. At this rate, his nose might never recover.

“I saw her when she came up here, Raiden Briggs.” She trembles with anger.

“You—” she points the spoon at him and he winces. “Actually, it was probably you, Titus Beck.” She turns to Acid, who’s staring at the floor, shame written all over his face. “You put your hands on her. And don’t you dare think I didn’t smell that she was an omega.”

She smacks Acid hard on the forehead with the spoon. “You three should be absolutely ashamed.”

“Sorry, Bettie,” Acid murmurs.

Then it’s my turn. Mom steps over to me, her glare cutting deep. I squeeze my eyes shut, bracing for the hit. I deserve it. But it never comes.

“What did you mean? She’s your omega?” she asks, her words soft but commanding.

I blink, caught off guard. “What?”

“As you came in, you said she’s your omega.”

I glance at Gears and Acid before meeting Mom’s eyes. “She’s our Kismet,” I mumble.

Her face pales, her blue eyes widening with shock.

“You kidnapped, tied up, and tortured your Kismet omega? Fucking hell. You three really stepped in it this time.” She shakes her head, disbelief etched in every line of her face.

“You better find her and get on your hands and knees, begging her to hear you out.”

The spoon collides with the top of my head. “I expected better from you, Orion. Him?” She jabs a finger at Gears. “He’s always trying to be the baddest alpha in the room. But you? You’re supposed to have more sense.”

I swallow hard. “We fucked up, Mom. We need to make it right.”

“I agree, Bettie,” Acid says, his voice small. “We need to find her and fix this. Especially me.”

“No,” Gears growls, his hands trembling, his green eyes conflicted. He’s trying to fight it, but he knows, deep down, how badly we’ve messed this up.

This was our chance at happiness, at true love, at a family. And we hurt her.

We might’ve just lost everything.

ACID

The scent of jasmine and orange fills the air, but it’s the sharp, metallic tang of blood that grips me the hardest. It’s all I can focus on. My omega.

I have an omega.

The words replay over and over in my mind. I, Titus Beck, a man who doesn’t deserve anything good in his life, have an omega. And not just any omega—she’s one hell of a woman.

But I hurt her. More than once. I hit her, tied her up, and kept her from her son. I sent the one woman, who was made to love me, running. Honestly, I’m not surprised. It’s just what I do: drive away the people who should care.

First, my old man—he left for good, OD’d when I was eight. He chose drugs over me. Then my mom. She stuck around, but not for me—for the pills, the booze, and the men she’d pull in with her dirty club pussy.

After that, it was just me and the Renegade.

My mom brought us here, pleading to be a club whore in exchange for cash.

But she couldn’t stay clean; she blew everything on booze and pills.

Gears and I were thick as thieves, even then.

When Mom was caught stealing, Eagle—the President—kicked her out.

But he kept me. Made me an unofficial Briggs.

Eagle took me in like a son. He saw something dark in me and molded it. He trained me, and shaped me to be what I am now—a brutal enforcer, someone to handle problems. Someone to hurt and kill.

I’m damn good at it. Too good. Today, I was too loyal to my president, to Eagle’s son. I hurt her. Hurt my omega.

Images flash in my head—her restrained to the chair, that defiant smirk on her face despite the pain.

She didn’t break, not until her kid was brought up.

That’s when I saw the cracks. And now, I feel a sick, twisted feeling in my gut even as Bettie scolds us.

I’m ashamed of what I’ve done, of the arousal that rises from the memory of her strength, her fight.

The urge to get on my bike and chase her down claws at me, but I know seeing us now will only make things worse. We need a plan.

Arrow looks two seconds away from breaking down completely, and I’m not far behind him.

We’ve done something unforgivable. We need to fix it, to make things right, but how?

We need to find her, get down on our knees, beg if we have to, and show her we’re not just monsters.

We’re rough, ruthless, and cruel to everyone else—but never to our omega. We failed her. I failed her.

I look at the others. “Arrow’s right. We need to learn everything we can; figure out where she went.”

Gears scoffs, still stuck in his own world. “She lied to us from the start. Why should we trust her? Her kid’s lying too.”

“Because she’s our fucking scent match, you idiot,” Arrow snaps, glaring at Gears. “Do you really think she can fake something like that? Do you even understand what a Kismet bond is?”

Gears looks torn, his face hard, but I can see the uncertainty creeping in. He knows Arrow’s right, but it’s easier to stay angry than to admit how badly we messed up. It’s easier to cling to the Renegade rules than to face the truth of what we’ve done.

“She needs to tell us who the Slayer is. She can claim it’s her, and her kid can too, but there’s no way that tiny woman has killed over ten alphas single-handedly,” Gears mutters, rolling his eyes.

Bettie crosses her arms, cocking her head as she stares at him. “And just why couldn’t she?”

“She’s tiny, and she’s an omega.”

Bettie lets out a sharp laugh. “You’d be surprised what a scorned woman can do. The look in her eyes when she shielded that boy, the way she came through here… she’s got scars, boys. A woman like that? Omega or not, she’ll burn the world down if she has to.”

“Ain’t no way, Mom,” Gears argues, though there’s a flicker of doubt in his eyes now.

She whips the spoon his way, and he barely ducks in time. “You listen here, Raiden. I didn’t raise no idiot. If she’s an omega, and she’s unbonded, raising a kid on her own—what do you think that means?” She narrows her eyes. “You know many single omega moms?”

“No,” he says quietly, like the pieces are just starting to fall together.

“Exactly. Now stop thinking like the Renegade President and start thinking like the good, caring alpha your father and I raised you to be.” She blows a kiss to the sky. “God rest his soul.”

I swallow hard; the words coming out rough and strained. “You think… you think that boy is a product of rape?”

Bettie’s expression softens, but there’s no denying the truth in her eyes. “More than likely. And then you three idiots took her prisoner and beat her. You better have a plan to fix this, or I swear I’ll throw your asses out of this clubhouse until you do.”

I don’t doubt a single word she says. Bettie is the club’s top old lady, the President’s mom, and the former President’s old lady. When she speaks, everyone listens. And we all know it.

The weight of it all feels overwhelming, like I’m about to drown when there ain’t a drop of water to be seen.

I hurt the one person I’m meant to protect.

My omega. I can’t shake the sick feeling in my gut, the shame clawing at my insides.

But Bettie’s right. We’ve got to fix this.

I just don’t know if I’m worthy of her forgiveness.