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AMAYA

I ’m dirty, starving, and in pain, but that doesn't mean my mind has to be. My body may be broken, but my mind wanders free. I've been here before, in a much less dire situation, but if I try hard enough, maybe I can escape for a little while like I used to do in isolation at the academy.

After a while at the academy, when hope was fading, my memories would make me angry and fuel my fire just enough to keep me going. I was so hurt that my guys didn't come to rescue me, and now I worry it will happen again. I know the truth now; they never looked for me.

I choose any emotion over the fear obliterating my brain right now though. I'd much rather Vincent feel something other than the distress coursing through my nerve endings and misfiring in my mind.

An omega's distress is like a fucking siren’s call to their mates, and since we're bonded, Vincent will be getting slammed with the overpowering need to make it all better. He doesn't deserve that, so I'll give him something else.

Calling on old habits, I feel my ankles and bony knees pressing into the bottom of my cage. Then my left hipbone, and my ribs follow. My cramped shoulder numbs, and my elbow ceases to exist. My fisted hands disappear and my skull melts into the earth.

I float.

I disappear into something other than terror.

16 Years Old

(3 days before first kidnapping)

Hip cocked, hand resting on it, I grin. "What are you guys doing?"

"AH!" Emmett whisper shouts, whipping around and clutching his chest. Sammy grunts and shoves him with a scowl. Beside me, leaning against the doorjamb, Oliver laughs and gives me a high five.

"Jesus, Maya. Shouldn't you two be asleep?"

It's Oliver's turn to scowl at his older brother. "We're sixteen, not six, Sam. And you two definitely aren't twenty-one."

Emmett shifts nervously, tucking the bottle of vodka behind him and shoots Sam a worried look. I can't help but smirk at his anxiousness and Sammy's shifty eyes.

Silence continues to thicken the air between us until I can't stand it anymore. "You gonna share, or what?"

"No!" Sammy snaps and jumps at his own volume. Quieter, he hisses, "Absolutely not, Petal. You're too young."

"Oh fuck ooffff," Oli groans and ambles toward Emmett. I swear I see a little extra sway in his hips as he approaches our friend. "May I?" he whispers, reaching around Emmett and gripping his wrist.

I watch as my dark-haired, easy-going friend releases the bottle as if in a trance. Surprised, even though I shouldn't be anymore, I step into the room. Oliver has Em wrapped around his finger lately.

"Emmett!" Sammy huffs and throws his hands in the air. Pacing the kitchen with the clock shining midnight behind him, I'm shocked his head hasn't exploded. "Ugh, fine. I'll get the shot glasses."

"Pfft," I respond, snatching the now open bottle from Oliver. "We don't need shot glasses."

With a firm grip on the handle, I bring it to my lips while keeping eye contact with my partner in crime and take a big ass swig. Oli's eyes crinkle in time with mine, but as soon as I'm done, he jumps to do the same, shooting me a wink.

"Fuck, if we get caught?—"

"We won't," Oli cuts Sam off.

"Dad's gonna kill me," Sammy finishes his dreadful thought while swiping a hand through his crazy blond hair.

Oliver rolls his eyes, passing me on the way out of the kitchen with the bottle. I follow, Em and Sammy not far behind as we tiptoe our way to the basement where our sleepover is being housed.

Instead of sitting on the couch where my blankets are, I settle next to Oliver, only for Sam to plop behind me and tug me against his chest. Snuggling in, I turn to the side and make grabby hands for the bottle. Before I can grab it, Sam snatches it and pins me with a look. I can't resist watching his throat bob with each gulp, and I don't know if it's the burn of vodka, but heat unfurls in my belly.

"Give me that," Emmett demands, reaching forward so his face is within a foot of my own. I swear my lips tingle and my eyes refuse to part from his. What is wrong with me ?

My breath stutters, and Sammy chuckles, vibrating my bones. "None of that, Petal," he murmurs in my ear as Emmett moves away and twirls the vodka bottle in his long fingers.

My mouth pops open on a silent gasp, the heat of Sam's breath on my neck threatening to steal my own. I feel hot all over, even as goosebumps erupt on my skin when Oli reaches for my left hand. Emmett frees up a hand to grip my ankle, making me oblivious to the conversation they're all having.

Friends… We're just friends. I shouldn't be feeling like this.

"So, get this," Oliver says around a laugh. "Lexi leaned in for a kiss right before I was about to turn her down."

I stiffen. Emmett fucking stiffens too. Oli is oblivious to the shift in us, still cackling away at the expense of a girl in our grade. Or maybe it's not at her expense. Maybe he kissed her. My belly clenches and twists with the opposite of the butterflies from before. I'm lost in my treacherous thoughts until a bark of laughter from Sam behind me snaps me out of it.

Annoyed with them and probably more so myself for the jealousy roaring through my veins, I scurry to Emmett and steal the bottle. It's tipped back and burning my throat without a second thought. I gag and sputter, coughing up a lung.

"Woah, calm down baby girl," Oliver warns with a smile.

I ignore the concern in his gaze and murmur, "Don't call me that."

Emmett's the only one who hears me though, Oli already onto the next story of his popularity. "Don't you worry, Maya," Em soothes, wrapping a platonic arm around my shoulder.

I'll always worry, especially when it comes to my status in their budding pack.

"Becca's scent spiked in class today. Like vanilla and strawberries," Sammy says almost wistfully.

None of that, Petal, he said.

Just a friend… I'm just their friend.