Page 4 of No Escape

The newly presented omega took after her mother’s designation—something anyone with a fully functioning sense of smell could have told them was going to happen.

Hell, I could tell the first time I met her. She smelled too sweet to pass for a beta, but Logan always managed to brush off our concerns. We told him two years ago that he should look for full-time staff of either betas or female alphas. He didn’t hear a goddamn word any of us had to say.

And now he wantsusto be the ones to pick her up from the clinic?

It took every ounce of willpower I possessed to force myself to set her down on that hospital bed and walk away while she begged me and Leo to stay.

The disturbing part was, by then, she wasn’t even begging for a knot or pheromones. She was a scared kid who didn’t want to be left completely alone.

Nah, I can’t go back to work for Callahan. Even if I could be around Saylor, I wouldn’t be able to keep my mouth shut, and that man isn’t ready to hear what I would have to say.

ChapterOne

Saylor

A Little Over Three Years Later

Biting wind slaps against my face as I browse the stands for a hot chocolate or coffee station. Visiting the Christmas markets in Amsterdam has been on my bucket list since my mom told me about them when I was a kid. The markets are incredible, and it’s a once-in-a-lifetime trip to celebrate my twenty-first birthday. I’ll be back in school for my actual birthday, so I had to settle for coming a little early, but I don’t mind. The atmosphere is unlike anything I’ve seen back in the States.

I remember the smile on my mom’s face when she explained the cozy stalls and how it felt like there was actual Christmas magic in the air. Having her here with me would be the only thing that could make this trip better.

Hell, I’d settle for any company at the moment.

Avery stayed back at the hotel to enjoy a late afternoon nap. Jet lag made it a tempting prospect, but I’ve been dreaming about this for years.

I wasn’t going to let a little lingering exhaustion stop me. It might be a bit lonely to not have anyone to take it all in with, but I’m never completely on my own.

My team of two personal security specialists dutifully follow me around the stalls as I pick up souvenirs for my dad, stepmom, and little brothers. I snap a few selfies of myself in the small booths and take my time browsing.

If I head back to the hotel too quickly, I’ll probably pass out with how jet-lagged I am. I doubt I’d wake up for quite some time. Avery and I have plans for tonight, so I’m doing everything in my power to keep myself awake.

Clubs aren’t normally my idea of fun, mostly because I’ve never wanted to deal with the hassle of listening to my dad and stepmom complain if someone catches a picture that paints me in a negative light. That’s the benefit of being on a completely different continent, though.

I’ve traveled all over the US, but this is my first real international trip. Some stuff went down my senior year of high school, and I briefly considered doing university in England, but the prospect of leaving the States was a little too overwhelming, and I backed out before I could even tour schools.

Being in the Netherlands is a whole different level of freedom to what I normally have, and I’m starting to regret not taking more chances and living more adventures.

Spinning around to head to the shop across the street, I face-plant into Anderson’s chest. He’s one of my bodyguards, and it’s a fitting reminder that I’m never truly free.

His massive gloved hands come to rest on my shoulders, and he laughs, giving me a reassuring pat. “Sorry, I was shopping over your shoulder.”

I smile and immediately step aside.

Anderson and Daniels are both handsome, always polite, and they’re alphas, but I learned my lesson the hard way.

I let myself get attached to my security team once, and I will never allow that to happen again.

My head shakes, and I pick up the pace to get to another stall.

I need something to distract me.

Thinking about Leo and Shaw hurts almost as much as thinking about my mom—which is ridiculous.

They didn’t owe me anything.

And they sure proved how little you meant to them.

One day, they were there, and the next, they were gone. They didn’t even have the decency to say goodbye, which might be due to whatever happened the night I presented. Even before the omega facility drugged me, I have no memories after getting to the house party that I was told Shaw forcibly carried me out of.

---