Page 10 of Dodging Bullets

My eyes snapped open, and in the darkness, I wondered if it was all a dream. My rescue. Not being in that hole anymore. Max and Rio. Had it all been just a delusion, a hopeful fantasy?

But there was a putrid smell wafting over my face, accompanied by a soft snore, and when I looked over, Doodles was asleep on the pillow next to me, snoring like an old man, his dog breath unpleasant.

Doodles was here. I was okay. It wasn’t a dream.

I shifted quietly from beneath the blankets, desperate to go to the bathroom. I shouldn’t have worried about waking up the dog, though, because he didn’t even flutter an eyelid as I crawled from the nest. In fact, if he wasn’t snoring, I’d wonder if he was dead.

Quickly moving through my toilet routine, I eyed the big glass cube in the middle. OJ had introduced me to showers last night. She’d talked me through how to use the digital temperature settings, and even turned it on for me. Nothing in her demeanour said she pitied me, having obviously never used a shower before. At the Homestead, we’d always had bathtubs that most of us hauled water from the well for if we needed to bathe, but there didn’t seem to be a tub in here. I’d have to ask, I guess. Or I could just use the shower. It couldn’t be too different, right?

Suddenly, the idea of being clean again was an overwhelming compulsion. Stripping off my clothes, I folded them and left them on the sink. This shower had a control pad, like OJ’s, and when I pressed what I assumed were the right buttons, water fell from the large head fixed in the roof.

I grinned as I stepped into the perfectly warm water. I stood beneath the stream, washing away my worries and fears, even if it was just for a moment.

Maybe it could be even warmer. Turning to the control pad, I pressed a few more buttons, but nothing happened. Maybe she’d pressed that button too?—

Water poured from every single direction, straight at me. My face, back, legs, belly were all suddenly pummeled with jets of water. Screeching, I mashed at the digital pad, but somehow, it just made the water colder.

“Argh!” I needed to get out. I felt like I was drowning.

The door to the shower was wrenched open, and big arms were lifting me out, someone else pressing the buttons that controlled the shower, shutting it off. A large hand ran over my face, wiping away the water from my eyes, and I stared up at Rio. Max appeared beside him, a large fluffy towel in his hands, and I realized I was naked.

The Alpha was holding me naked.

We appeared to realize it at the same time, and he dropped me to my feet, Max quickly wrapping me up in the towel. Though, calling it a towel seemed almost offensive. It was so large, I could’ve wrapped it around myself twice.

Rio was staring down at me with dark brown eyes, like he was assessing me for damage. “Are you okay?”

All I wanted to do was climb back into his arms again. It made no sense, but I wanted to drag him into my nest and push him back against the pillows and lie on his chest. Once again, my body and my mind were at war.

As if sensing my turmoil, Max gently nudged me toward the bedroom. “We’ll be in the kitchen. I’ve made breakfast, if you’d like to join us?” It was a suggestion, not an order. I knew if I said no, they’d still feed me.

I nodded jerkily, and Max shoved at Rio’s shoulder until they were both out of the bedroom and I could hear the soft sounds of them padding down the hallway. Sucking in a deep breath, I moved to the bag of clothing OJ had lent me last night andpulled out some more loose pants and an oversized sweater. They ballooned around my body, and smelled a little like the other Omega, which made my skin itch.

Why did the scent of other Omegas make me feel wrong? Was it just being out in the world, surrounded by other Omegas and Alphas, that was making my senses go haywire?

I let out a silent scream. There was so much I didn’t know, decades of knowledge to learn. I hated thisso much.I wanted to climb back into my nest and never come out.

That’s what Leader Malakai would have wanted. For me to give up. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. Because now I knew he was a liar. He hadn’t been there to protect us, protect me. He’d been the evil force keeping us down, and that knowledge caused another sensation I didn’t get to feel often.

It made me incandescent with rage.

Six

Paloma

When I emerged from my room, I nearly ran into Rio coming back down the hall. He had a tray of food in his hands, including a big travel mug of what smelled like coffee. He gave me a quick smile. “Go on down the hall. I’m just dropping off breakfast to Llew.”

Llew. The unknown second Alpha in their group. The one who was sick, but they were hesitant with the details. Maybe it was Alpha prerogative to be liars. Betas too.

Rio waited until I was headed down the hall before he continued on. Just before I turned the corner, I couldn’t help but look back over my shoulder. Curiosity had always been my biggest sin, according to Sister Roberta, and she was probably right. Hers had been self-righteousness.

Through the now-open door, I could see the shadow of Rio and another, almost impossibly large silhouette in front of the window. I felt the moment the eyes of the other Alpha saw me, like a caress on my skin. Felt it down to the very atoms of my core.

Scared, I disappeared around the corner, almost running until I made it to the kitchen. Max was there, smiling as he flipped pancakes onto a serving platter. A designated mancooking made my brain fizzle. The Leaders didn’t cook. They didn’t even serve themselves. Not even the Brothers and Sisters cooked; that was the role of the undesignated. But here was Max—who wasn’t an Alpha, granted, but was still a powerful Beta—in a short, frilly apron with what looked like a pair of sequined underwear embroidered on the front. I stared at the apron for longer than was probably polite.

Looking down, he flushed red. “Oh. It was a gift from my sister. She has a weird sense of humor. Come and sit down. Would you like coffee? Juice?”

I looked at the table, then back at Max. “Shouldn’t I… Don’t you want me to serve you?”

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