Page 5 of Dodging Bullets

I missed my home. My sisters and brothers. I missed knowing who I was, my place in my world. If I could leave, I might even go home, beg Leader Malakai to take me back. I would be a better Omega. I’d be so good; he’d never have to punish me again.

Anything was better than this.

A steady thump pounded through the ceiling above me, and I looked up. Was it time for Joseph to come again? I looked over at the half-eaten rations on the table. Normally, I rationed out the food so I wasn’t hungry. The hunger in my belly was the only way I could partially judge the time, so I didn’t think it had been that long.

Fear rushed up to gag me. Unusual was not good. An optimistic part of my brain wondered if they were going to let me go, but every other part of me immediately shut it down. They hadn’t taken me from my home to keep me as a pet. Something worse was about to happen.

The hatch in the ceiling opened, and I curled up tighter in the bed, hearing the ladder squeak as someone climbed down.

“Fucking hell,” a voice growled, and I twitched. That wasn’t Joseph. I moved my hands from my eyes and lowered the blankets a fraction.

The man who stood in the room with me wasn’t one of the people who’d taken me from the Homestead. He was tall, taller than any man I’d ever met, and almost gangly. Like his arms and legs had grown out of control. His jaw was strong and smooth, and his eyes were dark, or maybe the shadows cast by the small battery-powered lights just made them look that way. He smelled like the slightly spicy Christmas cookies we used to make as kids.

“Omega?” he called softly, his voice now far more gentle than when he’d first jumped down. “I’m not going to hurt you. My name is Max, and I’m here to rescue you.”

Would he take me back to the Homestead? Despite my thoughts a moment ago, something inside me rebelled at going back to the place that had discarded me so easily.

As he took another step toward me, I curled tighter into a ball. This was my chance to leave this hole. But what if this man took me somewhere else? Did something worse?

He squatted down, so he wasn’t looming over me. “I promise you’re safe now. Do you have a name?”

I still couldn’t speak. Not since that smiling Alpha had told me to be quiet. So I said nothing.

The guy, Max, lifted the blankets a little. “We have to go. I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do, but you can’t stay down here.”

I sucked in a shaking breath. I had to be brave. He was right, this unfamiliar Beta. I couldn’t stay here, so I had to take a chance on him. I sat up on the bed, and the Beta shuffled back a little, his hands still out in front of him. As I pushed the blankets from my legs, his eyes ran over me. Not in the way thatthe Leader’s eyes had sometimes looked at me, but the way you might appraise an injured animal.

“Are you hurt anywhere?” I shook my head. “Can you walk?” I nodded.

He gave me a wide smile, and something stuttered in my chest. It was a nice smile. It made me feel… warm. Safe even, which was ridiculous, considering where I was.

“That’s so good, Omega. Now, we’re going to climb out of this hole, and I promise, no one will ever trap you again. Let’s go.”

I stood, making sure my veil was over my head, preventing him from seeing my face. I needed this curtain between me and this world I didn’t understand. He stood back up to almost his full height, his shoulders curling in a little, like he didn’t want to scare me by being tall. He could be five feet tall, and I’d still be terrified.

I moved toward the ladder on wobbling knees. A few weeks of poor meals and no space to move around had made my muscles weak. Climbing one step at a time, I felt Max move to stand at the bottom of the ladder.

“I’m here. I’ll catch you if you fall, I promise.”

It was oddly reassuring from a complete stranger. But I put one foot in front of the other, the soft, silky slippers on my feet providing very little grip on the rungs, and my long skirt getting caught on every step. When I slipped close to the top, large hands were on my waist, steadying me.

“Almost there,” he murmured, removing his hands as soon as I was secure.

Finally, I climbed over the top edge and into what looked like Leader Malakai’s office back at the Homestead. Big walnut desk. Spinning chair. A couch along one wall. Knotted rug that was rolled back to show a trapdoor.

Max was up over the edge behind me in seconds, stooping down to help me to my feet, but my legs felt weak. “Would itbe okay if I carried you? If you need to get down, for whatever reason, just tap my shoulder twice and I’ll give you space.”

I didn’t want to be manhandled again, but worse than that would be staying here longer than necessary. Nodding, I raised my arms, and he grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and wrapped it around my shoulders. I hated that it smelled of Alpha, but I liked that it was one more thing to hide beneath. He slipped his arms behind my knees and under my back, then I was hefted into the air like I weighed nothing. He shouldered his way out the door, moving at incredible speed toward wherever we were going.

I could smell the fear and terror in the room we strode through, along with the burnt scent of anger. I turned my face into Max’s chest and breathed in his Christmas cookie scent instead, like my life depended on him.

I almost cried when I felt the cool breeze on my face a moment later, though the darkness remained. It was night time, that was obvious, and there was a cacophony of noise coming from a large box vehicle on my left.

“What the actual fuck isthat?” someone growled, and my whole body went stiff with fear.

Alpha. Another Alpha.

I whimpered and tightened my grip on Max. I needed to run. But I couldn’t outrun an Alpha. Max had said he would protect me, but so had Leader Malakai. What if he was just here to hand me over to another Alpha? The burning citrus in this Alpha’s scent made me want to lose the miniscule amount of food I had in my stomach.

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