Page 83 of Shades of Scars

“Wh-what?”

“The name. Did you get the name you wanted in exchange for my omega’s life, as well as the life of my pack’s unborn child and another innocent omega?” Shock shudders her features as my words slap her in the face like a physical blow. She jerks back, but Fraser has a good grip on her hair so she doesn’t get far..

“Child? Oh, fuck.” She croaks, but I don’t give her a flicker of emotion as I stare her down. “I didn’t know!”

“It doesn’t matter!” Caito snarls like a wild animal, snapping forward to wrap his hand around her throat and lift her up off the ground. I feel absolutely nothing as I watch my sister’s feet dangle up off the floor. The only thing I feel is the undercurrents of fury steadily pumping through my veins, fueling me for what is yet to come.

Righteous fucking vengeance.

Fraser allows Caito to take over holding her, but he doesn’t move far. He watches her in a way that I’m sure is making every nurse huddled behind the receptionist’s desk nervous as hell. They are probably shitting their pants, but no one will intervene. Not unless they want to tangle with the Infinity Ring.

“Lark, go check in with the nurses station and see if you can’t get an update on Apollo. Caito and Fraser are going to take Raven somewhere private for a more in-depth chat.” I start to bark out orders while turning away.

“Wren, please-” Raven’s plea is cut off by a choked gasp. No doubt Caito has smothered anything else she might’ve said with his crushing grip around her throat. I don’t really give a fuck anymore. The only thing I can focus on is getting my omega back and making sure my pack brother makes it through this alive.

“Where are you going?” Lark keeps up with me for a moment so that I can give him an answer.

“I’m going to take Sutton Malakei up on his offer for aid.”

I don’t care what it takes. Harlan Fucking Erossi is going to regret ever crossing me and mine.

54

Scarlett

Iwake with a foul taste in my mouth. It almost reminds me of the time I ate a spoonful of rotten honey by accident when I was a child, but not quite. It takes several long heartbeats before I will my eyelids to flutter open, though it feels like someone has super glued them shut after sprinkling sand on them.

Soft light seeps through gauzy curtains that are only half closed, making me squint where I am curled up on my side on a too stiff mattress covered in swaths of gold and silver. I try to lift my head slightly to take stock of my situation, but it’s difficult. My head feels like it’s weighed down by two ton bricks.

The sound of metal rattling against metal echoes around the room when I shift my body, alerting me to a heavy weight wrapped around my right ankle. I bring my leg up, and grimace when I spot the metal cuff attached to the long chain I know will be bolted to the floor at the foot of the bed.

Memories start filtering through me, and I’m reminded just how fucked I really am. I squeeze my eyes shut when the vision of Apollo falling to his knees tries to flash across my mind. The echo of the gunshot that pierced his chest ricochets in my skull, and it takes me biting down on my tongue hard enough to draw blood to get the sound to dissipate.

Somehow, the coppery taste of my blood in my mouth helps center me.

I sit up slowly, already knowing what I’ll find. Though the room isn’t familiar, everything else about this situation is. I’m still dressed in the crimson red bikini I’d had on while sitting by the pool with Kate. There is a tender ache in the back of my skull from where I’d fallen back and hit my head when an explosion had shook the building.

An explosion that had no doubt been a distraction. Another elaborate ploy of Harlan’s.

Dragging my legs up to my chest, I ignore the metal cuff around my ankle as I wrap my arms around my knees. I must’ve been dosed with something to transport me to this place, wherever it is, because I can feel the twinge in my neck where the needle had sunk into flesh and muscles.

I sit there for what feels like hours, thinking about all the decisions and moments that have led me here. Part of me wants to berate myself for allowing this to happen by getting close to my alphas, but I quickly squash that thought. I won’t allow myself to regret the things I shared with them and the life we’d started to create together.

I fold a hand across my flat abdomen. Whatever happens here, I can’t allow Harlan to find out I carry my alpha’s child. It’s the one thing I’d failed at when he’d held me all those years. If he somehow finds out I’ve been able to get pregnant with other alphas, he’ll lose his shit.

I don’t want to think about what he might do.

Another few minutes pass by in silence as I think about what my alphas must be enduring. They definitely know I’m gone by now. I wonder how they are faring with me and Apollo-

I cut off that thought, slamming it down into the depths of my brain where most of my nightmares reside. Just as I drag in a shaky breath, I hear the lock click on the door a second before it swings open. I already know who it is without lifting my headfrom my knees. I’d sensed him through the partial bond before he’d even approached the door.

It’s hard to tune out your own monsters when you share some convoluted bond.

“Get up and greet your alpha,pet.” He sneers, but I curl my lip and ignore him. I don’t want to look at him. He chuckles when I don’t respond. Then, he says, “Bring her in.”

Metal rattles, and then something thuds hard against the floor, finally dragging my attention. My entire body goes rigid at the sight of Kate on her knees beside him, chains trapping her hands behind her back.

Horror washes through me when I take in her appearance. She’s dressed in a pure white teddy made of lace and silk, but the outfit isn’t what steals the breath from my lungs.

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