Page 19 of Inside the Sun

I blink. My parents? That’s not like them.

"A few hours?"

He nods. His expression’s cautious. This is beyond unusual. They’ve never tried to contact me since I was stationed here. I’m the one who calls, at scheduled times, on a secure line.

I head to my room and open the encrypted military channel. A moment later, my dad’s face fills the screen. Then my father joins him.

Dad’s eyes are red and swollen, his face is pale, drawn tight with tension.

"Raggi… we’ve got bad news. Terrible news."

All my senses go hyper-focused. I already know this isn’t a conversation I’ll walk away from the same.

"There’s been a situation," my dad says, voice rough.

"What happened? Tell me."

He hesitates. I hate the pause. My stomach knots.

Dad wipes his eyes, sniffles.

"Anzo Ferro showed up at the house."

Fuck.

My entire body goes rigid. Like a predator ready to strike. Every muscle pulled taut like steel wire.

"This about Moon?" I ask, somehow keeping my voice level.

"Anzo says Moon ran away. He’s claiming he can’t find him. But probably he’s lying. I think he killed him and just doesn’t want to admit it. That man is a monster," Dad says, words tumbling out all at once.

My throat tightens. I can barely swallow. It hasn’t even fully hit yet.

Moon is my twin brother.

"He’s alive," I whisper. "I’d know if he wasn’t." I force the words out. But they don’t respond. They just sit there, heads down.

Then my father speaks.

"Ferro accused us of hiding Moon. He had our house searched."

"But that’s not the worst part!" Dad cuts in, voice breaking, tears spill down his face.

"They took Summer, Raggi!" He buries his face in his hands, sobbing. My father wraps his arms around him, trying to hold him together as he cries hard.

I can’t believe what I’m hearing.

"Repeat that," I say slowly. "What do you mean, they took Summer?"

It doesn’t sound real. It’s like a nightmare unraveling in real time.

"Anzo said since he lost Moon, he’s taking Summer instead. As areplacement. A new husband. Probably to save face. He doesn’t want to look weak, letting his omega run away? It’s humiliation in their world."

I press my fingers to my temples. My head’s pounding.

Summer? My little brother? He’s not even twenty yet. His birthday’s in three months. A sweet, shy omega who’s been homeschooled his whole life. Our parents sheltered him, protected him from the world because of his special nature. They were afraid someone would find out. That he’d be taken, experimented on.

And in the end, he was taken anyway. Not by the government, not by the military. But by a fucking mafia boss!

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