Page 21 of Stolen By the Alpha Hunter
“I’ll be waiting outside if she causes any trouble,” Ephraim grunts.
Then he closes the door behind him.
I look at the woman with wide eyes, waiting for her to tell me what to do. She’s about my age, early twenties I think, her stomach slightly swollen. She’s pregnant—pregnant with my sibling, I would have to think. It makes my stomach roil to thinkof these women being trapped here when it’s my fault they’re treated so horribly.
I should never have left.
The punishment wasn’t worth it.
She comes around behind me and gets to work on the ropes at my wrist, untying them with deft hands. She barely makes a sound; if it weren’t for the fact that she was untying me, I wouldn’t even know she was there.
“Hi,” I whisper. “I’m Peaches. What’s your name?”
She pauses—but just for a second—before she proceeds with undoing the knots in the rope.
“You may call me Two,” she says.
It’s like a punch to the gut. They don’t even have names. He’s even taken that from these omegas.
“What’s your real name?” I ask.
No answer.
She comes around in front of me and runs a bath in a big clawfoot tub at the other side of the room, not once meeting my eyes. Two stares right at the running water, her body wrapped in nothing more than what looks like a white sheet. My guilt only deepens when I realize what she’s wearing around her neck. At first, I thought it was a necklace, but now I see that it’s made of a thin band of leather, a silver loop around one side.
It’s a collar.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
She still doesn’t respond.
I shimmy out of my jeans and my sweater, tossing them in a pile by the door as I bid my old life goodbye. I don’t think I’ll see those clothes again—not even the pink sweater I scrounged up in an old department store, one of my favorite pieces. I gaze at it for just a second and allow myself to think of Austin…then I step toward the bath.
At least for now, I need to forget about my pack.
Focus on surviving now.
Two helps me into the bath, which is blissfully warm, the heat sinking into my aching muscles, my raw wrists, the bruises that bloom beneath my skin. I slide lower, letting the water rise up to my nose, blowing out a slow breath, feeling the warmth surround me.
For a moment, I imagine disappearing into it completely.
But before I can sink any further, Two’s hands grab me.
She yanks me up slightly, her grip tight, her eyes wide with something that almost looks like fear.
"Don't inhale the water," she says, voice too sharp, too urgent. "We can't...it isn't safe..."
I blink at her, confused. "Two, it's okay. I'm just trying to get clean."
Her fingers twitch against my arm, her breathing uneven, like she’s still struggling to get enough air.
"We almost lost someone that way," she whispers.
I go still.
Something icy curls in my stomach.
Not lost in the water.
