Page 8 of Caged Between the Beta & Alpha
“The teeth have all been taken too,” the Delta, Zack, said quietly. I knew him as he was only slightly younger than I was.
“What the fuck happened?” Liam’s voice came from behind us. I turned to see him shirtless, and clearly, he had been in the middle of a shower.
He glanced at me, his frown deepening when he looked at Damon before he brushed past us both. Sparks flew through me at his touch and my breath hitched. Fuck…
“Scour the area. Did anyone witness anything? Who found the body?” he asked, his Alpha aura whirling around him.
“Ralf… his brother,” Zack said, motioning to the side with a jerk of his head.
I turned to see a boy around twelve or thirteen sitting under a tree, shaking, and rocking himself. An omega child. Shit, why the hell was no one comforting him? I hurried over to him and sat down, wrapping my arms around him.
“Hey, it’s okay, I got you,” I whispered, seeing his hands tangled tightly into his hair.
“It’s not true. It’s not true,” he muttered repeatedly. Liam approached, looking down at him.
“When did you find him?” he asked. The boy continued to mutter, not even hearing Liam, who frowned.
“Can’t you see it has affected him greatly and you’re asking questions?” I asked icily. His gaze snapped to me, and his eyes flashed.
“And didn’t I say to everyone to stay inside?” he growled.
“You did.”But that doesn’t mean I would listen!
I looked away from him, feeling two pairs of eyes on me, but they could look and get as mad as they wanted because right then, I was more concerned about the kid who had seen his brother in that horrifying state. I knew his face would haunt my dreams too.
“Scour the area, track any scent that lingers here, and I want anyone whose scent is here to be brought in for questioning. Maybe they saw something... this doesn’t look like a normal killing.”
“What was the cause of death?”
“No fucking idea…”
“Maybe poison. Request an autopsy,” Liam muttered.
“There’s no strange scent from him…”
“Wait, what is that?” Damon said suddenly, making me look up sharply as he bent down and took a piece of paper from the man’s hand. The group of men fell silent, and I looked at them curiously.
“What does it say?” I asked. No one spoke, and I frowned. “Tell me.” Damon turned, his eyes meeting mine, and he frowned, holding it up.
“Who’s next?”
Last night, theimage of the omega, Ryan, kept replaying in my mind. I couldn’t sleep or anything. The way his mouth had been cut open, his teeth ripped out, and no lingering scent? It was creepy. I shuddered, unable toremove that image from my head as I got dressed for training in a sports bra, leggings, and an oversized hoodie before grabbing my portable music player and jumping out the window. It had always been my way out, and although my parents hated it, if Dad wasn’t so controlling, I wouldn’t have to. Okay, maybe I still would.
I walked to the training fields, and, to my dismay, Damon was standing there, dressed in baggy bottoms, a black vest, and sneakers. He was leaning against the wall and looking at the throng of people who were training. My heart skipped a beat as I looked him over. He really had gotten even more handsome over the years, if that was even possible. He had lost the boyish look he once supported; his face was more angled and rugged. His eyes snapped towards me, and my heart skipped a beat when I thought I saw them flash pale green as he looked me over. He gave me a small smile and pushed himself away from the wall.
“Hey,” he said, looking down at me.
“Hi, are you here for the training session?” I asked, taking out the bandages for my hands and beginning to wrap them up. I didn’t want to just stare into those eyes of his.
“Partially… we didn’t get to talk properly yesterday. I, uh, congratulations on the new rank.”
I glanced up at him. Had he been thrown off by seeing me yesterday? I wasn’t sure if it was that or that I saw him step away from Robyn a little too quickly.
“Thanks.”
“I checked out the training plans. I liked them, a lot. Especially the wolf vs human sparring. That’s something we haven’t actually done, and your points were pretty neat.” I nodded and began doing my stretches. We hadn’t spoken much in three years, so why should that change now? “Welcome home, Raven.” His voice was soft, and I didn’t miss the sadness in it.
I looked up at him sharply. My chest felt painfully tight. As much as I felt his sadness was genuine, we both knew his duty to his Alpha and the bond he had with Liam clearly outdid what we had. That did hurt, but I couldn’t blame him. Was that why the Moon Goddess gave me two mates? In hopes that perhaps one might just accept me? Or her having sympathy for someone like me? All I had wanted was someone who would love and cherish me.
