Page 162 of Party Girl: How a Naughty Omega Finds Love
ChapterForty-Six
WHITNEY
While the sedative is kind enough to keep me asleep for most of the day, there are times when I wake up panting. Panic swelling in my chest like a balloon. There’s nothing to count to distract my mind. All I can do is breathe like Avi taught me and wait for my body to relax. Only I’m not in the safety of the pack home and this crappy concrete cell doesn’t exactly inspire calmness. I have no idea how much time passes, only that the same alpha guard comes back and each time I fight him, he wins.
I woke a little while ago, mouth dry and eyes bleary. No one has come to save me and I’ve given up hope. Who knows where the guys are? Or if they would even be brave enough to defy the Omega Council to break me out. I had hoped they would be, but after my fourth dose of sedative, my confidence in them is waning.
There’s a tray of stale food. Old bread, cheese that’s a little too blue for my liking, and an apple that’s too soft to be good. I don’t trust the food anyway. Picking up the Styrofoam cup that’s half filled with water, I sniff it to make sure there’s no obvious poison. There’s nothing to be done for anything that’s untraceable, but I’d rather not drink tainted water if I can avoid it. I gulp it down, groaning when there isn’t enough to come close to quenching my thirst. My stomach cramps, but I grind my teeth together.
I refuse to eat that food. Especially not with the bucket of my own piss and shit sitting in the corner next to it. A loud bang comes from the hall, and I jump, scrambling to the corner of the room and crouching low.
“What the fuck are you doing?” a guy shouts.
Rapid pops sound, and I cover my ears, blocking everything out but the count of my breaths. The door rattles, and I press into the wall, growling at whoever is out there. I may be weak, but I’ll fight back to the best of my abilities. Ever so slowly, the handle moves down, and light floods the room as the door opens.
Hayden rips a mask off and stands there, his hand splayed across the metal as he takes me in. I’m filthy. The room reeks. I’m trembling even though the beta before me is mine. He slowly lowers to his knees, resting his hands on his legs and staring at me.
“Trouble,” he croaks.
That’s when I break. My movements are slow, but I crawl to him and climb into his lap. My fingers grip his shirt as I cling to him, searching his face. He feels so real, but I could be dreaming. Another sedative induced vision. In the past however many days, I’ve seen my mother, Lindsey, and Granny. They were never warm though. Hayden is warm and his chest rumbles with a purr. He smells like rain and feels like home.
“Hayden?” I ask, staring into those tragically beautiful gray eyes.
“I’m here.”
“We need to move,” Trev’s voice comes from behind Hayden.
I lift my gaze to meet the alphas. I can’t get a read on his emotions, but it’s dark, and my eyes are already blurry again. Hayden adjusts me in his arms and stands, cradling me. I wrap my arms around his neck and rest my head against his chest.
“Hey, babe,” Asher says from the side.
“You guys came for me,” I say, pinching my eyes shut when Hayden starts to walk. I’m not entirely sure I’ll keep the water down.
“Of course we did,” Trev says. “I’m sorry it took so long.”
“You’re here now.” I groan, and Hayden stops walking.
“You okay?”
“A little nauseous, but I’m fine. Get me out of here.”
“We’re on the way out,” Asher says, but I don’t think he’s talking to me.
My eyelids flutter when I try to open them, weighed down with exhaustion.
“You’re safe now, trouble. I got you.”
I know you do, I want to say, but it’s like my body is shutting down. Everything is heavy and my brain forces me to sleep.
* * *
“Wake up, Whit.” Trev’s voice is soft and his fingers brush over my arm, carefully so as not to surprise me.
I blink a few times, my eyes adjusting to the darkness. Trev and I are the only ones in the car. He’s sitting next to me in the back seat, enough space between us that I don’t feel trapped. We’re parked outside of a hotel room. I glance around and take in the building. It’s run down and the doors are all on the outside. The light above our door is out, but the curtains let out some of the soft glow from the lights inside the room.
“Where are we?”
“Near the south edge of the city.”
