Page 28 of Of Daggers and Deceit

Gentle fingers touched my arm as sympathetic eyes searched mine. “Ready?” the other asked, and I nodded, the sharp pinch of pain in the delicate skin of my neck following quickly after.

I slapped a hand on it to apply pressure the moment the needle left my skin, rubbing against the now tender spot, feeling more like a product than a person. This feeling only intensified when the guards left quickly after, no questions asked or aftercare offered.

I gave myself a single moment to recover, an itch slightly rising at the spot where the needle had punctured before I turned back towards the compound and strode to the ornate bronze front door. I couldn’t think about the fact that I had a tracker under my skin now, nor how uneasy I felt that Zander knew my whereabouts at all times. With my hand held high, I gave three short but sharp raps and then waited.

A scuffling noise faintly sounded as a latch clicked over and the door swung open, revealing a tall, lanky Alpha I’d seen hanging around Bodhi on occasion. Hayden. I stared at his face, flushed red from exertion as he inhaled rapidly to catch his breath. Training had already started for the day. Damn it. Now my arrival would be extremely noticeable.

“Raya, good to see you,” he greeted warmly. I’d never really spoken to the Alpha before this. Though he’d never been outwardly rude to me, unlike some, he had also never truly bothered to engage me. It made his introduction feel strange and more familiar than we were. “Come through.”

He threw the heavy door open wider before turning and walking briskly over to the far right of the small, empty entryway to a second door, which had a small pin pad on the side. I panicked quickly, looking at the door now beginning to swing back shut, and darted through the opening to stand beside him in front of the other. The bang of the door shutting reverberated so loudly around the space that it felt like my bones were vibrating.

I was glad the room had been plunged into darkness with it, save for the small light near the keypad. It meant Hayden didn’t see me flinch. With the absence of light, I noticed the change in temperature to something far more pleasant and almost relieving for my skin. A small thing to be grateful for, given my souring day, and in times like this, I needed to acknowledge the small wins now more than ever.

Fingers tapped away against the pad ahead of us as I shifted lightly back and forth on either foot in anticipation. Bohdi had always kept this part of his life separate, though I knew most of the faces of the defence, having seen them out in the community. They’d always been cliquey, as Alphas usually are, and now I was forced into a position where I would have to actively try and find where I fit. If they would let me.

“You can relax, you know. You are one of us now.” He seemed kind enough from what I’d observed, but I definitely wasn’t like them at all. I knew the moment I displayed my power, everyone in the room would become wary. In a city where trust was limited, my power always put people on edge, even more so if they witnessed it in use.

I dipped my head slightly in thanks, though my gut began to ache as I followed him down the staircase.

Down, down, down we went into the darkness, with only a small sliver of artificial light underlining the edge of each step. The temperature noticeably cooled the further we went, reaching its lowest point when we came to a complete stop at the bottom in front of another door with a small blue light.

Hayden entered a code into the pin pad by the door and pushed it open to a warmer room with floor-to-ceiling mirrors on the walls. There were two heavy bronze doors off to the sides, leading to what I guessed were beds, bathrooms, and likely a kitchen of some sort.

I stepped through the doorway, my eyes immediately closing to a squint in protest to the obnoxiously bright light. It was an almost painful contrast to the darkened staircase.

The first person I noticed when my vision adjusted was Bohdi in the corner with no damn shirt on. He was sparring aggressively with…oh, anyone but her. Klarissa. My eyes narrowed to slits as I watched her dart closer, trying to grab and grapple him, smiling flirtatiously and drawing a laugh from him when she managed to pull him to the mats. My hands twitched, and Hayden coughed beside me, pulling my attention back to him and his stupid, knowing grin.

“You should just tell him you like him,” he supplied as he twirled the ring piercing his lip.

“Everyone likes him. You already know this,” I stated, being carefully avoidant of the true meaning of his question. My attention snagged back on the pair of them on the floor, jealousy twisting in my gut as her nails dragged down Bodhi’s skin playfully and Hayden laughed.

“Hmm…” he pondered. “Well if you aren’t going to be honest, then I guess you will have to learn to deal with that.” He jerked his thumb in the direction of Bodhi, who was now standing again with a towel to his forehead, wiping away his sweat. I ogled him, tracking his movements and following the trail of sweat that ran down from his pecs, over every hard ridge of his abdominal muscles, to absorb into his shorts. He was goddamn fit. Super fit. It was unfortunate Klarissa was still hovering nearby.

Hayden’s laughter erupted from beside me as he clasped a hand on my shoulder with a squeeze before he leaned in closer. “I promise I won’t tell him, Raya.”

I shook my head and rolled my eyes. His easy-going nature and conversation with me so far had me feeling much more at ease. I was grateful that, outside of Bodhi, he was the first Alpha who had greeted me today.

A dark shadow in my periphery caught my eye, and I turned towards Bodhi, who promptly snatched Hayden’s lingering hand and crushed it, forcing him to the floor with a howl of laughter. I stared between the two of them, both with stupid grins on their faces.

“Is this usual?” I asked, looking between the two.

Bodhi nodded as Hayden quipped, “Are we talking about the part where Bodhi is irrationally possessive of you or—" Bodhi’s glare was so fierce, laughter again burst forth from Hayden as he fought to get up off the floor.

Clearly, he enjoyed antagonising, and I decidedly quite liked that about him.

Bodhi’s cheeks flushed, and I took that as an opportunity to steer the topic to safer territory. “So do I finally get to see you shift today?”

Bodhi’s shifted form was the main thing I could confidently say I was super excited about seeing. I had never been allowed to view it, though I’d wondered if his form was as outwardly beautiful as he was.

He smiled nervously before confirming, “You will.” Then, he took my hand and pulled me over towards Klarissa, Hayden steadily following behind and a shorter, darker-skinned woman moving to take her place beside the antagonistic Alpha.

There were few bodies in the room today, Alphas fighting in pairs, some younger and some clear veterans a little older than me. However, it didn’t take many years to be considered a veteran with the risk being part of the defence posed and the toll that it wrecked on your body. Still, I wanted to know who exactly I was fighting alongside, especially when there were fewer than I expected, given the number of Omegas they protected each year.

“Will I not be introduced to everyone?” I asked. The group wasn’t ridiculously large, but Bodhi still shook his head.

“Everyone here knows that if you do not already know someone. It is better for everyone if you don’t bother to rectify that. Learn their faces, Raya, but that is all.” His tone was grim and hollow, and I swallowed painfully at the thought of it as I glanced around the room, noting how young some of these Alphas looked. I could read between the lines of what he meant by a comment like that, no matter how much I resented it.

Because they die.

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