Page 2 of Of Daggers and Deceit

“Is Daddy going to die?” she asked with a hiccup.

I shook my head. “Your daddy is strong, so he won’t die. We are Alphas. We are all very tough.”

That was a lie. I wasn’t an Alpha, but everyone else in the Outer Ring was—save for my mother, the only Omega, but her circumstances were partially my fault. I was born a Gifted, with a dangerous power I could scarcely control, too dangerous to mingle with the Omegas of the Inner Ring. But I didn’t dare tell these girls; they hadn’t yet developed the fear others had, and it was nice to speak with those who held no assumptions of me.

The oldest sniffled again, her sibling watching her, clearly not entirely understanding everything that was happening. “It’s okay, Friya. I will protect us while Daddy’s gone.”

My heart clenched, and for a single moment, it felt as if I was staring at a younger version of Riley and me, back when my mother was deeply depressed, lost in her grief as she tried her best to care for two growing children, still waiting for her bonded, my father, to return as he’d promised.

Except we’d been waiting my entire life.

The girl mumbled something inaudible, swiping her hand up her nose just as a shadow fell over us. The girls looked up curiously, and I stood immediately in response, pushing the girls behind me.

“Ray,” he greeted before I looked at him, and my shoulders sagged in relief.

“Oh, Bodhi, did you ask around about who the girls could live with for this week?” My mum was straight into problem solving already as she looked towards him. With her long, dark hair styled intricately and her skin perfectly unmarred, she had never looked like she belonged in this ring, but somehow, she still assimilated just fine.

“Filly will take the girls in for the duration of their father’s sentence.” He looked over at the two girls and gave them a charming smile. They returned it easily, as everyone did with Bodhi, and continued to inspect him. My lips quirked up as I watched the younger girl step to the side to try and see more of his hair colour. Though it was shaved, his light pink hair was unnatural for an Alpha and made him even more intriguing, especially when combined with his olive skin, towering height, and autumnal eyes.

“Thank you,” I said as he gifted me the same smile he had given them before grabbing their hands and walking off towards their new home for the week. At least everyone in this ring knew that the only people we could rely on were ourselves and each other. There was something warm and comforting about that.

A baton struck metal in the background, causing us all to flinch as guards yelled for everyone to move out and get to work for the day. I turned towards my mum to watch her, as I always did after events like this.

She stood motionless, watching the cage, her eyes locked on the Alpha’s hung head, his long hair covering his face and his body already dirty from the sandy floor.

“Whatever you’re thinking, don’t do it,” I whispered, her jaw clenching briefly before relaxing again.

“I can’t stand watching this and doing nothing,” she murmured, and my fists tightened.

“Nobody can stand to watch this, but we must. We must. Otherwise, we will end up there ourselves.”

She turned back towards me, her lips stained deeply red, like she’d bitten them over and over these last few minutes.

“But if we possess the capacity to act, we should,” she pushed. My eyes shuttered of their own volition. We couldn’t afford to risk attention, not at this time of year.

“The worst month of the year is upon us. You cannot afford to risk a week, let alone two weeks in there for doing something reckless.”

I flicked back to watch the limp Alpha kneeling in his cage, a place he would stay for another week with no food, no water, and no bathroom breaks.

“An Alpha will survive that.” I jerked my head towards him then looked her straight in the eye.

“Perhaps,” she said, her expression thoughtful. She knew what was implicit in my words. An Omega like you will not.

She turned her back on me and began to walk back home as I hurried my steps to follow her, realizing I’d be late for work.

My mum was short and small, but goddess, she was mighty, and though we didn’t look alike, I knew we at least shared stubbornness.

Everyone around us moved on with their day. We had no other choice, but nobody ever forgot moments like this morning. They had a way of burrowing into your mind and staying there.

It was my mum’s next words that cemented that reality as I hurried along beside her, eager to commence my day. “An Alpha may physically survive that, Raya, but it’s his will and spirit that will forever be broken. That is most difficult to replace.”

RAYA

My mum and I had parted ways as soon as we funnelled back into the house with a tension that hadn’t been there this morning. I was busy tying my hair up into a ponytail readying myself for my workday when I heard her call out to let me know she was leaving.

My stomach rolled at the thought of what I had to do today in my job, to work in that same place I’d once experienced so much pain and grief.

My hands fisted. No. I wouldn’t let this get the better of me this year. It had been eight years since I’d made such a stupid mistake. I needed to conquer this, and today, I would.

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