Page 12 of Faith and Fury

“Here we are.”

Caleb pulls into a sheltered parking lot. As we descend beneath the concrete roof, my head fills with static.

No. Not again.

I rip my seatbelt off. The car door handle won’t budge, no matter how hard I yank at it. Window. I’ll just have to smash the—

“Omega! Hey, Faith, it’s alright. We’ve stopped. We’ve stopped.”

Something moves in my peripheral vision. Reaching. Getting closer.

“Don’t touch her.” I recognize Caleb’s voice. “Just give it a minute.”

Bit by bit, reality comes back into focus. We’re parked halfway down the drive, and both alphas are staring at me. A warm, woody aroma rolls over the car, mixed in with something sweet. Chocolate?

Alphas’ scents, my inner omega purrs.

Jaxon gets the door for me. I pointedly ignore his hand, gritting my teeth as I put weight on my bad ankle.

It takes a few minutes for Caleb to park, during which time I scan the premises—an old apartment complex slathered in exposed brick, roughly ten stories high. The foyer is at the top of the driveway, the sliding glass door locked with a passkey.

Simple, but secure.

“We’ve got the penthouse,” Jaxon informs me proudly. “Top floor.”

I should be glad. The top floor of anything has got be better than being stuck underground, right? But for some reason my gut twists, my inner omega throwing her guard up once more.

Reminding me I very well may be trading one prison for another.

***

A lean alpha with white-blond hair and glowing amber eyes meets me in the doorway. “Hi there. It’s a pleasure.”

I’ll bet, I almost sign.

Caleb puts his bag down. “Faith, meet Micah. Micah—” his gaze lingers. “This is Faith. The omega I was telling you about.”

Micah smiles. He has a nervous air about him, though whether that’s because he’s scared of me, or scared of scaring me, I’m not sure. “Maybe I could show you around?”

Almost automatically, I sneak a glance at Caleb. He nods encouragingly.

Micah walks me through the den—Wilder Den, he keeps calling it. It’s an open-floor layout, so each space kind of bleeds into the next. The wooden floorboards and brick walls give everything a uniquely rustic look. Cozy, too.

“I’m home most days,” Micah explains, “so I try to keep the place tidy.”

I shift my gaze to the east-facing wall—though it’s more window than wall.

“Ah.” He laughs. “Don’t worry. The way the building is facing, no-one can see in.”

Actually, I was thinking about just how much light this place gets. My inner omega delights at the thought.

“Everything okay?”

I snap back to Micah. He puts his hands up, realizing he’s standing too close.

“Sorry about that.” He considers for a moment before turning to his packmates. “Did you guys pick up the stuff I asked for?”

“Oh, right!” Jaxon darts off, returning with an A3 notepad and marker. “Here you go.”

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