Page 45 of Broken Dreams

No, I mouth, shaking my head. This is a nightmare. Well, if not a nightmare, some kind of cruel joke from the universe. This can’t be real.

“It’s real, baby,” Linus says, as if he can see the mixed emotions flowing over my features. “There was a jail break of sorts after your heat. They were there the whole time.”

One of the issues of my heat is that I don’t remember much of it afterward. Alpha Sanchez has said he’s attended some of them, but I’m so out of it, I have no idea.

I think it’s because I sometimes go six months in between them. Bret can increase how much he’ll charge each spot for my or Linus’ heat if they’re less frequent. He controls the heats for all the omegas since they also affect who is working on the floor of the club. The time in between them is both a blessing and a curse because of how terrible my heats are.

Greed always finds a way to get what it wants.

Shaking my head with wide eyes, I try to convey that I don’t remember much of my heats.

“I know you were really out of it,” he says, pushing my hair out of my face. “You know these alphas, huh?”

Biting my lip, I sit up slowly. Linus moves with me, gently shifting me so I’m no longer on top of him. I guess I’ve been sleeping for a while? I have no idea what time my heat broke.The fact that there’s sunlight streaming through the windows tells me hours have passed, though.

Vibrant green eyes meet mine in the rear view mirror. There’s familiarity in them as well as worry. His brown hair is cut closely, and there’s red-tinged stubble on his cheeks.

“Hey, Quinnie,” he whispers. Tears blur my vision, and I blink furiously.

God, that name. It’s been twenty years since I’ve heard it.

“Callum,” Duncan growls, as if in warning. The reminder of how much they used to argue makes me shudder from the weight of my memories.

“Fuck,” Linus mutters. “So they’re not lying.”

I shrug because I don’t know what they’ve talked about before. I have no idea if they’re lies or not.

“This is a lot, I know. I’m sorry we couldn’t do this another way,” Duncan says, twisting to look at me. His sky blue eyes appear as if they’re trying to see into my soul.

I can only gaze at them for a short time before I hide my face in Linus’ shoulder. The things I’ve had to do, I don’t want him to see that. My soul is filthy, stained with the years I’ve been used by others for their own pleasure.

Duncan’s deep breath doesn’t end in a sigh as if I’m annoying him, but as the beginning of what he has to say instead.

“Alright, let’s take this real slow,” he rumbles. His voice makes me want to wrap myself in it. It’s patient and calm, yet apologetic as well.

I don’t think he has much to apologize for. I’m the one who ignored their warnings. I threw away my future for what? To follow my father’s wishes and hang out with girls who hated me?

So damn stupid. Normalcy is dumb too. It all is. I’d happily go back and do it all again, but then I wouldn’t have Linus. Fuck, the universe is cruel.

“Hey, beautiful. It’s okay if you can’t look at me right now. Callum and I have missed you for a really long time,” he whispers. It’s like he’s only talking to me and no one else. Linus may have shifted me to sit on the seat next to him, but the weight of his arm is still around my shoulders.

He’s solid and real, which means this is real. I’m not dreaming, I’m not dead. Oh, God.

The tears I’m silently crying fall off my skin onto Linus’ chest. Somehow, I’m wearing someone’s shirt, and I don’t know whose since Callum and Duncan are wearing shirts too. My bare foot bumps against the canvas of a bag that’s lumpy, telling me that’s probably where the clothes came from.

Everything feels too big, so the little sensory things help provide answers without words. It’s how I’m getting from moment to moment.

“We’ve never stopped looking for you,” Duncan continues, without missing a beat at my silence. Does he know how broken I am? “Recently, we found out that you were still alive. Rock Dresmond told his kids about a visit he paid you, and they told us. We happen to be friends with Pack Dresmond and their omega.”

The information dump flows over me as he speaks, slow enough for me to process. Rock Dresmond… Do I know him?

“He’s come to the club a few times,” Linus murmurs. “He’s watched you dance, and I think you’ve given him a blow job once or twice. The years have a way of blending into the other. I do remember, though, that his pack bought out your heat once. Those are some scary fuckers.”

“They are now dead fuckers,” Callum speaks up. “Adira Firestone, Pack Dresmond’s omega and our really good friend, killed them.”

“A very platonic friend,” Linus rumbles, making my lips twitch.

Does he think I’d be jealous?We’ve been apart for twenty years. I don’t have that right. We also are just friends as far as I understand.

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