Page 19 of Fired at the Heart

I remember the metal digging into my mother’s wrists as she held me close, whispering lullabies through cracked lips, promising me that one day, we’d be free. But she never made it out of those chains. Her body had grown too weak, her spirit too battered. She had died still shackled like these Omegas, and no one had come for her.

The lock clicks, and the Omega’s restraints fall away. She doesn’t move, doesn’t react, as if she doesn’t quite believe she’s free.

I place a careful hand on her shoulder. “You’re safe now. We’re getting you out of here.”

Raphael looks at me from across the room, soft understanding in his expression. He’s always been able to read me too well. He doesn’t say anything, just keeps working, freeing the next Omega in line with swift efficiency.

As I move to the next captive, I try to stay in the present, but the past rises from the shadows of my mind. I was born in a place like this. The forgotten child of an Omega no one cared about. My mother had been nothing more than property, a nameless number in someone’s ledger.

The same man who trained Caleb had saved me from that place. He raised me and put the first knife in my hand, ensuring I’d be strong enough to never become a victim.

The shackles fall from another set of wrists, and the clink of metal fills the room as Raphael works to free the ones on his side, opening locks almost as fast as I do. Turns out he wasn’t bluffing about keeping his skills sharp.

I focus on my side of the room, my fingers steady as I work to unlock the heavy chains. The Omegas watch me, their bodies trembling with fear and exhaustion, their expressions wide with fear.

One by one, the shackles fall away, and the Omegas stumble forward, their legs weak from disuse. I catch a young woman as she staggers, her body frail and light in my arms.

“Thank you.” Her hand shakes as she grasps my arm. “Thank you so much.”

My throat tightens with emotion as I help her stand up. “You’re welcome.”

Raphael helps a few rise to their feet, too, and we move them all into a line.

I touch the device around my throat again. “We’re on our way up.”

“All clear, boss.”

We head back upstairs, meeting up with Team B on the first floor. I take the stack of clothes they gathered and pass them out to the Omegas, speaking quietly as I tell them what’s going to happen next.

They’ll be going to a secondary location, where they’ll be put into contact with the Omega Outreach Program, which will provide the treatment they need and return them to their families. If they don’t have a home to return to, the OOP will provide them with a safe place to stay and the means to get back on their feet.

As they’re led toward the garage, I look into the dining room, where the bodies of those who fought were left lying in their bloody dinner dress. I want to find the ones who were captured alive and add them to the stack, then stay and watch while the place burns.

Too bad that’s not the plan. We’re far from done for the night.

“Extraction team, drop off our cargo, then head to the next rendezvous point,” I instruct as we head back out into the garden.

Our vehicles are on the other side of the screen of trees that mask the sprawling property from easy view. The seclusion hid what the Alpha did here with his harem of Omegas, and we used it to our favor in taking him down.

As we move away from the others, Raphael steps in close and holds a candy bar out to me. “Eat before the shakes set in.”

Without thinking, I take it and read the label. White chocolate raspberry. My favorite. I shouldn’t be surprised he remembered how I always need a sugar boost after an adrenaline crash. Working with him again, our bodies in sync, our instincts aligned… It was like no time had passed at all, like we were still the same partners we’d always been.

And yet, the bitterness lingers, the sting of betrayal still fresh. I can’t forget what he did, can’t forget the way he left me behind.

“Don’t overthink,” Raphael murmurs. “Just eat the candy bar.”

The wrapper crinkles in my fist. “Stop telling me what to do.”

Stopping, he pulls me off the path and into the trees.

I stiffen. “What are you?—”

“This was a rough job.” He backs me up against a tree and pries the candy bar from my hand to peel open the wrapper. “It was a lot to ask of you to be the one to go down to the basement.”

A shudder rolls through me at the memory of all those Omegas chained up. “I’m fine.”

“You don’t have to lie to me.” He tugs my mask down and cups the back of my head, tilting my face up to his. “I know you don’t like to take jobs like this. But you saved them. They won’t die in those chains.”

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