Page 33 of Free Me

Dumbass.

The second attempt worked and the other line began ringing. And ringing. His hope dimmed, and he resigned to leaving a message.

“Um, Miko Tovey’s phone,” a light, somewhat familiar voice said.

Linus blinked at the far wall. “Who’s this?”

“It’s Symon Lee. Who’s calling?”

“Symon? It’s Linus.” Why on earth was Symon answering Miko’s phone? Symon was a young beta who worked at Perks as a baker, so Miko obviously knew him. He also lived with fellow betas Morgyn Danvers and Jaxson Jenks, sharing a small house in Littleton. The trio had been tight for a few years, ever since Jaxson’s omega brother Karson Jenks Lee mated Symon’s older, alpha brother Rebel. “Where’s Miko?”

“Hey, Linus, wow, you sound great after everything that’s happened. Um, Miko’s here, he’s just a little riled up. Jaxson said it looked like a hospital number calling and told me to answer the phone.”

Too many questions began ricocheting through Linus’s brain. “Dude, where is ‘here’ right now, and why is he riled up?”

“I—hold on. Here, take it.”

Shuffling noises made Linus flinch, and then, “Linus? It’s Morgyn. How are you feeling, brother?”

“Like I got hit by a car. Is Miko at your house? What the hell is going on?” He couldn’t explain this desperate, bone-deep need to know exactly what was happening with Miko. Miko was obviously still upset, and Linus hated not being able to fix it.

“Yes, Miko is here. He got into a fight with his parents and took the bus here, and when he got off, he got into another fight, and he’s coming down off the adrenaline. I’ve never seen himthis wound up before. Jaxson is trying to ply him with tequila shots.”

“Don’t give him tequila, you jackass! That’ll just make him madder. Don’t you remember that off-campus party last year? Miko got drunk and almost got into a brawl with a beta who tried to say shit about Mikel’s past.”

“Oh yeah. Jaxson! Cease and desist.”

Linus rolled his eyes, and if he’d been able-bodied, he’d have been out of this damned bed and on his way to Beta House, as their friend group had nicknamed it. “Do you have any herbal tea? That should calm Miko down.”

“Yeah, okay. Um, here’s Symon again.”

The phone jostled a second time. “Hi, it’s Symon. Morgyn keeps saying not to call Miko’s parents, or not even to call Emory, because we can handle it. Has Miko ever punched someone before?”

“He what?” Linus sat up, and agony screamed through his pelvis and into his right thigh. He yelped and tried to relax his body, but his brain was racing with confusion and concern. “Who did he punch?”

“Some guy who gave him shit at the bus stop. It’s like, half a block from our place, and he’d texted ahead to Morgyn that he was coming over, so we heard the shouting and ran down there.”

Linus growled. “Someone was hassling Miko?”

“Yeah, some kid alpha, probably not older than fifteen with more bravado than brains. I didn’t get the whole story, but I guess he said something that pissed Miko off enough to lay the guy out with one well-placed punch. Did you teach him self-defense?”

“No, I think his sire did us that favor.” While he abhorred the idea of Miko getting into any kind of physical altercation, he was beyond proud of Miko for defending himself. Then his brainskipped back to what else Morgyn had said. “Why did Miko fight with his parents?”

“We don’t know. He won’t give us any details, he just keeps cussing and pacing, and I obviously haven’t known Miko as long as you guys, but I’ve never seen him this upset. Not even back when Peyton wasn’t himself.”

“I’m pretty sure he kept a lot inside when Peyton was sick, but yeah, this is not like Miko at all. Can you see if he’ll talk to me? Please?”

“Of course. Are you sure you feel up to getting into this?”

“Definitely. I need the distraction, and I’d really like to hear Miko’s voice.”

“Okay, one sec.”

Muffled voices spoke on the other end for close to a full minute, and Linus was pretty sure at least one chair scraped across the kitchen floor. The Beta House wasn’t very big but they’d hosted quite a few game nights over the last couple of years, and Linus knew the interior. Morgyn’s bedroom was downstairs with the living room and eat-in kitchen, and the other two were upstairs.

“Linus? Is that you?” Miko’s sweet voice, growly with anger and irritation, soothed a bit of Linus’s own upset.

“Yeah, it’s me. What is going on? You fought with your parents and then punched someone?”

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