Page 6 of Mating Mia
“No, it won’t!” I scream, my heart racing.
One of the men with her—a guard, I assume, based on his uniform and the weapons strapped to his belt—unlocks my cell door with a heavy key. I tense, ready to fight or run, but the omega makes a dismissive gesture.
“Oh, relax. If we wanted to hurt you, you’d already be bleeding.” Her smile doesn’t reach her eyes. “We’re just paying a visit to your dear old dad. Thought you might like to watch the family reunion.”
She turns abruptly and moves to the next cell—to Liam’s cell. The guard unlocks that door as well, and they all step inside, leaving my door open but blocked by the second guard who watches me with cold, empty eyes.
Through the bars, I can see into Liam’s cell now. The omega approaches him, close enough to touch but maintaining a careful distance as if he’s something distasteful.
“Liam,” she says, her voice dripping with false sweetness. “I’ve brought you a little surprise. Though perhaps it’s not a surprise at all, since you’ve apparently already been chatting with our newest guest.”
Liam’s face remains impassive, but I see the way his muscles tense, the way his eyes flick briefly to me before returning to the omega.
“Nothing to say?” she taunts. “Not even a ‘thank you’ for reuniting you with your long-lost daughter? How rude.” She paces in front of him, each step deliberate and measured. “Foryears, we’ve been looking for her. And now here she is, delivered right to our doorstep.”
She stops directly in front of him, her back to me, blocking my view of his face. “And pregnant, too. How convenient. The next generation of your bloodline, already criminals behind bars.”
“Leave her out of this,” Liam says, his voice stronger than I expected, a low growl that carries across the small space.
“But we still haven’t located your omega. Sarah has proven quite... elusive.” She examines her manicured nails. “Perhaps you’d like to help us find her? Save us all a lot of time and trouble.”
My mother. They’re looking for my mother.
The realization sends a chill down my spine. If Liam’s story is true, if my mother really did flee with me to protect me from these people, then she’s been in hiding for years. Successfully hiding from people who tortured her mate and would probably do the same to her if they found her.
“I don’t know where she is,” Liam says, each word measured and deliberate. “I haven’t seen her since the night your great leader raided my home. Orion knows this.”
“Orion wants his omega back,” says the omega in disgust. “Once he sees how ugly and frail she is, then he’ll choose me even though I’m infertile. Your grandbaby will be mine. Tell me where Sarah is. Now!”
“You give me too much credit,” Liam replies, a ghost of a smile touching his lips. “If I’d planned her escape, do you really think I would have let myself get caught?”
The omega’s hand lashes out, faster than I can track, and cracks across Liam’s face. The sound makes me flinch. Blood trickles from the corner of his mouth, but he doesn’t make a sound, just stares back at her with those eyes that seem to glow with inner fire.
“Two decades,” she hisses, her composure cracking for the first time. “Years of your stubborn silence. And now we have your daughter. Your grandchild. Do you want them to suffer the same fate as you?”
Liam’s gaze shifts to me, just for a moment, and I see something flicker in his eyes—regret, maybe, or sorrow. Then his face hardens again as he looks back at the omega.
“I told you,” he says slowly, as if explaining something to a child. “I don’t know where Sarah is. I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”
The omega stares at him for a long moment, her body vibrating with barely contained rage. Then, abruptly, she steps back and turns to the guard.
“Make him talk,” she orders, her voice cold and flat. “Perhaps pain will refresh his memory.”
The guard nods once and steps forward, uncoiling something from his belt. It takes me a moment to realize what it is—a whip, but not like any I’ve seen before. This one is braided with what appears to be metal wire, the end weighted with small barbs that catch the dim light.
“No!” I cry out before I can stop myself, lurching forward only to be blocked by the second guard. “You can’t do this!”
The omega turns to me, a slow smile spreading across her face. “Oh, but we can. And we will. Unless, of course, you know where your mother is?”
I shake my head helplessly. “I don’t. I didn’t even know my father was alive until today. I was adopted, raised by humans. I don’t know anything about any of this.”
She studies me for a moment, as if trying to determine if I’m lying.
“Pity,” she finally says. “Then I suppose we’ll have to continue with the traditional methods.” She gestures to theguard with the whip. “Proceed. And make sure our guest has a good view.”
The guard positions himself behind Liam, who remains stoically silent, his face turned slightly toward me. Liam’s eyes meet mine, and I see the message in them as clearly as if he’d spoken aloud:Don’t watch. Look away.
My body refuses to obey, frozen in horror as the guard draws back his arm and brings the whip down with terrible force across Liam’s already scarred back.
