Page 143 of Loving Ladybug: Part One
The fear I’d lived with. The loneliness I’d felt at having to leave everyone and everything behind.
“I’m so sorry that happened to you,” Tenzin added, rubbing my neck again.
“Shortly thereafter, my grandparents were in a car accident. I wasn’t allowed to go to the funeral–which hurt, since they raised me more than my dads. The police could never prove Lucius caused Nonna’s pack’s death, but later Lucius told me he did it, to punish them for taking me away from him, because I belonged with him.” I made a face. “Which would never happen. I wasn’t some trophy. While sure hesaidhe’d support my dreams, I hadzerointerest in him romantically.”
His entitlement still rankled.
“Why was he after you? For the conquest?” Clark frowned, squeezing my hand.
I sat up and poured more champagne, not adding juice this time. “He was convinced we were scent matches and that my omega would wake up and we’d bond and be soulmates.” I shuddered. “Yeah, no. Not going to happen. I didn’t like his scent that way. But he was insistent.”
“Fuck.” Clark put an arm around me. “Your family should have done more to protect you. You were a kid.”
“They should have,” I agreed. “I was scared. Sure, the police changed my name, and hid me. Helped me the best they could. Still, I was terrified. So I did other things, like I intentionally took pucks to the face, dyed my hair, changed my mannerisms and speech, tried to alter the way I played, stuff like that.” Took illegal growth serum, so I wouldn’t be so petite. Anything to make me different fromher,so he wouldn’t find me.
He’d found me anyway.
“Gwen.” Pain coated Tenzin’s voice as he cupped my face with his hand.
“Fast forward to my second year in New York. I’m living with Austin, playing hockey, working, and studying accounting at the community college. I hadn’t talked to my family in years and I felt pretty abandoned by them. One night after hockey practice, someone attacked me and I woke up tied to a bed in my uncle’s lake house.” I shuddered at the memories.
My uncle had helped him, but he hadn’t been the one to tell him where I was.
“He kidnapped you. After all those years?” Tenzin pulled both of us to him and I snuggled into the comfort of his body.
“Apparently, even with Lucius’ family’s political power, they were afraid his actions would reflect badly on them. So he wasn’t allowed to do anything as long as they were in office. He was using this time to wait for me to grow up a little, and awaken asan omega. After all, I was only nineteen. Then someone told him where I was–and that I had a boyfriend. Which angered him so much he kidnapped me,so we could be together like we belong.” The words tasted bitter in my mouth.
“Shit.” Clark stroked my hair.
“He was frustrated I still wasn’t an omega, so he…” I buried my face in Tenzin’s chest. I didn’t like this part, because he’d literally tried to strip me of my autonomy, of myself.
At least he hadn’t succeeded.
Tenzin rubbed my back. “Did he hurt you?”
“Worse. He injected me with that street drug the traffickers use, mega-push, the one that can turn betas into omegas. He wanted to prove we were scent matches and was tired of waiting.” I sobbed into his chest.
Not that I’d ever want to bond with an alpha like him. I was so glad he hadn’t simply bonded my beta self and hoped it did the trick, since alphascouldbond betas.
“Sweetness.” Clark buried his face in my neck.
“It didn’t make me omega. It made me sick. Probably a bad batch, given I have the genetic marker. That means I have the potential to push over to omega,” I explained. Some betas had the potential to be other designations, and it never woke up.
“Oh, Precious. So you think you’re broken, since the drug didn’t work?” Tenzin’s hands ran up and down my body.
My body shook. “Oh, no. The story gets so much worse–though he never bonded me, thank fuck. Given I went missing, Austin got the police involved, and they eventually tracked me to Canada. There, the local police wouldn’t do anything about it, because of payoffs and other bullshit.”
“What about your family?” Clark asked.
“Lenny discovered I was missing and told Matty. My family looked for me, trying not to involve the police or anger the other family, since Lucius’ parents are the fucking prime ministers.Corrupt prime ministers, because they, you know, tried to help my uncle overthrow my dads while they were grieving their omega and owned a bunch of police.” Okay, I could see why they needed to tread carefully, but still…
They took too long.
“Your family found you?” Tenzin snuggled me tighter between the two of them.
My heart hurt with the memory. “Enter the intrepid Officer Jones. He’d only been an officer for a year or two and felt like hehadto find me, even though his superiors warned him away. They tried to dismiss it like I ditched my boyfriend in New York and ran off to Canada with another alpha. Officer Jones didn’t believe it. He mostly worked off the clock, pulling in favors, trying to solve the case and find me.”
Idealistic and sweet Officer Jones just wanted to make the world better. If he’d listened to his boss, he might not be dead.
