Page 77 of Petals and Strings
Blood dripped down where the small probes had been violently ripped away, but I liked to think it just drove my point home more.
Take a good look, assholes. I’m no longer chained up like a dog.
“This will be the last fucking time I demand you give my group back to me. Now!” I barked out the order, voice loud enough it boomed over the crowd. Several guards retreated, and even Cross held up his hands and backed away.
“I’m not letting Audrey walk in here to face you while you’re in this state.”
“What state is that?” I asked, the calm sliding back in place to fully gaslight him. “Outside of one barked order, I believe I’ve been completely calm.”
We were now in a silent standoff. I’ve taken the one tool they use to keep me in line and shattered it.
“I will bring her if you put a new bracelet on,” he countered.
“No. You’ll bring her anyway. And the others.”
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. This was not going how he wanted it to and he was at a crossroads of losing the respect of his staff and giving into my demands, or option three… a fucking riot.
This place was doomed the moment Audrey Walker stepped through those doors. She changed everything, not because she was our mate, but because she was the type of person to refuse to step aside when someone was being mistreated.
She called it out. Lifted the curtains and showed every dark and twisted corner of this place. It was time to show her she wasn’t alone in that endeavor. Starting with our pack.
I waited, arms crossed, as he silently deliberated.
This time when he walked away without a word, I stood strong, waiting in my exact spot for him to make the first move.
Because there was no outcome of this where I didn’t win.
I just had to wait.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Audrey
“Looks like you get your wish,” my least favorite nurse bit out as she opened the door.
I didn’t bother to answer. She liked monologuing far too much for me to take that from her.
“Up. I’m finally getting rid of you,” she ground out like this wasn’t just the second day. “But don’t worry, you’ll be dealt with soon enough.”
Her smug grin and sneer were a strange mix, making it look like she was constipated or something, a small laugh bubbling out of me despite it not being funny at all.
It sounded like a threat.
But, it was the most entertainment I’d had in twenty-four hours of isolation.
Omegas weren’t meant for isolation and a few hours in, I was ready to climb the fucking walls. The only reason I slept was imagining Rydell on the other side of the wall.
She continued growling orders at me and I didn’t respond until I spotted someone behind her. An alpha with buzzed silver hair and eyes that saw right through my armor.
“Ledger,” I gasped, hopping off the bed and rushing into his arms. The nurse tried to step between us. Without a word we moved around her and I jumped into his arms, burying my face in his neck so I could breathe him in.
It was insane how just a short separation and facing the reality of a life without them had me refusing to hide behind the armor and delusions that held me back before.
I knew by now this group was nothing like the alphas of my past. It was impossible to ignore how deeply I already cared about them all.
I’d spent most of my time worried that this separation was tearing my pack apart, not myself.
I was forced to watch as they let alphas drag Ansel away. Just like that, the facility that said it was going to protect me, had burned a new vile image into my mind that I couldn't let go.
