Page 40 of Petals and Strings
I knew she was mine. As certain as I knew my name, I knew we were scent matches. Mates.
Even if that didn’t mean much to most of us, I still couldn’t help but keep her in my sights. Ensuring she was protected as much as I could at this fucking place.
If it wasn’t me, it was Rydell.
The alpha in question was hovering just inside his room, watching the omegas talking quietly in the center of our common area, huddled together and shutting out the world.
“It’s not right,” he rumbled as I walked up.
I raised a brow, not following.
“Them. They shouldn’t be here in this place. Omegas need nests and safety and other than us protecting them, they don’t have that here and we can only do so much,” he said on a ragged sigh.
It was more emotion or words than I’d seen him give.
See? Changes.
“Someday,” I promised him. Rydell let out a sigh but didn’t move. Beyond him I could see his own sketches along the walls. They seemed more like tattoo designs. Dark, gothic swirls of ink that were gorgeous and unique. In another life, I had a feeling that would have been the path he chose.
“Someday,” he echoed. There was determination in it and I knew that between us, we’d find a way out of this mess.
Despite being locked away here for three years, I had money and connections. My father could have put an end to this, and he might have if not for letting me learn my ‘lesson,’ whatever the fuck that was this time.
He’d have been just as angry if I’d died. Sure, I could have kept her alive, chained her up like she did me, and called him.
But my alpha wouldn’t allow it. She deserved to die. I refused to stay tethered to a monster like her.
He was a hardass, one who took no shit and thought everyone had to earn their keep, even his kids. When you were in his good graces, you were golden. But when you fell? It was a long way to the bottom and a whole fucking lot longer back to the top.
He’d come one time, a check-in to ensure I wasn’t truly lost to the broken bond. Somehow, I wasn’t. The pain was there, but we had never had a true connection. I felt nothing when she died, only an echoing pain in my chest.
It stayed, a reminder of what happened, but I’d detached those first months, saving myself.
When he saw me coherent, he could have helped. He simply nodded, looking almost proud that I was mostly unscathed, then walked out.
I hadn’t seen him since. But I knew him. He was keeping me aside until he needed me.
Now? I only took the meds I had to and spit out the rest. There was a plant in the conservatory that held the evidence of my lies.
Looking back at the omegas, I could see what Rydell meant. Hell, I could picture it. A life somewhere far from here, our omegas soft and healing.
“If you could go anywhere, where would it be?” I found myself asking.
“Anywhere she goes,” he answered without a moment of hesitation.
“Maybe a beach,” I mused, giving into the fantasy. “A nice big house right on the water. A small town only a walk away, and thousands of miles from this fucking place. No one would know us or our past. A fresh fucking start."
“Sounds like a dream,” he sighed, letting out a ragged breath again. “She’s doing something to me, Ledger. I’m less… lost.”
“I know what you mean,” I agreed as I placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze.
I’ve always seen something in the hulking alpha. Knew there was more to him than aggression which he worked to keep at bay.
But an alpha like him, like us, that knows only violence and harsh realities, we need something to hold us steady.
An anchor.
Something that kept us from giving into the darker tendencies before they consume us completely.
