Page 76 of The Beta: Part Two
“I don’t expect it to,” Seth says blandly.
Chapter twenty-five
Nathan
I’m not doing a fucking thing. I don’t care how many fingers or noses or goddamned eyeballs they present me with. They haven’t yet, but I know for a fact that both Jasper and Devon are still alive.
These rogues can part out me, Trent, and Kaleb to their hearts’ content, as long as Jasper has Devon and Talia he’ll be okay. I’m not helping these motherfuckers get any information about the council or the omega registry.
That’s what they want. They want the locations of omegas. They’re having trouble getting to the more powerful, influential omegas, so they want to go for any and all omegas they can find. Luckily, Elizabet is a hard ass and when she took over the omega registry she refused to give the council access to their records.
I don’t know who set up the registry’s system, but I probably have a better chance at getting in than anybody else. And I’m not doing it. I hope they don’t start bringing me pieces of my pack. I might be solid right now, but if they bring me Trent’s ear or some shit I might actually lose it.
“All you have to do is get into the registry’s logs and show Mitchell how it works, then you and your pack can go,” Derek says, picking his nails.
Fucking Mitchell. I always knew things were going to come to a head with him. And here we are. Me and my pack locked in cages alongside Seth fucking Pratchett, taking orders from some bullshit alpha rogue whatever, being expected to bow down to motherfucking Mitchell. “I’m not doing anything. You’re going to kill us anyway.”
Derek laughs, “you’re right. But it doesn’t have to be too painful or too drawn out. Especially if we leave Jay out of it. Just wiggle your fingers around on this keyboard and show Mitchell the ropes. Then this can all be over.”
Over, my ass. If I do a single thing to assist whatever agenda they’ve got going on it will cause an epic disaster. One that might not be fixable. They’ll have to carve us up and kill us because I’m not handing them the keys to the omega registry. Jasper’s with Devon, and they’ll understand why I’d rather die than help these assholes.
“Fuck off,” I say. I’m going for dismissive. I’d like to at least sound like I don’t care what happens to my pack so long as I’m doing the right thing.
“You’ll change your mind soon enough. Come on Mitchell.” Derek flicks the metal lock on my new cell door and walks out of the room.
Mitchell hangs back, though. “I tried to get in with your pack for years. I didn’t want to fuck any of you, I just wanted to be in your pack. Then you found Jasper and I thought you didn’t want me because I never offered myself like that. Then I started offering, but you still didn’t want me. After Talia joined up as your beta I knew I’d never get an in, no matter who I offered my ass to. I might be just a beta, but I’m still a Crane. With the money and power I’d bring to the table our pack would have been limitless. But you didn’t want me. My father has been working with these rogues for a long time, I just wanted to be in with your pack for some stupid reason. Maybe because I’ve dreamed about aligning my family with the Johnson’s for most of my life, like an idiot. I was never going to be good enough for you. Derek and Jay want me, and I don’t even have to fuck them. They’re happy enough with money and rank. I hope this is worth it for you.”
He goes to leave, but stops by the door, “Jasper is alive. So is Devon. But they’re not at your little farmhouse. Think really hard about that before you refuse to do what you’re told.” Then he leaves.
Fucking Mitchell and his excuses. The last time I had eyes on Devon, he was beaten and shot all to hell, laying on the kitchen floor. He told Jasper to stay in the freezer because it would hopefully contain his scent to keep anyone from finding him.
Me, Trent, and Kaleb were shot with a tranquilizer or some shit and woke up in separate cells.
I can feel Jasper and Devon through our bond, it’s weak, but there. Could they be here, too?
Maybe the bond feels so weak because they’re hurt. Devon can take a lot, but seeing him laying still and bleeding on the floor was horrible and almost shocking. Devon is pretty much invincible in my mind. If he’s in bad enough shape for the bond to be this weak, then he wouldn’t be able to stop them from taking Jasper.
And the thought of Jasper being as hurt as Devon makes me sick. I can’t let myself imagine Jasper on the floor like Devon was, or locked in a cell. I’ll never hold it together if I do. Kaleb will figure this out. He’ll get us out of here. He’s usually the one with the best ideas and plans, he’ll figure it out.
Hours pass before I see anybody else. When the door opens I can hear crying. Omegas crying. The hair on my arms and along my neck stands on end and an involuntary growl starts. What is really happening in this place? Why do they have crying omegas here?
The door clicks shut and the sound cuts off as abruptly as it began. Jay stands in front of my cell, smiling, twirling a bloody knife in his hand. “Thought I’d come say hello. Are you going to be more or less cooperative than Seth? I’m good either way, I just want to have time to plan out what I want to do. I haven’t gotten started on your pack yet,” he drags a fingertip through the blood smeared on the knife, “but there are plenty of others here who need convincing. You need to decide how helpful you’re going to be. And if you’re not going to be helpful, you need to decide who I start with. I know who I’d choose, but Mitchell has some pretty interesting opinions about sweet little Jasper, so maybe I’ll let you pick so nobody gets their feelings hurt.” He sucks the blood off his finger like it’s something sweet. Fucking psychopath.
I don’t say anything. I’m not doing this. I won’t help them, and I won’t pick who he hurts. I hope I won’t have to anyway, because if they wheel Jasper in here trussed up to a table like Talia was in those awful pictures I might not be able to stop myself from offering up Kaleb or Trent in Jasper’s place. Which would be stupid, because they’d probably just hurt him, anyway.
“Suit yourself,” Jay gives me a nasty grin, “someone will be in later to see if you’ve changed your mind.” He leaves the door cracked when he walks out, letting me hear the wretched sounds of the omegas stashed somewhere in this place.
I listen for what feels like forever, trying to make the voices sound digital, trying to force the sound to be a recording some asshole is playing to torture me. It’s not, though. These are real voices crying and calling for help in real time. All female. Different ages. All omegas. I can’t filter through them enough to tell how many there are, but there are way more here than there ever should be. How have they gone unnoticed? Surely someone would have reported something to the council.
Eventually an alpha I don’t know comes in with a mousy little omega. She’s got brown hair and tear-swollen eyes. She might be fifteen.
“On your knees,” the alpha barks at her. She cringes, but lowers herself to her knees. “Tell him. Tell him what will happen to his omega if he doesn’t give us what we want.”
She starts crying. She holds my gaze and cries.
“Use your words, omega,” he says, nudging her with the toe of his boot.
“They’ll hurt him. They’ll take turns. He’ll wish he was dead. Just do what they want. If you don’t, they’re going to start bringing us in to show you what they’ll do to your omega. Please, alpha, please. Just do whatever they want you to do. Give them whatever it is. Please.”
