Page 29 of The Alpha: Part Two
I keep waiting for something to happen or for someone to stop us as we follow Seth and the others out of the building, but it’s unnecessary. We don’t come across another person from the time we leave my cell until we’re piling into the back of a panel van. It’s surreal, almost too good to be true. Too easy. We don’t have this kind of luck; yet, here I sit between my brother and Seth in the back of a van on a rolled stack of rugs.
As we pull out of the parking lot, I take a closer look at the men in the van who I don’t know. The one behind the wheel is huge and has a black eye and a bruise forming on his jaw. Another is covered in tattoos that could rival a botanical garden. And the last one… I lean into Michael to whisper, “are you serious? Is that Corso Zaphir?”
The guy with all the tattoos snorts and Corso Zaphir turns around in his seat to smile at me. “It is good to meet you, Benjamin.”
I side eye Seth and his mouth turns up in a small smile. Then I realize he’s looking at me with two eyes. My staring must make him uncomfortable because he clears his throat and looks away. “Sorry,” I whisper. “The last time I saw you, you only had one.”
“I still have just the one,” he says. “We knew people would be watching out for a guy wearing an eyepatch, so I wore the prosthetic. Are you alright, Ben?”
The funny thing about that question is that, no, I am obviously not alright, but at the same time I am. I’m sitting next to my brother, myalivebrother, and we’re hopefully on our way to get my omega, myaliveomega, who is also whole if this good luck doesn’t give out. “I’ll be fine. Where’s Desie?”
“With Devon,” Seth says, leaning back against the seat.
Devon…I’ve heard him on the phone with Devon. “The asshole?”
“Devon isn’t an asshole,” Seth mutters.
The guy with all the tattoos laughs. “Yeah, he is. But your Desir’ee can handle him. That one’s a firecracker, isn’t she?”
That’s one way to put it. “She’s really alright, though? You said she was fine, fine isn’t the same thing as alright.”
Seth drags his hand down his face. “She’s fine. She’ll be alright once we get to your house.”
I look over at Michael. Sometimes the twin thing is intense, and I didn’t expect it to just snap back into place after so long apart, but one look tells me we’re on the same path. Seth got to Desie and saved her. He saved us, too. I don’t give a shit about anything in his file. He’s ours. Our home is his home. “She’s at home?”
“Yeah,” Seth nods. “Devon, Nathan, and Alex are staying with her until we get there.”
“How long have you had her?” Michael asks.
Seth’s jaw clenches before he answers. “We got her out of Flores’s penthouse about three hours ago.” He rolls his head on his shoulders and continues. “She sedated Flores, Lopez helped her tie him up. They’re putting him in a holding unit at the docks, wherever that fucking is, and giving us the code to get into and out of the unit. Lopez says he wants to fix shit over here, he wants to start over with the other two alphas. He doesn’t want the rest of the betas, though. That’s all I’ve got.”
“The rest of the betas?” I ask. I know the Flores pack had at least ten or twelve betas that carried out business, not to mention the numerous other betas who hung around trying to get a foot in the door.
“Some were killed when we went in for Desir’ee,” Seth shrugs.
There is a small giant standing on our porch with his arms crossed across his chest when the van parks in front of the house. Damn, what do they feed these guys? Must be all the fresh air or some shit. If I didn’t know he was part of Seth’s family, I’d probably be pretty worried.
The tattooed guy slides the door open and gets out.
“Ready?” Seth asks, looking between me and Michael.
“She’s really okay?” I ask again.
“She’s okay. Her lip’s busted pretty bad, and I saw some bruising, but she’s okay.”
“Good enough,” Michael says, climbing out before reaching back in to pull me out, and we both wait for Seth on the sidewalk. The others have already made it into the house by the time we’re stepping onto the porch.
“It’s weird that our house is full of strangers,” Michael mutters, then he leads us through the door.
Our house isn’t big. It’s not exactly tiny, either, but you’d never know it with eight alphas standing awkwardly around the living room.
“She’s in the shower,” one of the ones who wasn’t in the van with us offers when he stands up from the couch. He’s got brown hair and warm eyes and he gives off the same tranquil energy as deep breathing exercises. “She said she needed to fix her scent.”
I nod, not knowing what else to do. I don’t want to do introductions. I don’t want to get into the story of the night right now. I don’t want to hear about how they stormed the castle and pulled off the rescue. I just want to see Desie. That’s all.
“Lopez said you’d be safe here. He gave his word that no one would bother you, he said he’d make sure of it himself,” the alpha standing by the window says, probably to Seth. “But I’m sure you know how I feel about that. It’s your call. Do you think you’ll be alright, or do we need to park out front for a few days? Desir’ee made her opinions abundantly clear, and we don’t mind taking shifts to watch the place until you’re ready to take care of business.”
Seth starts to answer, but stops himself and glances at Michael then me. “It’s your call. I was there when we got to the penthouse, but you weren’t.”
