Page 65 of The Alpha: Part Three
“Where did they take her?” Nathan asks, the fight for calm making his own voice tremble.
“I... I don't know. She just said a different facility, but she grabbed a coat. She said to tell Mateo that she's okay and she'll be home as soon as her work is done. Are you taking us home? Please take us home. She said you would.”
Nathan takes a long breath, his nostrils flaring, but he answers with the kindest voice. “Yes. We're getting you home. The teams there are going to bring you here to get checked out and then we'll get you home.”
Pure, unfiltered disappointment and rage fills the bond between me, Michael, and Seth. We're all silent as Nathan works through the rest of the ground mission. How are we supposed to tell Desie that her mom isn't coming home?
~
She takes it as well as I thought she would. She cries. So much that she throws up. Then she gets mad. The only thing keeping her from walking down to Nathan's house and screaming at him is us begging her not to.
“He's gutted, Des,” Michael tells her. “You weren't there. You didn't see him. He finished directing the whole thing, but he wasn't okay.”
“Nathan won't be okay until every single omega is safe,” Seth adds. “He won't let this go. He wanted to bring your mom home and he's not going to be okay until he does. Please don't be upset with Nathan.”
“I need to be upset with someone!” she cries. “I need to be mad at somebody, Seth. What work could be more important than coming home? We thought she was gone, and she just chose not to come back to us? I don't understand.”
The next morning we have a partial answer to that question. Desie gets a call from an unfamiliar number. Seth almost didn't let her answer it, but she glared at him and jerked the phone away from him. She did answer it on speaker, though.
“Hello?”
“Is this Desir'ee Romero?” a female voice asks.
“Yes. Who is this?”
“My name is Regan. I'm the one who told Nathan about the message from your mom. I was too upset and scared to tell all of it yesterday. I need to tell you the rest. I think I gave you the wrong idea.”
“Okay.”
The girl takes a shaky breath and continues. “Your mama kept us alive. We never would have made it without her. She wouldn't let them mistreat us too much. She made sure we got good food and clothes. She helped the ones who,” her voice breaks and she has to take several breaths before she can go on. “She helped the ones who had babies and the ones who... who didn't. She told us stories. About you and your brothers. She saved us. She made the worst of them leave us alone.”
“Why didn't she come back?” Desie asks, her voice almost as broken as the girl’s on the phone is.
“She tried. When they found out about the raid they gathered us up and put us in Medical with Owens's omegas. We tried to keep her with us, but they found her and took her with Owens. She made me promise to tell you that she's okay and that she's helping to fix everything. She said to tell you that not everything is the way they're making it seem, and that she'd be back home as soon as the work was done and she could get away. I'm so sorry. I tried to hold onto her, but they pulled her away from me. I couldn't hold her. I'm so sorry.”
“Are they hurting her?” Desie asks, barely above a whisper.
“No,” the girl says quickly. “Never. She's special to Owens. He wouldn't leave without her.”
“You have no idea where they took her?”
“There's another compound on the other side of the Northern territory. She told us that Owens took her there sometimes. That's where I think they are.”
Seth motions with his hand, urging Desie to try to get more information. “Do you know where it is?”
“I'm sorry,” the girl says. “I don't know. I'll ask around. If anyone knows, I'll make sure to get the information to you.”
“Thank you. Thank you for telling me.”
“Of course. I'm sorry I couldn't hold onto her.”
“No,” Desie says. “Listen. You couldn't have. I'm just glad you're safe. If I can do anything at all for you, please reach out. I'll be coming out with Obi to help with assessments and I'll make sure to say hello.”
“Thank you. I can't wait to meet you. Connie really did tell us so much about you. I know you're older than in the stories, but I'm so happy that I get to meet the person I've heard so much about. I have to ask you something, if you don't mind?”
“What?”
“Did you end up with the twins? Connie said they would grow up to be your alphas. She said you would be with them and be happy by the time she could go home.”
