Page 54 of Beta Lies and Cursed Lives
I gasp air into my lungs, unaware of how long I’d been holding my breath. Panting, I turn to my Alphas with wild eyes, the ice crumbling from my arms as my body begins to shake.
There is fear mixed with awe in Aubrey and Colt’s faces, and Colt gestures to Aubrey before walking out from under Rai’s arm and taking me into a firm, warm embrace.
“That was amazing,” he breathes, then leans back to look me in the eye. “You are amazing.”
I blink up at him, suddenly overwhelmed with emotion that chokes me, and I bury my face in his chest, squeezing him tight as tears stream from my eyes.
I did it. I controlled my curse more than to touch someone.
That familiar slither in my chest returns after a long bout of quiet.Power,it whispers.Curse is a lie.
I startle, my eyes opening again to peer up at Colt, who wears a confused expression.
He still hears it, like my thoughts.
He blinks twice, then backs away with my hand in his. “Come on. Let’s get to that city.”
The arch is taller than the wall itself, looming what must be three stories high, while the walls surrounding it are a story or more shorter. The stone it’s made from is thick and sturdy despite what must be years and years of neglect. Not even the thick coating of ice and the layers of snow clinging to it have affected its sturdiness, as far as I can see.
The entire perimeter is foreboding and unwelcoming, even more so than the academy had been. And I’m not sure what to think of that.
What if we’ve made a mistake? What if this place isn’t safe?
“Relax,”Colt thinks at me. “I can hear the thoughts of the people here better now that we’re closer. They know we’re not GBE and are ready to welcome us. They...were expecting us.”He pauses, his head tilting in that way it does when he’s listening. “They’re in the city center. An old government building.”
You don’t think it could be a trap?I ask.
He huffs a laugh in my head. “I am all up in their brains, Bunny. I won’t let anyone get the drop on us.”
His reassurance, along with his new pet name for me, has a calming effect.
Passing through the arch, the interior of the city is enormous and blindingly white, the higher the sun rises in the sky. There are old guard posts, and what look like storefronts and office buildings. There are houses of all sizes the further we travel. And then we reach what must be the center, because a building with telltale Greek-style columns sits high on a hill, expansive with steps leading from the pathway to a closed double-door entrance.
We all stop and look up. There’s a sign above the door, protected by the overhanging roof. It’s gold and etched with fading black letters, but written in a language I don’t recognize.
Rai begins to stir in Colt and Aubrey’s grasp and looks at our surroundings, confused, then peers at the two holding him up. “What happened?” he nearly wheezes.
“Don’t worry, bro,” Colt tells him. “We’ve got you. Let’s get inside.”
We climb the steps, and when we get to the door, I walk ahead, the only one of us with free hands, and push the double doors open. They give no resistance as they swing inward and reveal an immaculate marble and gold interior with ornate area rugs, couches, and chairs behind a circular desk at the front. Everything is clean and looks like it could have been furnished today. But it’s as cold inside as it is outside. No fire in the fireplace, and the only light is provided by the sun through untouched, icy windows.
As the doors close behind us with a thud, Aubrey takes Rai to a nearby chair as Colt comes up beside me, brows furrowed. “I don’t hear them anymore,”he says in my mind. “As soon as we entered this building, their thoughts just...poof.” He motions with his hand, fingers touching and then separating with a wiggle like a little explosion.
I frown and move about the entryway, peering at paintings that look like old frescoes from history books, but on varying levels of faded canvas and with golden frames. One giant scene shows a woman in full battle armor, her golden helm adorned with a starburst at the top, dark hair flying in the wind, a glowing golden sword in her grasp. At her side and behind her back are four men, all in similar armor and wielding different weapons. At their feet are bodies, bloodied and battered, gore spilled across the ground.
The woman looks straight ahead, one of those paintings where the eyes appear to follow you wherever you walk, and hers are bright blue like the sky above her.
On the bottom of the frame is a plaque in English: “Omega Morozov and Pack Conquer The Deceivers.”
My lips part in question and awe as Colt, who I hadn’t realized was beside me, whispers, “Would you look at that? Morozov was a female Omega, not a male Alpha. And she had a pack.”
“Much of our true history has been lost over the centuries.”
A female voice booms through the room, startling me and forcing my attention to the floor above us where two people stand behind a banister looking down on us. Both are wrapped in thick cloth from head to toe, their faces and hair obscured. The one beside the female is a male Alpha, tall and muscular, his arms crossed over his chest in a power stance.
Aubrey is beside me in a blink and takes a defensive stance, as though he may use his curse—hispower—at any moment.
“I still can’t hear them,”Colt thinks with no small amount of frustration.
