Page 26 of Stolen By the Lycanthrope

I move away from her, afraid of what I’ll do if I stay at her side. “I’ll sort through this pile, you start from the other side and we’ll meet in the middle. You’re looking for a cable with a little silver piece on either side.”

Now that she has a job to do, she gets right to it. Peaches goes silent while we search through the pile, sifting through old tech, knickknacks, silverware, and all kinds of other random junk. Gideon seems to be quite the hoarder out here on his own private island. For a guy who embraced the new world order to the extreme, he seems obsessed with old world stuff.

“Why did he keep all this junk?” I ask, tossing a scuffed plastic trophy behind me. “I don’t get it.”

“He was poor before the Convergence,” Peaches says. “Lived in a trailer park or something. My mother told me she worked at the grocery store down the street from his house when it all went to hell.”

I frown. “They weren’t together beforehand?”

She shakes her head. “He was obsessed with her, and then he took her out here after they were both Blessed. He even gave her a new name…Obedience.”

I go still, rage coursing through me—but I try not to let her see, not wanting to scare her. “What was her real name?”

Peaches gives me a soft smile. “Georgia. It’s why…sorry, never mind. I’m talking too much.”

“I asked.”

“It’s why I changed my name after I got away,” she says. “I found an old metal plate with some numbers on it and it said something about the Georgia Peach. It’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid,” I tell her.

“If you say so.”

We search for the next hour or so, until the rain outside subsides and the grey light of morning peeks through the window. We sit with a fully sorted pile of trash next to each of us, organized into some semblance of order. I’m exhausted, but I don’t think I can sleep when I have to watch her, make sure she’s okay. Peaches sighs and sits back on her heels, chewing on her lip.

“No luck,” she says. “You?”

“Nope,” I say. “So…I guess it’s time for Plan B.”

“What’s that?”

“Boyd,” I say. “They said they’d let him go, so I have to try and talk to him before then.”

“And what if they don’t let you?” she asks.

“Well…fuck, I don’t know,” I say. “But the bottom line is that we have to get out of here, and then…then I’ll try to release you from the bond if it’s at all possible.”

“Thank you,” she says.

And in that moment I know one thing.

Before I leave this rig, I’ll kill Gideon Vinton.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

?

JAVI

Morning presents us with our first challenge: what works when we’re alone won’t work when we’re with the others.

For one thing, it’s made clear to us from the minute we step outside of the room that there are certain rules omegas must follow and that it’s looked down upon for alphas to indulge anybreakingof those rules. First, Peach has to stay collared—which neither of us likes. Second, she’s not supposed to wear normal clothes. And third, she’s supposed to stay indoors unless explicitly told to leave by the Prime.

I have to go down to the dock to talk to Boyd before he hightails it out of here, but I can’t leave Peaches at the citadel. Our mating is purely cosmetic, and a single bite isn’t enough to fend off encroaching alphas. I can sense her, sure, but the way the men at the Rig behave, it would be too late for me to get to her if something happened while I was gone.

Given how embarrassed she’s been this whole time, I don’t intend on following most of those rules. She’s still wearing my t-shirt, leaving me bare-chested and looking more than ready for a brawl. I don’t mind it; I want the others to know how dangerous I can be. And when we’re inevitably questioned on why she’s not running around naked, I’ll need the skill of intimidation to get away with it.

I may have agreed to be part of Gideon’s pack last night, but I’ve never considered myself a very honest man.

---