Page 44 of Claimed Omega

“So, how did she end up with that fucker?” Viper growled.

The tears kept falling, and my heart felt like it was splintering. I should have been happy… fuck I was, but every emotion I’d been holding onto in dealing with losing Frannie came bubbling to the surface.

Agony.

Torture.

Anger that someone lied…

“We wait until they leave,” Shadow explained, stroking my back, and as much as I protested, my body softened against him while my tears wet his shirt. “Then we sneak into the hotel and lie low until they return and find out what room Frannie is in. If Axel is with her, we torture the bastard until he confesses the truth that he killed Don.”

Aspen and Viper grunted in approval while I stared blankly at my dead friend driving away with our enemy. My heart grew heavy, filled with fear for her, with a sense of sorrow because I refused to believe Frannie had any say in faking her own death.

I had mourned her loss, yet it remained raw in my soul. So, to see her alive and seemingly happy with Axel was almost too much to bear.

* * *

Taking a sharp breath, I tried to steady my nerves as I stood in front of Frannie’s hotel room, my arms shaking at my side because I had no idea what to expect. Two hours later, she had been returned, dropped off at the front. Axel drove off, not even waiting for her to enter the hotel.

With a quick glance over my shoulder, I spied Aspen hiding around the corner of the corridor on the top floor of the hotel, keeping guard over me. Viper and Shadow were also nearby, keeping a low profile in case anyone watched.

All I could think about was the last time I saw Frannie before she was taken away from the Institute. The hollowness in her eyes, as if she’d known something bad was coming her way…

Iwoke up in the middle of the night to find Frannie sitting up in bed, her eyes wide with fear.

“Frannie, what’s wrong?” I asked, pushing myself up next to her.

“It’s okay…” She hesitated for a moment before shaking her head, her blue Omega hair catching the moonlight’s glint. “I’m fine. I just can’t sleep.”

Of course, she wasn’t fine. She was worried about what Bakewell would do with her now that her Omega had blossomed, as we all had worried, so I didn’t press her. Instead, I shuffled up next to her on her bed and took her hand in mine.

“Don’t worry, Frannie. We’re in this together. Maybe we should figure a way out of here before Bakewell does something,” I whispered so the other girls we shared a room with didn’t hear.

“Maybe,” Frannie managed a weak smile like she’d accepted her fate.

That broke me.

We sat there for a long time before finally falling back asleep.

The next morning, I woke up to find that Frannie gone. Her bed was empty, and with no sign of her anywhere in the Institute, I feared the worst—Bakewell had sold her to an Alpha.

Broken, devastated, I cried the whole day.

Taking one last deep breath and tugging down the hoodie to throw shadows over my face, I raised my hand and knocked on the door. My heart thundered in her chest as I waited for a response.

Finally, the door opened, and I was face to face with my long-lost friend. My chest tightened, my breaths were ragged as tears pricked my eyes, and my voice stuck to the back of my throat.

Frannie looked tired, with dark circles under her eyes. She wore a black tank top and a pair of faded jeans, and her blue hair was pulled off her face. I noticed a bruise on Frannie’s neck, and my heart sank. I realized that the reality of her situation was far from what I had hoped for—that fucking asshole was hurting her. My friend was in danger, and I had to help her.

“Frannie, what happened to you?” I asked, my voice shaking.

Her face remained blank, and my gut clenched. I’d hoped seeing Frannie alive would bring her some sense of relief, but instead, it left me confused and hurt. I took a step forward and reached out to hug her friend, but Frannie pulled away.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know who you are,” she said, her voice guarded.

My heart ached. “It’s me, Trinity,” I said, my voice trembling. “We’ve been friends since we were at the Institute.”

She was shaking her head.

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