Page 5 of Knot Your Possession

“We infiltrated the Palace,” River said, as he shot a glance back at Pala. “We were tracking Ava, but the scent in her room had faded, as if she hadn’t been in there for days. We found a faint trace in the library. When we reached their underground labs, we found his cell, and her faded scent was there too. Someone had stuffed Ava’s old blankets and clothes into his air vents.”

Ava gasped, and her hand went over her heart, as she shot a confused look at the unconscious alpha.

Shit. What the hell had been happening at the Palace that I didn’t see?I didn’t like any of the answers that were running through my head.

“It looked like they were tormenting him, or maybe torturing him, with her scent,” River added. “We tried to get him out so we could figure out why, but we tripped some kind of silent alarm. We had to fight our way out and they tried to move him while they had us pinned down below ground. As soon as we got free, we tracked him here.”

Before anyone could say anything, Dave came running over and slid to a stop between Lexie and Pala. He was holding his satellite phone. “Sam’s surveillance team at the Palace just made contact again. The military and lab techs are abandoning the Palace. They’re bugging out right now.”

“What about the omegas?” Ava asked, a hair’s breadth before the words left my own lips. Knowing what was happening to the omegas every debut season had tested the limits of my control. Being forced to take part, wander and entertain, while knowing what was happening in dark corners, had been agonising. Only knowing I had Ava to protect had stopped me from tearing into alphas, and probably getting myself killed. My guilt weighed heavily on me, though. Taking care of Ava was my first priority, but helping the other omegas still at the Palace was my second.

The things I dreamed about in the dark of night, the ones that had me waking in a sweat, needed to stay there.

“They’ve turned off the security feeds, so we can’t tell for sure, but they don’t appear to be taking them. Now that we’ve cut off their supply of food from town, I don’t think they have enough left to feed everyone.” I growled low, a sound I didn’t even know I could make. I’d warned them not to cut off the omegas food supply. Dave nodded in silent acknowledgement as he glanced at me. He was a good guy. I knew he’d be all in helping the rest of the omegas at the Palace if needed.

“Plus, their lab just got breached, so they’re probably spooked,” Hunter said, almost casually.

“Who breached their lab?” Sam asked as he strode over and wrapped his arms around Lexie. Her other mate, Dio, followed close behind. Damon and Leif were hot on their heels, their eyes on their pack mate, Hunter. Those guys were always more comfortable when they were within arm’s reach of each other.

Hunter just pointed to the twins, who looked unconcerned at the sudden spotlight as everyone looked at them.

Dave shook his head. “That’s a story for another day. We need to break up into groups. One questioning the people in the pub. A second letting town residents out of the museum and making sure everyone gets home okay. Then a third group to head to the Palace in the PMV right now and check on the omegas.”

“We also need to figure out what Winston was trying to blow up and where those explosives are. We don’t want local kids finding them,” Hunter said. Dave just nodded. He looked weary of the constant conflicts the world was throwing at us, but there was still a determined set to his shoulders.

“What about tracking the unit fleeing the Palace with the lab techs? We need to know where they’re planning to regroup,” River asked. He seemed to be the chattier twin.

“We have a man tracking satellite feeds. He also has a long range drone. Max will follow them as best as he can,” Damon answered.

River glanced at Ryder, doing some kind of twin communication thing, but they didn’t object.

There was a lot of chatter and negotiation about who was joining which group, but I wasn’t paying a lot of attention. I only had eyes for Ava right now, waiting to see what she would do.

“I’m going to the Palace,” Ava announced, her quiet, but determined, voice cutting through the noise. “I want to check on the omegas and I’m the only one who knows where the secret passages are. We’ll need to make sure they’re all checked and there’s nothing and nobody left behind that can surprise us.”

What secret passages and how the hell does Ava know about them?I shook off my questions, but I wasn’t letting them go. Not anymore. Clearly, I didn’t know as much about Ava’s movements as I thought I did. That was going to change if she’d been putting herself in danger on my watch.

“Me too,” I added. Dave smirked at me as if that was a given, and I narrowed my eyes at him. We’d gotten friendly while I was at the farm, so I knew he wouldn’t take it the wrong way. He was a good guy.

“We’ll go with them,” River said without hesitation, staring intently at Ava, daring her to object. He straightened his shoulders as if he was considering picking her up and carrying her there if she denied him.

“I think we should take this alpha back there, too,” I said, gesturing to the still unconscious alpha. “If he’s feral, we can’t risk taking him to the farm, or having him in town here. The Palace is the only place with secure facilities if we need it, and they should have more medical supplies too. I don’t think they would have had time to strip it on the way out.”

Damon, Sam, and their mates were glancing at each other, as if they were uncomfortable letting us go. Especially Lexie. Her eyes were wide, and she bit her lip nervously as she shot a worried look at her mates.

“I can come with you, Ava. Someone else can take the museum,” Lexie said.

Ava’s face lit up as she smiled at her friend and I desperately wanted her to look at me like that one day. “That’s sweet, Lexie. But I’ll be okay. You need to be at the museum. People there are going to be frightened. You’ll be able to reassure them and figure out what they need. You’re good at that.”

Lexie nodded, but she was still biting her lip and looking unsure.

“I think I should go to the Palace, too,” Nick blurted suddenly. He’d been quietly standing on the edges of our group while we talked, shifting on his feet nervously. “If their security cameras have been switched off, I can get them back online and see if I can find any tech they’ve overlooked in their rush to leave. Then I can let Max know what we need and can borrow from the farm to get them secure.”

Dave patted Nick on the shoulder and dragged him closer into our circle. “Good man. I agree, they’ll need your tech skills at the Palace if you’re willing to go. You can coordinate with Max and get the two sites linked up.”

Nick looked embarrassed at the praise, and flicked his eyes towards Ava. She gave him a soft smile that didn’t make me feel jealous. It felt right, and something settled in my chest. Nick felt familiar, and necessary, in a lighter way than Ava.

Dave handed Ava his satellite phone. “Take this, and check in with us every day at 8am and 8pm until things calm down. If we don’t hear from you, we’ll head straight for the Palace. So if you forget, be prepared for a bunch of worried people to turn up and we’ll probably come in hot. Outside of that, call us for any reason. There’s a charger in the PMV. I’m sure Maia will call you when she wakes up, after she tears strips off us for letting you go without her.”

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