Page 12 of And Omega Makes Four
"Yes, ma'am." I rush over, carefully approaching her. "He's a friend of ours. We're worried he might be in some trouble."
"Oh, he's in trouble, alright." She sighs and shakes her head. "I saw him get picked up by a big black SUV. Looked like the sort of thing those mobsters always drive on TV."
"Picked up?" Devon quickly steps forward. "Like he was hitchhiking?"
"Oh no, not at all." The woman leans on the broom she has tucked under her arm. "He was hollerin' something awful. Swearing at them. They were quite upset at him too. Seemed like they all knew each other. I was about to call the sheriff, but he finally got in the car without a fuss, and they all drove off together."
Fuck, fuck, fuck. "What direction did they go?"
"South," she says, pointing down the road. "Toward the highway."
"Thank you, ma'am." I reach Devon’s hand and pull him back with me. "You've been a great help."
"Anytime." She straightens out her broom and starts sweeping the spotless porch. "Hope you find your friend."
"We will." My pace is rapid as I retrace our steps back to where we left the car. Devon is silent as he follows beside me.
He almost never shuts up, but right now he's quiet. Too quiet. "I'm sorry," he says softly as we climb into the car. "I should've stayed with him. I shouldn't have let him out of my sight."
"Why are you apologizing? You're not his babysitter." I give his knee a squeeze and then start the car. "Besides, he's a grown-ass adult. He can make his own decisions."
"Yeah, but..." Devon sighs and looks down at his hands, slowly clenching them into fists. "I'll never forgive myself if something happens to him. I know you don't like him, but I think he's…special."
"I don't dislike him." I pull the car around and gun it out onto the road. "He was obviously running from something or someone, and after everything we've been through, I just…didn't want us to get caught up in his drama."
"So then why are you going to all this trouble now?" Devon raises a brow at me, tilting his head in confusion. "Whatever he was running from has caught up to him. If you don’t want us to be involved, then you should be glad that he’s gone."
I'm silent for a moment as I consider his words. He's right. I should turn the car around and head back to the campground, but... "I don't know." I just keep going, following the road out of town. There's an ache in my chest as I think about River being scared and in danger. Confusion battles deep inside me as I try to piece together all these different emotions. “But you might be right.”
My wolf is agitated, but I can't tell if it's because of the unknown threat ahead or something else. Something more personal.
9
RIVER
I exhale heavily as I sit between two massive alphas in the backseat of the SUV. My hands have been zip-tied together at the wrists, and my ankles are hooked to a concrete block. It's like my pack is used to taking extreme measures to keep people from running away...
I'm a prisoner.
Again.
And it’s all my fault. I knew I should've kept moving. If I'd kept hitchhiking like I'd planned yesterday, then maybe I could've been in an entirely different state by now.
"You know you've put us in a very difficult position, River." The low, even tone of my father's voice is almost ominous in its calm. He’s sitting in the front passenger's seat and doesn't bother looking back at me as we bounce down the narrow and twisting backroads.
I sigh. Nothing I say will make this better, so I need to just keep my mouth shut.
"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" My father’s voice maintains that absolute calm. It's the voice of someone who is used to being obeyed without question. He’s the ultimate authority within our pack, a position he earned by being merciless, ruthless, and completely unwavering in his devotion to our ways.
I bite the inside of my lip to keep from saying anything that might make my situation worse. It may have been brief, but the taste of freedom I experienced has made me even more resentful of him and the path he's chosen for me.
"Very well." He sighs, shaking his head ruefully as if it’s physically painful for him. Yeah, right. "I suppose we'll have to discuss this further once we're home."
Home.
The word makes me want to vomit.
I've never felt at home in that place. Not since I was a pup. It's a prison, a gilded cage where I'm kept safe and secure from the outside world...and never allowed to decide anything for myself. Ever.
