63. Betrayal
“Wait, what do you mean they were poisoned?” I said to Ace down the phone. “I ate the same as them and I’m fine.”
I remembered Thomas and Elliot telling me their pizza tasted weird, but that didn’t mean they were poisoned. Ace was just being dramatic because he didn’t like that I was alone.
Ace was breathing heavily through the phone. “Look, I’m sorry but I need you to get in your dad’s car and drive. Get on the nearest highway and don’t stop unless you need gas.
“Stay on the phone with me. I’ll meet you wherever you end up as soon as I’m back in the States.”
I tightened my grip on the phone. My heart was starting to race in my chest. “I don’t understand.
You’re freaking me out a little. What’s going on?”
“Doe, please, I know this is confusing but I need you to do as I say. Someone is coming for you, and I can’t let them get to you. I can’t. Please.”
I shook my head. None of this was making any sense. “What about my brothers? I can’t just leave them.”
“You have to. They’ll be okay, I promise. It’s not them that they’re after.” The panic in Ace’s voice was so real, it was nearly tangible. “You have to go now, Doe. Please, before it’s too late.”
I stumbled backward, tears rolling down my cheeks as I studied my siblings. They looked to be sleeping so peacefully on the floor. I couldn’t just leave them like this. I wouldn’t.
Something hard touched the side of my head.
“Hang up the phone,” a quiet voice said.
My heart plummeted. Slowly, I turned my head.
Standing next to me was a man I had never seen before, pointing a gun at the center of my forehead.
He was shorter than most of the men in my life, probably just a little over six feet, but he still towered over me.
He was dressed in all black, as were the several men behind him who I could see coming through the open back door, all of them armed with handguns.
Around twenty of them were flooding into my home the same way the police would raid a house, checking corners and running past us in every direction.
“Hang up the phone,” the man repeated. He kept his voice quiet enough so Ace wouldn’t be able to hear. He gripped his gun harder—a silent threat to do as he said.
“Doe?” Ace’s voice was frantic in my ear. “What is it? What happened?”
I opened my mouth to respond, but the man in front of me shook his head.
His eyes darkened. “Do as I say, girl. Hang up the phone,” he repeated. “Now.”
My gaze strayed to my brothers and the man knelt next to them, touching each of their necks with two fingers, checking for a pulse.
Were they dead? Did these men kill them? My heart felt like it was being torn out of my chest.
I needed to warn Ace.
“Ace, there are men with guns—” I said through the phone, but was cut off when the man used the butt of his gun to strike the side of my head, sending me to the ground with a shriek of pain.
I dropped the phone, and it skidded across the floor before coming to a stop in front of the man next to my brothers.
I could vaguely hear Ace screaming my name through the speaker as the man picked up my cell and ended the call.
He threw the phone back down on the floor and shattered it under his massive boot, destroying both it and any chance I had of getting a hold of Ace—of anybody— to come help.
The man in black slowly crouched down in front of me, tutting in disapproval the same way a father would scold his child. “You’ll find there are consequences for disobeying me.”
I clutched the side of my head where he hit me. The taste of iron filled my mouth.
He looked at a blond man standing behind him. “Bring him in, Elias.”
This Elias nodded in response and disappeared through the back door.
“What do you want?” I slid away until my back touched the front of the couch. I put my hands out to cover my brothers next to me.
The corners of the man in black’s lips turned up when he noticed blood starting to drip down the side of my throbbing head.
“I heard that your connection to your mate is so strong that he can sense when you’re scared or in pain, no matter where he is in the world. Is that true?”
I flinched away from him when he reached out to touch the flaming skin he had just struck.
He dropped his hand, his warped smile broadening. “I hope it is. I hope he feels every bit of what we’re
going to do to you.”
Huh. Yeah, that doesn’t sound pleasant.
Elias reappeared with a familiar person following behind him. I nearly stopped breathing when I
realized who it was.
“Mr. Callahan?” I whispered.
Mr. Callahan, my science teacher who hated me, barely cast his eyes at me when he entered my house.
“Well?”
Mr. Callahan nodded. “That’s her.”
The man kneeling in front of me smiled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Dorothy Kennicott. My name is Robert.”
I didn’t give a damn who he was. I wanted to know why he was here. “What do you want?” I asked once more.
He pretended to think for a moment. “I’m hoping we can become friends. Given the opportunity, I believe we could be very useful to each other.”
This Robert person had to be some sort of idiot.
“I don’t tend to befriend people who break into my home and hold me and my family at gunpoint.”
Robert chuckled. “No? Well, I’m afraid you don’t have a choice in the matter.” man used the butt“The house is clear,” another man said, appearing in the doorway that led to the kitchen. “No one else is here.”
Robert raised his brow at me. “Your parents aren’t here?”
I hesitated for a moment, trying to determine what the best course of action was.
Would they leave if they thought my father was here?
“No,” I finally answered. There was no use saying my parents were here if I couldn’t prove it.
He raised his gun casually and set the barrel down against Thomas’s temple next to us. “Are you lying to me?”
My heart crawled up my throat. “No! They went away for the weekend. I promise.”
“Her mother went into heat this morning. It was confirmed right before we got here. They’re about two hours north.” It was Mr. Callahan.
Robert looked back at me. He still didn’t look convinced. “Then who is watching over you?”
“No one,” I breathed out.
I didn’t understand what Mr. Callahan meant when he said my mom went into “heat,” but that didn’t matter so long as it convinced Robert that I was alone and not to hurt my brother.
“My parents left me in charge.” I looked at his gun, which he was still pointing at Thomas’s head.
“Please. Please don’t hurt my brothers.”down the side of Robert’s nostrils flared. An icy manacle wrapped itself around my throat as he pressed his gun harder into Thomas’s temple.scared or in pain, “I won’t hurt your brothers if you stop fucking lying to me. Ace Stoll wouldn’t fly across the world unless he knew his mate was protected, especially when she’s so close to going into heat.”
His lip curled in disgust. “Where’s his beta?” he asked the three men behind him. bit of what we’re One of them stepped forward, looking confused. “She went with him—”
“His true beta,” Robert snapped. “Madoc Gannon. Where is ~he~? Do we have eyes on him?”
It was Mr. Callahan who spoke this time. “He scented his mate earlier today. He left the pack to look after Dorothy while she was at school. I doubt anyone knew she’d be by herself when she got home.
“Her father wouldn’t tell anyone about his mate’s situation. An omega in heat is kept under wraps, for obvious reasons.”
He glanced at me and at the blood dripping down my face. “I think she’s telling the truth. I don’t think anyone is protecting her.”
“And here I was thinking we were going to have to threaten your darling brothers to get you out before your mate got back.” Robert laughed. “This is much more convenient. We can take our time.”
Everything they said added to my panic and confusion. My thoughts felt fuzzy, and my head pounded where Robert had hit me with his gun.
I blinked through the pain. I needed to get my act together if I wanted to help my brothers. I wouldn’t let anything happen to them.
“What did you do to them?” I asked, looking at my siblings. I kept one hand on Thomas and the other on Felix. I could feel their even breaths beneath my palms.
“Will they be okay?”
“Don’t worry, my dear. I’m counting on your cooperation during our time together.
So, although it is tempting, it is not my plan to harm any members of your family.
“They will be fine. They should wake up sometime tomorrow. Or maybe the next day. It really depends
on how much they ate.
“Wolfsbane is a tricky poison; one I’ve never had to use before. Hard to come by too. Thankfully, though, your mate kept plenty at his house. Seems he has a bit of a problem controlling his wolf.
“But you would know that better than anybody, wouldn’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I replied. I bit back a groan when my headache flared. It felt like a hot knife was being driven straight through my skull. I definitely had a concussion.
“Hmm,” Robert hummed in contemplation. His eyes fell onto my neck, where part of Ace’s bite mark hey’re about twowas visible beneath the collar of my shirt.
I wasn’t sure why, but I didn’t like him looking there, so I covered it with my hand, causing his gaze to
return to my face.
“You’re a good liar,” he told me.
The blond man kicked Griffin’s shoulder, jostling him. He glared down at my brother. I knew he was hurt my brother.just checking to make sure he was asleep, but it still made my chest squeeze like a vice.
Noticing my reaction, Robert followed my gaze. “Step back, Elias.”
Elias followed his orders, and I let out a breath of relief.
“Like I said,” Robert said, pulling my attention back to him, “I don’t intend to harm your brothers. I don’t even plan on taking them with us.
“If I’m honest, we don’t have chains strong enough to hold them, even if the youngest is only three.”
That fact seemed to upset him. He sneered in disgust.
“You, however, you are an omega—a human omega. You are nothing without your alpha.” His lips curled. “And, thankfully, your alpha is nothing without you.”
The next thing I knew, his fist was flying toward me, hitting me straight in the nose.
I was out like a light.
It really depends
on how much they ate.
“Wolfsbane is a tricky poison; one I’ve never had to use before. Hard to come by too. Thankfully, though, your mate kept plenty at his house. Seems he has a bit of a problem controlling his wolf.
“But you would know that better than anybody, wouldn’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I replied. I bit back a groan when my headache flared. It felt like a hot knife was being driven straight through my skull. I definitely had a concussion.
“Hmm,” Robert hummed in contemplation. His eyes fell onto my neck, where part of Ace’s bite mark was visible beneath the collar of my shirt.
I wasn’t sure why, but I didn’t like him looking there, so I covered it with my hand, causing his gaze to
return to my face.
“You’re a good liar,” he told me.
The blond man kicked Griffin’s shoulder, jostling him. He glared down at my brother. I knew he was just checking to make sure he was asleep, but it still made my chest squeeze like a vice.
Noticing my reaction, Robert followed my gaze. “Step back, Elias.”
Elias followed his orders, and I let out a breath of relief.
“Like I said,” Robert said, pulling my attention back to him, “I don’t intend to harm your brothers. I don’t even plan on taking them with us.
“If I’m honest, we don’t have chains strong enough to hold them, even if the youngest is only three.”
That fact seemed to upset him. He sneered in disgust.
“You, however, you are an omega—a human omega. You are nothing without your alpha.” His lips curled. “And, thankfully, your alpha is nothing without you.”
The next thing I knew, his fist was flying toward me, hitting me straight in the nose.
I was out like a light.
