Chapter 37: Forbidden: Part Two – Chapter 37

I walked through Pack Turro’s house. It looked so different from the last time I was here when staff and partygoers filled the rooms. Today, the quiet was broken only by the chirping of the birds outside. The afternoon sun shone through the many windows, bouncing off the dark wood wainscotting and blue celestial-themed wallpaper in the hall. It felt like the house was giving me a hug.

I gripped the wooden banister as I made my way downstairs, trying to keep my weight off my injured leg. Angie said it was fine for me to walk on it, just to be careful of the stitches. Every step I took pulled on the wound, burning my skin.

I stopped at the bottom of the stairs and leaned against the wall. The lack of food from the past week and our harrowing escape left me weak. How had Genevieve survived Glen all this time?

I’d heard a car pulling out of the gravel driveway about an hour ago and knew she was on her way to a safe house. I searched myself for any lingering anger towards her, but it seemed to have finally dislodged from its dark spot in my heart. I really did hope she found happiness. I hoped we all would. We deserved it.

I pushed off the wall and kept walking, following the murmur of voices in the dining room.

I hovered in the doorway. Donovan was leaning over the large wooden table in the center of the room, sunlight streaming in through the floor-to-ceiling windows and creating a halo behind his head. One of his alphas stood beside him with a light grip on the back of his neck. I remembered this alpha from the party—Terrance. He was just as huge as I remembered, his short, cropped hair dusted with silver. Jackson sat at the end of the table, looking at something on his laptop. He glanced up and smiled when he saw me, giving me a little wave.

“Josie! You should have asked for help to get downstairs. Please, take a seat,” he said, jumping up and holding a chair for me.

I eyed the chair, ready to insist I could stand when another wave of exhaustion rolled through me. I limped to the chair and sat down heavily. I needed to trust them and lean on them if I was going to free my alphas.

“Thanks,” I said, my voice coming out almost in a whisper. I cleared my throat.

“Let me get you something to drink and eat. Would you like coffee? Tea?” Jackson asked.

“Tea would be great,” I responded, and he rushed off. He reminded me of Ben, and my chest squeezed.

“Is there any news on my alphas?” I asked.

Terrance had moved partially behind Donovan, as if to hide his bulk to make me more comfortable. The more time I spent with alphas outside my family and the DA, the more I realized how wired they were to make omegas happy and comfortable.

“Actually, yes,” Donovan said gently. “Graham Leslie, the District Attorney, just announced that their trial is starting the day after tomorrow.”

My throat closed and I gasped for air, feeling like I was suffocating. Terrance lurched towards me and I realized I had whined. Donovan shot him a warning look, but Terrance made his way around the table towards me, walking slowly and keeping his hands loosely at his side. He kneeled in front of me, keeping enough space between us so I didn’t feel trapped. It reminded me of Cam being in the same position during our first meeting, and a few tears trickled down my face.

“Just breathe for me, sweet omega. This is good news. The public’s eyes will be on your alphas, meaning they’re safe enough for now. We’re going to make a plan to get them back to you.”

His energy wasn’t as calming or potent as my alphas, but it still soothed my omega.

“How?” I choked out. We were just a few miles from the courthouse and the idea of my guys being there but unable to get to them killed me. I wished we had already bonded so we could at least feel each other. The second they got back to me, I was biting them. No hesitations, no questions.

“We’re going to take down the entire fucking Designation Government,” Donovan said, rubbing his hands together and wearing a wide smile. “And we’re going to do it with the intel gathered from the Alliance’s most badass superspy.”

Terrance’s lips twitched as I looked between them.

“What?”

“That’s you,” Donovan said. “Or at least, it’s what you called yourself when we found you. You were a bit delirious.”

My cheeks burned.

“It’s a great name,” Terrance said, his voice gentle. “Because it’s true.”

I looked into his dark brown eyes and found only sincerity. The words from Donovan’s note floated back into my mind. Pack Turro certainly didn’t underestimate me. I allowed myself to feel the warmth of their kindness seep into me, bolstering me.

“We’ve suspected the government was stealing omegas, but we haven’t been able to get any intel about the facilities until now,” Terrance said, gesturing at the papers spread across the table and giving me an approving nod. My lips twitched when I imagined the headache Glen must be sporting today. My omega was feeling particularly bloodthirsty.

“These show the location of all the facilities, along with paper files on every omega they’ve taken,” Terrance continued. “We can use this to free the omegas and expose the horrors of these facilities. All the senators and other government officials who’ve been going along with Glen and the rest of them because their omegas were in danger will come to our side, and the rest of them will be forced to follow once the media gets ahold of what they’ve done.”

“And once the Designation Government is out, we’ll get your alphas out of jail,” Donovan added.

I took a closer look at the sea of papers, noticing that many of them had small, grainy black-and-white photographs of women. Omegas. The enormity of what I found stunned me.

Jackson swept back into the room, joined by another alpha. This one was the tallest of all of them and looked like he could be Italian with his dark waves and strong jawline.

“This is Nico,” Jackson said, nodding at the alpha while placing a large mug of tea and several plates of food in front of me. “I wasn’t sure what you liked, so there’s some homemade pizza, salad, and fruit. But if you want something different, just let me know.”

“This is perfect, thank you,” I said. “How many are in your pack?”

“This is all of us,” Donovan said, smiling as Nico pulled him to his side. It was fascinating to see this older pack together. All the packs I’d seen growing up were so cold with each other. Jericho or Richard would never touch my mother in such a casual way.

I bit my lip, thinking about what my mom had done. Did she intentionally leave the door unlocked? Was she glad I got away? I wanted to believe she cared enough for me to do it on purpose. Maybe it was wishful thinking.

“Nice to meet you, Josie,” Nico said from across the table.

“Her name is Badass Superspy,” Jackson whispered out of the side of his mouth as he leaned towards Nico.

“No teasing,” Terrance said, winking at me.

I covered my heated cheeks with my hands in disbelief that I had called myself that. I could only imagine how my guys would tease me if they found out. I felt on the verge of tears again as I picked up a piece of pizza, half-heartedly taking a bite. I would happily accept teasing for the rest of my life if it meant being back with them.

“Why would they keep all this on paper?” I asked, wanting something to distract myself. It seemed a stupid choice for Glen to have these documents in his office.

“About a year and a half ago, one of our Alliance hackers, Charlie, broke into Glen’s home server,” Donovan said, accepting a cup of tea from Nico.

“Charlie Jang?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Terrance said. “You know her?”

“She works with Ben and I know Luc,” I said with a smile, remembering the reverence in Luc’s voice whenever he spoke of his omega.

“We suspected Glen was keeping documents on his personal computer that he wanted to keep hidden from the government,” Donovan continued. “We got a shit ton of intel, but Glen realized what happened, and it made him paranoid. He must have switched to all paper files around that time because we couldn’t get anything else useful off his computer. He would come on the news and go on and on about how people were after him, presenting all these wild conspiracies. His interviews and media appearances slowed down considerably after that, but anytime he was spotted, he seemed to be less and less connected with reality.”

I nodded. Towards the end of my time at the DA, Glen seemed more on edge, but this past week at his house had been something completely different. I’d never seen him like that before.

“We think it’s around that time that your fathers decided he needed to be removed from his position as governor,” Terrance said.

“Really?” I asked.

“Yeah. We were never sure why they chose him to be the front-alpha anyway,” Jackson said, his face scrunched in confusion. “Probably because he’s a bit of an idiot, and Jericho thought he’d be easier to control. And he was until he wasn’t.”

“True,” Donovan said. “That’s how it always was at school.”

“School?” I asked.

“We were all at university with them,” he continued. “Those three have history. We could never figure out what made them break up, but by the end of university, Jericho and Richard were a pack, and Glen was on his own. Even back then, it was clear Jericho ran the show and Richard and Glen just followed whatever he said.”

“Wait… when you say break up?”

“Oh, they were definitely fu—I mean, umm, romantically involved,” Jackson said.

I stared at him wide-eyed. I knew my pack fathers were close with Glen, but I had never imagined they had a history like this. I thought of all the meetings they had together while I was growing up. Oh my god. Was there more to those meetings than I imagined?

“But growing up, they went on and on about how disgusting it is for men to be together…” I said, trailing off as I took in Jackson’s smirk.

“You know, it’s amazing how society has just agreed to pretend that we have all these alphas together in packs, having sex with omegas during their heats, with no swords crossing,” Jackson said with a snort.

Anger rose in me as I thought about Sam having to leave the province to be with Gerald, all because his fathers found out he was gay. It wasn’t fair.

“We’re not sure what Glen’s fixation is on you, though,” Donovan said gently, as if afraid I would freak out.

“Glen thinks I belong to him. The night I revealed as an omega, we were at a dinner party at Glen’s house. My friend Sam—”

“Sam Larsson?” Terrance interrupted.

“Yeah. Why?” My chest tightened. Had something happened to him?

“He’s been contacting us in a panic. He heard from Amirah that you had made it here, but we haven’t responded to his messages. We weren’t sure if you wanted him to know where you were?” Terrance said.

“Yes, please tell him I’m okay,” I said, biting my lip. I should have thought to let Sam know the minute I made it here.

Terrance nodded and pulled out his phone.

“What did Sam say?” Donovan asked, prompting me to continue my story.

“He overheard Glen talking to my parents and making some sort of deal. Glen told me he knew from that moment that I belonged to him.”

All of Donovan’s alphas stiffened, and Nico let out a growl. I flinched and his face softened. “Sorry,” he said, looking abashed. “Omegas can’t be given to anyone,” he muttered.

“You think there was some agreement that you would be Glen’s omega?” Donovan asked, looking sick.

“Sounded like it. But then, I’m not sure why they went back on it.”

There was silence in the room.

“Well,” Terrance said slowly. “Maybe they decided that Glen was out, and so it didn’t make sense for you to be… given to him anymore.”

“The timing of that makes sense,” I responded slowly. “It probably all happened when I left the DA just over a year ago.”

Understanding alighted across Jackson’s face. “It was about a year ago that Glen started to… unravel. It makes sense that it would have all gotten worse once Jericho went back on his agreement to—” Jackson growled, biting out the next words, “—give you to Glen. Pack Madden would have been a better choice, then. They’re the hottest up-and-coming pack in the government, and your fathers have groomed them for years. They don’t want an omega, but if Pierce is going to run for governor, his pack would have to be bonded. People aren’t going to accept another bondless alpha in a position of power like that. It’d be too unconventional.”

My mind was making connections faster than I could process them. This must be why there was so much tension between Glen and Pack Madden and why Glen had been trying to delay Pack Madden claiming me. Maybe he hoped he could still change things and claim me for himself.

“You okay, Josie?” Donovan asked softly. I realized I was shaking. The reality of how close I had been to being bonded with Pack Madden was finally hitting me.

Nico materialized in front of me, holding a plush, pale green blanket. “Why don’t you wrap this around you, omega?” he suggested gently. “None of them can get you here.”

I took the blanket from him and got it around me after a few tries. It mostly smelled like laundry detergent, which I appreciated. I liked these alphas but didn’t want their scents on me.

“How do you know we’re safe here? Won’t Glen suspect I’m here?” I asked, looking up at Nico.

“He probably does,” Donovan said. “But he won’t dare come here. Let’s just say we’ve made a game of collecting incriminating material on Glen, starting back at university. How do you think Amirah was able to keep her position at the DC? Before I was a painter, I was a pretty good photographer. Documentary photography was a particular talent.” He smirked and I could only imagine what those photos contained.

“Even in college, they were on this traditionalist designation crap,” Jackson said, rolling his eyes. “They started a club. They had t-shirts and everything.”

I raised my eyebrows, trying to picture younger versions of the alphas who had abused me wearing coordinating t-shirts for their club. It seemed ridiculous, and it made them a little less scary.

“Plus,” Terrance added, “Donovan is famous not just here but in Sol and other provinces. The government couldn’t raid the house of Designation Magazine’s Omega of the Year.”

The pride in his voice was obvious, and it made my heart ache. He spoke of his omega with such love and admiration even after decades together. I thought I saw a hint of a blush on Donovan’s cheeks, and I scented his perfume. Is that what my alphas sounded like when they talked about me?

Donovan muttered, “Pretty sure that doesn’t matter much.”

Nico pulled in his omega and kissed him on the forehead. “Don’t sell yourself short.” He turned to me. “You omegas have done more to take down this government than all the rest of us combined. We would be nowhere without Amirah, Donovan, Lilah, Angie, Charlie, you, and so many others.”

“Not sure I’ve really done anything,” I said, curling up more in my blanket. But more and more, the words rang false even to my ears.

Nico scowled and something about it reminded me so much of Cam. “Don’t sell yourself short. We wouldn’t have the alpha tabs if not for your device. We wouldn’t have this intel without you. When we take down the government, it will be because of you, Josie.”

“That’s right,” Terrance said, giving me a warm smile. “In the next couple of days, we’re going to have a lot of people joining us here so we can strategize how to take down these facilities. Amirah and her pack are coming. Lilah messaged that they’re on their way.”

“Who’s Lilah?”

Donovan’s face lit up. “You don’t know? Honestly, we just made the connection ourselves. Lilah is Ben’s sister and the scientist behind the tabs and serum.”

“What?” I gasped. “Ben didn’t tell me?”

“Her identity has been kept top secret until now, but she insisted on being here since we’re assuming most of these omegas,” Donovan said, gesturing at the papers, “have devices implanted in them.”

“But how can you be sure it’s safe for everyone to come here?” I asked, anxiety rushing through me at the thought of anything happening to Ben’s sister.

“There are back roads into the province that aren’t heavily monitored, and we have a lot of the border patrol agents on our side. But ultimately, it comes down to the fact that the Designation Government is falling apart right before our fucking eyes. Glen, Jericho, Richard, and all the other shitheads are losing control. Too many people are fighting back now and they’re making mistakes. That’s what will make it possible for us to get rid of them once and for all,” Donovan said.

“We’re in the endgame now,” Jackson said, rubbing his hands together.

Nico and Terrance groaned.

“We’re still not doing a Marvel marathon,” Nico said, shaking his finger at Jackson, who just chuckled.

I laughed along with them, ignoring the pain in my leg and my exhaustion as I reached for another slice of pizza. I snuggled back into the plush blanket and watched as Pack Turro bantered, fought, kissed, and hugged, feeling a happy kind of longing that this could be what awaited my pack if only we had the chance.

The province was nearing a tipping point, and I would be part of it, playing an essential role in taking down the government.

My scent turned bright as I sat forward. Pack Turro all shot me smiles as they continued planning the next moves, and I noted familiar names from each designation from across territories. A fierceness filled me. We were doing this. We would get my guys and take down Glen and the whole damn Designation Government. My alphas had rescued me from my bleak life. They had healed me, loved me, protected me. Now it was my turn. I would rescue them.

My omega purred with satisfaction. This was a plan we could get behind, a single-minded motivation to live and fight for our alphas.