Page 31 of Captive Beta
Because today has brought so many more questions than answers. It has also brought a lot of new sources of information and even a new mate, but it has mainly given us a lot of new questions.
It’s a lot. Too much, really.
And I feel like the most important thing right now is for all of us to go home.
When we’re all together at home, in a place where we can feel safe, we’ll make sense of it all.
And maybe it will be easier for Luca too, once everything has settled down and we’re all clean, fed and rested.
Tonight has brought up a lot of memories and feelings for a lot of people and it breaks my heart to see my mates in so much pain.
And all of it is because of the fucking Suits Syndicate.
Mathew and Luca’s pain from the Hearts.
Riley’s pain from the Diamonds.
We have to destroy them.
13
Luca
I have no idea what to think of this pack. I know that they’re my scent matches, how I reacted to their pheromones makes that very clear. But that doesn’t mean I feel comfortable or easy around them.
Did I go from a bad situation to an even worse one?
They act like they care, about the kids, about me, about my family, but that could just as easily be an act.
They’re killers. All of them.
They kill in a way that’s both innate and well-trained, like this is just another day for them, nothing special. They don’t seem to care about the people who die at their hands at all.
Will I be next?
When I stop being useful to them, will they simply get rid of me?
I don’t know and that’s making me anxious all over again.
Eli and the man in charge, Mathew, are standing next to the van, ordering people around, making sure the garage is empty before we let the kids out. We’re hoping that they’ll be less scared when they’re not surrounded by adults all decked out in gear, weapons in full view and easy reach.
Mathew knocks on my window and I lower it. He looks to the back, at the kids. “Do they need beds or are they more comfortable in a nest? Just for the night. We’ll come up with a better solution in the morning.”
No matter how close Mathew is, I can’t catch any of his pheromones. Most of the others who are all geared up also seem to have really weak pheromones, so it’s probably something they do to hide them. But even then, his seem to be particularly absent, for a lack of a better description. I’m not getting weak pheromones from him, I’m getting no pheromones from him.
After all the intense pheromones from earlier, this is a welcome change, but it also feels strange. He’s part of the pack, the same pack I belong to, so to not know what he smells like feels wrong in a way.
He asked me something. Right. I should reply.
“It’s better to give them a nest. Being close together will make them feel safer.” So many things have happened tonight that anything that can calm them down and make them feel safe is important.
Their evening started when they were round up from a handful of the local Hearts locations and I was put in charge of them. Some of the kids I’d seen around a few times, but most of them I had no clue who they were. It was already past their bedtime, so emotions were running high and they were very stressed about all the sudden changes.
The streets they had to walk through were unfamiliar. The guards were cruel. It was late. All things that made them even more anxious.
Then, when we finally reached the warehouse and would be able to rest for a little while, Vera suddenly barged in —which they luckily didn’t have to see— and then they were moved to a new place by a totally different group of people.
They’ve had a long and exhausting night.
