So… as least thus far… it seemed he’d done nothing.
Except cast her out, practically naked, into the mud.
Crushing down feelings of betrayal, Wren refused to acknowledge them. One could only be betrayed if one cared. She didn’t. She wouldn’t no matter how her eyes stung or how it sometimes grew hard to breathe.
Those Alphas didn’t cherish her; they just enjoyed the novelty of fucking their very own freak. Even Toby—who wanted to take her out and rub the city’s face in his defective, tattooed mate—thought only to parade her around, smiling that creepy unhinged grin while others scattered at the sight of them.
She was no one’s mate.
This she had told herself, over and over earlier that day when she’d picked the honeycombed splints from her hand. She was her own person.
And the reminder, coupled with free wiggling fingers, left her feeling more herself than she had since waking up in a dark closet, bloody and draped with chains.
She was healthier than ever. And yes she was hungry. And yes she was extremely thirsty. But she could last years like this.
And she had not had to whore herself once since she’d fought through the torrents of mud and climbed free of her sinking building.
She had slept alone on her terms.
And as she had done before Caspian had ruined her already hard life, she had survived.
In the worst part of this city, clothes muddy and wind biting, Wren remembered pride.
And felt her heart warm—held onto that beautiful sensation, slamming the door shut on whatever ugliness the males on the other end of their links reveled in.
She was strong.
Though her fingers were weak and not every bone had healed perfectly straight, she could move them. Had practiced for hours with gentle sweeping motion and cautious stretches.
She had her voice back.
And now it was time.
This wasn’t ideal, certainly not what she desired. But after days of deliberation, Wren had come up with no plausible alternate strategy.
In the dark of night, she had searched out potential places to make a new home. So far, nothing had been safer than the crack in the wall where she squatted. But that was no home, and there was hardly room for her body in there, let alone two growing boys. Tempted as she was to just sneak in and steal Alec, where would she take him for shelter?
There was no new home.
Despite years of trying, together they might find a way to climb over the gates and search out Mikael. But Wren had no idea which building housed her sick boy. And there were so many.
Tens of millions lived in Dale City.
Three credits left to her name. No food. No water. She could not provide for them like this.
She’d need money to buy her way out of the Warrens.
A year’s worth of water could be traded for a lot, maybe even tickets out of this horrible city so they might find a fresh start.
The very thought warmed her heart further. She’d heard there were parts of the world that were still green. Distant places far beyond what even a year’s worth of water and pockets full of coin might take her to.
Of course, she’d die before she saw such a place, but all she needed was a new city that would take in two boys and give them a real future. Far, far, far away from Caspian’s Syndicate.
From the Alpha in his hideous coat. From brown eyes and secret smiles when no one else could see.
…she’d dreamed of him last night—dreamed of Caspian. And in the dream, he’d been kind. He didn’t stink of other women. He didn’t lie.
There wasn’t pain or battles or mockery.
The nightmare had been horrific. The following ping in her heart when she’d awakened more than enough to make her ill.
Ripping the wrapper from her last meal, Wren shoved it under the bandana keeping the reek of shit from her nose, and fought the dry thing for a bite.
And felt…
She felt a rippling sensation wiggle and squirm in her belly. She felt a come-hither buzz in her chest.
The quasi-bond sang to her that Caspian wasn’t fucking his women. He wasn’t drunk or high. But he was angry, frustrated. Had been for two days straight.
Taking the final bite of her dry supplement bar, Wren swallowed a jagged bit of food down her throat. It scoured her gullet all the way to her belly.
And that was that.
To face him starving and even thirstier would make her look weak.
The splints were off, her bones had healed, she could communicate at long last… and it had to be today.
Today she demanded her due.
He’d probably kill her.
And that… was better than living without her boys.
Chapter 15
“Sir, there is an intruder wading through Pitchfork Canal 7.”
For a moment, a painful beat of time, Caspian’s heart stopped. Hanging his head, it took three full seconds before he found the ability to draw breath. And it shook, damn the mouse, it shook rattling its way into his lungs.