Unlocked (The Alpha Group 3)

The adrenaline was already fading from my veins. My skin felt hot and my lungs burned. I'd hit him with everything I had.

Sophia leaned down to check Ewan's pulse. "He's alive."

"He's a tough old bastard," I replied.

"We need to get him somewhere soon, though, and check him out. You did quite a number on him."

I nodded. "I'll call in the cavalry."

I walked off towards the corner of the lot, just to put a little distance between Ewan and myself, and pulled out my phone.

"Thomas, I'm going to need a little help here."

* * * * *

"Doctor says he's alright," said Thomas, appearing in the doorway. "You certainly did a number on him."

I grimaced. "That's what Sophia said."

He pulled up a chair and sat down next to me, pouring himself a scotch from the bottle in front of us. It was about two hours since I'd called him, and we were inside a small Alpha complex in the Inner West, which had a couple of rooms fitted to keep prisoners. Holding people wasn't something we did often — we pulled strings, we didn't arrest people — but we liked to be prepared, nonetheless.

He threw back the entire glass in one sip, wincing with the burn, then shook his head. "I never suspected he could do something like this. I mean, he was a bit of an asshole, sometimes, but still. Not this."

"I know," I replied. "Is he talking yet?"

"Not yet. He's awake, but still pretty groggy. It won't be too long, I imagine." Something in the way he was looking at me told me what was coming next. "You could have called, you know. When you disappeared, we all assumed the worst."

I hated that I had to have this conversation, but there was no avoiding it. "I know, but at that point I didn't know who to trust."

A look of hurt crossed his face, and I didn't blame him. He was my friend and he deserved my trust. Then again, I'd thought Ewan deserved it as well. Would I ever be able to fully trust these men again? I wanted to think so, but I suspected there would always be a niggling doubt. I didn't know what to do with that. Maybe I could have lived with it a few years back, but I didn't just have my life to consider anymore. Sophia claimed she was okay with the risks, but that didn't mean I was. I couldn't stand the thought of ever putting her in jeopardy again. She deserved the happiness that came with a normal life, a life of not constantly looking over your shoulder. No matter how hard I tried, I didn't know if I could provide that anymore.

I took the scotch and refilled both our glasses, and we drank in silence for a while. I suspected there would be a lot of this over the coming days. The news of Ewan's betrayal had hit the group hard.

"How's Sophia coping?" Thomas asked eventually.

I felt a ghost of a smile creep onto my face. "She actually seems okay. She's a hell of a lot tougher than she looks."

"I can believe that. Is she still floating around here? I haven't had a chance to talk to her."

"No, I sent her back to the main house with Trey. She wanted to stay, but it was obvious how wiped out she was. Besides, there was no reason for her to be here. At this point, it's just a waiting game." With Ewan in custody, much of the danger had passed, but I wasn't willing to let Sophia go back out into the real world just yet. Now that we knew who the traitor was, she'd be safe in the Alpha house until we could unravel the rest of Ewan's operation. Soon, this whole nightmare would be behind us.

A few minutes later, Marcus walked into the room. "He's awake."

"Does he have anything to say for himself?" I asked.

"Not yet. He wants to speak to you, Sebastian. Said he won't talk to anyone else."

It wasn't a good idea. Despite having had a little time to process his betrayal, I still didn't trust myself to be in the same room as him. Just thinking about it turned my blood to lava. But Ewan was a stubborn son of a bitch. If he wanted me there, he'd hold out until it happened.

"Take me to him," I said with a curt nod.

I followed Marcus into the prison area, and he buzzed me through into Ewan's cell.

He was slouched on the bed in the corner of the room. Thomas and Sophia were right, I really had done a number on him. His face was a mottled collage of purple and yellow. Most of his features were barely recognisable behind the swelling and broken skin. He stared up at me, through his one good eye, still managing to look unafraid.

"So." My voice could have frozen water.

He sighed heavily. "So."

"Let's get this over with. You wanted to see me. Well, here I am."

There was a pause. "I'm sorry, Sebastian."

He couldn't have surprised me any more if he'd tried. My hands clenched tight and I took two big steps towards him until I was close enough to feel his breath on my skin. "Sorry? That's why you brought me in here? To apologise? I don't want your apologies, Ewan! I want answers!" I realised I was shouting, but I didn't care. I needed some outlet for all the anger seething inside me or it was going to come out through my fists again.

He flinched, but his expression remained stoic. "I appreciate that. I'm not going to pretend like that makes it better. All I want is for you to understand; everything I did, I did in the best interests of the group."

"You don't get to decide what's best for the group. That's not your call alone," I spat.

"Maybe not, but I didn't see any other way. She's a liability, Sebastian. And now you are too. The way you reacted when she was taken, well, the council can't afford to have that kind of weakness. Especially not with everything else that's happening. So I did what I thought was necessary."

A trickle of discomfort flowed down my spine. "What do you mean everything else? You're responsible for everything else."

His eyes widened. "You can't be serious."

"I'm deadly serious. You just admitted to trying to take both of us out, but you expect me to believe you weren't the one who tried to kidnap Sophia?"

He sat up taller, raising his head as close to mine as possible. "I may have been concerned about you for a while, Sebastian, but I didn't do anything about it until that night with Anton's men in the safe house. And as God is my witness, I fucking certainly had nothing to do with Charlie and Simon. They were my friends."

His voice was louder now and full of conviction. It made my head spin.

"So if it wasn't you, who was it?"

"I don't know, but they're still out there."

"You're lying," I said, but I think it was more for my benefit than his. The certainty in his eyes rippled through me.