Regona City: Renegade (BK4)

An Honorary Title Returned

Flabbergasted, Sahara reached out. Her fingers brushed through several of the beautiful insects, but they continued on their journey, filling the entire greenhouse with the most gorgeous colors.

"Romantic, no?" Glen asked.

Sahara didn't reply.

"Are you not touched? Even the Phantom can learn from me," Glen continued. His smile dropped. With a scoff, he waved a hand.

The creatures' colors faded before they disappeared from existence completely.

"I've decided to move on," Glen announced. "Maybe the single life is more up my alley?"

I'm sure your crew would be overjoyed to hear that, Sahara couldn't help but internalize as she remembered how this omega's Achilles heel was heartbreak. Then again...isn't it too late for that?

"I knew you would come." Glen leaned against a table that featured an impressive number of bonsai trees. Each looked to be meticulously cared for. They were real.

"Want to share what's going on?" Sahara asked. Her eyes drifted to the obvious bruising on the omega's face.

"Didn't you hear?"

"I want to hear from you." The Falcon met Glen's gaze evenly. "Last time I saw you, you were worried about Noctorious, and now you..." she trailed off. "What made you change your mind?"

Glen picked up a pot with a particular bare tree in it. He turned it in his hands. "What's the first rule in Regona?"

That was an easy one for Sahara. "Don't trust anyone."

"Yeah...that one seems to fly right by you." Glen tapped the pot.

Sahara scowled.

"Second rule?" Glen continued his quiz.

The scowl deepened.

The tapping stopped. Glen's piercing eyes met Sahara's. "In Regona, only the strong survive."

The truth is, in Regona only the strongest rule, Aaron's words echoed in Sahara's mind.

"So, your mindset is that if you can't beat them, you'll join them?" the Falcon asked.

Glen put the pot aside. He leaned forward. "My crew is my family. I do what I have to for them to go on."

"You were beat?" Sahara asked bluntly. "If you lost a race you should take it like a man and disband. You don't have to be a crew to be a family."

Glen's eyes twitched.

"As an honorary falcon, you should know better than siding with a crew that's wreaking havoc."

A cold chuckle escaped the young man. The warmth he'd portrayed before disappeared along with the sound. A cold glint filled his eyes and Sahara felt herself catching her breath. It took effort to not take a step back.

"Race?" the word sounded hollow coming from the omega. "Hah, the scary part is that even if we had a race, I can't say I'd have won."

"No race...?" Sahara furrowed her brows. "There's no other way to make demands...at least not according to the Creed."

Glen's eyebrows shot up. He tossed his head back and let out a laugh, as though he'd just heard the funniest thing ever. Except...that wasn't a laugh of an amused man. It was both hollow and bone-chilling.

This time, Sahara did take a step back. She was seeing glimpses of the side this omega had not often shown her. It reminded her of the first time she'd met him, the intimidation of that time.