It took a fucking while, but finally, the day when I no longer needed a wheelchair arrived, and I was finally allowed to go home. It was about damn time, too. I'd slowly spiraled into madness in that small, stuffy room without much to do. The only reason I didn't lose my mind was Kieran and Ares, who had done their best to help me fight the boredom.
I wasn't even allowed to go outside to get fresh air because the place was open for visitors, and they feared Jomica would find out I was there and send an assassin to end my existence. I wanted to question their reasoning, because once I'd return home, the army wouldn't be able to protect me, anyway.
Or so I thought.
It was Kieran's old captain who wanted to drive us home from the army hospital. I'd learned earlier that the army had done some modifications to Kieran's little house to make it safer for us to live in as a thank you for helping them infiltrate the enemy base. We'd tried to ask what those modifications were, but we only got silent grins as a reply. But now we'd finally get to see it for ourselves.
"What did you do...?" Kieran asked his captain when he stopped his Jeep next to Kieran's home.
There was one very obvious modification we could spot right away. The whole yard had been surrounded by very tall, decorative wrought iron fences. As a criminal, I hated it. The hundreds of vertical iron poles were designed to look like spiky swords at the very top, and even the smallest of mistakes when climbing over them would result in getting immediately impaled by many of them. There wasn't much footing around the top, either. A complete deathtrap. I would never consider climbing over it.
Good.
When we got out of the Jeep, and Captain Garcia went to get our bags and Ares' stroller, Kieran and I stopped to stare at the fences.
"Is that glass?" Kieran asked.
Sure enough, the fences surrounding the front yard were covered up by glass panes that reached all the way up to the highest horizontal pole.
"Bulletproof glass," Captain Garcia corrected him while giving us the stroller. "You can enjoy your time in the garden without worrying about possible drive-by shooters. We also replaced the windows with it. Double layered. Helps with maintaining the temperature inside the house as well."
"How convenient," Kieran said with a chuckle and went to get his son from the backseat, while I tried to take our bag from his captain.
"You can't be picking up or carrying around heavy things anytime soon, boy," he told me in a scolding manner.
"I'm fine now," I objected, but he only let out an amused snort.
"For your information," he told me quietly. "We didn't remove the chains in case Kieran still needs them with you. And I know they were not there for breeding."
I turned completely red on the spot. The captain laughed at my expression and locked his car before he headed to the gate with our bags. Kieran joined me on the sidewalk with Ares now in his stroller.
"What did he say?" he asked.
"Nothing I can repeat," I muttered back, and followed his captain.
"Now everything around here works with these tags," Captain Garcia told us when we stopped next to him at the gate. He had a keychain in his hand with a round, black tag hanging off it. He pressed it on the keypad attached to the fence, and it let out a silent beep, and the gate opened. "In case you don't have your tag with you, you can use a code instead. You can give that code to your trusted ones, so they don't need a tag of their own."
He pushed the gate open and continued his way to the front door with us in tow.
"We secured this door with anti-burglar steel plates," the captain continued, pointing at the reinforced door frames and the door itself. "You need something heavier than just a crowbar to get in."
I liked everything I was hearing so far.
"Keys?" he asked Kieran, who fished his keys out of his bags, and gave them to his captain. "Now remember, once you get in, the alarm system activates."
We nodded and watched while he opened the door. Immediately, we could hear a steady beeping sound close by. The captain gestured for us to follow him in, and he stepped next to a small security device next to the door and showed the tag to it as well. The beeping stopped, and a female voice welcomed us back home.
"Again, just use the tag, and the alarm deactivates. You know how to use this thing?"
Kieran nodded.
"I only know how to cut the power off," I said with a grin.
"Trust me, you don't want to power this one off," the captain said. "This is part of our own system, so any kind of tampering will result in us dropping by with choppers and tanks."
"And I have nothing against that," I said with raised hands.
"Good. Again, you can give a code to your trusted ones, so all they need is a spare key," he continued. "Since you know how to use it, I don't have anything else to say about it except that this system is monitoring every door, window, and gate on your property. It will detect anyone trying to break in before they can even break anything."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Let me show you," the captain said, and closed the door. He then banged on it quite hard several times. "The system has detected this, and is now pointing cameras at the door to see what is going on. It can tell when someone is simply knocking or even banging on the door. But if you do this..."
He paused to grab the door handle and started yanking on it forcefully, like he was trying to force the door open. In three seconds, the alarm went off.
"It can tell the difference between banging the door and someone trying to break in," the captain said, and showed the tag to the machine again to stop the alarm. "And remember, if you don't cancel the alarm in thirty seconds, we will get notified about it. We will check the cameras first, then reach out to you, and if you won't respond in one minute, we will send a team to investigate."
"I must say, I will sleep my nights better with this," Kieran told him, giving him a grateful smile.
"And I haven't even shown you the rest," Captain Garcia said with a soft smile. "Because I can assure you, you can sleep your nights at complete peace."
Kieran raised his eyebrows at him in curiosity. He smiled and told us to follow him again. Kieran and I exchanged looks when he walked to the door that led down into the basement.
"The basements in these tiny houses Governor Morgan is having built are already pretty much bomb proof with great ventilation and its own plumbing system and water outlets," the captain spoke while we walked down the stairs. "It was pretty easy to add all the necessities on top of that."
"Necessities?" Kieran asked.
The captain said nothing. We stopped at the bottom floor, behind the door. It was not the same door I used to stare at from the inside. This one looked much heavier. The captain opened it and pushed it open.
"What...?" Kieran breathed out in awe when we saw what they'd done to the basement.
The whole area had been changed completely. They had divided it in two with a wall and turned the left side of the basement into a really nice bedroom. On our right, there was a small, joined kitchenette and a living room area, and at the back corner was a brand-new bathroom. There were fake windows on the walls hidden behind nice green curtains. The walls were painted with the same colors as the rooms upstairs – colors of nature – and the bed, the couch, everything seemed brand-new.
"This is your new safe house below your house," Captain Garcia said with a smile. "Completely bomb proof, and no one can break down this door."
Kieran and I stared at the place, then at the captain, who was waiting for our reaction.
"So... What do you guys think?"
Kieran snapped out of his wonder before me, and practically flung himself around his captain's shoulders. The older man smiled gently as he hugged him back.
"I love it," Kieran whispered. "Thank you so much."
"You're welcome, my little Sparrow," he murmured back to him. "Now I can sleep my nights better knowing you three have a safe place to live."
I turned back to stare at the apartment. I couldn't recognize it as the same place where I'd spent so many days shackled to the wall. They'd even covered up all the old concrete walls with nice new panels and painted over them. It wasn't even cold anymore, and the old smell was gone.
I stepped to the bedroom door and peered in. It was just large enough for a nice-sized bed and a crib for Ares. There was a large TV mounted on the wall so we could watch it in bed. There was one of those fake windows at the opposite end, shining dim light into the room. I backed off to give room for Kieran, who was just as excited to see what his army had done to his home. I loved that smile on his face and the shine in his eyes when he looked around in wonder.
The living room area was just as nice. The couch was small, but large enough for two plus a baby, and there was another TV opposite of it, next to the kitchenette. There were several basic appliances in it, like a fridge, coffeemaker, and a microwave.
Kieran followed me to see the bathroom. It was small and simple, but fully functional, and nicely renovated with white tile walls and floor.
Maybe this whole place was a bit of an overkill, since I doubted we'd have to stay locked in here for several days, but... With Jomica around, who knew? Maybe we'd end up needing a bomb shelter...
"Once you close that door, nothing can come in," Captain Garcia spoke, pointing at the heavy door leading to the stairwell. "You will be completely safe here, and our security system will handle the rest. If there ever will be an attack, you just come down here and have a movie night while we deal with the attackers."
Kieran and I laughed lightly at his words.
"Thank you so much," Kieran told him. "When you said you did modifications... Well, I did not expect this."
"Now you two just have to promise me you'll be careful," the captain spoke. "Once you leave this property, we can't watch over you anymore."
"We will be careful," Kieran promised.
"Good," the captain said, but it was clear he was afraid. "We will hunt them down, I promise. We will make this city safe for you and your family."
"I know," Kieran said with a smile. "And we will help once Mercer decides to take us in."
I had the feeling Mercer had already forgotten all about us, but I would try to try to reach out to him soon.
Ares started making noise upstairs, so Kieran left to check up on him. My alpha was immediately on high alert and listened to the sounds the child was making on the first floor. I was going to follow Kieran, but I was stopped by his captain.
"You take good care of him now, boy," he told me sternly.
"Yes, sir," I said. "I will give my life to protect him."
"Good. I'd rather take him to a safe location where I know nothing can get to him, but... He is a soldier. A great one at that. Losing him, and his partner, was a huge blow to my team," he said, his voice growing softer and softer the longer he spoke.
"I understand. I will protect him," I said.
"We have a diaper situation over here," Kieran informed us. "I'll be right back."
I smiled at the sound of his voice, then turned back to Captain Garcia.
"I will protect him," I said again, then hesitated. "I... I don't know if I should ask him... Why he's no longer in the army, and why he doesn't want to return."
He shook his head. "Don't ask. He'll tell you when he's ready."
I nodded. "He was raped, wasn't he?" I asked in a whisper.
He looked up at the stairs with horrible sadness in his eyes, but said nothing. He didn't have to.
"That bastard is dead, right?" I asked in a growl.
"We can't say for sure..." he muttered, then turned to me. He watched me carefully before speaking again. "I probably shouldn't tell you this, but... A mission went wrong. Kieran and his partner were captured. The enemy had them for six days."
The anger I suddenly felt was something I'd never felt before. Six days...? Six fucking days?!
"It was Commander Stoll who found them and brought them back home," he added. "He said he killed everyone he could find. That's all I know about the attackers. Kieran never was able to speak about it. His partner was barely alive, so he didn't have many memories of it."
I swallowed hard and turned to him. "I will protect him," I said once again. "No one will lay a finger on him ever again."
"Good," he said. "I'm counting on you."
"Yes, sir," I said.
And I promised to myself that if I ever found out who that bastard rapist was, and if he still was around, I would find him and fucking cut off his cock and skin him alive.
No one touched my omega and survived. No one.
I had to act like I wasn't boiling in anger when the captain and I left the basement and climbed to the first floor to find Kieran. He was in the bathroom with Ares, making funny faces to his child while he changed his diaper.
It really hurt knowing how that baby came to exist...
But I had to push that thought away. His captain shouldn't have told me what happened to him, especially behind his back, but I was glad he did, because if I ever found that sick fuck... But I couldn't let Kieran know I knew about it. Maybe one day, he'd talk to me about it.
"I guess I should leave and let you guys get settled in," Captain Garcia said, smiling at the babbling child.
"So soon? Would you stay for a cup of coffee?" Kieran asked and picked Ares up in his arms.
The captain's smile grew wider. "You know I can never refuse the coffee you make."
He ended up staying for almost an hour longer. My injuries were getting painful, but I couldn't take this moment away from my mate, so I just endured it. Kieran seemed so happy to get to spend some time with his old captain, after all. It was clear Kieran had loved being on Garcia's team, which broke my heart. His whole life had been ripped away from him during those six days... I wished I could take away that pain... I'd do anything to stop that from happening if I could go back in time.
And my self-hate was back. I was once one of those sick fucking bastards... Because of me, many of his kind had suffered like he had... Fuck, I was disgusted with myself again... And that was why I had to stay and fight. I had to stay and save as many omegas as I possibly could. I would rather die doing that than hide for the rest of my life.
I needed to find that fucking Mercer and force him to take me in his mafia.
But I guess he found me first.
Later that evening, when Ares was already asleep, and Kieran and I were finishing up our evening snacks in the kitchen, Kieran's phone suddenly let out a short beep. He reached for the phone and peered at the screen, then frowned and sat up to read the message.
"What is it?" I asked.
"It's from Captain... he only says we're getting visitors," he told me.
Sure enough, only a moment later, we saw lights coming outside right behind our gates. Kieran quickly got up to see what was going on, while I with my aching guts followed him at a slower pace.
There were three large black SUVs parked outside our gates.
We glanced at each other.
"Looks like mafia cars," Kieran muttered. "Three means it's an escort."
"And escort means...?" I asked slowly.
"It's him," he breathed out.
Michael Mercer.
My entire intestine system went into a huge knot. I was suddenly so nervous that even my alpha woke up to check the surroundings. I was not prepared to meet the leader of the dark side of Maryland. I thought I was going to bed! Holy fuck... Holy fucking fuck...
"They must be coming in peace if the army knows about their visit," Kieran told me. "It'll be fine. Mercer is a good man."
"Yeah, but I tried to kill him," I said, and let out a nervous laugh.
"He has already cleared your name," Kieran reminded me. "It'll be fine."
I took a moment to stare at him. My mate. My omega. My family. He was the reason I wanted to work for the mafia. So I could keep him safe.
I could do this.
I nodded and straightened my posture. "Right. I found my balls. Let's go greet them."
Kieran smiled encouragingly and followed me to the front door. I was still so very nervous, but at least I recovered from the initial shock quite quickly. And I got determined. I needed him to take me into his mafia. I would do whatever he wanted just to get in.
I stopped behind the door, took a deep breath, and opened it. There were people at the gates, waiting for us. I couldn't really see their faces in the darkness, behind the glass panels, but the way they dressed reminded me of the mafia. Very clean and expensive.
My alpha paid very close attention to them. It wasn't sure what to think of them. It knew these were strong alphas, way stronger than we were, but it could also tell these were not the same we'd fought against. For one, all of them had their second spirits awake, and none of them was particularly interested in our omega.
"I guess we should open the gate," I said, and reached for the intercom next to the door.
I pressed the right button, and the gate slowly swung open. Most of the mafiosos stayed by their cars, keeping guard, but there were three men standing behind the gate, waiting for entry. I recognized all of them. One of them was that guy, Marcus, next to a guy he'd had with him when they came to visit me at the army hospital. They stood behind the third one.
The Boss.
I let out a slow breath when they approached us. Kieran shifted closer to me but kept his eyes on the approaching men. I conjured a smile on my face when the leader of the underworld slowly made his way up to us.
"Boss," I said politely, and bowed at him. "This is an honor."
This alpha was tall and strong, and his appearance was so clean I felt dirty, even though I'd just showered. He kept his expression neutral, but his eyes were so sharp both me and my alpha yielded under his gaze. I tried to keep my posture straight, but I felt small and insignificant. I tried to maintain eye contact with him, but this man... He looked at me like he looked at his enemy.
I could tell why he was the leader... Holy shit, he was scary...
He stopped before reaching our porch and measured me from head to toe. He didn't seem too impressed...
"I was told you wish to speak with me," he said, his voice low and threatening.
"Yes, sir," I said. "First, I want to apologize for trying to kill you. I was with the–"
"I heard this story already," he said. "But do you understand it was not just me you tried to kill?"
"S-sir?" I stammered.
"My mate was with me that night," he said, his voice growing darker.
This was not going to end well.
But still, I took a step closer and fell on my knees in front of him, keeping my head bowed in full submission.
"Please forgive me," I said. "I did not know he was your mate. I didn't even know what I was doing. For all my life, I was fed only lies by everyone around me. I didn't understand how much pain I was causing. I didn't understand I was fighting the true, natural order of life, where omegas and alphas live as equals. I regret every decision I've made, and I regret working for True Order terrorists. I can see the truth now. I can see I was fighting for the wrong cause, and now I'm begging you to let me help fight them."
He hummed short, and I carefully looked up at him. His eyes were still sharp as he studied me, but I still felt a little encouraged. Not enough to speak, though, so I just waited in silence.
Mercer turned his attention to Kieran, who stood right next to me. "So you are the ex-bloodhound who saved his life?"
"Yes, sir," Kieran said, keeping his posture high. "I'm also his mate."
"I see," The Boss said slowly.
"He is a good man. He was just brainwashed," Kieran continued. "He is just another victim of True Order. You know his kind. You've protected alphas just like him."
"Have I now?" Mercer said slowly.
"Yes, sir," Kieran said. "We both want to work for you. We want to end what True Order started, but we can't do it alone."
Mercer was silent and glanced at his men.
"He did kick Jomica hard in the nuts," Marcus said.
"He did, didn't he," Mercer finally said and turned to look down at me. "Perhaps we can talk."
I froze when he moved his hand closer to me, offering to help me up from the ground. I stared at him. I guess I looked a little spooked.
"Come on," he said. "I won't bite."
I carefully took a hold of his hand, and he lifted me up on my feet.
"Thank you, sir," I said.
"I've heard of what you have accomplished after the attack against me and my mate," he said, his hold on my hand strong. "Maybe there is still hope for you."
"I want to fight until this world is free from True Order," I told him, the anger in me rising again. "I want to protect omegas and their freedom. And I want to protect my family because now Jomica is after them."
"Fair, fair," he said, and paused to study me closer before he finally continued. "I'll give you a chance. Marcus here will take you under his wing. His word is your law, understand?"
"Yes, sir," I said, feeling a mad wave of relief washing over me. "Thank you, sir."
"I understood you still need time to recover?" he asked.
"A few more days is enough," I said, but Kieran cleared his throat. "Or more..."
Mercer snorted in amusement. "Mates, am I right?"
"Yes, sir," he said.
"Well then," he said, and squeezed my hand tightly. "Once your mate lets you come out to play, you'll contact Marcus. He will give you his number."
"Yes, sir," I said, feeling enthusiastic now. "I won't fail you."
"Good," he said, and pulled me closer. "Welcome to the mafia, son."