47

brYLEE

Panic spins inside my stomach like a dog chasing its own tail—stupid and manic. There is absolutely zero chance that I’ll be able to convince my parents that I’m Ted.

My feet are sliding backward across the marble unconsciously as I scan the crowd for the nearest exit.

“I just…need to…use the restroom,” I say lamely, turning quickly before my father’s scanning eyes can find me.

“Me too,” Sam says.

I hand my plate to Harper, and she gives me a smiling grimace—a look of sympathy because this is a problem she can’t help with.

“You want—” Colter starts to ask.

“I’d rather bite off my own arm,” I retort, because there is zero chance I want my scent match following me into the bathroom and listening to me pee. We are not on that level yet. And…I also might end up puking. I’m not interested in explaining his need to stand at my side, rubbing my back, if another alpha walks in.

I stride to the nearest door and then down the hall next to Sam, who takes out his phone and starts texting as we walk, even lifting his phone and snapping a photo of a portrait of Madam Ellora and snickering.

“She looks like she doesn’t just have a stick up her ass, but a whole oak tree,” he jests.

“Accurate.” I have to remind myself not to turn toward the ladies’ room and continue on to the men’s, and the entire time, I hold my breath, hoping that it’s completely empty.

I’m in luck and breathe out a sigh of relief when we walk into a bathroom that’s fancier than necessary—probably in an attempt to show off to the visiting alphas. Do men really care about chandeliers hanging over their urinals? Doubtful.

I make my way over to the window and undo the latch, shoving it upward so I can get a breath of fresh night air to help me think of a way out of this predicament.

Instead of heading right to the restroom, Sam comes over and stands beside me. “So…the parents.”

“Yeah.” I scratch at the painted ledge and listen to a frog croaking in the distance as I debate hopping out this window.

“Any chance they won’t go onto the stage for the award?”

I snort derisively. “Have you ever seen my mother on television? Absolutely none.” Sometimes, I think that woman loves the spotlight more than her own flesh and blood.

Rubbing at my forehead, I scold myself for being unfair because I know the toll this war has taken on her. The constant stress of moves and countermoves, anticipating the enemy’s plans and their responses, the gut-wrenching drama of knowing you’re responsible for the deaths of thousands…and yet, she still came tonight to honor her only son.

Which brings me full circle back to the unsolvable problem that I have.

“Maybe I need to just get sick,” I murmur.

“I could help you sneak out and then go tell everyone,” Sam offers.

I glance up with a furrowed brow, wondering if that plan could possibly work. Would a beta hold up under interrogation from my incredulous mother? I’m capable, but only because I’ve spent a lifetime around her.

“I owe you,” he reminds me gently.

“Okay.” I nod, taking a deep breath as the idea seems to solidify into a true possibility in my head. “Yeah. Let’s do it.”

Part of me wishes that I’d come up with the idea to play sick earlier, but then, they might have wanted to postpone the ball for the guest of honor. Now, I’ll get to come back as myself and see my scent matches and my parents as Brylee.

The fact that my parents will come face-to-face with Alpha Team X and realize that we’re matches is a problem for future Brylee to deal with. Present Brylee needs to get Teddie the hell out of here without getting caught.

I shove the window open further and lean out, scanning the grounds. To my surprise, I see a few figures near the side of the building.

Are alphas and omegas already sneaking off to make out?

It seems too early.

Prickles scratch up my neck as I squint and realize that I don’t see dresses—only men. I squint, staring harder, and that’s when I see a flash of dragon insignia.

My skin grows icy and my lungs seize, somehow tight and heavy at the same time. Time stands still for a moment before adrenaline ripples through me in a wild torrent.

Then, suddenly, a thousand thoughts pile onto me at once, like stones, compressing. Heavy.

Noths.

All those omegas ? —

My parents!

My mates!

The desire to leap through the window and fight them wars with my need to warn everyone. But a warning will help more people and save more lives. I pivot on my heel, spinning, my lips opening to tell Sam to run?—

My roommate’s fist slams into my open jaw. Pain immediately ricochets up my cheek, but before my head has even finished the sideways swivel caused by his blow, Sam’s hitting me again. A smashing blow to the temple makes my vision fuzz to black for a second and my spine feel like water. A rag comes to my mouth, and the sickly sweet smell of chloroform hits me.

Fuck no!

I struggle against his hold, elbowing hard and somehow breaking loose, spinning away. Gasping. Each breath is a struggle, harsh and scratching.

But my training kicks in along with an outraged sense of fury. A smoldering, fuming malice because I saved this fucker.

I duck, swiping with my leg and sending Sam sprawling backward, breath huffing from him as he hits the ground.

A cough wracks my chest, and I taste blood, though I ignore it because the beta is already coming at me again. Rising to his knees, he dives toward my feet, and I jump sideways, but my bad ankle doesn’t give me enough lift, and his hand wraps around my polished leather shoe. He yanks, hard, and I stumble, hands flying and latching on the sink to my right.

“Sam. What the fuck?” I grit out, but the words have hardly left my mouth when the bathroom door bursts open.

Two wild-eyed alphas enter the room dressed entirely in black, guns trained immediately on my chest.

For a split second, hope bursts through my chest, but then I look for security badges on their chests, and there are none.

A horrid fear slinks down my throat and then wrenches my chest and twists it tight.

The Noths have already penetrated the building. I won’t be able to warn anyone.

“This is her,” Sam huffs as he slowly stands.

His eyes are dead and emotionless as he turns to me, and immediately, I can tell that pleading will do no good.

I’ve been sold out before.

The night in Eros comes back to me in full force…and Sam’s pleading tone takes on a new meaning for me. Was he…bargaining with them? Not just begging for his life?

A boulder drops in my chest, cracking my ribs and cramping my stomach as I realize that I might have foolishly bestowed my trust once again. And I’m not certain if I hate him or myself more in this moment.

“Told you I could help you get in,” Sam adds as he backs toward the doorway, ready to backstab me and stride off.

Lungs snagging, I can’t breathe, and everything inside of me heats to boiling. Steaming angry tears varnish my eyes and make the entire scene feel unreal for a moment. And then I’m hit with a primal, urgent desire to hurt that beta, to rip through his skin and dig the heart from his chest with my bare hands because he’s betrayed me.

Betrayed our kingdom.

Ignoring the guns trained on me, I rush at him.

But a Noth fires his weapon, a whistling, high-pitched sound that’s nothing like a bullet. Something sharp bites into my neck just as I get my hands on Sam. And even as I shove him roughly, I can feel the strength draining from my arms. My limbs. My mind.

As everything dims and fades around me, and the Noth soldiers march grimly forward, I have one final, dark thought.

I’m about to relive my worst nightmare.