A goddamn warrior, that's who.
She started unbuttoning her shirt and spoke in a strong, clear voice. "Let's get this thing out of me."
"I'm sorry," Olivia murmured for what had to be the hundredth time as she probed deeper into the incision she had made in the upper bicep of Stacy's left arm.
She had made only a tiny cut to start, pinpointing the small black mark Josie had inked, but when the tracker continued to elude her, she'd had to widen the incision. "I'm going as fast as I can, but there's no way around it—I know it hurts."
"I can take it," Stacy said woodenly.
And she could—she'd trained for this, having outlasted all of her classmates in her interrogation course. It was what had allowed her to endure basic training with her arm in a cast and sling after she broke her arm in a fall from the ropes course. A fall that would never have happened if a fellow recruit hadn't pushed her.
That was what really hurt, of course. Not the physical pain, but the indignities her male peers and superiors had subjected her to, lashing out at her simply for being a woman in a man's job.
Stacy hadn't survived all that just to cry over a poke in the arm. And so, as Olivia continued to turn her arm into chopped sirloin, she gritted her teeth and imagined doing the same thing to Fulmer's balls. She could rely on her training to carry her through the white-hot pain.
Ten hours later—at least, that's what it felt like— Olivia exclaimed, "Got it!" and, with a triumphant grin, pulled the object of torture out of Stacy's arm.
"Damn, lady," Josie said. "Why couldn't you be that quick when you took out mine?"
"I'm getting better with practice," Olivia shrugged. "By time the next omega lands here, I'll be an expert."
Mari handed her a bottle of iodine and gauze. After Olivia had cleaned up, she got to work with the surgical needle in her kit, making tiny, neat stitches. Stacy did her best to ignore the sharp sting and listened while the others chatted.
"It was also a good idea, sending Vonn away before you got started," Josie told Olivia. "Having Knox breathing down your neck probably didn't help that first time."
Olivia smiled without looking up. "You can say that again. Poor Gray had to take mine out on his own. I think it might have hurt him every bit as much as it hurt me."
Stacy couldn't keep silent any longer. "Are you trying to tell me that your alphas—the ones you're chained to—actually cared about your pain?"
"The alphas we're what now?" Mari was obviously amused. "You're kidding, right?"
Stacy rolled her eyes but bit back her sarcasm when she realized that Mari couldn't be older than she'd been when enlisted. Just a baby.
Olivia had tied off the stitches and was carefully smoothing tape in place over a gauze pad covering the wound. "Don't give her such a hard time," she told Mari. "We all thought the same things when we came here."
"You're right," Josie admitted. "Hell, it took days before I truly believed Knox wasn't going to break our deal and jump on me in the night."
"Yeah, I guess I was more afraid of Ryder than of freezing to death that first night," Mari reflected.
Stacy looked from one woman to the next, certain she was only getting half the story. "But…none of that happened? The things you were afraid of?"
"My mate has saved my life a total of three times now," Mari said quietly.
Stacy struggled to absorb this claim. Alphas didn't save lives; they took them. "But only because he needs you alive to mate with, right?"
Mari shook her head. "That's not how it is. Two of those times were before either of us knew about my true nature."
"You'll learn that most of what the beta authorities taught us about alphas was wrong. But it's worse than that." Josie's voice was impassioned. "All the lies they tell? Their whole purpose is to keep women under their control. Not just dormant omegas, either. All women."
"You had to have seen that for yourself," Olivia said. "I mean, how many women are even left in the military?"
Stacy didn't answer…she couldn't, not with the effects of an adrenaline crash setting in now that her makeshift surgery was over.
"I know it goes against everything you've been taught," Mari said, "but we're asking you to trust us. We've all experienced things that would shock the public if they ever found out."
Stacy felt as though she'd been standing on an ice floe. As each lie was revealed, pieces of the ice broke off and floated away, leaving her in danger of losing her foundation. Any more, and she'd simply go under.
And that terrified her. If Stacy lost the thing that had given her pride and purpose, she'd be no better than the many bitter, beaten former female soldiers who'd been forced out. Wasn't it possible that this was just a corrupt corner of the service?
Stacy had known many good, honorable, brave men and women in her career. Just because Fulmer had put civilian lives in danger in service to corrupt ideals, that didn't mean that the whole system was broken.
"I'll admit that people stepped over the line. That there are bad elements that must be rooted out. But you have to admit that the alphas contributed to the situation."
"Contributed how?" Josie demanded, her face darkening with anger.
Stacy's blood simmered, the pain of the last moments forgotten. "Have you really been so blinded by your mates that you've forgotten about a national tragedy?"
"What tragedy?"
"For starters, alphas kidnapped a senator's daughter and then ambushed the elite rescue squad sent to bring her home. Alphas slaughtered every last one of them."
"That didn't happen." Josie held her gaze.
Enraged, Stacy was instantly up on her feet, ready to make Josie take back her words by force if necessary. "It sure as hell happened! I know because those were my friends on the rescue squad. My friends were murdered in cold blood by savages."
Before she could make a move toward Josie, Olivia stepped between them, putting her hands on Stacy's shoulders, carefully avoiding the wound site.
Stacy could have shaken her off easily. She could have flipped her onto the ground with almost no effort. Instead, she felt frozen as Olivia regarded her with sympathy.
"That's not what Josie meant. We all know about the lives that were lost that day. But the story you've been told about that day…it isn't what happened."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm so sorry for your loss. I didn't realize those soldiers were your friends. But it doesn't change the fact that Mia Baird wasn't kidnapped."
"She wasn't?" Stacy wasn't sure what to believe. She'd been lied to so many times by so many people, she was beginning to doubt her own ability to recognize the truth.
"And those soldiers weren't killed in cold blood," Josie said. "They trespassed onto alpha land with orders to kill Mia and anyone around her. I'm sure they were also lied to, just like you were, but it doesn't change that all of it was a setup to help Mia's father retain his power."
"No," Stacy whispered. It couldn't be true. "You're the ones who have been lied to."
"I'm sorry, Stacy," Olivia said sadly. "But it's true."
"How can you possibly know that?"
"Because we know Mia Baird, and she told us the story herself."
Chapter Seventeen
When the omegas finally left, Stacy wandered out onto the patio and took a seat in one of the Adirondack chairs. Shortly after that, she heard the front door open and close. For a while after that, there was only birdsong, the sun on her face, and a bit of a breeze ruffling through her hair.
Slowly, Stacy's eyes drifted closed, but she wasn't drowsy. She needed to think.
The omegas had come here to protect her, and Stacy knew she owed them a debt of gratitude. Even now, Vonn was out there in the woods burying the crushed tracker somewhere on his land. If the thing still worked—which she seriously doubted given how many pieces it was in—and Fulmer sent someone to retrieve it, they'd suffer the consequences. Even with the government's best efforts at destroying the settlement, the tre
aties were clear: the punishment for breaching an alpha's land without permission was death.
Vonn had told her she was safe, but Stacy wasn't sure she even knew what that word meant anymore.
How could anyone be safe in a world where there was no clear line between right and wrong? Between truth and lies? If the powers that be were willing to sacrifice innocent civilians on missions that left them trapped for the rest of their lives at best, and brought down by their own country in the worst case?
Everything she'd been told about the Baird mission was wrong. Her superiors had been lying to her all along. They'd used her anger and grief to manipulate her into another shortsighted and ultimately failed mission in the Boundarylands.
But wanting something to be a lie didn't magically turn it into the truth.
Stacy had seen the honesty on the omegas’ faces as they reluctantly told her what she so desperately didn't want to hear. She'd heard the sincerity in their voices. And when they shared details about the mission that would be impossible to guess, she had to accept that they knew what had happened that fateful day because they'd heard it straight from the source.
Even now, they told Stacy, Mia and her mate Ty were living happily in the lowlands settlement and were expecting a baby brother or sister any day now for their little daughter Ellie.
Adjusting to this new truth would be difficult and painful, but Stacy could do it. She was a fighter, and she wouldn't back down. Ever.
Even in a battle with herself.
There had been monsters in the Boundaryland that day, but they hadn't been alphas.
If Stacy was scrupulously honest with herself, the past few days had planted more than a few seeds of doubt about her beliefs already. It was easy to keep the fires of prejudice burning when she was far away in the echo chamber of Fort Blanchard, where she didn't have to worry about any real-life alphas or omegas challenging her comfortable bias.
But living in an alpha's cabin deep in the uplands, Stacy's worldview had been rocked by reality. Staying in the campground had begun to stir up doubts when none of the alphas she'd encountered had lashed out or attacked her.
And when one finally did, it proved to be because he'd been the only one able to see through her disguise. Stacy refused to make excuses for Vonn, but knowing what she knew now, she had to admit that he'd shown remarkable restraint. She'd thrown him to the ground—made him bleed, for God's sake—and he hadn't retaliated.
Instead, he'd shielded her from another alpha's anger.
As Stacy breathed the scent of wildflowers and rushing spring water, she reviewed everything that had happened since she met Vonn, and was forced to acknowledge that he'd done nothing but try to help her. His motives weren't completely selfless, of course. He never hid the fact that he wanted an omega.
But he hadn't been willing to harm her to get what he wanted. He could easily have kept her tied to his bed until the suppressant wore off. He could have tortured the information he wanted out of her instead of waiting for her to offer it. He could have disregarded her resistance when things had become physical and simply taken the pleasure he wanted.
Instead, he'd tried to keep her from harming herself. He was patiently teaching her survival skills. He provided nourishing food and a place to rest. Most important of all, Stacy felt safe in his care. That was more than any enemy combatant had a right to expect.
But that was her old thinking, established in her old life by corrupt and dishonest officials and superiors. Vonn had never viewed her as an opponent.
He saw her as a woman. An omega.
Which Stacy wasn't…yet.
But the clock was ticking. She had no idea how much suppressant was currently in her system. Just like she had no idea how long it might last. A few days? A week? More?
Hell, it was possible that between those three partial rapid-fire shots, she'd accidentally overdosed, and the effects would never wear off.
Strangely, none of those thoughts terrified her.
Of course, none thrilled her either.
If she never turned, she could always go back to her life back in the beta world. To her friends and family. To her career, even if she never returned to the army. There was always demand for private security, and she could easily land a plum corporate position.
But if—and she clung pretty damn tight to that 'if'—the suppressant wore off, and her dormant nature was brought to life by Vonn's touch, it might not be the worst thing in the world. The thought no longer made her nauseous with fear and revulsion.
Out in the beta world, it would be hard to find someone who hadn't developed the same fears and prejudices that her superiors had fostered and encouraged. Stacy had never questioned the government's data because she had no experiences to contradict it.
But living in Vonn's house, talking with omegas face to face, it was impossible to hold onto those beliefs any longer.
She'd seen for herself the love and respect those omegas felt for their alphas. She'd heard their stories of devotion and caring. None of the three women had been beaten or abused. They'd come here on their own, without having to ask permission, and been treated with respect by Vonn.
All of this left Stacy feeling unmoored. It had been so much easier when all the answers had been handed to her. When her whole world hadn't been thrown into question. If only there was someone here who she could talk to. Who she could trust.
Stacy felt a disturbance in the air near her face and bolted straight up, looking wildly around…and saw a beautiful orange and yellow butterfly flitting nearby. Her sense of relief made her feel a little ridiculous as she relaxed back into the chair.
And suddenly, with perfect clarity, she realized that there was someone who had proved himself trustworthy again and again.
Stacy had never found it easy to admit when she was wrong, but this time was going to be epic.
The sky was already starting to dim to twilight when she finally worked up the nerve to do what needed doing. She padded barefoot across the patio and tugged open the heavy door.
Inside, the evening chill was dispelled by candle glow and a crackling fire in the hearth. Something was simmering in a cast-iron pot on the stove, and it smelled delicious. Vonn was working his way through the day's dishes, his muscular forearms deep in a sink full of suds.
Last night, Stacy would have kept her distance. But tonight, she picked up a dishtowel and started drying.
"I was wondering when you were going to come in," Vonn said mildly.
Stacy kept her eyes on the plate in her hand. Some things were easier to say when you didn't have to look at the other person. And still, she couldn't quite figure out where to start.
"You… weren't afraid I was going to try to escape?" she finally said.
"We've already been over that."
"But that was before," Stacy pressed. "When I still had that tracker in my arm. Now that it's out, I could take off at any moment."
Vonn paused, a saucepot dripping in his hand, but Stacy didn't dare meet his gaze.
"You can't outrun me," he rumbled softly.
It wasn't a threat or a warning, only a fact. But the way Vonn said the words suggested that he wasn't talking about physical escape anymore.
Stacy knew because she felt it too. Somehow she was certain that no matter how much suppressant she injected into her veins, it would never be enough to stop the force of their natures reaching for each other. Every touch, every kiss, every word between them only entwined them further.
But Stacy had no language to describe things she had never felt before. Instead, she blurted out a question she didn't realize she'd been guarding.
"Who's Kiera?"
There was faint bemusement in Vonn's voice when he answered. "Nobody you have to worry about."
"The other omegas seemed to think so."
"That's just because they only know half the story." Vonn sighed and wiped his hands on the towel she was holding, then took it from her and tossed it on the counter. "Look at me, Sta
cy."
And she did, if only because she found it impossible to refuse the provocative edge to his voice, the one that was like an arpeggio being played on her spine.
"Kiera is the mate of a friend of mine." Vonn's eyes had darkened to a gleaming indigo, his sensuous mouth flat. "I was there when her nature was awakened, and both my and Trace's alpha instincts went into overdrive at the scent. But he was the one who won the right to claim her."
A flash of something bitter flooded through Stacy, and she let her hair fall over her face to hide it. "You still aren't over her."
Vonn cupped her chin in his hand and forced her to look at him again. "That's what everybody thinks. Hell, I even convinced myself of it for a while, but not anymore. Kiera's a good omega, but she was never mine. It's not her I can't get over; it's the experience of an awakening omega and wanting that for myself. Wanting you."
Stacy was still, the heat from his fingertips holding her like a velvet vise—but the bitterness didn't leave her. Vonn had never lied to hurt her…but would he lie to avoid hurting her?
"This isn't about me," she finally said, more harshly than she intended. She pulled away and forced herself to pick up the saucepan and begin to dry it. "You said it yourself. You just want the experience of an omega, so any omega should do. You can wait until the next one comes around."
Vonn ripped the pan from her hands and slammed it on the counter, making the drying dishes jump. Without warning, he put his hands around her waist and lifted her, only to settle her on the wet countertop. Rivulets of warm water ran from his hands, soaking through her shirt. There was nowhere to look but in his eyes.
"You know that's not true," he growled. "I knew it from the first moment I sensed you at the roadhouse. I didn't fight Trace for Kiera because she wasn't mine. You are. You're my destiny."
"There's no such thing as destiny," Stacy said, but her body trembled from his closeness.
"Then tell me why you haven't tried to escape. Why you keep finding ways to be close to me. To touch me." He slid his hands roughly up her body, shoving her wet shirt up as he went until his fingertips grazed her nipples. "To feel me."
Vonn: The Boundarylands Omegaverse: M/F Alpha Omega Romance Page 14
