“You’re not going anywhere,” he told me in a dark voice. “Get in the house.”

“I’m not–!”

“Don’t make a scene! Just get in!” he hissed in my ear.

I growled, but what else could I do? Someone would call the cops if we lingered on the porch. Once we were inside the house, Kieran let go of me, and I turned to glare at him.

“Really?” I asked with a scowl, trying to pull my hands free, but the iron obviously didn’t budge. “You handcuffed me?”

“Told you, you’re not leaving,” he said, crossing arms over his chest.

“Great,” I grunted. “So now what? You keep me tied in your basement for the rest of my life?”

“If I have to,” he said calmly.

I stared at him. This fucking omega… My alpha was purring at his confidence. And so was I.

“No!” I said. “You can’t keep me locked up forever! Besides! I have something important I need to do, all right?”

“What’s so important then?” he asked.

I took a deep breath. “Look. I didn’t come to explain anything to you. I just wanted to see you one more time. You have to let me go. It is important.”

“No,” he said sternly, stepping closer to me. “I won’t let you go, not until you tell me what’s so damn important.”

“It’s none of your business!” I said angrily. “Just fucking let me go! I don’t have time for this!”

“What is so damn important?” he repeated his question.

“Why do you even want to keep me here?” I asked.

He refused to answer me, but the pain grew in his eyes. I had a guess…

“I’m not your alpha,” I said quietly.

He lifted his chin up, and it was clear my words hurt him.

“That’s not why I’m not letting you go,” he said, his voice harder now.

Yes, it was…

“You have to let me go,” I told him. “Trust me, you don’t want me in your life.”

“Why not?” he asked.

This wasn’t going anywhere…

I let out a deep breath. I didn’t want to tell him. I didn’t want to see him learn to hate me. Not as my last memory… But he gave me no choice.

“Jomica is keeping omegas as their slaves,” I began, hating every word I had to say. “Thirty or something. My friend and I are going to save them.”

Kieran stopped to stare at me, like he didn’t quite believe me. But slowly, the pain vanished.

“You want to save them?” he repeated, his voice soft, and stepped closer.

“Yes. Because I kidnapped them in the first place,” I said without giving him any time to think I was some kind of hero.

He stopped, the look in his eyes turning pained again. “You… what?”

“Not all of them… But our group was tasked to kidnap as many young omegas as we could find. Preferably already pregnant ones. We kidnapped several of them and brought them to jomica. They’re being used as prostitutes and babymakers,” I said, keeping my voice and heart cold. “You told me to do something good with the life you saved. Now you have to let me go so I can do that.”

He said nothing. It hurt to see how his opinion about me changed. Now he regretted ever letting me into his life.

“I am a terrorist,” I said quietly. “I was already supposed to die, but you gave me one more chance to do something good. And for you, I want to save them. That’s the only way I can repay you. And maybe… Maybe then I won’t die as a terrorist.”

“So… Does that mean I did convert you?” he asked.

“I don’t know. But what you said about us being busboys and cannon fodder… I saw that with my own eyes today. Jomica doesn’t care about us. My group is gone because of them. Only one survived the attack against Mercer besides me, and they didn’t care. They were mad that my friend didn’t stay behind to finish the job.”

“Told you,” he said softly, taking another step closer to me. “So what happens after you’ve saved the omegas?”

I let out a humorless laugh. “There won’t be after. Not for me.”

He stared at me again. “You… You mean you’ll die?”

“It’s just me and my friend against at least ten jomicas,” I told him. “Maybe more. We won’t get out of it alive.”

He stayed silent again. He watched me closely, and it was hard to tell what he thought of me now.

“Look… Just let me go. Forget about me. I don’t deserve anything after all the lives I’ve ruined. Let me go so my life can finally be worth something,” I told him, closing the distance between us.

But that stubborn little thing shook his head.

“No… I’m not letting you go tonight,” he told me, pushing me toward the door of his bedroom. “You’ll stay the night with me, and tomorrow, I’ll contact my captain. He’ll know what to do.”

“And you’ll tell him what? That you have a terrorist in your bedroom who knows where jomica is keeping their slaves?” I asked.

“Exactly,” he said, making me take another step back.

“You don’t understand. He’s only going to throw my ass in jail, and the omegas will suffer,” I said. “I can tell your captain where they are, but as soon as they step foot into the facility, jomicas will kill the omegas. I need to be the one who goes there. They trust me. They won’t suspect anything.”

“And you have to trust me,” Kieran said. “My captain will listen to you. We can make a proper plan to save them, and you and your friend don’t have to go there alone.”

“But–”

“I didn’t save you just to let you go get yourself killed,” he told me sternly. “You’ll stay here. Got it?”

I stopped to stare at him. “Why do you still care? I’ve kidnapped omegas. Their lives are now ruined for good.”

“You were brainwashed,” he said so sternly I was sure he was trying to convince himself rather than me. “They brainwashed you to do it.”

“I mean… I’m still responsible for what I’ve done. It still doesn’t make it right. Those omegas… Their lives will never be the same because of me, no matter what,” I said, trying so hard not to let him give me an easy way out.

“We will save them,” Kieran said quietly. “And when we do, it is because of you that those omegas will be free and safe again.”

I shook my head. “You still shouldn’t let me stay…”

“Hey…” he breathed out, resting his hand on my chest. “I was in the army for years. I’ve met countless brainwashed alphas like you who couldn’t tell the truth from lies. I saved your life because I knew there was a chance you’d turn your back to True Order if I showed you the truth. And you did. Right?”

“Yes,” I said without hesitation. “I’ll never go back to them, I swear.”

“See?” he whispered with a careful smile. “It’s all right, Trouble. You are not a terrorist anymore, and tomorrow, we’ll save the omegas and give them their lives back. But you don’t have to sacrifice your life to save them. I just need you to stay with me, okay?”

I didn’t have to die…?

I nodded. “Okay.”

His smile grew wider.

“That’s a good boy. Everything will be all right, I promise,” he said, and stepped behind me to take off the handcuffs.

A good boy…? I suddenly had tears in my eyes again. The weight on my chest was fading. So was my fear. As soon as my hands were free, I turned around and pulled him into a tight hug. I buried my face against his shoulder and cried harder when he hugged me back.

“You’re all right, baby boy… Everything will be all right now…” he kept muttering in my ear.

“I’m so sorry… I’m so fucking sorry… I wish I could take it all back…” I said, my voice high and shivering. “I thought they were right… Everyone kept saying they were right… They said there’s something wrong with my alpha, and I believed them… I believed them more than my own alpha…”

“I know, baby…” he said soothingly. “But you get to make things right now. Everything will be all right.”

I believed him.

The longer I cried, the stronger I felt, and by the time I didn’t have more tears to shed, my fear had faded. I would save the omegas, no matter the outcome. Even if it was the last thing I did, I was not letting Jomica get away with treating them as slaves. I would not let them get away with turning me against them and the actual order of life. Against my own nature.

I would make things right. Jomica was going to pay for everything they’d done.

Now and forever, until they were all dead.