Broken Dreams (Unhingedverse)
Broken Dreams: Chapter 9

CHRISTIAN

The warehouse where Slick Dreams is supposed to be is empty, the door locked. Brows knitted in confusion, I step back as I glare at it.

I wasn’t able to get here for her heat, which is why I didn’t buy a spot for it. The gangs and motorcycle clubs I supply weapons for have been insatiable as some of them gear up for war. What they get up to isn’t my problem. If they kill themselves, so be it.

I’ll consider it the universe taking out the trash.

Besides, they’re the reason I missed seeing Linus and Makayla. That’s unacceptable.

Growling under my breath, I pull my phone out to call Bret. My scent smells burnt in my anger, and I force myself to stay still when all I want to do is pace and rage. It’s nine o’clock on a weeknight, I don’t want to attract unwanted attention while I’m here.

I can’t bring guns inside Bret’s establishment, but I always carry knives underneath my suit and a garrot wrapped around my belt. There will be a day that I have an opportunity to break my scent matches out of this shit stain of a life they’re living.

I plan to be ready.

“Alpha Sanchez,” croons an alpha whose brains I would like nothing more than to leave spattered on a wall. I’ve been holding back for too long.

I’ve had a bad feeling for the past few days, and Bret’s sycophantic greeting is making my skin crawl.

Where are my omegas? I have been coming here for years, trying to convince myself that I could offer them some solace until I can remove them from Bret’s abusive care. I travel so much, I knew I couldn’t keep them safe if I just yanked them out of here.

Now, I’m thinking I should have tried harder. Done more. Fuck my life.

“Would you like to tell me why the doors are locked and there’s no one at the location you’re supposed to be at?” I ask, my tone no higher than a dark growl.

I’m trying so hard to keep it together, but my anxiety is making my heart pound so hard, my ears are ringing. I deal with high stakes every day. However, something tells me this is different.

“We had a small issue,” Bret says slowly. “There was a breach in security that caused us to pick up and move immediately to another location. We’re across the country now.”

“When did you leave?” I ask, confused. “Why wasn’t I told?”

“You don’t own anyone in the club, I do. I’m not sure you remember that, despite your obsession with two of my omegas,” Bret says sharply.

Ignoring his words, I recognize that he’s deflecting. Fucking snake.

I track Linus and Makayla’s heats when I can’t be a part of them. I know exactly when they end, which is why I’m here roughly seventeen hours after her heat should be over. The only way Bret and Slick Dreams would be across the country is if they left in the early hours of the morning.

Scent matching with two omegas has made me even more ruthless, and I’ve had to force myself not to inject them with trackers multiple times.

Now I wish my control wasn’t as good as it is. Hindsight really is twenty-twenty.

“This is true,” I drawl. “However, I would suggest not shitting on one of your most loyal clients. Makayla and Linus are what keep me coming back. This is bad business.”

“You’re right, of course you are,” he says hurriedly. “They killed a guard as they made their exit early this morning and we had to make sure everyone else was safe.”

Everyone else. Fuck.

“Makayla just finished her heat. Why do I feel like there’s something you’re hiding?” I ask. “I’ve been hounding you for years to buy them⁠—”

“Shh, Jesus,” Brett yelps. “Fuck, what if someone hears you?”

Well, I was trying to be discreet, but I can be the worst kind of asshole. The one with nothing left to lose.

“You are testing my patience,” I warn him. “Are they with you?”

I don’t have to say who I mean, he knows. I don’t give a shit about his operation outside of how it affects the people I care about. So many wasted years, I’m so fucking stupid. I waited too long.

Forcing my racing thoughts into a box to deal with later, I focus on the imbecilic words coming out of Bret’s mouth.

“Well, you see,” he begins, “the alphas who were with Makayla took her and Linus. It was late and everyone was focused on the main room. They were all new clients who wanted to stay anonymous.”

“We all know you don’t care as long as you’re getting paid,” I mutter. “Where were you when all of this happened?”

If he was hiding in his office, I’m going to break both of his fucking legs. I’ll light his pubic hair on fire just to listen to him scream!

“The alphas worked together to knock me out. Linus said he was going to walk her to bed and clean up. Due to personality conflicts, I had him stay with her,” he explains.

No one likes Bret Harris. He’s a selfish prick who doesn’t give his omegas enough of anything. If the area wasn’t up to expectations, I’m sure the alphas wouldn’t be happy. Not everyone who comes through Slick Dreams is a soulless criminal.

“Go on,” I rasp. If he was in front of me, I wouldn’t be able to keep myself from hurting him. It’s better that he isn’t so I can get as much information as possible before I begin to search for them.

The first thing I’m doing is searching the cameras in the area for any clues as to who may have been with Makayla during her heat. If Bret doesn’t have names, then this means he’s relatively worthless to me.

I have so many questions, including if this was planned beforehand and if these alphas know each other. Fuckity fuck, fuck.

“They went right out the back door, and killed Saxon when he tried to keep them from leaving,” he says finally, resigned.

Hmm. I wonder if Linus helped them to leave. Did he know them? My questions continue to grow. If things have been growing worse here, he’d do anything to protect Makayla.

Fuck, it’s official. I’m taking a leave of absence from work. I’ve supplied everyone with enough firearms to blow themselves up. Let them sort out their shit while I sort out mine. Sometimes, we think we have all the time in the world, until we don’t.

“How did they kill Saxon?” I ask curiously. It’ll help me figure out what kind of men I’m looking for.

“The weapon was taken with them, but it appeared to be a knife wound to the throat and then the back of the neck through his brain,” Bret says, sounding queasy.

Death fascinates instead of disgusting me. I don’t get my hands dirty as much as I’d like anymore, but doesn’t mean I won’t.

It sounds as if the people who killed Saxon were professionals. Without seeing the man, I won’t be able to know if one person or two killed him. It sounds as if a knife was thrown into his throat for the first blow. It’s what I would do if he was standing between me and freedom.

I don’t want to feel a begrudging respect for these men and how they operated in the early hours of the morning. I need to replace them, so I can replace out why they took Makayla and Linus at all.

Is it a hero complex? Or do they have the same claim I have on them. I didn’t think I’d have to share, but I’m not against it. I simply want them, and to apologize for not being the one to remove them from this life.

I want to know so much more, but Bret isn’t going to be able to help me with those questions.

“How did you vet these men?” I ask finally. “Allowing these alphas into your space, you had to have done something before accepting them, right?”

“I did!” he yelps defensively. God, he’s such a damn weasel. “Two of the men had everything handled through a contact on the dark web who I’ve dealt with before. All of the health screenings were done, and the money transferred. That’s all I needed to know. Three other alphas also remained anonymous and I worked through third party contacts for them as well. I never heard their names while I was in the room with them until I left Linus with them. They didn’t appreciate my presence.”

I’ve always hated the ways heats are treated at Slick Dreams. I participate in as many as I can, but in the last year that’s become more difficult because of how conflicted I’ve become about the secret I’m keeping from Makayla and Linus.

What I do remember is how creepy Bret’s always been as he watches us during it. I’m sure he files it all away in his spank bank.

I’ve been in attendance for both Linus and Makayla, and there’s never been any comfort items for either of them. Fluffy blankets aren’t provided, I have to demand that he also bring them snacks during their heat, and sometimes the room smells off as if it wasn’t properly aired out.

When that happens I’ve shown him exactly how unhappy I am about it. The other alphas don’t care, they just want a mewling, sex starved omega who needs to be knotted.

“I’m not surprised,” I say finally. “Are you cutting your losses then?”

I need to know that he won’t be looking for them so I won’t accidentally help him in my search. That would be counterproductive. I can’t put them in danger due to my own impatience.

I’ve fucked up enough with Makayla and Linus.

“Absolutely fucking not,” Bret sniffs. “I have bounty hunters looking for them now. They’re the most sought after omegas I have!”

There’s a special place in hell for people like him. All of this is his fault, though he’ll never admit it. Lazy ass.

Regardless, I can use this to replace them. I’m not above begging for forgiveness due to my stubbornness.

“Goodbye, Bret,” I say, hanging up.

My next call is to a federal government friend to turn his ass in. I’m petty, what can I say?

QUINN

I’m really warm. Am I still in heat? Opening my eyes, I’m surprised to replace I’m in the back seat of some kind of vehicle. It’s not the panel vans that Bret transports us in, so I don’t understand what’s going on.

Shifting against the warm body I’m laying against, I gasp without sound, accidentally inhaling a lot of different scents. Most importantly, Linus’ comforting scent wraps around me, his warm skin underneath my chin.

If he’s here, then maybe I’m okay.

Shifting again, I feel Linus’ breathing change, signaling that he knows I’m awake. Warm sunlight spills into what I’m seeing is a truck, and there are two alphas up front. Silence usually is a safe place for me, so much so that I can’t actually form words now.

Even though there are a lot of questions in my mind.

“Good morning, Makayla,” Linus breathes in the shell of my ear. “We have a development. A big one. One thing to remember is that we’re safe.”

My lips purse in confusion as I twist to look up at him. Inhaling again, I can smell rum and blackberry, coconut and oak. They’re scents I haven’t smelled in ages. I thought I smelled them during my heat at times, but my mind plays tricks on me. The shit Bret has pumped into my body definitely has messed with my ability to smell as well.

It’s why my heats are a haze of need where I still feel unfulfilled at the end. It’s absolute torture. I can sometimes smell scents, but they all feel distorted. It’s difficult to explain. My brain chemistry has been fucked with a lot.

This heat? It wasn’t as bad as the others, and I don’t know why.

“Is she awake?” a honeyed voice asks, making my eyes widen.

Who is that?

“Yeah, she is, Callum,” Linus says, waiting for me to process that.

No, I mouth, shaking my head. This is a nightmare. Well, if not a nightmare, some kind of cruel joke from the universe. This can’t be real.

“It’s real, baby,” Linus says, as if he can see the mixed emotions flowing over my features. “There was a jail break of sorts after your heat. They were there the whole time.”

One of the issues of my heat is that I don’t remember much of it afterward. Alpha Sanchez has said he’s attended some of them, but I’m so out of it, I have no idea.

I think it’s because I sometimes go six months in between them. Bret can increase how much he’ll charge each spot for my or Linus’ heat if they’re less frequent. He controls the heats for all the omegas since they also affect who is working on the floor of the club. The time in between them is both a blessing and a curse because of how terrible my heats are.

Greed always replaces a way to get what it wants.

Shaking my head with wide eyes, I try to convey that I don’t remember much of my heats.

“I know you were really out of it,” he says, pushing my hair out of my face. “You know these alphas, huh?”

Biting my lip, I sit up slowly. Linus moves with me, gently shifting me so I’m no longer on top of him. I guess I’ve been sleeping for a while? I have no idea what time my heat broke. The fact that there’s sunlight streaming through the windows tells me hours have passed, though.

Vibrant green eyes meet mine in the rear view mirror. There’s familiarity in them as well as worry. His brown hair is cut closely, and there’s red-tinged stubble on his cheeks.

“Hey, Quinnie,” he whispers. Tears blur my vision, and I blink furiously.

God, that name. It’s been twenty years since I’ve heard it.

“Callum,” Duncan growls, as if in warning. The reminder of how much they used to argue makes me shudder from the weight of my memories.

“Fuck,” Linus mutters. “So they’re not lying.”

I shrug because I don’t know what they’ve talked about before. I have no idea if they’re lies or not.

“This is a lot, I know. I’m sorry we couldn’t do this another way,” Duncan says, twisting to look at me. His sky blue eyes appear as if they’re trying to see into my soul.

I can only gaze at them for a short time before I hide my face in Linus’ shoulder. The things I’ve had to do, I don’t want him to see that. My soul is filthy, stained with the years I’ve been used by others for their own pleasure.

Duncan’s deep breath doesn’t end in a sigh as if I’m annoying him, but as the beginning of what he has to say instead.

“Alright, let’s take this real slow,” he rumbles. His voice makes me want to wrap myself in it. It’s patient and calm, yet apologetic as well.

I don’t think he has much to apologize for. I’m the one who ignored their warnings. I threw away my future for what? To follow my father’s wishes and hang out with girls who hated me?

So damn stupid. Normalcy is dumb too. It all is. I’d happily go back and do it all again, but then I wouldn’t have Linus. Fuck, the universe is cruel.

“Hey, beautiful. It’s okay if you can’t look at me right now. Callum and I have missed you for a really long time,” he whispers. It’s like he’s only talking to me and no one else. Linus may have shifted me to sit on the seat next to him, but the weight of his arm is still around my shoulders.

He’s solid and real, which means this is real. I’m not dreaming, I’m not dead. Oh, God.

The tears I’m silently crying fall off my skin onto Linus’ chest. Somehow, I’m wearing someone’s shirt, and I don’t know whose since Callum and Duncan are wearing shirts too. My bare foot bumps against the canvas of a bag that’s lumpy, telling me that’s probably where the clothes came from.

Everything feels too big, so the little sensory things help provide answers without words. It’s how I’m getting from moment to moment.

“We’ve never stopped looking for you,” Duncan continues, without missing a beat at my silence. Does he know how broken I am? “Recently, we found out that you were still alive. Rock Dresmond told his kids about a visit he paid you, and they told us. We happen to be friends with Pack Dresmond and their omega.”

The information dump flows over me as he speaks, slow enough for me to process. Rock Dresmond… Do I know him?

“He’s come to the club a few times,” Linus murmurs. “He’s watched you dance, and I think you’ve given him a blow job once or twice. The years have a way of blending into the other. I do remember, though, that his pack bought out your heat once. Those are some scary fuckers.”

“They are now dead fuckers,” Callum speaks up. “Adira Firestone, Pack Dresmond’s omega and our really good friend, killed them.”

“A very platonic friend,” Linus rumbles, making my lips twitch.

Does he think I’d be jealous? We’ve been apart for twenty years. I don’t have that right. We also are just friends as far as I understand.

My finger moves over Linus’ skin, spelling out the word why? We were childhood friends, the best of friends, but twenty years is a long time to look or worry about someone who was nothing more.

“She wants to know why,” Linus says softly, his eyes moving from me to the alphas in front of us.

I can smell their scents clearer now, and while they smell delicious, I don’t think there’s anything else there. They’re beautiful alphas. My heart fucking wants so much, but my senses are still all fucked.

Why would they look for me? God, why would they steal me away? Fuck… they’ve seen me naked, half insane with lust. They were there. Hauntingly slow, I can remember their touch with other alphas.

How can they look at me so sweetly after that? I’m a whore for fucking hire!

“Deep breath,” Linus whispers. “I don’t know what’s going on in your head, and I have a feeling you won’t tell me. So do me a solid and breathe for me, okay?”

My ragged, tear stained breath feels unseemly loud as I pull it into my lungs. It’s hard not to keep hiding, so I force myself to twist so I can see Duncan through the curtain of my hair as it hangs around me. It feels wild and too long since I always braided it to keep it off my face. It was trimmed by me, under supervision, so I would never cut too much.

Everything about my life has been fucking monitored.

“There’s a lot of things ‘why’ could cover, sweet girl,” Callum finally answers. The echoes of his voice in my mind during my heat are loud, making me wince. “First, our parents insisted that we couldn’t tell you we were in love with you until you at least presented.”

Jerking as if I’ve been shot, I push up into a sitting position. My hand is on Linus’ thigh, the faux leather pants reminding me of how uncomfortable they have to be. God, I’m focusing on the oddest things, but holy fucking shit balls.

My chest is heaving. I didn’t know they felt the same way as I did.

“Second,” Duncan continues as if he and his brother share a brain, “we only agreed because our ages felt bigger than they actually are. It was dumb. Our dad has been trying to get us to date and mate an omega for years, but we’ve continually dodged that bullet.”

I know I said I wasn’t allowed to get jealous, but my lip lifts in a snarl anyway.

“There’s so much to tell you, fuck me,” Callum sighs. “We’re almost to our house, so here are a few highlights. When we found out that you were alive, I started digging through a lot of illegal circuits to replace you. Please don’t hold it against me.”

My shrug speaks volumes as I wait for more. The law means less than nothing to me. It’s never helped my circumstances.

“Good. I know it’s a hard pill to swallow, but your heat was the only way to get to you,” Callum says. “It’s fucked up that this is how we first found you again, and we had sex with you without any real permission.”

“There was no way to be able to say anything so you’d know it was us,” Duncan rasps. “We couldn’t afford for anything to go wrong, and as you said, the why of it all is insane. I can’t help how this happened, because it was the only way to replace you.”

“You’re allowed to feel however you need to about us being at your heat,” Callum rushes out.

I don’t understand why they’re freaking out and I glance at Linus. Callum and Duncan are speaking a different language right now.

“Consent,” Linus whispers. “Fuck, we haven’t had that in a long damn time. Whether it was you or someone else, she was going to need to have sex with someone for her heat.”

Turning to face them again, I nod.

“It doesn’t make it any better,” Duncan growls. “There will always be consent between us, I don’t care if you have to smack me over the head to get your point across.”

Because I can’t speak. Well, I can. It’s just been a really long time since I’ve said anything more than a word or two. Biting my lip, I nod.

My tears have slowly dried, but I’m sure I’ll cry a sea of tears as I listen to them. This all feels like a dream.

Turning, I spell that word out on Linus’ skin. I’m comfortable speaking here and there with him, but I feel a wave of shyness in the truck. Honestly, I’m wearing one of their shirts, I’m pretty sure I’m still leaking out cum and slick from my pussy.

I’m a mess. I shouldn’t feel this shy, knowing they’ve been fucking me through my heat with three other people for the past four days. And yet, I am.

It doesn’t have to make sense because it simply is.

“A dream?” Duncan asks. He’s still twisted to face Linus and us, his body contorted. “I’m sure it does feel like a dream. You passed out at the end of your heat and woke up with us. I promise it’s not a dream and completely real.”

“The alphas with us during your heat helped get us out of the building,” Callum adds. “They’re good men, though lonely. They chose you for your heat for that reason.”

Over the years, we’ve had alphas who replace Slick Dreams for that reason. Inclining my head to show that I’m following, I listen as Duncan continues.

“The plan was always to take you with us when we left,” Duncan says. “Pack Dresmond followed us out to Detroit to help, in case we ran into difficulties. Linus, as you may remember, participated in your heat, and we convinced him to come with us.”

“It didn’t take much,” Linus replies. “Where you go, I go. I need you, Makayla.”

I feel as if I’m split in two. Two names as well as lives. The duality is harsh, the lines jagged like the rest of me. Leaning against Linus, I wrap my arms around him the best I can in the seat.

“He carried you through the hallways, after Lucas put Bret in a chokehold to knock him out so we could leave,” Duncan says. “Alesso, Lucas, and Oliver were the other alphas there.”

I appreciate that he’s laying things out for me so I can picture it better.

“I tried to avoid the guards, but Saxon stepped out in front of us,” Linus explains. “He wanted to take you from me so I could work the floor.”

Reminders of that brute make me shiver, though I forced myself to bury the memories of the punishment, just his name has the power to dig them back up.

“Has he done something to you?” Duncan asks.

I’m sure my scent has soured with the memory, and we’re in confined quarters.

“Bret used to use him to punish people when he was afraid he wouldn’t have enough control not to seriously hurt someone,” Linus says. “He hated that Makayla wouldn’t speak to him.”

I don’t speak to assholes, I think. Apparently, I’m having difficulty speaking at all today. It feels as if my vocal cords are frozen completely.

“That’s ridiculous,” Callum says, pulling up to a gate. I see a vehicle behind us and turn to see who it is with alarm. “That’s Pack Dresmond. Adira is here at our house. We recently found out she’s pregnant and our house is outside of the city.”

“Their house is safe, but staying alone, it felt better to have her here,” Duncan adds. “We recently added a safe room in case of emergencies. Adira has had enough kidnappings to last a lifetime.”

My lips part in surprise, because it doesn’t seem that life has gotten any safer for omegas while I’ve been “away”.

“Rock Dresmond was a piece of shit, but he got us to install some extra security measures. The safe room is large enough for both you and Linus,” Callum says.

As the gates open, Linus asks the question I’m thinking as I frown.

“What about you?”

“We’ll be happily killing anyone who decided to fuck around and replace out,” Callum says wryly. His confidence shouldn’t be so sexy, but even Linus shifts against me it appears he’s affected as well. “Okay, we’re here. We didn’t even talk about everything, but there’s one more thing.”

Callum parks the truck in front of a beautiful house surrounded by trees, but my gaze is on him as I move to sit more comfortably. I would kill for a shower right now.

“Bandage,” Linus grunts as if it’s some kind of reminder.

“Right,” Callum says, taking a deep breath as he fortifies himself, turning to face Linus and I.

Now, both brothers are practically hanging in the space between their seats to talk. It reminds me of a million other times when they’d drive me around for burgers and a shake or to hang out. It’s such a mind fuck to see the similarities.

They have a lot more tattoos now. I can see the crowns on their biceps along with other tattoos since they’re both wearing short sleeved shirts. There’s so much color, I wonder what kind of story the ink tells.

“Quinn,” Callum rasps, getting my attention. “You’re doing so well, baby. I know we’re throwing a lot at you. Stay with me.”

At my nod, Duncan takes a breath.

“Let’s rip off the bandage, then. You and Linus are both our scent matches,” he says. “We always suspected it, and I know you may not be able to recognize it since Linus says Bret has fucked with your biology… Quinn? Quinn!”

Everything is leaning. Why is that?

My eyes roll back as I fall down an interminably long black hole in my mind where I’m unable to respond to Duncan. It’s too much yet not enough. All this time, my scent matches have been two good alphas who I’ve known my entire childhood.

I’ve often dreamed about a life with Linus, and now I get that too? It’s like a child being told Christmas, the tooth fairy, and Easter bunny are all real. Yet I’m no longer a child.

I’m thirty-four years old with apparently an entire life ahead of me, and I’m freaking the fuck out. I haven’t had a good break down in a long time.

I think I’m due.