The Alpha's Runaway Daughter

Chapter 2

Cleo

The moment the basement door slammed shut behind my father and stepmother, silence swallowed the room.

For a few seconds, nobody moved.

Then I looked at the Beta and Gamma.

The way they were staring at me made my stomach turn.

They weren’t looking at me like a person.

They were looking at me like I was something they owned.

Something they had been given permission to use.

The Beta stepped forward, blocking the Gamma’s path.

“I’m first,” he said with a cruel laugh. “I outrank you.”

The Gamma protested, but I barely heard their argument.

My entire body was trembling.

I pulled desperately against the restraints holding me down, but they wouldn’t budge.

“Don’t touch me,” I begged.

The Beta only smiled.

“Your father gave us permission.”

Those words made something inside me shatter.

Permission.

My own father had given these men permission to hurt me.

I squeezed my eyes shut, refusing to let them see just how terrified I was.

Then I heard the Beta move closer.

“No…”

I fought harder.

“Please!”

Their laughter echoed around the basement.

I felt trapped.

Completely and utterly trapped.

But then, suddenly, the Gamma stepped back.

“Maybe we should grab a few beers first,” he suggested. “It’s late. Nobody will be around.”

The Beta considered it before shrugging.

“Why not?”

I could barely believe what I was hearing.

They were leaving.

Even if only temporarily.

The two men headed toward the door.

“Don’t go far,” the Beta called back with a laugh.

The basement door opened.

Then slammed shut.

Silence.

I lay there frozen for several seconds, afraid to believe they were actually gone.

Then I started fighting.

I twisted my wrists.

Pulled against every restraint.

Tried everything I could think of.

My mind raced.

I had to get free.

I had to get out.

Before they came back.

I was still struggling when I heard the unmistakable sound of the basement door opening.

My heart stopped.

No.

Please, no.

They were back.

I looked toward the door, expecting to see the Beta and Gamma.

Instead, someone else stood there.

Eric.

The Beta’s son.

He froze.

His eyes widened as he took in the room.

Then his face drained of colour.

For the first time that night, someone looked at me and didn’t see a monster’s daughter.

He saw a victim.

“Please…”

My voice barely existed.

“Help me.”

Eric snapped out of his shock.

He rushed toward me.

“Cleo…”

His hands shook as he began freeing me.

“What the hell happened?”

“I don’t know,” I whispered. “Just… please get me out.”

The moment the final restraint came loose, my arms dropped uselessly.

Pain shot through my shoulders.

I nearly collapsed.

Eric caught himself before touching me, remembering how frightened I was.

“Sorry.”

He quickly removed his jacket and wrapped it around me instead.

The simple gesture nearly broke me.

Kindness.

I had almost forgotten what it felt like.

“I need to leave,” I whispered.

“Okay.”

“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t mean my room. I mean this pack.”

Eric stared at me.

“I need to get out of here.”

My voice cracked.

“Far away.”

He was silent.

Then he whispered,

“You and me both.”

I looked at him.

“What?”

His jaw tightened.

“Do you really think I don’t know what my father is capable of?”

He looked toward the door.

“I heard enough before I came down here.”

I swallowed.

“And my father.”

Eric’s expression changed.

“The Alpha?”

I nodded.

“My father was part of it.”

He looked sick.

“My brother. My stepmother. Britney…”

My voice trembled.

“They were all watching.”

Eric stared at me in disbelief.

“They knew?”

“They enjoyed it.”

His hands curled into fists.

For several seconds, neither of us spoke.

Then Eric looked directly at me.

“Get your things.”

I blinked.

“What?”

“Anything you can’t live without. Clothes. Money. Whatever you need.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re leaving.”

My heart lurched.

“Tonight?”

“Tonight.”

Hope flickered inside me.

It was tiny.

Fragile.

But it was there.

For the first time in years, I could see something beyond these walls.

Freedom.

“Meet me at your room,” Eric continued. “I’ll get my things and meet you there.”

I nodded.

“Okay.”

I wanted to believe him.

God, I wanted to.

But as I watched him disappear through the basement door, another thought crept into my mind.

Eric was the Beta’s son.

The son of the very man who had just been given permission to hurt me.

What if I was making another terrible mistake?

What if this wasn’t a rescue?

What if it was another trap?

I looked toward the basement door.

Then toward the restraints scattered across the floor.

I had two choices.

Stay.

Or trust the one person who had offered me a way out.

My heart told me to run.

My instincts screamed to be careful.

But somewhere deep inside me, a tiny voice whispered something I hadn’t allowed myself to believe in a very long time.

Maybe this is my chance.

I pulled Eric’s jacket tighter around myself.

Then I stepped toward the door.

I was leaving.

Tonight.

Whatever happened next, I refused to die in that basement.

And if trusting Eric was a mistake…

I would deal with that when the time came.