Chapter 284: Malone Griffin’s Backstory (2)

Malo stared at his so-called savior from head to toe. Just like him, she was shackled. The heavy iron bands were clamped tight around her wrists, the rusty links rattling against each other as she tried to shift her position on the damp floor.

"How are you here?" Malo said. His voice was completely cracked, his throat dry from days of breathing in the dust of the cellar.

"I have come to rescue you dear friend. We promised to walk to school together, but you did not come to our spot. So I went to your house and told Mrs. Griffin to take me to you. Then she brought me here, and I still did not see you. Your new friends said you were here, so I caused a little trouble, and that is how I am here." Faye narrated her adventure to Malo. She spoke quickly, her eyes bright in the darkness, entirely unbothered by the heavy chains pinning her to the wall.

The boy kept looking at her. He blinked away the grime from his eyelashes, his heart giving a sudden, lighter thump against his ribs.

He was happy to see a familiar face. He was finally going to be out of his dungeon. Having his best friend sitting right beside him made the cold stone feel a little less terrifying.

Then he reconsidered. He looked down at the thick iron locks holding her legs, then back at his own chains.

"Faye, how are we escaping?" he asked. He leaned his head against the wall, waiting for her to reveal whatever secret tool she had hidden in her pockets.

Faye smiled like someone who had a good plan. She grinned wide, her teeth flashing in the shadows as she puffed out her small chest.

"We are not going to escape. We will be rescued by my one and only big brother. When he finds out that I am missing, he will find me. Hahaha..." she said in a dramatic manner.

Malo began to cry. The brief spark of hope instantly vanished, replaced by a cold wave of dread that made his shoulders shake.

Her brother was a nobody. He was just an Omega like her. He didn’t have the strength of an alpha to fight past the bigger men upstairs, and he didn’t have any money to buy their freedom.

Now the two were finished. They were stuck in the dark forever, waiting for the butcher to decide who to sell them to next.

"We are going to die..." he cried.

Faye shoved a small steak into his mouth. She reached into her waistband, pulling out a thick, grease wrapped piece of meat and forcing it straight between his lips before he could let out another sob.

He immediately shut up and started chewing. The rich, savory flavor hit his tongue, and his stomach let out a loud rumble as he swallowed the food down greedily.

"Where did you get the meat?" he asked,

"I stole it from The Butcher..." she grinned. She nudged his shoulder with her elbow, looking completely proud of her little theft.

Two days passed, and the two were taken out of the dungeon.

The caretakers cleaned Faye and dressed her in clean clothes. They scrubbed her face until it was red and forced her into a neat, pressed dress that smelled like cheap cotton.

It turned out that some Alpha had requested an Omega.

Malone watched the whole scene. He sat on a wooden bench in the corner, his knees pulled up to his chest as he kept his eyes locked on his friend.

Faye refused to go with them. She planted her feet firmly on the floor, pulling against the guards’ grip with everything she had. She didn’t want to leave Malone because nobody would come to save him if she wasn’t there to point the way.

The Alpha angrily carried Faye, and Faye angrily bit him with her fangs. She twisted around in his arms, her jaw snapping shut on his thick wrist with a wet crunch.

"How dare you, you filthy brat!" the Alpha snarled.

He was about to smack her when he suddenly fell to the ground.

Butcher opened his mouth in surprise. He froze behind his desk, his cigar dropping from his fingers onto his papers as he stared at the unconscious buyer.

He was shocked that her bite had knocked his Alpha client unconscious. There was no way a regular omega could bring down a grown alpha with a single scratch, let alone a bite.

He started questioning what kind of Omega she was. He leaned forward, his single eye narrowing as he studied the small girl standing over the fallen wolf.

The office descended into chaos.

One Alpha was on the ground, his companion was demanding that she be killed for what she had done, and Butcher was trying to calm them down because he saw potential in the girl.

He no longer wanted to sell her to them because she might be worth more than he thought. He could see the dollar signs flashing in his mind, realizing she possessed some rare, hidden trait that could fetch a massive fortune from the right bidder.

Then the door burst open.

Everyone froze. The frame cracked under the massive pressure, the hinges groaning as a heavy wave of dominant energy flooded into the office.

Another Alpha had arrived, one with a far stronger aura. The air in the room became incredibly thick, making it hard for the wolves to even raise their heads.

He looked like a teenager dressed in a fitted suit. His posture was perfectly straight, his eyes scanning the room with a cold, aristocratic calm that left no room for arguments.

Beside him stood another Omega with brown hair. He was shaking slightly, his fingers clutching at the sleeve of the suit, but his eyes were wide as he looked around the messy office.

"Puppy!" Paye shouted the moment he spotted his little sister. He broke away from the boy’s side, sprinting across the room toward the desk.

"Big brother!" Faye screamed, her face lighting up as she tried to pull away from the guards holding her back.

But Greedy Butcher.....

Alpha Adam instructed Butcher to hand over the Omega and the boy. He stepped forward, his voice a low rumble that made the windows rattle in their frames as he laid out his terms.

Butcher agreed to give up Malo but refused to hand Faye over. He knew she was too valuable to let go, his fingers tightening around the desk drawer.

Instead, he held both brother and sister hostage, pressing a silver dagger against Faye’s neck. He lunged across the space, catching her by the hair and pulling her back against his chest, the sharp metal gleaming under the lights.

He used them as leverage to escape and knocked Paye unconscious. He struck the boy across the face with the heavy hilt of the knife, sending him crashing down onto the floor before dragging Faye out toward the back exit.

When he got outside the building, Faye angrily bit Butcher, snatched the dagger from him, and while he was on his knees, she stabbed him in the eye.

That was how Butcher lost his eye. He let out a piercing shriek of agony, his hands covering his bleeding face as he rolled over in the dirt.

Malone tried to rescue the rest of the children.

The building was set ablaze by mistake, and the GPS arrived. Billowing black smoke filled the night sky, the red and blue lights of the authority vehicles flashing against the burning walls as the kids were loaded into ambulances.

Malo looked around and noticed that two of the children were missing. He scanned the crowded grass, but the familiar faces were nowhere to be found.

Butcher had also escaped and was never found after the authorities arrived.

Malone Griffin refused to report his parents. He kept his mouth shut when the officers questioned him, staring down at his sneakers with a hard expression.

He was scared of being placed into a foster family like the other rescued children. He had seen how the system tore people apart, and he couldn’t risk it.

He didn’t want his siblings to be separated. If the state found out about the neglect at home, they would take the babies away and scatter them across the country.

So he stepped up. He returned to the small apartment, taking a deep breath as he walked through the door and looked at his hungry brothers and sisters.

As he grew older, he worked, ran errands for teachers and students, and earned money in return, all so he could bring food and clothes home for his siblings. He would carry heavy boxes after school, rake yards in the rain, and clean up the classrooms long after everyone else had gone home.

He even had to pay rent for the room his parents allowed him to sleep in, his mother would stand by the door every Monday waiting for the cash, they demanded money from him once they realized he was making some.

His first job was with PP. Malo and Faye worked as his apprentices. He learned how to handle the schedules, how to manage the inventory, and how to keep the operations running perfectly smooth.

Then he started working for Princess Kings.

Realizing she was willing to pay him, he became her personal assistant. He took over the entire role, transforming her chaotic schedule into a perfectly organized machine.

He carried her school bag, her books, and organized her daily schedule.

He believed that as long as he brought money home, his parents would forget about selling him and his siblings. He thought the steady stream of cash would satisfy their greed and keep his family safe under one roof.

But the reality was different.

To his parents, they were still nothing more than goods born to be sold. The numbers on the checks were never going to be enough to outrun the dark truth of why they had been brought into the world.