Let Her Go

**BLANCA**
The moment I pushed through the backdoor of the kitchen I smacked into a couple of the Gamma warriors of the pack. The impact sent me sprawling backward and my head hit the tiled floor with a sickening crack. I lay there panting just long enough for Hilda and the others to gather around me.
"Would you boys mind helping us?" Hilda asks the warriors.
One of the men looks slightly familiar, although I don't rightly understand why. Unless he's one of the Gammas that used to frequent the Rim before I was imprisoned, then I shouldn't know him.
"We're not a couple of your errand boys, Omega," the older one says.
"Trouble with the Shiftless?" the younger one snarls, reaching down to yank me onto my feet.
The sudden movement has me swaying dizzily and I nearly crumple to the ground again, my vision swimming. A strong pair of arms is holding me upright and I know without question that it must be the young Gamma warrior.
"This is not our business, Rolfe. Alpha Max has forbidden anyone aside from himself, from punishing the Shiftless slavegirl," the older one says.
"We're not trying to punish her, Finn," Gina says, pouting her lips flirtatiously and stroking his arm. "Her hair keeps getting into the food and we need to cut it, but she is insolent and stubborn. She refuses to allow us to do our job."
To my surprise the warrior, Finn, shakes off her hand as if she's burned him. "Do not touch me, Gina. Ever. But I suppose cutting her hair isn't the same as punishing her."
"No!" I moan out. "N-no p-please!"
"Where is Diana with those blasted shears?" Hilda says. "Jill go and find her."
"I'm right here," Diana says, her eyes going wide when she sees that I'm still there. I can see it in her eyes she expected me not to be and she shakes her head, lowering her eyes dejectedly as Hilda takes the shears from her hands.
"There we are. Jill, take her hair down and Rolfe, turn her around and hold her as still as you can."
"No! No, no, no, no, no!" I shout, shaking my head like crazy when Jill reaches for my bun.
"Stop moving!" Jill shouts, snatching my head in her hands and using her half shifted claws to keep me still. "Her head is bleeding. Probably from the fall."
She takes my ties out and my hair tumbles around me, then Rolfe spins me around, closing his arms around my back so that I'm pressed tight against his chest.
"Not bad, Shiftless," Rolfe says huskily, his hands groping my rear. "If you weren't a Shiftless murderer I might even like you."
"Please," I implore him, "Let me go. Please. Alpha Max will not be pleased if you do this! I promise you he won't."
"You promise me?" Rolfe chuckles, then his face turns cruel and he whispers in my ear, "I promise *you* he won't give a fuck. You killed his brother, bitch. You get what you deserve."
"Nooooo!" I scream as loud as I can when I feel Hilda gather my hair in one fist then I shake as much as I can so that she can't get the shears in place. Suddenly, I hear a cruel snip and I feel a few strands of my hair fall around my ankles.
"Damn it!" Hilda says. "She needs to hold still!"
I feel Rolfe adjust his hold on me and then take my hair from Hilda before yanking my head back so far that it's too hard for me to breathe, let alone fight. "There we go," Rolfe says cruelly. "That should do it."
"Thank you," Hilda snarks, and I can see her evil smile as she positions the shears somewhere around my scalp.
I can't even scream. All I can do is cry while I'm held there. Jill and Gina are laughing, so are some of the other Omegas that have gathered around us since this whole thing started. All of the noises around me bleed into each other as I suddenly give up the fight and all the energy pours out of me.
"Who gave her those marks on her neck?" I hear Finn ask.
"I believe it was Beta Jared," Jill says haughtily. "I caught her coming out of his shower this morning. What a slut."
"Beta Jared? Are you serious?" Finn says, alarmed.
"Yes, Commander Finn. Why?"
"Rolfe, let her go," Finn says.
The echo of someone else's footsteps sound somewhere beyond my vision and as they close in on us I think they sound familiar. They are sharp and clipped and purposeful. Like Max's.
"Hold on, Commander, let Hilda-"
"LET HER GO!" a different voice booms from the opposite end of the kitchen. A voice that's strong and powerful and filled with Alpha energy. "Release her! *NOW*!"
*Max, it is you.*
Rolfe's arms fall away and I start to crumple toward the ground, but I'm caught before I can hit my head again, by a strong set of arms belonging to Commander Finn. He stares down at me guiltily, his gaze full of remorse. "I've got you, kid," he whispers.

**MAX**
I can hear the commotion the moment we enter the kitchen and I reach forward to tug Diana behind me. Then I slow my steps just so that I can listen as I approach.
"Damn it!" Hilda is saying. "She needs to hold still!"
*Hold still? For what exactly?*
"There we go. That should do it." Rolfe's voice, the pretentious little fuck. I've never liked him much. He's an arrogant little prick just like his father was.
"Thank you," I hear Hilda say, but I don't hear Blanca at all and that worries me.
"Who gave her those marks on her neck?" Finn's voice sounds and I curse myself for not being more careful with her this morning.
"I believe it was Beta Jared. I caught her coming out of his shower this morning. What a slut."
That statement has my steps stuttering for a moment. Jealousy spikes through me.*She showered in Jared's suite? This morning? And now they think he's the one who...*
A shove from Diana gets me moving again.
"*Beta* Jared? Are you serious?"
"Yes, Commander Finn. Why?"
"Rolfe, let her go."
*That's the smartest decision you've made in years, Finn.*
As I clear the corner I can finally see them, but it takes a second before I realize what it is they are aiming to do.
*They're trying to cut her hair.*
Anger like I've never known boils through my chest
"Hold on, Commander, let Hilda-"
I watch Hilda's fingers begin to squeeze the handle on the shears and a sort of panic washes over me. *I'll kill that bitch. I swear to the Goddess, I'll kill her.*
"LET HER GO!" I shout, before Hilda can make that fateful mistake that would end her life right here in this kitchen. "Release her! *NOW*!"