10. Caleb
10
Caleb
I thought the mood was slightly off during the dinner. I chalked it up to my own discomfort, this being the first time I’m in one of these situations, and some of the other people being uncomfortable around Mathew because of his reputation.
A couple of the people in the group that Riley was meeting up with already knew Mathew and Jorge, either personally or knew of them through others, and those people seemed perfectly happy.
The people who didn’t know Mathew and Jorge yet were the ones who were less comfortable during the dinner. Which was easily explained by them being nervous to be around Mathew.
From everything I’ve seen this evening and the respect people show him, new people being in awe and nervous around him makes total sense. The restaurant staff and the other diners treated him like royalty when he came in.
It seemed like a logical explanation.
How wrong I was…
When Vera slipped out to go to the bathroom, the mumbling started.
First, on the other end of the table, too low and too far away to hear what was being said, but it was clear it wasn’t good.
They kept staring at Mathew and then at me. The first word I noticed that they were mouthing was ‘Hearts’, which was a bad sign.
I was about to stand up, to check what they were up to, when Mathew stopped me, showing me the screen of his phone. Showing that Derrick and his men were getting in place to barge into this room in case trouble broke out.
One of the men openly started staring at Mathew, a look of triumph on his face.
“What?” Mathew levelled a look at him and the man smirked darkly.
“Don’t you remember me, Michael ? To think that I’d ever meet the famous ‘King of Hearts’ again. Are you still playing at being an Alpha, while being bred like the disgusting Omega whore you are?”
Fuck.
That must have been one of Mathew’s former ‘clients’, one of the men who used to ‘rent’ him while he was still a fucking child .
Only they would know that Mathew used to be the ‘king’ of the brothel he was being kept at and that his unique feature was that he was an Omega with a body closer to what’s expected of Alphas.
And he just told the whole room about it. Everyone in this room now knew Mathew’s secret, which he’d been hiding for over a decade.
Bile rose in my throat as my pheromones spiked, and when I stood up the second time, Mathew didn’t stop me.
I stalked over to the man, who looked panicked at the knife in my hand.
Then, two things happened at the same time: as I grabbed the disgusting man’s hair, pulled his head back and slit his throat in one fluid motion, Derrick and the rest of the security team barged into the room.
Blood spurt over the table and the man’s companions scattered away, some of them looking surprised and confused and others grabbing for their weapons, training them at me or Mathew or the security team.
“Who else dares to insult my mate?” I barely recognised my voice, the pure fury in it.
Though things got worse when the man who’d been sitting opposite the one I killed tried to shoot me but instead hit the wall behind me.
My vision narrowed and I lunged for him, driving my knife into his bowels and cutting him open, making his insides spill onto the floor in front of him as he bled out.
Things after that point became blurry as I realised there were now multiple unknown people between Mathew and me and I had to get to him.
Everything in me told me to get to my mate, no matter what it would take.
“Caleb!” Mathew’s voice breaks through the mess in my head as I’ve got my arm around him, my body a shield around his.
“We have to get out of here.” I don’t let go of him, hiding my nose as close to his neck as possible so I can smell his wisteria pheromones. They’re the only thing keeping me from ripping the heads off everyone in this room.
“Not possible.” Derrick is nearby, clearly on edge. “They called for backup a while ago and took out the men I’d stationed in the staff hallways at the back. Going out the front is a bad idea too. Too many innocents and potentially more of the Hearts too.”
“Bastards.” Mathew’s voice is harsh, filled with anger and he pushes at my chest, making me take a step back. “At least Vera, Jorge and Riley aren’t in here with us. At least they’re safe.”
Vera… A growl takes over my chest, setting my pheromones on edge. Don’t they dare hurt her. Don’t they dare .
“As long as she doesn’t come back in, she’ll be safe. We just have to get out of here ourselves.” Mathew fixes his dark eyes on me and I nod.
Yes. We have to get out of here.
I have to get Mathew to safety. I have to protect him.
The door to the staff hallways opens and unfamiliar people spill into the room. This must be the backup from the Hearts that Derrick was talking about.
A tall male Alpha steps through the door and Mathew stiffens next to me, pulling me back by the back of my shirt as he lets out a growl.
I guess I’ve got my target. It’s someone Mathew recognises and clearly doesn’t like.
“Grab the one with the long hair!” The tall male Alpha points in our direction and I put myself between Mathew and them.
Like hell I’ll let that happen.
Derrick and the rest of the team spring into action and fights break out all around us while I keep my focus on the Alpha. He’s the one in charge and he’s a danger to my Omega, to my mate .
I’ll not let him hurt Mathew again. Never!
Loud shots stun me for a moment, the sound so close that my ears are ringing, but a quick internal check lets me know that I’m still whole and a glance at Mathew shows that while he’s fighting someone off, he’s still unharmed too.
Good.
I grab another person trying to pass me by, a female Alpha, and snap her neck before letting her fall to the floor.
These people clearly aren’t used to fighting with others nearby and seem to have no idea what they’re supposed to do when faced with multiple attackers at the same time.
While I might have cursed Derrick for making me train for hours every morning while Mathew and Vera were allowed to sleep in or do other things —since we wanted them to be cleared by a doctor before they went back to training— the man clearly knows his shit.
And also, since I always train with the security team, they don’t set off my destructive instincts when they appear at my side.
Three men appear in front of me, two Alphas, one Beta, and these three do seem to know how to work together. They start circling me, constantly aware of where the others are. These are trained.
I keep my head clear, keeping an eye on each of them as they move closer.
The Alpha on my left is the first to jump forward, grabbing for my arm, trying to bring me to the floor.
As I’m shaking him off, the other two jump me too. The sudden weight pushes me off my feet and I slam the back of my head on the hard wooden floor, making me see stars for a moment.
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. They were stronger and better trained than I initially expected. Fuck.
I have to get up.
I have to get up right now .
I have to?—
A fourth weight lands on my body and Vera’s face appears next to the Beta who’s sitting on my chest. Her eyes are filled with darkness and she gives me a quick smirk.
Then she pulls the Beta’s head back and slits his throat, his warm blood spurting over me, drenching me in it.
That’s my girl. That’s my sweet little Omega.
The two Alphas seem stunned by what just happened, but before they can react, Riley has shot one of them at point-blank range and someone from the security team has taken care of the other.
I scramble to my feet, pulling Vera against me, making sure she’s okay.
“I’m good. I’m good. You know I wouldn’t let them hurt me.” She sends out confident pheromones, which ease my nerves, but only for a few moments. We’ve been in situations like this often enough that I know she can handle herself, even if I really don’t like it.
I look around, trying to find where the Alpha bastard that’s after Mathew has gone. I’m not letting him put a hand on my Omega, no fucking way.
The room is so crowded that it takes me a few moments to find him. The Alpha is with Mathew and Jorge.
Jorge is standing between Mathew and the Alpha, a gun in one hand, a knife in the other, as Mathew is doing the same.
But something weird is going on. Jorge is trying to protect Mathew, but also doesn’t seem to feel particularly safe with Mathew at his back. It’s like he’s fighting himself not to turn around, which is keeping his attention split.
What the fuck is going on?
“Fuck!” Vera slips from my grip, into the mass of fighting bodies. I try to reach for her, but it’s like the mass closes right behind her, making her disappear from view.
Fuck, indeed.