Chapter 54
fifty-four
Muscle memory is the only thing that keeps me from dropping my bike to the curb. I turn it off, shove it onto its stand, rip my helmet off, and leap over the seat.
I don’t need an apartment number to know where my little dove is, either. I can scent her—the luscious, sugared warmth that’s melted into a muck of burning fear and…
Anger?
I’m not sure I’ve ever sensed that from her before.
Is it us ? Is she pissed we asked her to bond with us? Or about the upholstery on the throne? I told her I’d get that shit cleaned ?—
Someone screams. I double my pace, jumping up three stairs at a time to get to the second-floor landing.
“ Ivy! ” I bark. “ Answer me. ”
There’s a commotion behind the door at the end of the hallway. When I hear a whine— Ivy’s whine—I lunge for it.
I used to think a lot about how traumatic moments turn into memories. The things that stick with you—the stupid details you recall when everything else about a moment becomes a blur.
Bruises as dark as the ink on my arms.
Asher’s fingers closing around a silver heart.
And now, the flash of blonde hair that flies across my field of vision the moment this dingy apartment door flies open.
Ivy, sailing toward the floor. Falling—until she’s not.
Because I’m here.
The sound that tears from my body is inhuman. A roar that sends the middle-aged woman who just shoved my omega falling onto her ass.
She scrabbles backward, but I barely see her. It feels a bit like catching a priceless piece of art while a cockroach scurries out of the way.
Who the fuck cares if this bitch gets crushed under my heel?
I’m going to kill her anyway.
At the moment, my Alpha and I have other priorities. Namely, the bone-pale omega wilting in my arms.
“Ivy,” I mutter, low and urgent. Her head lolls against my chest, lashes fluttering over her blown pupils. And— shit . Her skin is hot .
“Baby, say something.” I frame her face with my hand, too scared to breathe deeply enough to form a purr. “Ivy? Come on, little dove, it’s me. I’m here. You’re safe now.”
The woman on the ground starts trying to crawl around me, and I scoop Ivy into my arms, side-stepping to place my feet right in her path. “ Do not move again, or I swear to God, I’ll?—”
This must be Ivy’s aunt, the beta. My command shouldn’t work on her, but it does. Or maybe she just knows a losing battle when she sees one.
There’s not a chance in hell she’ll escape me. Nowhere on this whole damn planet for her to hide.
Shoving my omega? Traumatizing my mate to the point where she’s nearly unconscious? And—oh fuck no—are these bruises on Ivy’s arm?
My mate trembles as I examine her wrist, growling at the marks. She fights to open her eyelids, mumbling to me in a dazed whisper, “D-Dair? I—I think my—my heat… I don’t feel so well.”
I might be murderous and confused and mad as hell that she left without telling us this morning, but somehow, I end up softly brushing my lips along her brow. “Why didn’t you wake me, huh?” I ask, squeezing her tighter. “I would have snuck out with you.”
“I—I know,” she warbles. “B-but I needed to fit my mom’s sewing table in the back of a car with me, and I was trying t-to—” Pain creases her forehead. “—surprise Bast. Get Asher’s approval. Make you …”
I scent-mark her cheek with my own, murmuring against her temple. “Make me…?”
“Proud,” she croaks, almost too quiet to hear.
Fuck . Her heat’s about to start, and all she wanted was our approval. Our… love. She snuck out to surprise us, not to leave us behind.
My heart cracks , the strength of my purr nearly forceful enough to break a rib. “You do , little dove. And you did today.” I offer a weak smile. “Fighting this bitch off? C’mon. That’s my omega.”
Ivy’s scent sweetens, and she nuzzles her face into my neck. A ragged inhale turns into another whine.
“I know, baby,” I soothe. “We’re going to take care of you, okay? The guys are right behind me.”
The woman on the floor squawks, “You mean the prince is coming here ?”
I bare my teeth at her, making a sound that abruptly drains the color from her face. “ I am the prince,” I tell her, “because of Ivy.”