Chapter 23
My asshole half-brother has somehow slipped through our fingers again. Despite officers in New Jersey spotting him at a known Eternal hub, when the location was raided, he was already gone.
It’s been three days of chasing geese. Three days of coming back to headquarters empty-handed.
And I’m done.
Stomping up the steps to the second floor, I slam Porter’s office door open. The older Alpha drops his head when he sees me waving off the recruit he was speaking with.
“If you are here about Marcus-”
“I want out. Desk duty only.”
Porter’s head flies up, eyes wide as they lock on me. “Could you repeat that?”
Rolling my eyes, I toss myself into an empty chair.
My skin is crawling from being away from my Omega for so long, and I cannot stop my leg from bouncing up and down.
It didn’t help that we had felt the pain in her ankle last night.
She’s healing, and the best treatment for wounded Omegas is their mates.
“You heard me correctly,” I tell Porter. “I’m supposed to be training and working out of the office anyway, so pull me from the field.”
“Even with Marcus still on the loose?”
Shrugging, I don’t hide my disgust. “You aren’t pulling the other agents, so I just have to trust they’ll find him.”
“Why now?” Porter asks, staring at me with narrowed eyes and a hard jaw.
“I’m losing my fucking mind, that’s why! I found my mate and got pulled out of that hellhole, only to be rushed off on an assignment minutes after we got home.”
The grin that crosses Porter’s face has me rolling my eyes. Smug bastard. He’s been telling me for years to settle down. Now he’ll rub it in my face every time I’m happy.
“Okay.”
Sitting up, I clap my hands on my knees. “Good. I’m clocking out then. I’ll be back in two days.”
“What about Lex? Should I pull him, too?”
I pause in the doorway, frowning. “Not until he asks you. It has to be his decision.”
Even if I think he’s being a thick-headed asswipe, no one can force him to make a choice he isn’t ready for. I just hope he figures his shit out before it’s too late. I doubt my Omega will wait forever.
Stepping outside, I slip a pair of sunglasses on to stop the mid-morning sun from blinding me. Lucky for me, my prized beauty is sitting in the parking lot. Painted dark green with sleek, sensuous curves, the CTV-5 Blackwing is a goddess on the streets.
My muscles melt when I climb behind the wheel, mind already falling into the happy, energetic space I get lost in when I am driving. Nothing feels better than smoothly flying around a bend, exhaust rumbling in the background.
The engine roars to life when I turn the key, the car shaking as it idles, a promise of all the power hiding beneath the hood.
I wonder if my girl will enjoy this beauty as much as I do. Fates, I hope so. Imagining renting a straight stretch and driving at reckless speeds while she’s locked on my knot nearly has me coming in my pants.
Throwing the gears into shift, I maneuver out of the parking lot, letting the throttle loose when I get onto the nearby highway. I need to get back and claim my Omega. No way in hell am I going one more day without my teeth in her neck and my cock knot deep in her pussy.
Finding Bea’s apartment is easy since Lex added me to the app he uses to track her phone’s location. When I asked if she was aware he was tracking her, he grunted and walked away. Not a great sign, but I won’t deny the sense of ease I feel knowing where she is.
The tiny duplex she lives in is quaint. Very Omega friendly. I wonder if any of her other mates have considered what we will do for housing, because there is no way in hell we’re all going to stay here at once.
When I knock on the door, a very frustrated Omega immediately answers it. One who is not my mate.
“Uh, hello?”
“Sage! What the hell did I tell you about answering the door?” Ridley groans, appearing behind her. Seeing the two of them standing side by side, it’s clear they’re related. Their noses are the same shape, and their eyes are a similar shade of blue-green.
Running a hand through his hair, he gives his sister a harsh look before turning to me with a frustrated smile. “Hey, man. Come in. Bea and Orion are still asleep in her nest, if you want to join them. Might be a bit of a squeeze.”
Bea’s apartment is cute. Cozy even. There are blankets spread over the back of her light blue couch, and pictures hanging on every wall. The scent of freshly brewed coffee mixes with lime, ozone, and peach. The latter makes my nose twitch, leading me to believe it belongs to Ridley’s sister.
Buried beneath all of those scents, so faint it makes my heart ache, is the pineapple coconut blend I smelled when Bea first arrived at the breeding camp. Before that asshole, Harrison got his hands on her and stole her scent glands.
A door across the room opens, and a blue-haired, tattoo-covered Alpha stumbles out. It takes me a moment to remember his name, having only seen him when we were at the hospital with our Omega.
“Orion.”
“Creed. You’re here. Good! She’ll be happy to see you.”
Fates, I forgot how deep his voice is. Looking at him, you wouldn’t expect such a rich, gravelly tone to come from his mouth.
His phone pings, eyes rolling when he digs it out of his pocket to read whatever message is waiting. “Actually, are you planning to be here for a while?”
I nod. There’s no way I’m leaving her now.
“I have family stuff to take care of, and I want to grab the rest of my stuff from my apartment. Ridley is taking his sister to the airport and cleaning out his place, too. So it will be just the two of you.”
Ridley reappears with an empty bag slung over his shoulder.
“Make sure she stays off her feet. She overdid it yesterday and will feel the effects today. There are painkillers in the bathroom cabinet. If you can get her to take them.” He claps me on the shoulder on his way past. “Good luck. Call if you need anything.”
His sister protests as he drags her out of the apartment, complaining that she isn’t getting to say goodbye to Bea.
Stepping to the nearest window, I crank it open. Letting some fresh air in will help the other Omega’s scent dissipate quicker.
“Good thinking,” Orion comments on his way down the short hallway off the living area. “I’m making dinner tonight. Any food allergies or preferences?”
“No mushrooms. Not allergic, just can’t stand the taste of them.”
“Got it. Okay, I’m headed out.”
After locking the front door, I head inside the bedroom I had seen Orion emerge from. A bed heaped with stuffed animals and clothes scattered across nearly every surface accompanies the burst of pastel pinks and purples.
Clearly, my Omega is not a fan of organization. Or doing laundry.
Her nest door is cracked open, creaking slightly when I pull it wider. Fuck, this nest is tiny. I know Omegas enjoy smaller, darker spaces, but I’m not sure how I am going to fit inside with her.
Sighing softly, I send up a silent prayer that my back won’t hate me after this.
Soft pink, rose-shaped fairy lights run along the ceiling, while yellow string lights hold photos on the back wall. Blankets, pillows, and clothes pile across the floor. And buried in the middle of them all is my Omega.
Soft, dark brown curls peek from beneath a fluffy purple pillow, and her toes poke out of an orange silk blanket. With the rainbow of pastel colors, her nest reminds me of rainbow sherbet. Sweet and colorful.
Knee-walking inside, I mold and shift my body until I’m contorted to wrap around her. She rolls over, nose burrowing against my neck, breathing deeply. “Alpha.”
“Omega.”
Sleepy, midnight-blue eyes blink up at me. “You’re here. Did you catch him?”
Clenching my teeth, I shake my head. “We did not.”
“So, just a short visit.”
Gripping her jaw, I use my fingers to keep her head tilted up. “No. I wasn’t supposed to be in the field. My personal ties to the case are the only reason my boss allowed it.”
“Because they kidnapped you, too?”
I grab her hips and scoot onto my back, pulling her to rest on my chest. “More than that. The man who escaped? He is my half-brother. A child I wasn’t aware my father had until he showed up at my parents’ funeral.”
Bea’s eyes are wide as she listens, hands clasped beneath her chin so she can see my face. “How old were you?”
“Seventeen. Our house had caught fire while I was at a friend’s for the night.
Neither made it out in time. Marcus rolled into their funeral a week later, waving paternity papers around.
My Alpha awoke then, and I lost control.
If my uncles hadn’t been there to pull me away, I might have killed him. ”
“Oh, Creed. That sounds incredibly stressful. I’m sorry he did that to you.”
“Interrupting my parents’ funeral is the least heinous of his crimes.”
A faraway look crosses her face for several seconds before she shakes it off.
“Have you spoken with anyone about what happened?” I ask.
“No one from the agency has reached out to me, no.”
Tilting my head, I study her expression. The way she carefully avoids meeting my eyes. “You know that isn’t what I meant, Omega.”
She sighs, head dropping, so her cheek rests over my heart. “Not yet. Aside from trying to go to work yesterday, I haven’t left the apartment since we got back.”
“You went to work? Less than a week after being rescued from that hellscape?”
I can practically hear her eyes roll as she raises one finger in my direction. Okay, I did the same thing. I have no ground to stand on in this argument.
“Touche. Is working how you aggravated the injury in your ankle?”
“Kind of? I didn’t actually get to work. Some HR bullshit kept me from accomplishing anything. Instead, I spent the day with one of my other Fate-matched mates, but because I left my brace at home, the small amount of walking we did led to this nonsense.”
She gestures to her feet, so I peer around her head to see the baseball-sized swollen lump on her ankle. The mottled bruising is dark against her golden-bronze skin.