20. Garret
Chapter 20
H itting the call button on my dash, Sam picks up after two rings. I hear snoring in the background and thank my lucky stars that I didn’t wake Teddy up. We’re about two hours out from our coffee stop, but I can barely keep my eyes open. I don’t think I’m going to make it much farther before I become an accident waiting to happen.
“Sup, man?” I can hear Sam trying not to yawn over the speaker, and while I want everyone to be safe, I’m glad that I’m not the only one who feels like passing out.
“Yeah, Sam. I’m sorry. I know we wanted to get farther tonight, but I’m having problems keeping my eyes open right now, and I think we really need to either find another hotel or pull over. I have a couple of bench seats in the back here if you guys need to stretch out on them. Steve and I took turns sleeping on ’em when we were driving to Mississippi. They’re not bad, a little cramped, but doable.”
I worry I may be babbling in my exhausted state since Sam doesn’t say anything, but before I can try again, his voice comes through, sounding defeated. “I’d really hoped to make it a few more hours, but I think you’re right. Pull over to the curb so you can check your GPS for the nearest hotel or rest stop. I wanted to get Teddy a hot shower and a warm bed after that bullshit. But I think sleep would be the most beneficial right now.”
I nod for a moment before I realize that he can’t see me then put on my signal to pull off the road. We haven’t seen another car for an hour on this long stretch of highway, so it’s probably a moot point, but better to be safe than sorry. He pulls in behind me, his lights turning off and his hazards coming on while I try to maneuver the map to find some place to nap. It mostly looks like one big empty stretch with just the line of the road.
Finally, after what feels like entirely too long, I see a lookout point with a rest stop. It’s still about twenty miles away, but I think that’s our best option right now. No hotels popped up in the search of the surrounding fifty miles. Relaying all this to Sam, he hums along in agreement, and we pull back out onto the road.
If I can just hang on another twenty minutes, then I can close my fucking eyes. Turning the radio as loud as I can stand it, I roll down my windows, and sing loudly, and probably off-key, until the music cuts off and the car tells me to make a left turn. I must be sleep deprived, because this is totally giving me KITT from Knight Rider vibes.
Sam’s headlights flash in my rearview mirror as I pull into a parking space in front of the stone traveler’s center. I turn off the power, and must immediately start to doze, because I startle when he knocks on my window a few minutes later.
Shit, that’s dangerous.
“I’m gonna take Teddy in so he can get cleaned up and have a break before we rest. You comin’?” I nod like a bobble head—nearly falling out the door because my legs don’t want to work—and follow them into the building. Then pop my head back out and hit the alarm on the car. I don’t think anyone would mess with it—and there’s no one else here—but it would be just my luck today to come back in a few minutes and find my duffel missing.
Stepping inside, I hear a loud hiss from Teddy. He’s trying to pull his shirt off over his head, and my growl echoes Sam’s as we see the large hand shaped bruise that’s formed over Teddy’s shoulder and along the edge of his neck.
The omega makes a mad grab for Sam when his spine snaps straight and he stomps towards the door with purpose. “Seriously, Sam, you’re planning to just leave me here to drive two hours back and throttle that fucker? Just help me get some decent fucking photos so I can press charges and then let me sleep. I’m dead on my feet here, Alpha.” The last bit comes out with a bit of a whine, and Sam immediately switches targets, heading straight back to the omega and wrapping him up in a hug. His purr is loud enough that it echoes in the small room.
“Garret, can I borrow your phone so I can have a date and time record for these damned things, please?” I bring my phone over. The light in here isn’t the best, but we get Teddy standing in front of the mirrors and use the flashlight on his phone to highlight the damage. It takes about twenty minutes before Sam agrees that we have enough from every angle possible, and I’m well past the point of wanting to drive back myself and stab the motherfucker.
I do my business and wash my hands before I leave the two of them alone to finish cleaning up. Teddy is trying to give himself a wipe-down with wet paper towels, paying special attention to the damage on his shoulder. He can probably still smell traces of the alpha from earlier. Omegas usually have the best sense of smell, but alphas are a close second. Still, having it that close to your face can’t be good.
I’m sitting in the driver’s seat, debating if I want to crawl in the back or just recline the damned thing when Sam knocks on my window again. “Hey, do your seats fold down in the back?” I shrug dumbly, because I never thought to look. He sighs and drops his forehead to the window. “You mind if I check? It might be easier to stretch out that way, plus it would let me hold on to Teddy while we sleep. For both our sakes.”
Popping the locks, I scramble out of the driver’s door. I open the hatch in the back, looking around for a lever of anything that might lower the seats. Sam opens the rear passenger door, pulls up on a peg on the back of the seat and the whole thing collapses forward.
Oh…that’s what that button does.
Well, not that I need it now.
I should probably be glad that Dad didn’t report the fucking car as stolen.
Our run in with the cops earlier might have had a very different outcome.
Once he gets both back seats down, there’s a large open space in the back. It’s big enough for the two of them to stretch out completely. Unfortunately, none of us thought to bring blankets or anything. Sam leads Teddy over and gets him situated while he goes back to the truck and collects clothes out of his bag, rolling them into a tube to give to the omega as a pillow. Then he locks the doors on his truck, crawls in the back with Teddy, and soon they’re both snoring heavily.
I want to stretch across the front here, but the console is in the way. After a few minutes of trying to get comfortable in the reclined driver’s seat, I give up, grab my own bag, and climb into the back with them. Pushing my back against Teddy’s and facing the side of the car. Sam’s loud purr vibrates through Teddy and unwinds the tension in my muscles where we’re pressed together. Hitting the alarm button, I wrap my arms around my bag—like I want to snuggle in with my beta—and fall asleep.
I don’t wake up until someone starts tapping on the glass in the grey light of pre-dawn. Another police officer, in the same matching beige uniform, taps the glass beside my head again. I sit up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, and he backs away a step. Lights on a patrol car flash behind him, and a quick glance shows another officer in the driver’s seat. I slide down our impromptu bed to raise the hatch so I can get out. Teddy grunts behind me and burrows closer to Sam.
Once I have my feet under me, I turn my attention to the officer who tapped on my window. It’s kind of amazing that my voice isn’t slurred considering I’m just waking up. “Morning Officer, how can I help you today?” He looks over at me, mildly annoyed, but I don’t catch any scent of anger. He’s a beta, which seems odd since the three we met yesterday were all alphas. And now I feel like slapping myself for being such a discriminating prick. Why the hell can’t a beta be a state trooper?
My hands rub down my face, trying to scrub the sleep out of my eyes. I don’t even have my phone on hand to know how long I was out. It must have been a good length of time considering the sky is starting to lighten.
Wait, did he say something?
Shit .
I turn my full attention his way again, taking in the name tag Jenkins on his shirt. “I’m sorry, Officer Jenkins. I’m…can you please repeat that?”
He heaves a sigh as though I’m asking him for his firstborn child instead of asking him to repeat what he just said. “I said, did you know that you aren’t allowed to sleep at the rest stop, vagrancy laws?” He points back the way we came, and I can see the back of a sign that we must have passed when pulling in but didn’t read.
“I’m sorry again, sir, I didn’t see that. We wanted to make it to a hotel last night, however we were all so tired that staying awake became a concern. We thought it better to pull over and rest than to risk an accident.” He nods in response, waving as a second patrol car pulls down the ramp and into the lot behind him.
“Well, sir, I appreciate your honesty. But I’m still going to need to see your license and registration, as well as those of your…” He looks past me to where Sam and Teddy are still cuddled together asleep in the car. “…pack. And if possible, I’d like to speak with them as well.” I seriously have no idea how the fuck they’re still asleep. But Teddy was pretty wiped after yesterday. Still, how the fuck am I the one that woke up? Sam’s supposed to be in charge. Why didn’t he wake up?
Leaning into the hatch, I touch Sam’s leg lightly and he jolts awake with a low growl, hugging Teddy tightly against him. Both of them blink at their surroundings before Sam sits up, his head thumping against the roof of the car. He slides out the back, already looking more awake than I feel. His gaze stares down to meet mine, his eyes asking about the situation without using words. I reply in a normal voice, so the gathered officers don’t think I’m trying to be sneaky. “Apparently, it’s illegal to sleep at a rest stop due to vagrancy laws.”
His reply is a growled and heartfelt, “Shit,” as he pulls out his wallet and hands his driver’s license over with no further prompting. I agree with the statement, but there’s nothing else for it.
Jenkins stares at me, and I realize yes, I have not moved to get my license yet. “Sorry, Sir. It’s in the front seat, with my wallet. I believe Teddy’s is in the truck, along with our pack registration paperwork.” He gives me a brief nod—which I take as an affirmative, and both Sam and I step away—him to the truck, and me just to the front seat for a moment.
My wallet’s not in the center console where I left it, where I always leave it—and there’s a brief moment of panic before it’s located on the driver’s side floor. I can only imagine it fell down there in my sleepy scramble last night. Regardless, it takes longer than it should for me to return to Jenkins with my license and registration. By the time I get there, Teddy is standing by the bumper with his shirt off.
What the actual fuck.
I may not be into the omega like the rest of my pack, but that doesn’t mean I’m not protective. He was my best friend for years with Steve, and I don’t like the idea of anyone harassing him. My own growl rumbles out before I realize what’s happening, Teddy leaning down so Jenkins can look over the bruises on his shoulder,
A few moments later, Sam appears at my back, his low growl mimicking mine from a few moments ago. Another officer steps out of the newly arrived patrol car, camera in hand, ready to take pictures to add to the records from last night’s event at the coffeehouse.
“So, yeah, I’m really sorry. I was just…really upset after last night, and we did try to find a hotel, but I just needed someone to hold me. So, we pulled over for snuggles, and we must have all fallen asleep. I’m really sorry, officer.” Teddy looks at the cop with big, soulful eyes. That must be a trick they teach at the omega center, because I sure as fuck don’t remember him doing it before.
Also, it’s not quite the story I told, which was the truth. And while I appreciate Teddy trying to keep me out of trouble, I don’t like him lying about this sort of thing. I’ll own up to it. The officer with the camera starts taking pictures from various angles around Teddy’s neck and shoulder, and it frustrates me how much time we wasted doing it last night. Still, better to have and not need than need and not have, I guess. We’ll have our own records, just in case.
As I listen to the conversation between Teddy and Jenkins, it becomes clear that they knew who we were before we supplied them with our information. Apparently, there was a notification out to watch for our automobiles along this route, so when they saw us parked, they checked everything over before waking us up to verify the same story.
More delays we don’t need, but at least we’re all fully awake now. A few minutes later, they wrap everything up. They once again confirm our identities and give me a verbal warning about sleeping at rest stops, especially with an unbonded omega in the car. Then we’re on our way again. It’s only six thirty, and I’m already mentally exhausted.