24. Sam
Chapter 24
G arret’s father is big, but he’s also soft. He doesn’t look like he’s actually worked a day of physical labor in his life. Judging by the way he knocked his son into the wall earlier, there’s no denying that he’s strong. Still, he looks like he’d crumble at any real pain he had to suffer.
My mind feels almost feral with rage when I see Garret slide down the wall and crumple on the floor, and I can’t bite back my snarl of possessive aggression. The kid may not be mine the way the rest of my pack is, but he’s still my pack. He’s still mine to protect—mine to take care of.
Teddy rushes in, helping Garret stand and hobble to the bedroom—blood is already running down his face from where he hit the wall. His shoulder sunk into the sheetrock, and I thought that would protect his skull somewhat, but that kid has shit for luck by the look of the red streaked down the paint. It looks like his head hit just enough over to connect with one of the studs and one of the fucking drywall nails sticking out of it.
My growl rips through the room again once my omega has gotten to relative safety. It feels like I’m hanging onto my sanity by a thread. Torn between the need to eliminate the threat and check on my packmates, verify that they’re alright. My head turns to see Teddy’s back. He’s standing by the bed, arm outstretched. He’s saying something, but I can’t make anything out.
My attention swings back to the alpha that started this shit. He’s still standing in the doorway. Two larger alphas bracket him from behind. One holding onto an old man, lifting him nearly off the ground. Landlord? Ugh, we don’t need this shit right now.
The father schools his features into something placating, but he’s not fast enough to hide his sneer of disgust. The beta struggles behind him and when I go to close the door in his face; he reaches out, blocking it.
“I’m so sorry. I think there must have been a misunderstanding here. I came to retrieve my son. I’m so glad you brought him back. His mother has been worried sick.” How the hell can he smile so calmly like that with his child’s blood dripping off the rings on his hand ?
He must take my silence as affirmation. “We’ll just retrieve Garret and take him to the hospital. I’m sorry you had to see that. Sometimes children must be brought to heel for their own good.” His smile is slimy, and my skin crawls under his attention.
Does he think that anyone believes this bullshit? I’d been stripping the beds, trying to hurry so we could get out of here and pick up Teddy’s nest—heard someone yelling for Steve, and when I walked out to check on Garret, I saw everything. My voice is raspy and almost inhuman when I go to speak—my volume control seems jacked up.
He needs to understand that he’s not taking any of my people. “I don’t care who the hell you think you are. If you ever come near my pack again, I will end you. Do you fucking understand me?”
His smile slips for a moment. The derision back on his features, his tone menacing. “God, save me from country bumpkins. Do you have the slightest idea who you’re talking to, young man? Do you think, for one fucking second, you can take my sons from me?”
Ahh, he’s one of those people.
I’ve dealt with the do-you-know-who-I-am clients before.
Fucking hate it.
Yes, clearly you are an entitled asshole.
Thank fuck his kids aren’t like that.
Would have left ’em out in that damned snowstorm .
When I don’t reply outright, his tone changes. Still aggressive, but less demeaning. “They’re worthless to you, but I still have some use for them. Hand them over. I’m sure I can make it worth your while.”
I growl involuntarily. He wants to buy his own children? What the ever-loving fuck is wrong with this man? You can’t buy people. Did Teddy’s parents know just what kind of fucked up situation they were letting their kid around? My instincts say no, they never would have put him in danger. I’ve only spoken to them once, but they seemed decent—overprotective, but not bad people.
The dickbag in front of me turns placating, his eyes calculating. “At least give me Garret. You’ll still have the one your omega wants, and isn’t that the important thing? Keeping him happy? You don’t need both of them. What are they good for other than taking up space and costing you money?”
He’s not wrong. I’m gonna have to figure out how to deal with finances. When it was just me and Jake, I’d been building up a nice little nest egg, but finishing up the house and taking care of four extra mouths isn’t gonna be free. I know that there’ll be an increase in utilities and food, but that’s not important. I can take on more work, advertise more. Whatever needs to be done to support my pack.
Teddy’s voice raises behind me—he sounds frantic, calling out Garret’s name. Without another word I slam the door, hard—narrowly missing the fucker’s fingers in the process unfortunately. Flipping the deadbolt should give me a few minutes to check in on my omega, even if Garret’s father wants to push things.
I would hope he’s not that stupid, but looking at the alpha laying sprawled on the floor in the bedroom, I have my doubts. I’m pretty sure that man’s just an asshole. Quite possibly a dangerous asshole, but an asshole nonetheless.
T he hospital that the ambulance takes Garret to is some off the wall fucking name, Cedar or Cyanide or Sinai or some shit—and it’s fucking huge. They’re giving me and Teddy the runaround at the front desk about letting us see him, and I’m about ready to rip someone over the counter until they tell me where he’s at.
Totally having a fucking Cheers moment, but I wanna go home where everybody knows who the hell everybody else is. It’s annoying as fuck sometimes, but it’s rare to have to deal with this kind of shit. Teddy’s hand on my arm keeps me from climbing over the desk, but it doesn’t stop my snarl at the fucker keeping me from my pack.
I finally let him pull me away, but neither of us is happy about it. “Listen, Sam…I…I can’t be here. Ok? It’s not…it’s not you or Garret, but I can’t be here. This place…it just…” He looks from me to the front desk, his hands twitching up and down those leather bracers he always wears, and my brain catches a random thought before it spins away, and I reach for my omega, but he pulls his arms away, shifting from foot to foot.
“Just…take me to the omega center. I’ll be safe there. You won’t have to watch me. Then you can bring the pack paperwork back here. They should let you see Garret. I can get my nest packed up and we can get the fuck out of this goddamned city.” He finally meets my eyes, and the look he gives me pleads for me not to ask questions, and just do what he needs.
Pulling him into a tight hug, my voice is a rough whisper against the side of his head. “Fuck, Teddy. I need…I need…” But I can’t even say it. Words have never been my strong suit. But I need to mark him, make sure he stays safe, make sure I can feel him through a bond so I know if he needs me. But now’s not the time.
Knowing it isn’t the time doesn’t make it any less true, and my jaw rubs against his temple, marking him with my scent, as I hold him tight to my chest. “If that’s what you need, Love, I’ll take you. Just promise me you’ll be safe. Promise me that you’ll stay safe, and tomorrow when I come get you, all your stuff will be ready so that we can load up the back of the truck and get the fuck home to Kelly. Yeah? Also, I’m just a phone call away. I don’t care what happens. If you need me, you call. Anything, even if you just need me to come sit outside your dorm tonight so you can rest. I’ll be there.”
He kisses my chin, and we both glare at the beta behind the counter who’s been staring at us. Teddy is much more diplomatic than I am as he steps forward. “Sir? Excuse me, sir.” The guy’s ignoring us now, pointedly not looking our way until I stalk back up in front of them. Then his head tilts back, his eyes staring up at me, face paling.
Teddy raps on the counter a few times to get his attention. “Sir? My alpha’s going to take me back to the omega center to finish checking out. He’ll be back in a bit to check up on our pack mate, Garret Carpenter. He’ll have all our registration paperwork with him, so please, can you just let him see Garret then? We want to make sure he’s ok.”
I seriously have no idea where Teddy keeps hiding this sweet and polite side that he pulls out for strangers, but it’s fucking adorable and makes me want to drag him out to the truck and lock him on my knot for the rest of this godforsaken day. Instead, I take a deep breath, inhaling his addictive cookie scent before leading him out to the parking lot to drop him off for the evening. And it fucking sucks.
The directions he gives me—and writes down for the return trip—are pretty straightforward, and it takes less than twenty minutes, even with city traffic. Walking him in the front door, I’m hit with so many omega scents that it’s nearly enough to make me gag. None of them are bad, but none of them are mine either, and Teddy visibly preens when I lean into him to inhale against his hair .
We’ve brought the paperwork with us, so that they can make a copy for the school and start whatever process he needs to do. I know he’d like to have Kelly here too so she can meet his friend Sarah, but hopefully we can all get together one day when life isn’t so crazy. As much as he’s talked about her over the last week and a half, it’s clear he’s gonna miss her like crazy. Good friends can be hard to come by, and harder to keep.
He keeps a tight grip on my hand as we enter the administrative building, almost like he’s afraid someone might try to steal me away. He should know well enough by now that he and Kelly are the only ones for me. I like Steve well enough, but if he doesn’t stop his shitty attitude towards my beta, we’re gonna have words.
Still, Teddy’s practically dragging me along by the time we go to the main office. His smile is huge as he greets the lady behind the desk. “Ms. Clarkson, I was about to come looking for you. I need to get my transfer paperwork started. This is my alpha, Sam.” He squeezes me in a one arm hug, before turning his face to mine. “Sam, this is Ms. Clarkson, she’s my academic advisor. She should be able to help me get my classes moved to online so we can go home.” This last part is said with a questioning eyebrow raised as he turns back to the woman at the desk.
Her smile is somewhat brittle, which makes me curious, but maybe she’s just having a bad day. “Of course, Teddy. I’m assuming you have all the discharge paperwork filled out for the registrar’s office, as well as a notarized copy of your pack registration? ”
Teddy’s face falls at her tone. “Of course, I submitted it all online a couple days ago…but I also brought paper copies, just in case.” He’s trying to hold on to his bright smile, but confusion mars his features. “Is something wrong?” His tone is full of concern for the woman who’s suddenly giving me a very bad feeling.
She reaches across the counter, patting him on the hand, and it’s only his fingers entwined with mine that let me bite back my possessive growl. She takes a deep sigh. “It’s just been busy here, coming off spring break, and having to deal with some…unpleasant people all week long. Nothing for you to worry about, dear. I’m very happy for you. Now, let’s get you all fixed up.”
She sits at the computer and starts typing. “Yes, ok. All your paperwork is here. I will need to make an additional copy of your pack registration that shows the notarization, as well as copies of you and your alpha’s identification.” She looks between us. “I’m assuming you have that, Teddy?”
My omega blushes while we both pull out our wallets and I hand over my license with the paperwork. She steps over to a copier and he looks up at me from under his lashes. “Remember, I said I was resistant to being an omega…well, I kind of set fire to my first few ID cards as a form of not so silent protest.”
I hold back my snort of laughter, and pull him against me into a tight hug. “Well, considerin’ I work with wood for a livin’, I hope you’ve gotten over your firebug ways.”
He just laughs. “Yeah, no, Sarah threatened to beat me senseless with a dumbbell for being…well…a dumbbell.”
My body isn’t sure if it wants to laugh or growl, and all that comes out is a strangled snicker. I need to meet this girl.
“Is that what happened? Well, remind me to thank Ms. Zhang for her intervention to avoid any further dorm sprinkler mishaps.” Ms. Clarkson returns to her seat, handing us back our paperwork and identification.
“Now, Teddy, as for online classes, you should be able to complete everything to finish out your degree in a few months. Is that still your plan?” My omega nods enthusiastically. “I’m glad to hear it. I’ve already sent emails to your teachers. You will have a new one for Advanced Mathematics, but I don’t think that’ll be a problem for you. If you could find the time while you’re here to stop by their offices and confirm before you leave, I would really appreciate it. Also, Kimberly would like a word with you when you return to the dorm to get packed up.”
Teddy’s smile is infectious. I was hoping we wouldn’t have any problems, and this has been easier than anticipated.
I should’a knocked on wood.