Chapter FiveEvan
Chapter Five
Evan
L eaning against the wall, I sighed, looking at my phone.
Jett
Leaving work. I’ll bring that drink. Sorry for the delay, the storm brought down a grid, and this whole day has been shit.
Me
Thanks. This is taking longer than I expected anyway. Love you.
What I truly needed today couldn’t be bought at a coffee shop.
We’d figured out that Rose’s mom had bribed a doctor to use drugs on her teenager, hoping to snag a rich pack and leech off their assets, because their family was having money issues. The police were here and taking statements.
He didn’t even illegally obtain the legal version of the drug, which was highly controlled. No, he used the street drug version, mega-push, that traffickers used. At least this seemed to be an isolated incident. Not that it made things any easier.
For now, Rose would stay in Center housing while she had more tests and went through some basic classes. Eventually she’d go to Finchley, one of the local omega schools, which had a high school program and dorms, so that she could finish her education.
“Some people suck.” Carly joined me, her sugar cookie scent, with a hint of oak, preceding her.
“How’s your day going?” I asked. Carly and I had first met in advocate training. She was also a mated omega.
“I could use a consult for my Jane Doe,” Carly told me.
“Sure. I have some time. Jane Doe? Fundie?” Wow. Most people were in the database. One of the few groups that refused were the fundies. Sometimes we got young omegas who ran away to escape that life, usually ones who didn’t want to be force-bonded to alphas twice their age.
“Something about her doesn’t scream fundie.
She also has a concussion and can’t remember her name or address.
The police thought she might be an omega, so Detective Lawson brought her here.
But the designation tests all came up as unknown .
Since she’s gotten basic care, they want us to dump her in a shelter.
I understand that we can’t keep her if we’re not sure she’s an omega, but she’s injured and scared. ” Carly frowned.
“Unknown? Even after the rare test?” Huh. There were three major designations—alpha, beta, and omega. There were also a handful of rarer, minor designations, like deltas and thetas, which were separate tests.
“Not yet, but we did the full blood workup and not just the prick-test. The lab is having issues because of the earlier grid outage,” Carly said as we walked toward the clinic wing.
Something felt off.
“Hey, it’s Carly.” She knocked on the open door of the exam room. “I brought my friend Evan.”
All I could see was the back of a Center sweatshirt and short blonde hair.
“I want to go home. The doctors said I’m going to be fine with a bit of rest. I’m just disoriented from the concussion,” the unnamed woman demanded.
“I know you want to go home, Hun. The moment you can remember your name and address, or the name of someone, your alpha, a friend, your pack, your neighbor, anyone we can find–we will get you there,” Carly soothed.
“I gave you every name I remember, and I told you, the only alpha I know is Fade, and they took me from him.” She turned on the bed, hugging herself, eyes teary, as the scent of peach pie with a hint of vanilla ice cream hit me right in the face, along with the tang of burnt sugar fear.
“Who took you from your alpha, Peaches?” My hands fisted. The time I’d spent in the military, and having younger sisters, left me with strong protective instincts, despite being an omega.
Was he the one who hurt her? She was probably in her mid-twenties. Freckles dotted her snub nose. Grey-blue eyes were framed with long lashes. Tiny and wearing center-issued sweats, her peachy aroma was so intense that I wanted to lick her. Bruises covered her face and neck.
“He wasn’t real, anyway. Why do you keep asking me this? It’s all in the past, promise. A childish fantasy. If I’m not on a 5150, then you need to let me go. I have work tomorrow. God, I feel awful.” She curled up on the bed, putting her head on her knees.
Before I could go to her, Carly hauled me into the hall.
“Domestic violence?” I whispered. “Those bruises…”
“She says it wasn’t this Fade, who of course had no hits in the system.
Dr. Davidson found a mate bite though; an older one that looks odd.
I can’t smell a mate on her, but we know I don’t have the best nose.
Doc’s running a test to see if there’s a bond.
Our girl here also has a lot of scars–old, scary scars.
She has a concussion, which explains the disorientation.
Still, I’ve never seen anything quite like this. ” Carly looked like she wanted to cry.
I didn’t see a mate bite, which would indicate that she’d bonded with an alpha. But just because the neck was the favorite place to put it didn’t mean it was the only one.
“Pack tattoo?” I asked. Not that all packs had them. We had rings. Mine was on my right pinky, right next to the ring Brennan gave me, when he, Jett, and I mated.
Carly shook her head. “I didn’t see a wedding ring or anything either.”
Wes and I didn’t have rings, just matching tattoos.
“What does she remember? Anything?” I tried to put the pieces together.
“Her memory is really spotty. She said some guys were chasing her. She woke up in the park, unable to remember her name. Then, she got into a scuffle with some betas and ended up at the police station. None of this makes sense. Even the park cameras didn’t tell the police how she got there.
It’s like she just… appeared?” Carly’s nose scrunched.
“Maybe she escaped an illegal omega trafficking ring?” I asked. One had been busted last week, she could be part of the remnants. They could have scrubbed her record in preparation, which could explain why we couldn’t find her.
“It could be that the massive power outage caused a glitch in the system when it went back up,” Carly said.
“That makes much more sense.” I went back inside the room, and before I could help myself, I was at the bed, wrapping the unknown young woman in a giant hug. “It’s okay, Peaches. Cry all you need.” I held her to me as she cried and cried, each sob shattering me into a million pieces.
This job did me in every single day. But we were saving lives.
She didn’t have that special extra undertone that indicated an omega. I didn’t get beta or alpha from her scent either. Given her size and how good she smelled, I could understand why they brought her here for more testing.
While omegas came in all shapes and sizes, including industrial-sized ones like me, they tended to be short and pretty–like Peaches here. She was tiny . Like way under five feet small. She looked underfed and was probably touch-starved. I could see it in her face and the haunted look in her eyes.
Where did you come from, Peaches?
“Evan, Rose is ready to get settled,” Claire called from the doorway.
“Don’t go,” Peaches said, chin stubborn, tone pleading. “Please?”
“I’ll come right back,” I assured her.
I went over to the residential wing and got Rose settled, bringing her extra presents from the care closet, such as a giant stuffed animal, some big pillows, a cozy blanket, and some fuzzy slippers with a matching robe. All things that would help an omega feel safe.
“I don’t understand. Why would she do that to me?” Rose said softly, but didn’t cry, her bubblegum scent salty with sadness.
“I don’t know. But we’re going to keep you safe. You have such a bright future ahead of you, and we’ll be with you every step of the way. Now, let’s go over the agenda for the next few days,” I promised.
After we finished, I stood. “I’ll check in tomorrow. Call me anytime.”
I snagged some ice cream from the dorm freezer, then went back over to the hospital wing to find Peaches.
“I didn’t think you’d come back.” Peaches had a blanket wrapped around her. Carly was still with her.
“Jett can wait.” I grinned and held up three individual containers of ice cream. “I came with reinforcements. Which flavor do you want?”
“Jett’s your significant other?” She took the cookie dough one and dug into the ice cream with the little spoon that came with it.
“One of them.” I nodded, taking a seat next to the bed. I held out the other two to Carly, and she took the mint chip.
“How many do you have?” There was no judgment in Peaches’ voice, only curiosity.
“There’s five of us in my pack. Three alphas, one beta, and me. But I’m not with them all, if that makes any sense.” I started to eat my chocolate ice cream.
We talked for a little bit as we ate our ice cream. Claire came to the door and motioned for Carly and I. We joined her in the hall.
“Boss says to discharge her and drive her to a shelter. The good one’s full, but 4th Street has room,” Claire told us, looking glum.
“4th Street? What about the hospital?” I frowned. 4th Street wasn’t a domestic violence shelter, just a homeless shelter.
“She has no ID, and we can’t find her in the system, so the hospital can’t access her insurance or records.
Given the tests can’t confirm she’s an omega, we can’t claim she’s under our jurisdiction.
Which means we have to let her go. If I could keep her here longer, I would. ” Claire sighed, then left.
“Fine.” Carly’s scent went sour with unhappiness as she ran off toward the nurse’s station.
“A shelter? What if they find me there? I could put other people in danger.” Peaches stood there, blanket and all. Fear swam in her eyes, and the scent of burnt pie touched my nose.
“Who?” I stood closer to her.
She closed her eyes. “I can’t quite remember who.
But I think I remember why. They probably wanted my work.
Government? Rival company?” Her shoulders slumped.
“The police didn’t find me with anything, not even a purse, so they must have gotten it.
Not that I can remember what it was.” She rubbed her head with a hand.