3. Hank
three
Hank
The metallic taste of blood explodes over my tongue as I rein in my emotions and bite the side of my cheek. Soaking from head to toe, the denim clings over my thighs, restricting my movement, and stiffly I walk to the chair where I left my hat before diving to save Indigo.
“So that was entertaining.”
Hat firmly back on my head, I slice Cassidy a look, but I don’t give him anything. I’ve known his ass since we were kids, and Cassidy loves an audience, so the best way to get him to shut up is to give him nothing.
“What happened?” Nash arrives not long after.
Fuck me. The whole pack is not here.
“Hank decided to swim with one of the Omegas,” Cassidy replies with too much glee.
I shake my head and start back to the door, but Nash frowns and steps in front of me. “What does he mean?”
“Most of the time it's all gibberish.” I shrug.
Cassidy makes gargled, offended sounds right when Nash smiles. He’s always up to messing with Cassidy.
“I caught Hank and the Omega coming out of the pool. No one wanted to let me know what happened, so I’m sorry if I have to guess.”
Fuck him. I grew up assuming I’d never meet an unmated Omega until one day Dominic got me on the phone and asked me if I was free for something confidential.
We grew up together in the same township, but now he was my superior, so I said yes.
I had no idea he wasn’t working for the Alliance anymore and was about to drop thirty Omegas rescued from breeding houses all over the country on me.
I never thought about how inept I was for this job. Dominic said he needed someone trustworthy, someone who won’t let anything happen to these Omegas, and that’s me. But rescuers should be nice, smiley fellas with soft voices.
It doesn’t matter how much I want to do this job right. It’s obvious I’m not good at it.
“I thought she was drowning,” I grit out.
“In her perfect little swimming outfit?” Cassidy asks.
“She sank in the pool and wouldn’t come back up! What do you expect—” I shook my head. “Whatever, I did what I thought was right.”
Every day, any day. I did what I thought was right, but damn, I hate not knowing for sure. My moral compass is the only thing keeping me going. These Omegas are traumatized. I can’t even think about everything that was done to them without getting sick to my stomach.
Understandably, they cowered when I first arrived here, but fuck, it broke my damn heart.
Alphas are in this world to protect and honor Omegas. They were the reason our society exists, and why we kept going. When the Omegas vanished, we had no director to go to, so many of us fell apart. To think that Alphas were doing… No. I still can't think about it.
My world doubled in size when I arrived at the address he gave me, and he started unloading vans of scared-looking women.
Since then, it’s been my mission to make sure they aren’t afraid anymore.
It’s not easy, not when the people responsible for their imprisonment are still at large, and it’s not right, but I crave their trust. Words mean nothing without action, so I work every day to show them I’m not a bad guy. It works for most of them.
Not Indigo.
Her shoulders are always tense, her eyes narrowing when they catch mine. The woman is always on alert, never letting herself relax for a moment. I told myself weeks ago that if I could make even Indigo feel safe, my job was done. And now, I fucked it all up.
In four months, I’ve made no progress with her.
She still stiffens in my presence, still makes sure no one can touch her.
I should have left it alone, but I wanted to make right by her, so when I saw her sneaking out of the motel, I didn’t try to stop her or make her uncomfortable.
I just followed. All I wanted to do was make sure she was safe.
But then she dove and never came back… anxiety gripped me by my throat and demanded that I go after her.
An obvious fucking mistake.
“It doesn't hurt that she’s gorgeous, huh?”
The words are barely out of Cassidy's mouth, and I spin around, eyes down to slits. He has that boyish smile painted on his lips. I usually don’t mind much, but today it boils my blood. I jump on him, taking the material of his checkered shirt between my fingers as I shake him with all my might.
“What the fuck are you saying?”
Eyes comically large, he lifts his palms. “Hey, I was just noticing.”
“They were raped, asshole,” I tell him to his face. “Raped for years. What the fuck are you saying?”
“Shit, Hank!” Cassidy winces. “I was just joking. Fuck, man, you know I’m saying shit.”
“Don’t ever say shit like that to me again,” I shake him once again before letting it go and leaving him and Nash to deal with themselves.
Cassidy is an asshole, and he talks out of his ass, but he’s no liar. Fuck me, Indigo is the most beautiful Omega here, the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I push the glass doors and go down the corridor leading to the rooms.
“God, Hank, are you okay?” Salem asks as she’s leaving her room.
I dip my chin. “Nothing to worry about.”
Other Omegas ask the same as I make my miserable walk to the end of the hall and keep vague with a closed-lip smile. Non-threatening. Only when I finally reach my room and close the door behind me do I let out the curse stuck in my throat.
“Fuck!”
The phantom of her soft body against mine is torture, a vivid reminder that yes, I loved the excuse to have her against me.
I’m a pig. Anger oozes from me as I start to remove my boots, so fucking soaked I’m sure they are beyond help.
I stalk through the bathroom, throwing the wet items of clothes in the tub as I curse myself again and again.
The moment my eyes landed on her, I was a goner.
She stumbled out of the van, grabbing Salem’s hand and quickly positioning herself in front of them.
She had to be fucking five foot tall, but she didn’t seem to care.
She scowled at me when I moved closer like a beast protecting their young.
Her face was soft, her eyes so breathtakingly beautiful pools of the darkest blue, and her attitude. Damn, it gets hard every time.
What kind of asshole acts like that?
Panting, I lean over the sink, squeezing my eyes shut, but she’s printed under my eyelids.
The softness of her curves, the swell of her breasts and the curve of her hip.
Even with the chlorine, I could scent her sweetness of a ripe peach above it all.
I grunt in desperation, and my cock swells painfully hard, making me hate myself just a little bit more.
Why can I just protect her and leave it at that? Hasn't she suffered enough? My knuckles turn white from gripping the marble. I lift my head and look right into my own eyes, hoping the disgust I feel is enough to will my cock down.
“Come on, asshole. She’s not for you.”
But it doesn’t matter how much I hate myself. My cock just loves Indigo.