Chapter 45
FORTY-FIVE
I can hear the fear in the quiet, frantic mutterings between Gage and Crystal.
It’s too late to get him out.
I hope, for Crystal’s sake, he finds a fucking good hiding place.
The call disconnects just as I turn onto her street, and I screech into park beside Kieran’s sleek sedan.
I don’t bother knocking when I get to her door, and it’s a good thing I don’t. After being left alone with Queenie for just two minutes, Kieran has already pinned her against the wall by her throat.
Her whines fill my ears and threaten to break all of my composure.
Gage is nowhere to be found, thankfully, but I can barely spare a moment to think about him while my Omega is at the mercy of a deranged criminal.
My Alpha instincts are going wild, proving that the meds are burning off alarmingly fast. Rebecca warned me they wouldn’t work if I kept being around Crystal, but I couldn’t go without them or avoid her. But I know I cannot continue like this for much longer.
There is an expiration date for Puck the Beta, and Kieran Cobb needs to be dead before I reach it.
“What’s going on here, boss?”
He turns to look at me, fingers flexing on her delicate throat, with wild, dilated eyes. “Nothing’s wrong, Puck, just here to talk to Queenie about her new job.”
The Omega looks at me with wide, pleading eyes, and my heart nearly cracks. I take several steps closer to them until I stand near the other Alpha’s shoulder. “She’s got a new gig? Finally leaving the Clinic behind?”
He rolls his eyes at me. “Of course not. She’s about to become the ambassador to the Conglomerate. A welcoming committee, if you will.”
Crystal inhales sharply and starts desperately trying to free herself from his grasp. “I don’t know what that is, but fuck no,” she snarls.
“When will you learn?” he roars, spittle flying into her face. “You don’t have a say here, Queenie. I own you. Body, mind, and soul, you belong to me. In the eyes of the government, I get to decide what is best for you. Are you fucking stupid? You continue to fight me, to pretend like your life is going to be worth anything other than your service to me, and for what? What kind of life awaits you if I let you go? What kind of pack would want a ruined, cheap Omega like you? A drug dealer who whores herself out?”
“I don’t whore myself out!” she yells, causing me to flinch. I don’t know what’s happening with Kieran, but talking back to him isn’t wise right now. His energy feels off somehow.
“Now you fucking do.” His face is a few centimeters from hers as he lands the final blow. “And you will because otherwise, your pretty little niece will take your place. So many men like them young. She won’t be a hard sell.”
Crystal cries out in protest and pain as he throws her against the floor. Her body thumps loudly as she crashes on the tile. In the corner of my eye, a flash of auburn has me swearing under my breath.
Gage.
If I saw him, there is a chance Kieran did too. I know I couldn’t resist coming out to defend Crystal in his shoes, but the Beta needs to keep it together because Crystal would sacrifice herself for him any day of the week. I don’t need to know the intricacies of their relationship to know that.
She loves fiercely and selflessly.
And that’s how she ended up on the floor of her townhome.
Kieran stares down at her like she’s shit on his shoe. It’s a far cry from how he used to look at her, with obsession and adoration. Now I wonder if there was ever a part of him that cared for her at all.
But who am I kidding? Of course, he didn’t.
You can’t care about someone you want to own.
She was his property and nothing more.
“The timeline has changed, Puck,” he says without looking at me. “Queenie needs to get ready for the next phase of her life. Let’s go.” He leans down, wrapping his hand around her ankle, and begins to drag the kicking and screaming Omega out of the house.
I’m frozen, unsure what to do.
There is a plan. A plan is in place to prevent this from happening.
But we’re not ready.
We don’t know who the head of the trafficking division is.
We’re not set up to take it over yet because we don’t know who’s fucking running it!
We had hoped to figure it out before Atlas got entangled in this.
Bile rises in my throat.
I don’t have a choice.
This is it. I won’t get a chance to save her if I don’t do this now.
“Boss, we don’t need her anymore,” I say in measured tones. “I got us a male Omega. He’s getting delivered in a few hours.”
Kieran drops her foot and spins on me, eyes narrowed in doubt. “And you’re just now telling me?”
“I wasn’t going to say anything until it worked out, but I figured you wouldn’t want to break your toy if you don’t have to.”
“Call your contact. Now.” Kieran looks down at a panting, sobbing Crystal as he tries to crawl away from him and lands a kick on her stomach. My teeth ache as I clench them together.
I have to remind myself that intervening right now does me no good when we have a plan. If I cut off the head of the snake right now, without everything in place so we can dismantle the empire, Ricky could take off with the drug business, and whoever is handling the trafficking could disappear with all the Omegas.
Crystal agreed that we wouldn’t kill Kieran without having everything set up to ensure no one but the Hawks could seize control of the Conglomerate. When I catch her eyes, I can see the resolve in them.
She knows what has to happen next.
I pull out my phone, dial Wyatt’s burner number, and then hit the speakerphone button.
He’ll know what this call means.
“What?” The Alph’s southern accent is exaggerated like something out of a parody show. “This better be good.”
I clear my throat and look at Kieran as I speak. “Just confirming the drop-off location tonight for the goods.”
“What if my price has gone up?” Code for ‘Can I speak freely?’
Kieran snarls and lunges for my phone. “Then you’ll have to come get it from my flesh.”
I can practically hear Wyatt roll his eyes over the phone line. “Fine. Meet me at the old suppressant factory.”
“Got it. Can you do this now?”
“If I fucking gotta,” he says with a snarl. “I’ll see you soon.”
I shove my phone in my pocket, eyes locked on Kieran’s. “I’ll go collect, then.”
“No, I’m coming with.” He taps Crystal with his foot more gently than he’s touched her all night. “Go get cleaned up, Queenie. You’re coming too. Wear something nice.”
* * *
Crystal shakes in her red leather jacket as she stares unblinkingly at the old factory door.
Soon, Wyatt Lupine should enter with Atlas in tow for a handoff. Hopefully, with Atlas on the inside, we can find out where the trafficked Omegas are being stored. I don’t even know that. Let’s hope we can get them out.
All these years, I’ve been attending drops like this, killing the handlers, and letting the Lupine Alphas pick up the Omegas and relocate them. I’ve even managed to sneak a few out of Prism from under Kieran’s nose.
But I’ve never been involved in their storage or training.
I may be his right-hand man, but Kieran is smart. No one person knows all of his business dealings, and I don’t know who handles that part.
Hopefully, Atlas can help us fill in some holes and help us bust up this ring once and for all.
Kieran paces in front of us, running his hands through his hair. He jabs his gun at me as he speaks. “They’re late. Your contact better deliver, Bellamy, or your ass is mine.”
Ooh, he used my last name. He’s real mad.
I’ve lost my ability to be scared of Kieran since I began working for him. He’s dangerous, unhinged, and completely amoral. But he doesn’t want to get his hands dirty beyond a few cheap hits.
That’s why he has me.
I knew, going into this arrangement, that part of the reason why he let me get so close was that he didn’t think I was a threat. In his prejudiced mind, a Black man like me couldn’t possibly be clever enough to overthrow him.
So he made me his muscle.
His brute.
And it’s served me well over the years, getting me closer to my goal than I ever dreamed. Sure, my sister will never come back to me, but I can honor her memory by ruining the man who took her from me.
Poetic justice.
The door opens, startling Crystal so much that she whines pitifully. I ache to pull her to my chest and soothe her, but we both have roles to play today, and those aren’t ours.
Wyatt comes in, dragging a bound and gagged Atlas by the collar. The Alpha is dressed up like a proper cowboy, with a hat pulled low over his eyes and heavy boots. He throws Atlas at Kieran’s feet.
“Here y’all go, one abomination.”
Atlas bucks and swears, his dark hair flying around haphazardly. Crystal starts to shake with barely restrained rage beside me, and I have to poke her in the lower back to remind her to keep it together.
“Abomination?” Kieran sneers.
Wyatt spits on the factory floor. “S’what I said. God didn’t intend for no men to be Omegas. They’re erasing women and undermining everything an Omega is supposed to be. It’s disgusting. And the Alphas that’ll get them pregnant and let them pass on their corruption ain’t much better.”
Atlas spits the gag from his mouth and lets out a pitiful, convincing whine. “We’ve always been here! Male Omegas aren’t a new development. Only recently has society decided that we’re broken or dirty.”
Kieran’s fancy Italian loafer meets Atlas’ ribs. “Shut the fuck up, Omega. While I may disagree with your handler, it’s only because, in my opinion, all Omegas are nothing more than warm holes and cute faces. To be seen and not heard.” He crouches to look the Beta in disguise in the eye. “You’re pretty enough. My buyers are going to love you.”
If I didn’t know this was all planned, a predetermined ruse to take down Kieran and the Conglomerate eventually, I would think the fearful way Atlas trembles is real.
Kieran’s nostrils flare as he tries to scent Atlas, and my stomach bottoms out until he nods approvingly.
My uncle, Ajay Kahn, Rebecca’s father, works overseas for one of the Design Clinic competitors. He’s how both of us got the experimental drugs to suppress our Alpha natures. When we explained what we needed, he helped us concoct a plan to simulate Omega pheromones in a more believable way than the perfumes that currently flood the market.
“Then, if we’re good here, I’ll take my payment and be on my merry way,” Wyatt pipes up. This persona is so convincing that it makes me feel slightly queasy, and I can tell Crystal isn’t unaffected. She mewls softly, like his words hurt her on Atlas’ behalf.
Kieran, of course, doesn’t notice her distress. “Yes, yes, you’ve done enough. Puck,” the other Alpha turns toward me, “I assume you’ve worked out payment?”
“Yup, got it all covered, boss.” I grab a folded slip of paper from my pocket and hand it to my teammate. “Your pickup instructions are here.”
“You better not be fucking with me,” he drawls. “Or we’re gonna have a problem.”
“My word is my bond.”
If only Kieran knew how true that statement is.
Because I gave my word that I would avenge my sister.
That I would take down the King.
And I always keep my word.