Chapter 52
FIFTY-TWO
I am way out of my depth here.
One minute, I was in the blood-soaked penthouse office of a nightclub that happens to be a front for a major criminal organization, and now I find myself in a hidden brothel below the same nightclub.
How did I end up here?
I am an introvert. A loser, for all intents and purposes. I don’t have friends, my job is entirely online and solitary, and I barely leave my home unless it’s to go to the doctor. I get everything delivered.
I am the last person anyone would expect to get tangled up in a drug and trafficking organization.
So, how is this my life? How did I end up here?
My eyes drift to the wailing Omega in the massive enforcer’s arms, and my questions are answered.
Crystal is how.
This is not the life I saw for myself. Could I have ever imagined that I’d go from looking at the corpse of a monster of a man that my Omega tore to pieces to preparing to guide her through a forced heat? Certainly not.
Especially not when that Omega was the pretty lab assistant to the doctor trying to cure my migraines through gene therapy. The doctor who was also involved with the fucking mob.
It’s hard to tell if it’s working or if proximity to my Omega is making my attacks less severe, but either way, that chance meeting in his office led to this.
Puck clings to a naked Crystal, who is wailing after he sank his teeth into her neck.
I pray this will be the last bond she doesn’t consent to.
“Is she okay?” Maverick asks gently, stepping towards where the massive Alpha clutches our Omega.
Puck growls, pulling her tighter to his chest. His eyes are wild, dark black, and unseeing.
“He’s going into a rut,” I tell the others. “I had hoped he wouldn’t, but it seems like biting her triggered it in him.”
“I’m not exactly comfortable letting him rut into her without her consent, even if he did just bond her,” Gage says from his position against the wall. “He wouldn’t want us to let him do it either.”
Now that Crystal is clean, her injuries are on display. Bruises paint a picture of abuse across the canvas of her flesh.
Puck’s bite eclipses the blighted bond on the back of her neck, where it peeks between strands of her dripping wet hair. I feel an irrational jealousy at him being the first to mark her, after everything.
But I understand why he wanted to be the one to do it, why he felt like it had to be him.
The door behind me slams open. “Shit, did we forget to lock it?” Maverick swears, throwing himself in front of Puck and Crystal.
“It’s okay,” a blonde Alpha says as he steps into the room slowly, hands up. “I’m a friend of Crystal.”
“You’re the guy who told Puck she was in trouble,” Gage remarks. “What are you doing down here?”
“I wanted to check in on her. Some shit is going down out there, and I needed to make sure she’s safe.” He’s handsome in an ethereal, storybook way, but I don’t like how he looks at her.
Something deep within me tells me not to trust this Alpha.
“I’m Tyler,” he continues, stepping into the room. “Maybe she’s mentioned me? I’m her bartender. I’ve helped her through a few heats.”
That was a bad thing to say.
Puck growls, pulling Crystal tighter to his chest before jumping to his feet. Gage dives forward, blocking the massive Alpha’s body with his own. “Puck, you can’t. Our Omega will get hurt. I need you to come out of this, man.” The Alpha shakes his head, snarling and staring at Tyler.
“It’s time to go, Tyler,” I say firmly. “This is a pack matter.”
“She’s never mentioned having a pack. I’m uncomfortable letting you be with her when she’s like this.” By like this, he means the irresistible draw of her heated pheromones and the way she is moaning, rubbing herself against Puck.
Maverick takes a threatening step forward, trusting Gage to handle Puck. “And we don’t know you. Get the fuck out of here.”
“It doesn’t need to be like this,” the outsider Alpha says. “There’s no reason you can’t be a part of this.”
My stomach feels like it’s full of snakes. His tone makes my skin crawl. “A part of what?”
“I’m not like Kieran,” he pleads, his eyes wide. “I would never give her up. I don’t need to. I have plenty of other stock.”
“Other stock?” Mav whispers. “What do you mean, other stock?”
Tyler doesn’t hear him. “Crystal was off limits, of course. I couldn’t take her, but once I got a taste of her, it was game over for me. You know what it’s like. Of course you do. But she can be mine now that Kieran is gone. I don’t mind sharing.” He looks up at me with a beaming smile. “I was clever, you know? It was easy once Kieran gave over the reins to the Omegas. I don’t think he realized how much my girls funded his business.”
Crystal moans loudly, and a glance shows Puck’s hand between her legs. I should stop it and try to get her lucid enough to ensure she realizes what is happening, but I can’t right now.
Because if I’m not mistaken, this Alpha just confessed to being Kieran’s flesh trader.
“What did you do?” My voice is more dominant than I expected it to be.
“Crystal was his only weakness, you know? I can’t say I blame him. She’s something else.” He sighs wistfully. “I think he started to crack when I slipped her some fizz and let some VIPs take the blame. I knew she’d accept a drink from me, and that those smarmy Alphas would take the blame.”
Puck snarls behind me, and when I spy him out of the corner of my eye, he’s staring Tyler down like he may pounce. Gage moves to block the feral Alpha’s view of the blonde man in front of me.
“From there, I choked his supply of Omegas a little and used some of the stock to bribe the right people.” He laughs hollowly. “And then things were crumbling, and he was going to give me Crystal to fix the problems I created. It was a good plan! She would’ve been thrilled because she knows I will take care of her.”
“You’re the trafficker?” Mav’s voice is tight.
“Ugly word, brother,” Tyler says haughtily. “I saw a gap in the market, and I plugged it. That’s all. There is a lot of demand for pretty Omegas and even some for Betas.” He reaches into the back of his pants and pulls out a gun. “Now, please give me Crystal, and we can all come out of this a happy pack. I don’t want to hurt you because that would hurt her, and I care for her. I’d hate to hurt another of my lovers tonight. But if I have to get rid of you to get her, I’ll have to hope she recovers from the loss.”
A snarl from Puck and a cry from Crystal threaten to derail my attention. I cannot take my eyes off the gun that is pointed at my chest. “Crystal won’t be happy when she finds out what you’ve been doing,” I remind him. “She’s been threatened with her niece being turned over to you for four years.”
“I never would have let that happen!” he shouts. “Never! She knows me better than that!”
“But you let it happen to someone else’s niece! Someone else’s family!” Maverick shouts. “You don’t have the high ground here.”
“Blah blah blah.” Tyler’s careful facade is crumbling. “Shut up and give me my Omega. I have places to be.”
He tries to shoulder past me to Puck, and I react instinctively. I grab the barrel of the gun and twist it, trying to get it out of his hands. He steps back, attempting to yank it from my grip, but I don’t let go.
As long as I have a hold on his gun, I’ve got him stuck here. He won’t let me be in control of his weapon.
“Get out of here!” I yell over my shoulder. “Take Crystal and go!”
Tyler growls and sends a well-placed kick into my kneecap, and I buckle but keep my grip strong. “Let go!” he shouts, trying to get it out of my hands. “I don’t want to shoot you, but I will if I have to!”
I see the others leading a hazy Crystal and Puck from the room, and I breathe a sigh of relief. They won’t be caught in the crossfire. I’ll catch up to them later.
“Fuck!” Tyler shouts when he sees they’ve gone. He makes one last play to get the gun out of my hands, yanking it with an unexpected strength.
And it goes off.