Chapter 6 #2
My attempt at distraction falls flat. The air grows heavy, tension building, though I can’t identify the cause. Without pheromones to guide me, I’m missing crucial information, like watching a movie with the volume too low to catch important dialogue.
“You should have stayed on your own trail,” Derek growls. “You could see she’s uncomfortable.”
“We’re not doing anything.” Amusement fills the words. “Maybe she’s uncomfortable with you.”
A faint whimper escapes Mia’s throat, sweat gathering at her hairline despite the cool air. Whatever’s happening to her runs deeper than anxiety or motion sickness. The flush on her skin has deepened, spreading down her neck.
“Hey,” I call back, trying to inject authority. “Everyone, stay seated, please. We’ve got some rough water ahead.”
I’m not lying as a larger swell approaches, visible in the rhythm of the waves. I grip the wheel tighter, preparing to navigate through it.
“Why don’t you mind your own business?” Todd says, and for a confused moment, I think he’s talking to me before I realize he’s addressing Derek. “She might prefer different company with more options.”
The boat dips as we hit the swell, and I focus on keeping us steady. When I look back again, Derek’s posture has changed, his muscles coiled tight and ready to spring. “You need to back off. Now.”
Todd stands despite the rocking boat. “Or what? She’s not Marked. I don’t see your claim.”
Everything happens at once.
Derek lunges across the space between them, fist raised. The boat pitches toward the starboard on a wave. Mia cries out, the sound of distress cutting through the wind and engine noise.
I abandon the wheel, moving on instinct to separate them before someone goes overboard. Three steps bring me into the middle of chaos, where Derek grapples with Todd, James rising to join the fray, and Mia pinned to the side of the boat, her face twisted in pain.
“Stop!” I grab Derek’s shoulder to pull him back. “This is dangerous!”
The unmanned boat slews sideways, throwing us all off balance. Mia stumbles, about to fall, and I reach for her arm to steady her.
Her skin burns my palm, fever-hot and slick with sweat. Panic flashes across her face, her pupils blown wide until only a thin ring of color remains.
“Don’t touch her!” Derek roars, and before I can explain, his fist connects with my face.
Pain explodes across my cheekbone and nose. I stagger backward, tasting copper as blood fills my mouth. Through watering eyes, I see everyone freeze, their faces transformed with identical expressions of shock.
Mia sways on her feet, a whimper escaping her lips. The scent everyone else must have been detecting since we left the island becomes visible in its effects, her skin almost glowing with heat, perspiration soaking through her shirt, her pupils blown, and her breath coming in shallow gasps.
Todd says something I can’t hear over the ringing in my ears, but I read the hunger mixed with shock in his expression. Derek pulls Mia behind him, his stance protective.
Blood streams from my nose, hot and thick, dripping onto my shirt as the boat drifts at an angle toward the Pinecrest dock, engine idling, wheel unattended.
And I, scent-blind and bleeding, finally understand what everyone else knew all along.
Mia isn’t seasick or anxious.
She’s in Heat.
Cursing, I lunge for the wheel, leaving red fingerprints on the white fiberglass, as I wrestle the boat into position so we won’t crash into the approaching seawall.
Todd and James exchange a glance before they move in unison toward the bow.
“Wait!” The sound comes out thick and nasal. “We’re not docked yet!”
They ignore me. The moment the boat scrapes the pier, still feet from where we should tie up, they vault over the railing. Their boots hit the wooden planks with heavy thuds before they sprint toward the parking lot, backpacks bouncing on their shoulders.
The world tilts and spins as I cut the engine, momentum carrying us the final distance to the dock with a jarring bump.
“Stay with her,” Derek barks at someone I can’t see. “Don’t let anyone near her.”
I grab the mooring rope, muscle memory taking over where conscious thought fails me. Blood drips onto the deck at my feet, splattering in perfect circles. My nose throbs with each heartbeat, the pulsing pain making it hard to focus.
“You attacked her!” Derek’s accusation comes from behind me, vibrating with rage. “You saw she was in Heat, and you still put your hands on her!”
I whirl to face him, rope still in hand. “No! I was trying to keep her from falling—”
“Liar!” His face contorts, teeth bared. “I saw you reaching for her! You couldn’t control yourself, could you? Were you in on it with those other two?”
My brain struggles to catch up. “No! I’m scent-blind! I didn’t know she was in Heat until you hit me.”
Disbelief crosses his face, followed by disgust. “Convenient excuse.”
On shore, people have begun to gather, drawn by the commotion and the unorthodox docking. A woman in a Pinecrest Harbor security jacket pushes through the onlookers, hand on her radio.
She takes in the blood on my face and shirt, the way Mia huddles on the far side of the boat, and Derek standing guard in front of her. “What’s going on here?”
“This Alpha tried to take advantage of an Omega in Heat.” Derek jabs a finger toward me. “On his own boat, where she couldn’t escape.”
“That’s not true!” I protest, desperation prickling under my skin.
The security officer’s hand moves to the taser at her belt. “Sir, I need you to step back and calm down.”
“I am calm,” I insist, even as more blood drips from my chin. “I’m the captain. I was trying to break up a fight between passengers.”
“He grabbed her!” The shout comes from the dock, where a man in a fishing vest steps forward, pointing at me. “I saw the whole thing. Had his hands all over her while she was trying to get away.”
My stomach drops. “No, you didn’t see—”
“I saw it, too,” another bystander adds. “He was manhandling her. Poor thing was terrified.”
The security officer’s face hardens. “Sir, put down the rope and step away from the controls.”
I comply, movements slow and deliberate despite the panic building in my chest. “Please let me explain. There was a fight. I left the wheel to stop it, and when the boat rocked, I reached out to keep her from falling. That’s all.”
A second security officer boards, this one male with shoulders that strain his uniform. He approaches with caution, as if I might attack. “I’m going to need you to turn around and put your hands behind your back.”
“This is insane,” I protest, but I do as instructed. Cold metal encircles my wrists with a series of clicks. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“We’ll sort this out at the office.” He grips my upper arm as he guides me toward the gangplank.
As we pass Derek, he leans in close. “You’re lucky I only broke your nose.”
The dock boards vibrate beneath my feet as the security officer marches me through the gathered crowd. Their faces blur together, expressions ranging from curiosity to outright hostility, and whispers follow us.
“Alpha attacking an Omega... in Heat... on his boat... nowhere to run...”
My face burns with humiliation stronger than the pain. My cousin, Kyle, vouched for me to get this job. He trusted me with his boat, with his reputation. And now this.
The security office sits at the end of the harbor, a squat building with tinted windows.
Inside, the air conditioning raises goose bumps on my bare arms. They frisk me, emptying my pockets and dumping the contents onto the desk.
Then I’m guided to a chair bolted to the floor in a small room, where they uncuff one hand and reattach the restraint to the chair’s metal arm.
“Wait here,” the male officer instructs, as if I have a choice. “We need to take statements from the witnesses and the victim.”
The door closes with a soft click as deafening as a slam.
I lean forward, my whole face throbbing. My nose has stopped bleeding, crusting over in a way that tells me it’s probably not broken, just badly bruised.
Through the thin walls, I hear Derek giving his version of events. Words like “predatory” and “took advantage” filter through, each one a knife between my ribs.
My phone sits on the desk in front of me, placed there along with my wallet, and as I look at it, the screen lights up with a text.
Cousin Kyle
How’d your first solo run go? Not as scary as you thought it would be, right?
My stomach twists. If I tell him what happened, his disappointment will be unbearable.
He gave me this chance after my familial pack kicked me out so they could court a new Omega.
He’s the only family member I have left who cares what happens to me, and I’ve ruined his generosity in the most spectacular way possible.
The second hand on the wall clock ticks forward, each movement an eternity. Five minutes pass. Ten. The voices outside continue, but no one returns to check on me.
I stare at my phone, considering my options. I could call Kyle, but shame stops my fingers from reaching for it.
Who else would help me?
Emily’s words from my first week float back to me. “Next time you’re left hanging, you call me.”
She had stood at the equipment shed, gray face serious beneath silver hair, and pressed her business card into my palm.
Would she come? Or would she write me off as trouble not worth her time?
The security officers’ voices grow louder in the hallway. Soon they’ll return, and what will happen? I’ve never been arrested before. Will they believe me about being scent-blind?
With my uncuffed hand, I reach across the desk for my phone. My fingers brush the edge, pushing it farther away. I strain forward, shoulder protesting, and manage to grasp it.
Emily’s contact information appears in my recent calls from when I phoned her yesterday about a lumber delivery. My thumb hovers over her name for three rapid heartbeats before I press call.
The line rings once, twice, three times. My hope begins to fade.
Then the ringing stops, and her husky voice fills my ear. “This is Emily.”