Chapter 21
Bentley
“So I’ll be meeting the young man that’s twisting you up in knots tonight?” Dad asks, smirking when I blush.
Ugh, no matter how old I get, my father still has the ability to embarrass me.
“Yes,” I drawl, taking a long sip of water to cool myself off as I sit at the table with him. “Octavian is very private, so I’m sure he is currently stress cleaning.”
It doesn’t matter how well fucked he was, I know my omega.
“He’s an omega, that’s pretty normal, Bentley. I would ask if going out to eat would be better, but I don’t think it would be for the same reason.”
“People make him anxious,” I admit. “It’s easier if he can meet you at home where he can control things.”
“Okay. Then that’s what we’ll do. I’ll take that, thanks.”
“Dad,” I hiss, sighing as he drops his card on top of the bill without looking. “Thank you.”
Dad looks incredibly smug as the waiter leaves, and he has every reason for it. The ranch is doing incredibly well.
“Since you won’t let me pay you what you’re worth to maintain my website and handle most of my emails, this is the least I can do.”
I don’t play the tit for tat game with my family, and he knows it. Instead, this is his way of telling me he appreciates me, so I’ll show my gratitude in return.
“Thank you. You know it’s not necessary, but I appreciate it. Do you want me to come pick you up for dinner?”
“No, I think I’ll walk. I checked, and it’s only a fifteen minute walk. I’m old, but I do more than that on a daily basis.”
“You? Old? I don’t believe it.”
I snort for good measure as he chuckles under his breath. Dad takes care of the bill once the waiter comes back and tucks his card away, while I refuse to grumble about it anymore. I can be an adult, sometimes.
As for his claim that he’s not old, he’s right. He’s not, but even I can see the wrinkles settling in and I remember the way he used to move stiffly in the mornings while I was living at home.
Age comes for us all.
“I’ll see you in a little bit,” Dad says, waving to me as he leaves me at my truck.
The smile remains on my face even as I get into my vehicle and pull away, right until I’m a block away from the loft. A cloud of impending doom settles on top of me, and I can’t shake it even as I use my wireless headphone to call Tav.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
The call falls off into a grumpy voicemail that under different circumstances would make me smile, and my foot presses harder down on the accelerator. I’ve felt like this before, and I won’t ignore what it means.
Something is really fucking wrong, and I can only hope I’ll be able to stop whatever it is.
I’m not winning any parallel parking awards as the front wheel of my truck climbs over onto the sidewalk, and I leave the door half open and the keys clutched in my hand.
If someone can figure out how to hotwire my truck without the alarm screaming, then they can have the damn thing.
My boots pound along the sidewalk as I run as fast as I ever have back to my omega.
I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. These are the words being screamed into my mind like a mantra and I strong arm the open downstairs door to the loft in a panic. It doesn’t matter that I replaced it with a better model, or that this wasn’t supposed to happen.
It obviously has. Someone is here who shouldn’t be. The video cameras are recording every one who walks into this building, but I need to see it with my own eyes.
“Tav!” I yell, taking the stairs two at a time.
My hunting knife is already in my hand as my pulse pounds, and I know in my heart I’m not going to find him cutting. This is something so much bigger. Inhaling deeply, I gag at the familiar scent of garbage.
Jesus, why do I know what that scent is?
The front door to the loft is slightly open, simply contributing to the alarm bells ringing inside of me. I can handle Tav cutting, but I’m scared of what I might find on the other side of this door.
Kicking open the door, I find that it also hits the alpha male named Kyle in the face.
“We didn’t close the door! Kassie, watch out!”
Idiot. I shove him back and slam the door behind me to cut off his exit before sinking my knife into his gut.
His pants are hanging open around his hips, and it makes me growl in pain as I wonder if he got to use his cock with my omega.
Pulling out the blade, I grab his hair and sweep his legs out from underneath him as he yells for Kassie yet again.
God, that fucking cunt! Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb Fuck are back at it again, and I swear they won’t survive this.
My eyes sweep the room for Tav as I drag the shithead behind me in my search. I hear this awful squelching and the sound of skin slapping as I move farther inside, but it’s difficult for my mind to catch up to what the sound means.
Dragging shithead to the open loft, I see a female alpha with long blonde hair attempting to ride my omega.
The problem? He’s only partially hard, and she’s flopping on top of him as if that’s doing anything for her.
I feel sick as I see Floyd crying and in pain, a clear sign they did something to him.
He must have woken up and jumped in to help Tav, like the protector he’s always been for him.
Bella seems to be hiding as I can’t see where she is, and I don’t blame her as I gaze at the horror show in front of me.
Tav’s crying even as he shuts his eyes tightly to hide from the horror happening, which I’m going to end now.
They will pay for the broken nose, blood streaming down his face and neck, and the scratches all over his naked body. All I can think about is how much he hates to be vulnerable in front of others, and it fuels the anger inside of me.
They took the time to fucking strip his clothes off and cut him, thinking they had all the time in the goddamned world.
Dropping the male twin beside his rapist sister as he howls in pain, I wrap my hand around Kassie’s fake bleached hair and lift her until she’s standing on her tip toes in front of me with the intent simply to get her off my man.
Deciding I’m going to burn everything in this apartment and replace it with whatever Tav wants, I sink my knife into her cunt and twist it as she screams.
Her eyes speak of pain and surprise, as if she didn’t think I’d come in here and fuck her and Kyle up for hurting my omega.
“I find it very unfortunate that you have such a hard time not touching things that don’t belong to you,” I croon, my voice almost animalistic. “Tav, open your eyes for me, baby. Your alpha is here and going to take care of you.”
My omega refuses to open his eyes, his legs curling to his chest as he sobs. It doesn’t escape my notice that there’s cum dripping out of his asshole, or how distraught he is. I know this isn’t his fault, and I have to show him that.
I suddenly hate that I haven’t bonded my omega. I want to be able to whisper words of love and support through our bond, but it doesn’t exist yet.
Fuck, why did I want to wait? No matter the reason, it suddenly doesn’t make any sense to me anymore.
Pulling my knife out of Kassie’s bleeding cunt, I toss her aside so she’s not in my way. I use that same knife to cut through the zip tie around his wrists. They wasted no time in hurting and rendering him immobile. This was planned, and they had to have been waiting for me to leave the loft.
“Tav. Open your eyes. Pull the gag out of your mouth and talk to me,” I growl. I’m so angry, I decide to drag Kyle closer to me so I can punch him in his stupid face. I left him in the main loft area to keep an eye on him. “I need your help, honey.”
Kyle is a coward who will run away as soon as he can, so I need him immobilized.
I have rope hidden in a cabinet, and it’s the first thing I grab before hog tying Kyle so I can handle him after his sister. I even gag him so he can’t scream, cry, or worse, attempt to tell me something about Tav.
None of that matters. I just need my omega to open his eyes. I need to ground him as soon as possible, though it’s understandable that he’s trapped in the nightmare of what he believes is still happening to him.
“You and your brother are nasty, disgusting people,” I snarl, ignoring her pterodactyl-like screeching and using my knife to saw off her stupid hair.
I want to hurt her, strip her of her humanity, and make her pay for touching my man.
“Tav!” I call out, dumping the bitch on the floor before opening my hand so her heavy hair falls over her body.
My omega pulls the gag out with trembling fingers, his body twitching as he forces himself into a sitting position.
“Open your eyes, Baby Boy. Let me see those pretty eyes that remind me of spring,” I purr.
Breathing deeply, he shudders before he cracks them open. His eyes are puffy from crying, but I see the exact moment when he sees me.
“Bentley,” he whispers.
“Always,” I say, shrugging off my shirt. I’m trying not to get any blood on it, but I know that’s a lost cause. “Put this on. Can you help me? I need a handsaw. Can you get the one I used while I was building your nest?”
I need him to be aware and on his feet, to both show me how hurt he might be, as well as to keep him moving.
“Yeah,” he says, taking the shirt and putting it on before burying his nose in the collar to clear his senses. “I smell you. Bentley…”
“That’s good, baby. I know. I came in and ripped her off you. Bring me anything you can think of along with the saw so I can fuck these two up. I’ll take care of it,” I promise. “Afterward, we can fall apart together. I promise.”
“That’ll work,” he rasps, standing up with wobbly legs. My shirt covers a lot of him as he pulls it closed around himself since I ripped the buttons off earlier.
Shaking himself, he glares at the alphas that are laying on the ground.
“They both touched me,” he whispers, anger in his voice before he stalks away.
“Looks like neither of you will live,” I sing out, though I wasn’t planning on it.