Vinny
Violet was a lot of things. Mouthy? Sure. Spoiled? Absolutely. The biggest cause of headaches in my entire life? One hundred and ten percent. But, amongst all of those almost irredeemable qualities, Violet was soft.
Not the kind of soft people talked about when bad shit happened and someone managed not to turn cruel because of it. Her gentleness didn’t come from survival, or spite, and it didn’t even seem like she had to learn to do it.
Nope, Violet was honest-to-God soft. The kind that made you pause and reassess everything you thought you knew about a person. The kind that made you wonder if she was an angel or just plain stupid.
And I knew it wasn’t the latter. Stupid people didn’t pick up ASL in six weeks.
The rest of the house could mostly stumble through it after the lessons, mostly when it came to deciphering Violet. But, when she signed, her fingers flicked as if she’d been doing it her whole life.
And, while everyone else would take a moment for their brains to buffer, I had practice signing. My first Omega had been deaf, and I’d learned ASL just to impress her. Thank God for that.
Because it meant I caught every little thing Violet did. Like how she knew more conversational signs, but stuck with the formal ones, or how she’d rather finger spell words than have her sentences appear improper by English standards.
And, once I noticed that, slowly I noticed everything else.
The way she tip-toed through the house so as not to disturb it. The way she’d help Benji clean up after being told a million times that it wasn’t her job. How she always knocked on doorframes before entering a room, even when it was technically her home too.
She was gentle with Skye in a way that went above a normal omega-omega bond. She’d swap seats with him so he didn’t have to sit near a draft, or get him a snack before he even knew he was hungry.
She thanked Benji every time he cooked, even though she rarely ever ate. Although, she’d put away her body weight in pancakes and eggs at the diner during our date.
And, I wasn’t going to stop her. She was pregnant for God’s sake, her finally eating was a prayer answered, one I’d never thought I could ask for.
Now, standing in the aisle of a baby boutique—something I didn’t think existed until now, there was a very real, very noticeable curve to her middle. Not enough to scream pregnant to strangers, but enough that the fabric of her dress rounded instead of falling straight.
And, I was a little obsessed with it. In my defense, her scent was strong today, leaving the world to smell like the best version of a bakery. Sugar and vanilla and something unmistakably hers. It had my protective instincts kicking into overdrive, every part of me hyperaware of her presence.
So I kept touching her.
Nothing inappropriate, I could grab her tits and finger her when we got home.
Instead, I’d touch the small of her back, or brush my fingers against her side, or, if I was feeling particularly bold, I’d rest my hand on her bump.
Loving on the baby I’d put there, grounding myself in the fact that this was real and happening and mine.
Violet was not having it.
Every time I touched her, she shrugged me off with a huff and signed Quit it without even looking at me, clearly offended by my lack of self-control.
I smirked, completely unrepentant.
“You’re glowing,” I murmured, leaning in just enough to annoy her.
Violet shot me a look sharp enough to kill, then deliberately took a step away, only to wobble slightly and grab the edge of a display.
To her credit, she regained her balance on her own.
I am not glowing. It’s sweat, I am disgusting.
My hands found her hips and I stood behind her, kissed her cheek and whispered, “Don’t call my omega disgusting, if anyone else did that, I’d have them killed.”
She wiggled away from me and glared before signing Not yours.
I raised a brow and ever so slightly she started to shake before beckoning me closer with a finger.
She’d been doing this all morning, so I knew the drill.
Folding my hands behind my back, I leaned forward, putting myself onto her level.
Violet huffed once before nuzzling into me and breathing as much of me in as she could.
Usually, I’d rub myself on my pack to scent them, and Violet had wanted nothing to do with the ritual. But today? She was so desperate that she kept doing it herself. I wasn’t sure what changed, but I was living for it.
She pulled away when she was done, and I paused, because for the first time, I noticed color return that I hadn’t known was missing. Had this been happening all day?
“You feeling okay?” I asked, shoving my hands into my pockets.
She nodded before turning to the stack of pastel colored infant sleepers.
We’re here to get stuff for Skye’s baby girl. She reminded me, but that didn’t answer my question.
“And I–” I planted my hands on her stomach. “Am worried about our baby, you still haven’t told me about your appointment.”
The last I’d seen of it, the baby didn’t have a heart beat, but, seeing how chipper Violet was today, I assumed they were able to find it.
She waved me off gently, like I was fussing over nothing, then reached up and plucked something small and fuzzy from the rack. It was pale yellow, soft as hell, and covered in little embroidered bees.
She held it up between us. Skye likes bugs. We should get this, she signed.
I stared at the sleeper, then at her, then back at the sleeper.
My mouth twitched despite myself. “You’re dodging.”
She gave me a look that said intentionally, then carefully folded the little outfit and set it in the basket hung from her arm.
The tight knot in my chest loosened just a fraction.
“Okay,” I said finally, exhaling. “We’ll get the bees.”
She smiled, small and victorious, and turned back to the shelves before grabbing her phone. I thought she was going to text her favorite alpha, Reed, and considered taking her phone again, but I was smart enough to realize that wouldn’t help my case.
But, that still didn’t make me any less irritated, and then, my phone buzzed in my pocket.
I lifted it to see Violet’s name, or more so, the name I’d picked for her that she had no idea about, Firefly, lighting my screen.
I eyed her for a moment before unlocking the device to see her message.
Everything is okay, I need to see the doctor every other week to make sure it stays that way.
“... Skye didn’t start having appointments that often until–”
I’m not Skye.
I huffed a quiet laugh through my nose despite myself, pocketing my phone as I stepped closer. “You’re gonna give me grey hair, you know that right?”
Mischief lit her expression before she lifted her hands, and that’s how I knew I was in for it.
No, you get grey hair because you’re old.
I rolled my eyes at her.
“I’m thirty-two.”
She lifted a shoulder as she put another sleeper into the basket, this time it was covered in butterflies.
Old enough to be my father.
And that earned a snort. “In what world? I’m only twelve years older than–”
CRACK!
The storefront window behind Violet exploded as a bullet shot through the paine. Glass rained down like snowflakes in a blizzard, and my body moved before I could stop it.
In a second, I had one arm around Violet’s waist, the other over her head as I took us to the floor behind the nearest display.
Another shot fired, ceramic shattered, someone screamed and an alarm began to wail.
“Stay down.” I barked at Violet.
She had to be shaken, and terrified, and questioning every decision that led her here. I stole a glance to make sure she was okay only to see her almost completely unaffected. Her hands were over her ears, but she looked completely calm, like she’d done this song and dance a million times.
For reasons unbeknownst to me, unease pooled low in my stomach. Not like I had long to focus on the sensation, not with heavy steps tromping through the glass. Holding Violet close, I peered around the display
Three armed alphas moved through the store, at first I thought this was a robbery, they’d head to the register, grab the cash, maybe steal a few wallets.
But, one crouched down and grabbed a brunette omega by the roots of her hair, using them like a handle to pull her up.
Her alpha snarled, but another one of the men pressed the barrel of a pistol to his head, which stopped the alpha’s protests short.
After scanning the innocent omega's face, the alpha yanked her to the side.
“Check every omega in here, boss will have our heads if we go back without her,” one declared.
My stomach flipped, boss as in Logan Stellar. Violet's breath hitched as she started to shake, brave facade officially faltering. She didn’t make a sound, didn’t draw attention to herself, but I felt it the second her fingers fisted in my shirt.
That was it.
No one was touching my omega. I didn’t care who they were looking for. I didn’t care what name they were using. I didn’t care whose war this was supposed to be.
They had brought it into my territory.
One of the men stepped closer, eyes sweeping the room, nostrils flaring like he was scenting prey. He took one look at Violet and smiled.
Which was the wrong fucking move.
“Stay down, sweetheart,” I soothed. “Don’t open your eyes until I say so.”
Violet nodded before pulling her legs close and hiding her face in her knees. And, that was my cue to get this party started.
I stood, drawing the attention of all three men. The first two paled the second they saw me, eyes widening, but the third one was smart–or maybe exceptionally stupid–and tried to raise his gun.
I closed the gap between us before he could finish the motion before slamming into him, shoulder first. He flew into the nearest display rack, and the gun discharged, causing a stray bullet to fire directly into the fluorescent light above.
Glass and sparks rained down, but I didn’t let that stop me.
I grabbed the man by the front of his collar and yanked him toward me before bashing my forehead into his nose as hard as I could.