49. Hailey
Chapter 49
Hailey
S tone guides me toward his room with a gentle hand on my lower back, Finn trailing behind us. The space feels different from the nest—darker, more austere. Heavy wooden furniture and deep blue walls that somehow make me feel both protected and small.
Stone tries to settle me on the bed, but I shake my head. “I want to…Let me see your arm first.”
The words come out more assertive than I expect, but the sight of his blood-soaked arm awakens something in me—a desperate need to do something, anything, to help these alphas who just risked everything to protect me. After feeling so helpless for so long, I need this small act of control.
“I’m fine—” he starts, but I’m already moving to his en-suite bathroom without fear—as if I own the place. Tightening the blanket wrapped around me, I search for first aid supplies. When I return, Finn is hovering near Stone, his eye now completely swollen shut.
“Sit. Both of you,” I order, surprised by the steadiness in my voice. They exchange a look but comply, settling on the edge of Stone’s bed. My hands only shake slightly as I reach for Stone’s arm.
There’s so much blood. As I clean it away, my heart nearly stops. “This is—Stone, this is a bullet wound.” My voice rises with panic as I fully process what I’m seeing. “You need a hospital. We need to?—”
“Hailey.” His good arm wraps around my waist, pulling me between his knees. “I’m okay. Clean through, nothing vital hit.”
“Nothing vital?” I sputter, trembling hands hovering over the wound. “You were shot! There’s a hole in your arm!”
He catches my trembling hands in his, thumb stroking over my knuckles. “And you’re taking care of it perfectly.” His voice is soft, gentler than I’ve ever heard it. “It doesn’t even hurt, sweetheart.”
That doesn’t make me feel better at all. I know he’s lying, but I let him guide my hands back to the wound. My touch is even more careful now as I clean around the entry and exit points.
“You’re good at this,” Finn observes quietly as I wrap Stone’s bicep in gauze. There’s something in his tone—respect maybe, or amazement—that makes me flush.
Stone hasn’t taken his eyes off my face, watching me work with an intensity that makes my skin tingle. When I secure the bandage, his hand cups my jaw, turning my face to his. “Thank you,” he murmurs, and there’s a weight to the words that means more than just gratitude for first aid.
When I turn to Finn, he tries to wave me off. “It’s just a black eye?—”
“Hold. Still.”
Finn falls silent, his lips pressing into a faintly amused line as I clean the cut above his swollen eye. Sirens grow louder outside, then cut off abruptly. Car doors slam. Voices. I tense, but neither Stone nor Finn seem concerned.
“The police…” I start. “Won’t they want to question me?”
The thought sends a wave of cold dread through me. Questions mean answers, and answers could lead back to the Academy. Back to everything I’ve been running from. I’m not sure I could lie convincingly to law enforcement.
“No,” Stone says firmly. “Jax will tell them we have a distressed omega. No alpha worth their badge would push for access after that.” His lip curls slightly. “They’ll take his statement, document the scene, and leave. Jax will make sure of it. And Ren…”
Finn shifts at the mention of Ren’s name. “How did he really know to come?”
Stone is quiet for a long moment. He reaches for me, grasping me at the hip as I continue to tend to Finn’s eye. His touch is warm, his thumb tracing absent patterns through the blanket. “He’s probably been watching the house. Since…since that night. Making sure we’re safe.”
The admission hangs heavy in the air. I think about Ren out there in the darkness, keeping guard even after what happened. Even after Stone sent him away. Something in my chest aches.
“At least something good came from his paranoia,” Finn mutters, then winces as I press antiseptic against the wound.
The swelling is bad—angry and purple with a faint sheen of blood around the edges. I glance around the room, then at Stone. “We need to get an ice pack.”
Stone jerks his chin toward the corner of the room, where a sleek black mini-fridge sits half-hidden beside his dresser. “Don’t have ice up here but I’ll get a cold beer.”
I immediately stop him from rising, tightening the blanket around me as I cross the room and crouch in front of the fridge. Inside is sparse—just a few bottles of water and beer, but the cold air that hits my face is a welcome reprieve from all the emotions battering my consciousness. I grab a beer and turn back to the bed.
“This will have to do,” I say, wrapping the beer in the hem of my blanket before pressing it lightly against Finn’s eye.
He hisses softly at the contact but doesn’t pull away. “You’re full of surprises, you know that? ”
“You’re full of bruises,” I counter.
Finn barks a surprised laugh, eyes shifting up to meet mine. “Maybe I need to get beat up some more to hear you make jokes like that.”
My face falls. Horror immediately fills me. “I didn’t mean?—”
Finn leans into me. “I know what you meant. It’s just nice to hear you joke, that’s all. I think it’s the first time you’ve said anything even mildly scandalous.”
Heat creeps into my cheeks. The beer feels clumsy in my hands, but it seems to help—the swelling looks less angry already. It’s strange, this role reversal—me caring for them after they’ve spent so many days caring for me. There’s an odd satisfaction in it, in being useful, in having skills that matter.
I stand there icing Finn’s eye until the cold starts to seep into my fingers.
“Here, sunshine, let me hold it.” Finn takes the cold beer from my fingers with one hand and forces me to sit between him and Stone with the other.
I exhale, limbs heavier than usual as the adrenaline that’s kept me upright starts to ebb. The room falls quiet, save for the faint creak of floorboards below us and the steady hum of voices. The police are taking their notes. It’s strange, hearing them so close yet feeling so removed from it all.
Stone leans back against the headboard, his injured arm resting carefully on his thigh. Finn flops back, cradling the beer against his bruised eye, his expression now unreadable.
“Jax and Ren are handling it,” Stone says after a moment.
I nod faintly, my gaze drifting toward the door. The low murmur of voices outside blends with the occasional shuffle of footsteps, the sound oddly soothing in its monotony.
The blanket wrapped around me feels heavier now, warm and comforting against the chill creeping into my skin. My body aches in ways I hadn’t fully registered before, the adrenaline crash hitting me like a freight train .
“You should rest,” Stone says, his gaze steady on mine.
“I don’t know if I can,” I admit softly. The memory of hands grabbing me, of splintering glass and gunfire, feels too raw, too fresh to let go of.
“You can,” he murmurs, tugging me gently until I’m lying between them.
But as the minutes turn into hours, my body has other ideas. The crash hits me hard, my limbs growing heavier by the second. Stone’s good arm wraps around my waist, pulling me against his chest while Finn presses close behind me, both of them forming a protective barrier against the world.
The last thing I register before exhaustion claims me is Stone’s steady heartbeat under my ear, his fingers trailing soothingly through my hair, and Finn’s quiet breathing at my back. As sleep pulls me under, I feel safer than I should after everything that’s happened—surrounded by an alpha who has proven, with blood and bruises, that he will fight for me. And an omega who has been convinced I’m worth fighting for.
Stone
Sleep won’t come. Not with the throbbing in my arm, not with the lingering scent of gunpowder and blood, and definitely not with Hailey curled against my chest, trembling even in her exhausted sleep.
Every time she whimpers, my muscles coil tighter. Her dreams are clearly anything but peaceful. On her other side, Finn shifts closer. Seeing the dark patch across his eye makes me want to rage. I’d watched him take on two alphas with nothing but a baseball bat, and the memory fills me with equal parts terror and fierce pride. My gentle omega, who spends his days tending plants and making tea, had fought like a demon to protect what was his .
The memories keep replaying—the sound of gunfire, the splintering of glass from the nest room, the sickening knowledge that I wasn’t close enough to reach her. If Jax hadn’t gotten there in time…
Footsteps in the hallway have me tensing before I recognize Jax’s familiar tread. He appears in the doorway, looking as exhausted as I feel.
“Police are gone,” he says quietly, eyes tracking over Hailey’s sleeping form. “Ren’s gone too.”
Of course, he is. The muscle in my jaw ticks. “Did he say anything else?”
“Just that we need to move. Soon.” Jax runs a hand over his face. “He left me an address. Says it’s secure.”
I stare at Jax. “Left you an address? Like some sort of safe house?”
When Jax releases a heavy sigh and simply shrugs, I don’t know what to think.
“What the fuck does Ren know about safe houses, Jax?” I shake my head, brows furrowing. “Why does he even have one?”
“Fuck if I know.” Jax runs a hand through his hair and releases another breath. His gaze flicks over our omegas once more. “Came pretty close to disaster tonight,” he says after a few moments.
“Yea.” I sigh, too. Silence descends between us. “You call Dr. Greene?”
Jax nods. “Yeah.”
There’s a heavy unspoken thing between us. Something that’s gnawing at my insides now that we have a moment to breathe.
“They could have taken her, Jax. They could have harmed Finn, too.”
“Yeah,” he says again. But I know it’s not dismissive. He’s deep in thought.
“We have to mark her.”
Jax’s throat moves and he releases another breath. “She’s not ready. ”
“We scent marked her. She didn’t shut down during that and?—”
Jax’s dark gaze bores into mine. “You and I both know scent marking is child’s play compared to an actual bonding mark. I can’t initiate that, Stone. Not until she’s in heat. It will be better for her that way. Less painful.”
I swallow down the remainder of my words. He’s right, of course. But I can’t push away the thought that if we claimed Hailey, bonded with her officially, this might stop those assholes after her from coming back.
I ease up on my good elbow with a wince. “I’ll help you with the clean up?—”
Jax shakes his head. “No need. Before the deputy could even check the damage upstairs, Ren moved the bodies and got rid of most of the blood.”
I stop short. “He what ?”
“Moved the bodies.” Jax’s voice is flat, which only makes the words more unsettling. “By the time I walked the deputy up here, the two goons were gone. Most of the obvious blood splatter wiped away.”
The revelation sits heavy in my gut. Ren, who used to spend hours debating philosophy with me over cheap beer in college, who cried when his childhood dog died before we became a pack, who brings soup when any of us are sick—that Ren somehow knows how to disappear bodies and evidence like a professional cleaner.
“How—” I start then stop. “Fuck that. Why ? Why would he do that? If the feds ID these pricks then maybe we could get a lead on this fucking Academy.”
The fact Ren is trying to hide the extent of this house invasion only makes my skin prickle.
“There’s more,” Jax continues, his voice dropping even lower as Hailey shifts in her sleep. “The address he left…it’s for a place in the mountains. Fully stocked, fortified, off-grid. Said we’d find everything we need there. ”
“Everything we need,” I repeat, tasting the strangeness of those words. “Just how long has he had this place ready?”
Jax’s silence speaks volumes. When he finally meets my eyes, there’s something troubled in his expression that mirrors my own unease. “I’m starting to think we never really knew him at all.”
“Or he never wanted us to.” The thought hurts more than I expect it to. Ren’s been like a brother to me since our university days, when we were just three alphas trying to figure out our place in the world. At least, that’s what I thought we were.
A soft whimper from Hailey draws both our attention. Her fingers clutch at my sheets, face creased with whatever nightmare has hold of her. Instinctively, I curl my good arm around her again, rumbling softly until she settles.
“I need to shower,” Jax says after a moment, running a hand over his face. The unspoken request hangs between us—he doesn’t want to go back to his room, not tonight. Not after everything.
“Use mine,” I say quietly, nodding toward my en-suite. We both know it’s not just about getting clean. After tonight, the thought of us being too far apart sets my teeth on edge.
Jax disappears into the bathroom, and soon the sound of running water fills the silence. I focus on Hailey’s breathing, on Finn’s steady presence beside her. My gentle botanist took down two trained alphas tonight. My precious, precious Finn.
The memory of earlier floods back—all of us in the nest, finally letting down our walls, our scents mingling into something whole and perfect. My body remembers before my mind fully catches up, a deep ache unfurling in my gut, hot and undeniable.
We’d been naked, tangled together, limbs intertwined as we marked one another in the most primal way possible. I can still feel the slick heat of Hailey’s lips against mine, the way Finn had pressed against her back, his breath heavy, his fingers gripping her hips as he buried his face into her neck. It had felt so fucking right. Like he was claiming her for all of us. I’d never wanted him more. Wanted him in a way that shattered something inside me and put it back together in the same breath.
And then there had been the moment—one I hadn’t expected to burn itself so deeply into my mind. Finn and Jax, their bodies pressed together, a tangle of grasping hands and parted lips. Finn’s fingers wrapped around Jax’s cock as Jax did the same to him, their strokes slow, teasing, drawn out with a kind of intimacy that made my breath hitch even now. The way Jax had watched Finn, his gaze dark, possessive, as if memorizing every flicker of pleasure across his face. The way Finn had gasped, his head falling back against Hailey’s shoulder, his body shuddering as Jax stroked him to the edge.
It had been raw, beautiful—so fucking hot I could barely breathe. And now, lying here, my fingers curling into Hailey’s hair, I realize just how much I missed that. More than I had let myself acknowledge.
I swallow hard, my throat suddenly dry. Jax is still in the bathroom, the sound of running water masking my uneven breaths. Finn is curled around Hailey, his arm now draped over her protectively, his chest rising and falling in steady rhythm. But my body hums with the phantom sensation of our scent marking, of the way we had melted into one another, surrendering to something bigger than all of us.
And fuck, I want it again.
When Jax emerges, dressed in clothes he must have grabbed from the stash we all keep in each other’s rooms, his hair is damp and his expression marginally less haunted. “Your turn,” he says, settling into the armchair near the bed. “I’ve got them.”
I ease away from Hailey carefully, but she still makes a distressed sound that tears at something in my chest. Jax is there instantly, his hand replacing mine on her waist. “Shh, little omega. You’re safe.”
The hot water is a blessing on my aching muscles, though I have to keep my injured arm away from the spray. Blood swirls down the drain, but the memories aren’t so easily washed away. The crack of gunfire. Finn’s snarl of defiance. How close we came to losing everything.
When I return to the bedroom, the scene before me stops me in my tracks. Jax has moved to sit on the edge of the bed, one hand buried in Finn’s hair while the other still rests possessively on Hailey’s thigh. He’s frowning at the dark bruising around Finn’s eye, his thumb tracing gentle patterns on his temple.
“You know,” Jax says without looking up, “some packs go their whole lives without finding even one omega that accepts them. And here we are, blessed with two of the most beautiful, fiercest ones I’ve ever known.”
The truth of his words settles something in my chest. These are our omegas. Our pack. The primal part of me that’s been screaming for blood since the attack finally quiets a little.
It’s the doorbell’s soft chime that breaks the moment. Jax tenses, but then relaxes slightly. “Must be Dr. Greene,” he murmurs, though his hand doesn’t leave Hailey’s thigh.
I move toward the door, every protective instinct firing as I head downstairs. It’s fucking carnage. The house Finn turned into a home for all of us is destroyed. His plants are shattered, leaving soil, broken branches and leaves in the hall. And there’s splintered wood and glass everywhere. Not to mention the doors hanging off their hinges. Fuck. My chest tightens at the thought of him waking and seeing all this in morning light. I can’t let him face it.
The moment I open the door, Dr. Greene takes in my defensive posture with knowing eyes.
“At ease, alpha,” she says softly, medical bag in hand. “Though given what Jax told me over the phone, I understand the caution.” Her gaze tracks to my bandaged arm. “That needs proper attention first.”
“The omegas—” I start, but she cuts me off with a look that brooks no argument. I almost smile. You’d think she’s got alpha genes by the way she acts .
“Will be better served by an alpha who isn’t at risk of infection.” Her eyes sweep the destruction visible in the foyer. “Though I understand your reluctance to leave them.”
“We go to them,” I say, already turning toward the stairs. It’s not a question.
She follows without protest, her footsteps unsteady as she avoids the debris. The climb makes my arm throb, but I ignore it. When we reach the bedroom doorway, Dr. Greene’s clinical gaze takes in the scene—Jax standing guard, our omegas curled together on the bed.
She settles her bag on the nightstand and gestures for me to sit on the edge of the mattress. Her hands are gentle as she unwraps the hasty bandaging job Hailey had done earlier.
“Who bandaged this?” Her gaze flicks to mine.
“Hailey.”
“She did well with this,” Dr. Greene murmurs, examining the wound. “Clean entry and exit, minimal tissue damage. You’re lucky.”
Lucky. The word tastes bitter. Lucky would have been preventing this entirely. Lucky would have been keeping our pack safe.
“Stone.” Dr. Greene’s voice pulls me from my dark thoughts. “This isn’t your fault.”
Before I can respond, Hailey stirs on the bed, a small distressed sound escaping her. Jax murmurs something soothing, but her eyes flutter open anyway, immediately seeking me out. When she spots Dr. Greene working on my arm, she tries to sit up.
“I should help—” she starts, but Jax’s gentle grip keeps her in place.
“You’ve done more than enough, little warrior,” he says, the pride in his voice unmistakable. “Let the doctor work.”
Dr. Greene’s eyes warm as she watches the interaction. “These two,” she says quietly, nodding toward our omegas while she works on my arm, “they fought? ”
“Like they were born to it,” I confirm, unable to keep the fierce pride from my voice. “Finn took down an alpha with a baseball bat. And Hailey…” I trail off.
“Wielded a toilet tank lid,” Jax supplies.
Dr. Greene’s eyes widen. “At an alpha?”
Jax grunts, chin lifting. “Yup.”
Dr. Greene’s hands still for a moment, and something like confusion crosses her features. “Well. That’s…that’s impressive.” She returns to cleaning my wound, but her eyes keep darting to our omegas. “Most omegas would have frozen. Fight or flight usually defaults to flight, especially against alphas.”
“Not our two,” I say, and the possessive growl in my voice makes Hailey’s eyes find mine again. Even exhausted, even traumatized, there’s still a spark of pride in her eyes that she deserves.
“Still,” Dr. Greene says, applying a fresh bandage, “they’ll need watching. Adrenaline crash can hit hard, especially in omegas. The hormonal fallout can be severe.”
Jax’s hand tightens on Hailey’s thigh. “What are we looking for?”
“Anxiety, nightmares, touch aversion—though that doesn’t seem to be an issue at the moment.” She nods toward the way they’re all tangled together. “Temperature fluctuations, possible early heat triggers from the stress.”
That last bit makes both Jax and me tense. We’re already trying to manage Hailey’s pre-heat symptoms. And with the house compromised, the nest …
“If you want, I can leave you with suppressants,” Dr. Greene says, reading our concern. “Just in case. But I must stress that with your female omega’s condition, suppressants might create temporary relief with harsh effects after. What they need most right now is rest, security, and their alphas close.” She moves to examine Finn’s face next, gentle fingers probing the bruising around his eye. “You did well icing this, but nothing’s broken. He’s going to have one hell of a shiner, though. ”
Finn stirs at her touch, gray eyes blinking open. For a moment, there’s panic—the sharp scent of omega fear filling the room—but then Jax’s hand cups the back of his neck, and he settles.
“Hey there, Finn,” Dr. Greene says softly. “Heard you gave quite a performance with that bat.”
Finn’s cheeks flush, but there’s pride in his scent now, mixing with the lingering fear. “They were going to hurt Hailey.”
“And you didn’t let them,” Jax says, voice rough with emotion. His thumb strokes the sensitive spot behind Finn’s ear, making him shiver. “Our fierce little gardener.”
Dr. Greene moves on to Hailey, who tries to sit up again despite Jax’s restraining hand. “I really should help with Stone’s arm?—”
“You did perfect, sweetness,” I tell her, catching her worried gaze. “I think Dr. Greene can handle it from here.”
The doctor’s examination is thorough. She catalogs every bruise, every scrape, murmuring soft praise for our bravery. When she finds the defensive wounds on Hailey’s forearms, evidence of where she’d blocked an alpha’s strikes, something dangerous flashes in Jax’s eyes.
“I’m prescribing a mild sedative,” Dr. Greene says finally, pulling several bottles from her bag. “Just for tonight, to help them rest. And muscle relaxants for the morning—they’re both going to be sore.” She hands me two more bottles. “Antibiotics for your arm, and suppressants. Just in case.”
Then she stops. Looks up. “Someone’s missing. Where’s Ren?”
The question hangs in the air, silencing us all. Jax’s jaw tightens, his posture becoming even more guarded. “He wasn’t injured,” he says, the words calm but clipped. The kind of voice he uses in board meetings when he’s keeping his cards close to his chest. “He’s gone to…sort this all out.”
“Ah.” Dr. Greene nods. “I guess one of you had to leave to give the police an official statement.”
Jax hesitates for a fraction of a second before nodding. “Something like that. ”
Dr. Greene doesn’t seem to notice the edge to his voice. “I have to say,” she begins, her voice lighter now, “I’ve never seen anything like this. A robbery, an invasion, a group of omegas holding their own like this…” She shakes her head, glancing between Hailey and Finn. “This pack has been through enough tonight. Focus on healing, all of you.”
Dr. Greene packs away her supplies but there’s a thoughtfulness to her movements that catches my attention. “Before I go.” She clears her throat and her tone makes my eyes narrow slightly. “I wanted to let you know I ran those tests we discussed. On Finn’s blood work.”
The air in the room shifts. Finn, still nestled against Hailey, lifts his head. “What tests?”
For fuck’s sake. Now? She’s bringing this up now, after everything that’s happened? I glance at Finn and Hailey, their confused expressions tugging at something protective in my chest.
Dr. Greene’s eyes meet mine, then flick to Jax, who’s gone very still by the bed. “My assumptions were correct.” A small smile plays at her lips as she closes her bag. “I think it’s best if your alphas explain everything, but…” She turns to Finn and Hailey, her expression warm. “Congratulations are in order.”
“Dr. Greene?” Finn pushes himself up on one elbow, wincing slightly. “What do you mean? What tests?”
I resist a groan. We’d planned to have this conversation in a very different way, under very different circumstances. But maybe, after the night we’ve had, this news is exactly what we need—a reminder that we’re all meant for each other, despite the fuckton of hardship.
But she’s already moving toward the door, that knowing smile still in place. “I’ll see myself out. You all need rest, and you have some things to discuss.” She pauses in the doorway. “Stone, change that bandage tomorrow morning. And call me if either omega shows signs of drop. ”
“I’ll walk you out,” Jax says, his hand trailing reluctantly from Hailey’s thigh as he stands.
The moment they’re gone, Finn turns to me, gray eyes sharp despite his exhaustion. “Stone? What tests was she talking about?”
Hailey’s watching too now, her body tense against his. I stand and walk over to the bed before I run my good hand through her hair, trying to soothe her. “Let’s wait for Jax.”
“But—”
“Please, darling.” I press a kiss to his forehead, careful of his bruising. “Just a few minutes.”
We can hear Jax’s and Dr. Greene’s muffled voices downstairs, though not their words. Finn’s scent shifts between curiosity and anxiety, while Hailey seems to be holding her breath entirely. I keep up the steady stroking of her hair, watching the way Finn’s fingers have tangled with hers on the sheets between them.
When Jax’s footsteps sound on the stairs again, Finn’s whole body coils with anticipation. “Now will someone tell me what’s going on?”