37. Ranger
Chapter thirty-seven
Ranger
I pause, perched on the windowsill, and glance back out at the night, searching for unfriendly eyes. My MC is spreading across the hospital, taking it back, one Despair biker at a time. I drop to the floor and crouch there. The hospital is quiet at this time of night, but I know there will be people working.
Lia is in this hospital somewhere. I got a tip off I wasn’t sure whether to trust, but Valen called to confirm.
These are the bastards who hurt me. I wonder what they’re doing to my Lia. I pace through the hospital, pausing when I see a nurse flipping charts. She sets it down and rushes off when the intercom buzzes.
I snatch up the charts and flip through it.
Found her.
She’s on this floor at the other end. I don’t sneak, I just walk like I’m supposed to be here, and when I get to her room, I slip inside.
She’s lying on her side, her face pale.
“Lia?”
She ignores me.
“Lia?”
I roll her over and look down at her. She’s ghostly white, but she’s unharmed.
“Wake up.”
Her eyes open, deep, haunted. There’s something so dead inside that it gives me pause.
“Ready to go home, baby girl?”
She rolls away from me.
What the fuck?
I roll her onto her back and climb up on the bed, straddling her. “What’s the matter, Lia?”
“I’m sick,” she whispers.
“Bullshit. We’ve been through this. You’re fine.”
She blinks up at me and reaches up to stroke my cheek. “You look almost real.”
“I am real.”
“No, you’re not real. You wanted me to get back at Andy.”
I frown. “Who the fuck is Andy? I’m not trying to get back at anyone. If I was, I’d go to them, not fuck around with your feelings.”
She glowers and bites her lip, her eyes filling with tears. “You lied. I’m sick, and you lied.”
I can’t take this. This breaking, soul-wrenching pain in her. I scoop her up in my arms, pulling her towards the edge of the bed, my hand closing around her throat. Holding her attention, demanding it.
“What did I lie about?”
“I’m not your scent match,” Lia whispers. “You lied.”
I growl, beyond frustrated. “I don’t care about that.”
“I do!”
“Yes, we lied. You’re coming home,” I snap, resolute. The room is quiet and miserable. I’m not leaving her here.
“No, I’m not. Just leave me alone, Ranger.”
“Not going to happen, baby doll.”
“Leave me here.”
“Nope.”
“I’m not going with you!”
I snarl at her, tightening my fingers. “I don’t remember giving you a choice.”
Her eyes widen, and she stares at me in shock, her eyes glaze, and marshmallow slams into the air. It’s so thick I can taste it.
“Your heat is here, baby, and it’s either me or I kill every man, woman, and child who comes near you.”
Her pupils expand, and she arches against me.
“Yeah, time to go. We can sort everything else out later.”
She whimpers when I lift her, but when I turn, there’s a man standing in the doorway.
I pull my gun and hold it on him. He doesn’t even move.
“Ranger, don’t,” Lia whines, a desperate hissing whisper .
I glance down at her, then up at her brother. “I don’t want to hurt you, Bailey, but I need to get her home. She’s in heat.”
Bailey scoffs. “She can’t be in heat. She’s a beta.”
“Switch. She’s a switch, and she’s been transitioning for weeks now.” My snarl turns the air thick with icy tension. If he tries to stop me, if he moves in this direction, just give me one reason.
Bailey's eyes widen. “Dad told her about her pack, but…they have an omega. They are happy. I think he thought she’d join them as a beta.” Bailey shuffles his feet and groans. “This is so fucked up.”
I stiffen and have to resist the urge to set her down and beat the living shit out of him.
“Fucking idiots. Get out of my way. I’m going to take care of my omega.”
Bailey holds his ground until she moans, and then he steps to the side.
“I’ll kill anyone who tries to stop me, so clear everyone out of my way,” I snarl at the younger man.
Bailey nods and pulls up his phone.
I run.
I sit on my bike and hold out my hand to Lia. She moans but doesn’t move towards me.
I growl and reach for her wrist, pulling her towards me.
“Lift your leg, darling.”
I coax her into sitting on my bike in front of me, facing me, then I lift her legs over mine and pull her so close that we’re touching almost everywhere.
“You hold on!” I bark at her, and her arms and legs tighten obediently.
I start my bike and smile as she gasps into my chest. Her legs tighten, and she moans, shifting against me.
Fuck, I’m rock hard. To be fair, this is one of my fantasies, and I’m always hard around Lia.
I focus on getting us out of here, smiling to myself as she grinds herself harder and faster on my dick.
Zaden, Valen, Mills, and Ianto appear out of the night, riding beside me. I turn my head, breathing in her scent as she curls into me even more.
Our precious cargo is back in our hands again.
I pull up in the front yard and glance back at Mills. “Is everyone out?”
“Yeah, they’re gone. Everything has been cleaned up. They’ll keep the property lines live but stay outside unless we call.”
I stand and lift Lia by the ass. Fuck, I can’t wait to get my hands on her when this is all done.
“Let go baby, Zaden wants you.”
She lets go, reluctantly, and it makes me smile as I hand her into his hold.
“We need to talk, Zaden.”
“Yeah, after. This is more important,” he growls and ushers Lia into the house.
I want to protest, but then I realise I’m wet. I look down and run my fingers over my damp jeans. I’m soaked with slick.
Hunger has me stumbling after them, intent on getting my tongue in our omega.
Mills grabs my arm and hurls me around.
“What happened?”
I pause, my mind takes a moment to function, and then the same anger burns through me again.
“Anderson told her about her pack. And Bailey. She thinks we’re with her so we can get revenge on him.”
“Mother fucker!” Mills hisses.
“Yeah. It’s bad. She was dead inside. There was no life in her eyes. She said she was sick, but not in denial, more like she’d accepted what she was. Then her heat hit, and I didn’t waste time. I just got her out.”
Mills walks up the stairs and into the house. I follow just behind him.
“We could kill him,” Ianto suggests.
“We can’t do that. She loves him. It’s the same reason the fucker is still alive.”
I humph. “And Bailey.”
“That pain in the ass is begging for a beating,” Ianto hisses.
“He let us go.”
Mills and Ianto turn around and stare at me.
“Okay, nothing we can do about it right now, let's go help our omega.”
I hear a dish shatter and whirl and race inside.
Lia is standing on the stairs, a vase in her hands, glaring at Zaden.
“Lia, you have to eat something. Have a shower. I’m trying to take care of you.”
“I don’t want you to take care of me. ”
“WELL, WHAT DO YOU WANT?” he roars.
For a moment, I think she’ll open her mouth and say what I need to hear her say, but then she slumps. “I just want to be left alone.”
“Not fucking happening,” Zaden growls. “Not this minute, not tonight, not tomorrow, not ever.”
“I’m not yours!” Lia screams and hurls the vase across the room. It hits the wall and shatters. “If you’d have just left me alone, Nicky would be alive, and Kyle…” she sobs.
Zaden looks like he’s two seconds from exploding, but he stomps up the stairs, not stopping until he’s on the same step she is. He roughly grabs her chin and hauls her face in his direction.
“You gave yourself to me, which means you are mine.”
Lia’s eyes well with tears, and the marshmallow gets stronger. “That was before.”
“I don’t care if it was before. I don’t care if you’ve changed your mind. I’m not letting you go. Now, get your ass up into that bed so we can come up and knot you senseless. Perhaps my Lia will return, and whatever this is will fuck off.”
She shudders, her eyes glaze, and she sways.
“Omega,” Zaden growls again in warning. “If I have to ask you again, I’m going to spank that gorgeous ass of yours pink, and then fuck you until you scream my name.”
She exhales, and her chest rises and falls roughly, but after a moment, she whirls and runs for the room.
Zaden glares at us. “Get up here and help me.”
I snort and climb the stairs leading the rest of the pack.
“I liked that vase,” I hear Mills murmur, and I smile grimly. Our omega is a typhoon.
Now, we just need to show her that she’s ours.