38. Chapter 38
38
“Keep your mouth shut,” Daniel said, and I saw stars as he smashed the butt of the gun against my skull. My head lolled back onto his shoulder, and my knees buckled like jelly. The inferno spewed and painted the sky black with smoke. But there were glimmers. The slightest shimmer of stars. A patch of clear sky opened directly above me, and I saw the blistering tail of a shooting star. My chest tightened around my ribs.
I could let Daniel take me now. Let him use Birdie and me for his insane plans. Omegas were designed to be soft and submit. But I could never forgive myself for folding into a life of misery.
I tasted ruin on the wind.
Iron and charcoal.
Reckless rebellion.
I’d done it before when I left my careful, neat prison for a train and land scorched by the sun. It had been the best decision I ever made. Nobody was coming to rescue me then, and I didn’t need anyone to rescue me now. I was smaller than Daniel, weaker, certainly. But I’d been tested by the wildlands and survived. Daniel’s hands were soft because everyone did his dirty work for him, and this was the first time he’d ventured out of Breton City.
I would show him what it meant to fight Esta Harlock.
“I’d rather die.” I aimed a glob of spit onto his dust-marred leather boots. It slid down, leaving a trailing path of slime.
“Filthy bitch.” Daniel exclaimed, staring at the mess I’d made.
I allowed myself one more look at Ruck and Oliver, the Hartlock noses like twins with matching flared nostrils. Daniel dropped the gun from my forehead, focused on the spit instead of what I did next. I slammed my head into his with every ounce of strength I had left.
A piercing crack shattered the air. I squeezed my eyes shut as pain tore through my eardrums. Wait, my eardrums? Burning, like a hot poker, scorched through my hip and stole the whine building in my throat.
Daniel’s hold fell away, and the sense of relief was momentary as the ground caught me in its unforgiving cradle instead. My bruised head bounced off the ground, and earth coated my lips.
A heavy, unforgiving kiss.
My disorientated vision blurred. I heard someone shout my name, but it was muffled and detached. I gaped like a fish against the ground until fingers turned me over. Birdie hovered, her face white. I could barely hear her words over the pounding in my head and the blistering throb on my side.
“If you waited five minutes, I would have helped.” Birdie’s scold lost its effect as her lower lip trembled. She pressed her hands against my side, and I rose with a desperate choke. My nerve endings were on fire, and I was burning with agony.
“W-what happened?” I slurred my words, even though I knew. Daniel might not have put a bullet through my skull, but one surely passed through me. Dust kicked up behind us in a flurry of movement, and I spotted wide shoulders, brunette curls covered by a cowboy hat, and the flash of a red scar over a jaw.
Hale.
He carved through the shadows like a blade. The Hartlock men fell on Daniel like the wild beasts he’d accused us of being. After getting a few solid kicks in, both Oliver and Ruck fell back. Lingering on the edge of shadow were more shapes and I couldn’t make out who they were. Orange light reflected off a golden star. The sheriff was here, and he watched Hale beat Daniel into a pulp with widening eyes.
“Hale, no more.” Oliver clutched at Hale’s shoulder, but Hale tossed the large man backward with a swipe of his arm. Oliver skidded through the dirt, choking on a cloud of dust.
“You dare touch my wife?” Hale’s roar made the stars shiver.
He was losing control. The pupils of his eyes blown out with fury and fire, and the veins in his arms bulged with rage. All of it directed on the limp, bloody body underneath him. It should have terrified me, but my chest panged with grim satisfaction. Daniel let out pitiful moans from his ruined face and I did not care.
But I did care about Hale.
Mounting horror etched through everyone’s faces who gave up trying to stop him. Ruck threw Bram over his shoulder and carried him away from the horror. Birdie tucked her face into the crook of my neck. Unable to watch. This is what happened to Hale before he was arrested for public enragement.
It would happen again if he didn’t stop.
My whine cut through the air, and Hale’s fist paused. Blood dripped off his split knuckles. Not just his own. I whined again and stretched my fingers toward him. Hale’s chest heaved as he glared at Daniel’s prone body.
“Husband. Hale. I-I need you.” My voice was a hoarse drop in the clamor of noises.
The men in the shadows were shouting at Hale. Some for him to stop, others for him to continue, riled by the bloody show. Horse whinnies cut like sharp whistles through the night. And as Hale turned to look at me, his childhood home collapsed in on itself. The glowing skeleton succumbed to the ravenous flame. Sparks exploded into the sky, and heat washed over us like a wave.
I blinked, and Hale was by my side.
Birdie made room for him as he wiped his hands and framed my face. The pain made me a furnace, and his palms were icy, despite the red-hot fury he’d expended.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, wife.” Hale pressed his forehead to mine, careful to avoid the lump Daniel left on my temple.
“What’re you sorry for?”
“I didn’t protect you.” The agony in his voice made my lungs contract.
“I-I don’t need your protection—just your mark.” My words were slurred, but he gathered my upper half against him with a sob. Careful not to jostle the bullet wound too much. I couldn’t imagine continuing another moment without Hale’s mark on my neck. My body was on fire with pain, but the sear of my soul almost blinded me.
I’d asked to wait, until we could do this without fear. But there would always be something new to be afraid of. The unknown, the law, or vengeful humans.
My pack would hold me through whatever we faced. I needed Hale more than breath.
“When you’ve recovered,” Hale panted.
“It’s only a graze,” Birdie supplied helpfully. Even in her panic, she was logical.
“Now, I need you here.” I didn’t beg, I demanded as my fingers scrambled at my chest. Like I could peel back the skin and bone and show him the space I’d kept for him. The hollow was a weight I couldn’t bear any longer. My bottom lip dropped out, petulant even when wounded.
“I said I would wait, Esta.” A curl obscured his pale, shaken expression.
“Well, I can’t. I never want another moment without us all together.”
Hale kissed my forehead, cheeks wet with tears. Ruck and Oliver crouched behind me, and I gasped, reaching for them both. Their kisses were sweet balm against the pain.
“I want you, all of you.” I pressed again. It wasn’t the right moment. Not when I was riding the edge of consciousness. But when is love ever the right time? We have to fit ourselves in the harsh planes of life and snatch the joy when we can. I didn’t want to fill my lungs without feeling the thrum of Hale inside me.
“I will always cherish your heart, Esta. I promise.” Hale pressed butterfly kisses to the corner of my bruised mouth.
“I know you will. And I promise to do the same with yours, all your hearts.”
With my pack surrounding me, Hale relented. His nose traced my neck, and he took a deep, steadying breath before his teeth found their home in my neck. I stiffened like a rod, mouth falling open on a silent cry of pain. Darkness crept into the edge of my vision, but I wasn’t afraid.
Hale unfurled in me like a seed cracking through the soil. His roots wrapped around my veins and anchored in my heart.
Steady, strong, and able to weather the storm.
Our home might be ash, but I would never be homeless. Not when they lived inside me.