39. Chapter 39
39
“It’s like none of the people went home after the Spring Dance,” Ruck grumbled as he flicked the dusty, red velvet curtain back into place. Esta’s eyes watered too much in the direct light, so we kept the curtains closed, and Birdie washed her swollen slits with a damp towel each night.
“I wish I could have enjoyed it a little longer, perhaps next year.” Esta joked, but no one laughed.
I tasted smoke and panic on my tongue, resisting the urge to haul my omega into my arms. It would be a long while before I was happy letting Esta out of my sight. Birdie and Bram were squished into the bed beside Esta, although they were on top of the thin covers.
“Only if you can promise no more bedrest, ever. It’s giving me a weak heart.”
“You? Do you hear this, Birdie?” Esta turned to her sister, whose lip kicked as she stared down at her writing. “My poor husband can’t stand to see me with a bullet graze.”
I hadn’t taken a full breath since Esta’s kidnapping, and my lungs burned as I offered them tiny sips of oxygen. It was hard to fill my lungs when Esta was covered in bruises. Her crystal blue eyes were slits, the skin swollen and bruised around them. Her lips looked like dark, raw meat. A lingering, violent kiss from Daniel. Every time I saw her wince, I wanted to go back in time and beat him further into the dirt.
“You’re prouder of the graze than you are of your calluses.” Oliver sent her a knowing smile.
Esta beamed, and even with the bruises, she was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
And she’s mine.
I rubbed my chest, still disbelieving that Esta bore my mark on her neck. When I was younger, I’d taken a dip in the spring near the house and I got a cramp. For a few long, desperate minutes, I was unable to move. I sank like a weight in the water, and my lungs had burned. When I managed to kick to the surface, that first breath tasted sweeter than any I’d ever had since. It fizzed through my body, made it float with light.
When the link between Esta and I snapped into place, I knew I’d been drowning my whole life.
The sight of Ruck and Oliver riding to rescue Esta without me wrenched my heart out of my chest. I was already half feral from the moments it took to gather the sheriff, Jameson, and whatever men were available to fight. I’d lost pieces of myself the closer we got to the licking flames on the horizon. Smoke coated my lungs, and even now, after a thorough shower, the scent of it was still tattooed into my skin. We’d lost everything. But we had each other, and I found the idea of the ranch being in ashes didn’t cut as deep as I thought it might.
When Esta broke through my feral fury and let me bond her, I felt something snap into a missing space I’d never known was blank. The web of Esta and my brothers was like a stable blanket over my soul. I found peace, love, and hope at the same time. No matter what happened going further, I knew we were going to be ok.
“I think that’s it,” Birdie muttered to herself, tapping her fountain pen on the paper.
“Did my notes help with your idea for the tea?” Esta smothered a wince as she looked down at all her sister’s scrawled pages. Birdie’s spectacles slid down the narrow bridge of her nose, and she pushed them up with an impatient finger.
“Immensely, I don’t know if getting the ingredients will be feasible so far from the city though.” Birdie decided to stay with Esta, and I was glad for it. The beta intrigued me. She was striking, reminding me of a hawk with her keen, blue eyes and long, sharp nose. I thought she would be inconsolable after the trauma Daniel put her through, kidnapping her from her home and subjecting her to rough treatment.
But she wasn’t.
Birdie was logical, and her mind whirred faster than anyone in the room. She was channeling her emotions into trialing a batch of the tea she made Esta, now that she knew the long-term success.
“Can I help?” Bram asked.
He was fascinated by Esta’s bookish sister, peeking at her notes.
“Are you careful? Can you take instruction?” Birdie gave Bram a once over, and he puffed out his chest, trying to look impressive. I was grateful he hadn’t witnessed me last night. Ruck carried him away, putting him in the hands of Jameson so he could return for Esta. My plucky brother was putting up a good front, but what happened last night terrified him more than he would like to admit. Which is why he was stuck like glue to Esta, and we let him. Each kiss Esta dropped on his head appeased him a little further.
“I’m fair good at listenin’, and I have small hands. Good for getting in tight spaces.”
“A useful skill, underrated.” Birdie tapped her pen against her lips.
“When can I get up?” Esta asked, her gaze bouncing between Ruck, Oliver, and me. I knew she was searching for weakness, for the one who would crumble to her whims.
“Not until Mr. Whit comes to assess the wound. With no doctor in town, he’s the next best choice. He used to be an army medic in the second war.”
Esta tugged the blankets to her chin and let out a rattling sigh.
“Did they find no trace of Dr. Goodman?”
“The humans working with Daniel were arrested after they were found wandering the wildlands. They insisted our good doctor met with a pack of wolves. One led by a giant black wolf. Torn and bloodied clothing was found.” I hesitated, “I think there is a sure chance we won’t be seeing him again.”
Bram scoffed and patted Esta’s thigh with a tender touch. Tension was thick in the room, as well as our mingled scents. Sharp with lingering fear. It would take time to heal for all of us, not just physical but psychological trauma.
“Good riddance,” Oliver said under his breath. Tears banked on Esta’s swollen lash line, and I swallowed a noise at her distress. It throbbed in my chest, a knot of regret, horror, and sadness.
“I’m so terribly sorry for what Daniel did to your house, everything lost, all those memories.” Her voice cracked, and a singular tear traced the swollen curve of her cheek.
The light from the candle made her look like a battered angel, and I wanted nothing more than to sweep her in my arms and wipe away her worries. Ruck shook his head, and I knew Oliver didn’t care about the house.
“It doesn’t matter. We can build a new house, a better one to fit us all. The only thing that matters is us.” I consoled her, gratified to feel the vice-like grip of her anxiety lessen in my chest. The heavy moment was interrupted by rhythmic banging on the wall, chased by a high-pitched moan.
Bram rolled his eyes and jammed his fingers in his ears. “I know, I know,” he complained.
“Again?” Ruck rolled his eyes.
“It is Madam Silver’s. She has to make money somehow and we are taking up two of her rooms.” Oliver shrugged, unperturbed as the moans crested higher and louder. The thump on the wall intensified. “It won’t last long, they never do.”
“And we’re paying her exorbitantly for it. She couldn’t give us a discount on the fact of your family connection?”
“Letting us stay here is the family discount.” Oliver shook his head with mild amusement.
With the ranch a burning heap and the barn not fit to house Esta in the state she was in, Madam Silver kindly offered us a place to stay. Our reputation didn’t matter so much when faced with needing a soft, warm bed to fall into. And while the mattresses in here smelled of cheap omega perfume, we were safe and happy to have shelter.
“Madam Silver offered to let us stay long term. She’s pleased with the uptick in customers today.”
The slamming on the wall stuttered, followed by a long, low groan as the customer next door found his release. Bram unplugged his ears when Ruck waved at him.
“What does that have to do with us?” Esta wondered, leaning her head on Birdie’s shoulder.
“Not us, darlin’, but you, if I’m guessing correctly. All the ladies here wear omega perfume, but nothing compares to the real thing.”
“That’s terrible.” Esta cried out and I curled my aching fists while having the same thought.
“This is only temporary, don’t worry,” I assured Esta. A tap on the door drew me over, and Madam Silver waited outside. She didn’t peer around the tiny crack in the door, which I appreciated.
“The sheriff wants to speak to you.”
I made my excuses to the room, using the opportunity to steal a chaste kiss from Esta before I stomped down the stairs. I knew the sheriff wanted a debrief on what happened last night, and he probably wanted to speak to Ruck and Oliver at some point.
But until Esta was safe and settled, we wouldn’t stray far from her.
I winced as I curled my bruised fists around the scuffed mantle of the staircase. The upper rooms were for the women and their patrons. The lower half had a long, U-shaped bar with a wooden table and chairs crammed into the space. There was a small empty stage with a midnight blue backdrop with silver stars stitched into it. It looked mighty familiar.
“That better not be—” my head swiveled to Madam Silver, who wore a smug, painted grin. She shrugged, her full bosom shaking with withheld laughter.
“Your wife did such a dreadfully pretty job with her backdrop, I thought it could be celebrated longer than one night, don’t you? Besides, you have bigger things to worry your pretty little head about.”
She gave me a shove toward the sheriff, who lounged at the bar with the mayor. The mayor stood with a grimace like he didn’t want to sully his charcoal, three-piece suit.
“I hope you have good news for me?” I folded onto a stool and waved down the beta at the bar, pointing at the whiskey bottle. Her neckline was too low to be polite, but my gaze didn’t waver. I wasn’t interested in looking at anyone but my wife. The sheriff pulled out a cigar and lit it with a sigh.
“If you’re talking about Mr. Baron, he died an hour ago.”
“I hope his soul suffers.” I hissed, unable to find any mercy for the man. He might be dead, but his teeth left scars on my wife’s shoulders and soul. I wished I could kill him a thousand times over. I slammed the shot of amber liquid that the beta slid in front of me. Esta told me what his plan was, why he’d been so determined to have her above all others. Mr. Baron was mad, and if Esta hadn’t answered my letter, he might have owned all the railways in the country. And used their wealth to fight against the Hierarchy Laws.
It was fate that Esta came to me, and she changed my world for the better.
The mayor coughed into his fist, and the sheriff waved the beta server for a drink of his own.
“What is it? Mrs. Hartlock is still in immeasurable pain, and I want to be by her side.”
“Well, see now, that’s the t-thing.” The mayor stammered.
The sheriff rolled his eyes and waved him into silence before adding. “Mr. Baron was a human, a well-to-do one, and you beat him within an inch of his life. When those city folk from Breton City catch wind of what transpired, they’re not going to understand why the alpha who turned him into pulp is walking free.”
My jaw hinged open, and I slammed it shut. Were they really insinuating that I could be arrested for protecting Esta?
“He torched my home, kidnapped my wife, and abused her. Not to mention what he did to her sister and Bram.” I waved my hands to emphasize my fierce whisper. The mayor nodded like he understood, but the crease between his brow remained.
My stomach dropped to the floor.
“He also had paperwork from your wife’s father, promising the gentleman her hand in marriage. It’s dated before she even came here. The law could argue she was married illegally, and you’re the interloper. Are you getting how messy this is? You already have a charge against you, and what I saw last night was very near…” he trailed off as I let out a low growl. His thick, plain wedding band tapped against the side of his empty glass, but the sheriff didn’t look away.
“What are you trying to say?” I wanted him to take back the absurd notion that I wasn’t Esta’s husband. Not that it even mattered. The silver mark of my teeth was wrapped around her throat. She was mine in every sense of the word.
“Misery Creek is too small to bear the brunt of rageful humans with a vendetta. We’re right on the edge of the wildlands as it is.”
“Be straight.”
“Well, now, those issues notwithstanding, but there’s also, er, the matter of—the matter of.” The mayor wiped his sopping brow.
The sheriff’s lips flapped as he let out a gusty sigh, leaning close. “You and your brothers, along with Mrs. Hartlock, are a pack. Multiple witnesses saw the two bite marks on her body, and you claimed her at the height of the drama. So, am I right?”
The bar tilted, and I gripped the lacquered edge to balance myself. Of course. In the madness of last night, Esta offered her neck, and I’d taken it. There was no other choice. I couldn’t have denied her, not for anything. It felt like we were the only people in the world. But we weren’t. Half the town came to help and saw the carefully hidden marks. Bitter bile coated my throat.
“And if we are?”
“Hierarchy Laws are loose out here, it’s true. But not enough to forgive you for living like that. I don’t really have a choice but to report and arrest you.”
The sheriff made no move despite his warning. While I processed, he tapped the rim of his glass and waited for it to be filled before he continued. I banded my arm around my stomach and tried to keep from spilling my insides on the sheriff’s dusty boots.
“I knew your parents well, watched you grow up. I know many fine folks who live that lifestyle. That’s their prerogative, in my opinion. But I’m the law. If it’s out in the open, I have a duty to police it. I’ve talked things over with the mayor. I’m going to arrest everyone involved in the Hartlock Pack in one week’s time. It’s not enough for what you need, but you’ll have plenty of people who will come together for you.”
A lifeline dangled in front of me, and I snatched it without a thought.
“We can’t stay here,” I spoke more to myself.
The mayor dabbed his forehead with his now damp handkerchief. “Terrible business, son, hate to do it. Always thought you’d be my son-in-law one day, and well, the Hartlocks have always been such an upstanding family.”
I wasn’t listening. A plan was folding out in front of me, and my stomach burst with excitement.
“We can’t stay here,” I repeated, slapping the bar and jogging toward the stairs.
There were a million things to do, and only one week to do it. We’d toyed with the idea before, but it seemed so impossible then. Now, it was our only choice. The place I’d spent my whole life on the edge of, and the one place the Hierarchy Laws didn’t reach.
We were going to the wildlands.