Chapter 22 Jo
twenty-two
Jo
My body is sore, but in the best way.
Why I had ever been so afraid to go into heat is beyond me.
Stretching my arms over my head, a small little groan leaves me, and there’s instant movement in the bed.
“Are you okay?”
“Do you need another knot?”
West holds the back of his hand to my forehead. “Your…your fever’s broken.”
A big grin lights up my face. “Yep! I feel good as new. How ‘bout you guys?”
Everyone besides West lets out a guttural groan, falling back into the mattress. My brows furrow as I look around, and that’s when I see it. Red marks litter each man's chest, back, and arms. They have bags under their eyes. They look like they haven’t slept in weeks.
My hand flies to my mouth as I gasp. “What…what happened to y’all?” My good mood quickly evaporates as tears sting my eyes and realization sets in. “Did…did I hurt you?” I only have brief flashes of what’s happened the last… “How long was I in heat for?”
“Five days,” Hayden sighs dreamily. “Don’t get me wrong, Fireball, they were some of the best five days of my life, but now I feel like I could sleep for about a week.”
I crawl over to him, wincing slightly at the sticky mess of my body. My hands gently run down the scratch marks that I made. “I am so sorry, Darlin’. I had no idea—”
“Nope.” He pops the p, turning onto his side to look at me. “You don’t get to apologize. Not for this, and not for anything else. These are markings I will wear with damn pride. I might even ask Kole to tattoo them on me before they fade.”
“Your omega…” West huffs a breath. “It’s only natural that she would be extra…demanding during her first heat when it had been put off for so long. It’s nothing you could have helped, Siren.”
Still, I frown as I look at Kole and Sam, who are sporting the same marks as Hayden and West. “I want a doctor to look at those.”
Both men scoff. “Please. I have had worse injuries during my training with Alexei.” Kole shakes his head. “No doctor is required.”
“It’s gonna take more than that to wipe me out, Trouble.” Sam gives a tired smile. “Even if I am an old man.”
I frown again. “We’ve been over this. You’re not an old man.”
“Yea, Daddy-O,” Hayden grins, stretching. “Totally not old.”
“But you feel okay?” West asks. “Does it feel like…like you’re done?”
Taking stock of my body, I close my eyes, tilting my head.
My body is sore, yes, but like how it gets after a good workout.
My omega is a sated little bundle of happiness in the corner of my mind, and even though I smell of sweat and sex…
“I think so.” I open my eyes, nodding. “Though, I really need a shower.”
Hayden snorts.
“What?” I ask defensively.
“The last time we tried to get you to shower—two days ago—you ended up fucking Hayden on the bathroom floor,” Sam offers. “And then nearly bit my head off when I tried to get you in the water. So, this will be the first shower you’ve taken since your heat started.”
My nose wrinkles. “Ew. Sorry.”
Sam raises his hands. “No need to be sorry, Trouble. Like West said, your omega’s been waiting five years for this. Of course she’s going to be a voracious little thing.”
“I can see it now,” Hayden puts his hands in front of him like he’s reading a headline. “Dangerous. Voracious. Cover Omega.”
This time I snort. “Y’all are crazy. I’m gonna go get washed off.”
Hayden follows me into the bathroom, and I arch a brow at him as I switch on the shower.
He gives a sheepish smile. “Sharing is…caring?”
Grinning, I roll my eyes. “Alright, fine, get in here.”
Under the spray, there’s no sexual charge, even as Hayden runs his hands over every inch of my body with a washcloth. I just feel…loved.
He hums as he washes my hair, and I can’t help but let out a little sigh of relief. “Did you do research on how to care for an omega after a heat or somethin’?”
He chuckles. “Yes, actually. Though…this part comes naturally to me. I…I want to take care of you. And it means so much that you let me, considering how long you’ve been taking care of yourself.”
The water shuts off, and when we open the glass door, Kole is waiting with a towel for each of us.
His hair is wet like he ran and took the quickest shower possible downstairs, then raced back up to the nest to make sure he was here when we got out.
He unceremoniously throws one at Hayden’s head, but wraps me up carefully before carrying me bridal style back into the nest.
The sheets have been replaced, and my nest items switched out with clean ones. Kole sets me on the mattress before gently patting me dry. Sam comes over with a large t-shirt and pajama bottoms, making me lift my arms to slip the shirt on before he shimmies the pants up my legs.
West, full of surprises, approaches with a brush and a bottle of leave-in conditioner. “Would…” he flushes red enough that I can see it under his dark complexion. “Could I braid your hair for you?”
My brows shoot up as a smile breaks out on my face. “Well, Doctor, where did you learn to braid?”
He flushes deeper. “My…my mom would have me help her with her box braids sometimes. She taught me all kinds of things…said it would be important to know how to do hair similar to mine when…when I have kids.”
My heart clenches at the words. “Oh, West…”
“So, I know you don’t have the same hair type, but I can still do a mean braid.” He gives a sheepish smile.
“I would be honored.”
I slide down to the carpet, and he sets up on the edge of the mattress, putting one leg on either side of me. He starts gently brushing through my hair, and before I know it I have a sleek Dutch braid going down the center of my back.
I rush to the bathroom to get a good look. “Oh, West!” I gasp, turning my head in the mirror. “It’s beautiful, thank you!”
My beta’s chest puffs up with pride. “Any time, Siren.”
Between Hayden washing me, Kole drying me, Sam dressing me, and West doing my hair, I’ve never felt more pampered in my whole damn life.
I suppose my heats can’t be that bad if they still want to do all this for me when it’s over.
Mabel crushes me in a bone-splitting hug the moment I open the door. “Oh, Jo! How are you feelin’? Are you doin’ okay?”
“Mabel!” I laugh, pulling back and looking at her. “I’m fine! What’s goin’ on?”
“I just…” Her bottom lip wobbles. “Maeve told us you went into heat and then all I could think of was my first heat, and how all the heats after that were so horrible, and I couldn’t bear it if your experience was anythin’ like that.
But…” Her eyes roam over me, her features calming.
“It wasn’t, was it? Jo, you’re positively glowin’! ”
“I…” My cheeks flush, even as love for my pack blooms in my chest. “My omega was apparently a little more…demandin’ than what would be considered…normal…but the guys were troopers and took care of me so well, even after.”
Tears well up in her eyes briefly before she blinks them away. “Good.” She sniffs. “You deserve the best, Jojo, and I—”
“Jo!” Declan’s voice calls out, and I curse my brother for having the worst timing possible.
Mabel’s expression changes from earnest to stone cold in an instant, and then without a word she’s marching away, around the back of the house so as to not cross paths with Declan.
He looks after her with a pained expression before shaking his head and jogging up the porch steps. “Jo, you have to turn on the news.”
I frown, even as he reaches into the front pocket of his shirt and produces Turnip, who climbs into my hands eagerly. “What is it?”
“Come on.” He pushes past me into the house, and I’m glad that we aired it out before Mabel came by. Turnip chitters, rubbing her face against my cheek, but something about Declan’s demeanor has me on edge.
The guys are on the couch where they were giving Mabel and me some privacy, but nobody says anything as Declan grabs the remote and turns the TV on.
A news anchor immediately fills the screen, standing in front of…
“Oh shit.” My hand flies up to cover my mouth. She’s standing in front of the burned-down remains of Richard Pierce’s home.
“What the fuck?” Sam mutters, leaning forward.
The anchor’s voice echoes throughout the room.
“I am standing here in front of the remains of the home of—if you can believe this—Senator Richard Pierce. The home seems to have been burned-down for quite some time, so the question is: Why are we just now hearing about it? Well, as it turns out, ABO TV has an inside source that can tell us just that.”
“I thought you asked if we could hold off?” I frown, turning to West.
“He did.” Declan’s eyes don’t leave the screen. “I had a better idea.”
I open my mouth to retaliate, but then the news anchor keeps talking.
“In a shocking twist of events, this reporter has been hand-delivered evidence that connects Senator Pierce to the disappearance of at least fifty omegas over the last three years.” My heart drops into my stomach.
This is not what we talked about. “We have turned the information over to the FBI, who have assured us that they will be taking this investigation and treating it with the utmost importance. The whereabouts of Senator Pierce are currently unknown, though the authorities have recovered three bodies from an underground prison of sorts. Is he in hiding? Is his disappearance at all related to the sudden absence of Senator Erik Kinsley? Or has our previously beloved senator met an equally grave fate? Only time will tell. This is Kirsten Graves, six o’clock news. ”
The room is silent as Declan turns the TV off.
“What the fuck did you do, Dec?” I whip around to face my brother.
He gives me a ‘what the fuck’ look. “I put pressure on Xavier Bowen. We gave the authorities the information they need to start digging.”
“Xavier still has Adela!” My heart is racing with panic. I need to find a way to check on her. I need to make sure she’s okay.
My phone rings.
The phone that nobody but the members of this compound have the number to.
The caller ID reads “Unknown Number”.
There’s no logical explanation for it, but I know deep in my chest—it’s Xavier.
I stare at the phone.
It continues to ring.
Sam tries to take it from me, but I shake my head, taking a deep breath before hitting the “accept call” button.
“Hello?”
“You did a bad thing, Josephine Harding.” Xavier’s cold voice echoes in my ear.
“I can’t say I rightly know what you’re talkin’ about.” I try to keep my voice calm, but my hand starts to shake.
Kole motions for me to put it on speakerphone, so I do, setting it on the coffee table.
“I tried to be nice, but you couldn’t let that happen, could you?” He sighs. “I offered you a deal, and not only did you double-cross me, you actively chose to try to take me down.”
“Did you really think I was ever on your side? They’ll find out all about you.” I’m suddenly feeling very, very drained. “You’re gonna go down for all you’ve done.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Josephine.” He lets out a small laugh, making my skin crawl. “You don’t know how many men I have in the FBI that can squash any evidence before I become a blip on their radar. No, I’m not worried about me.”
“Then we’ll tell them about Thornfield.” My chin juts out. “You’re at the very top of that chain, and there’s no hidin’ that fact, Xavier.”
“It would be most unfortunate if you told anyone about what happens at Thornfield, considering its newest resident.”
My blood turns cold. “Newest resident?”
“I suppose she’s not really new, considering she had been inside for six months before being released. Unfortunately, it seems that dear Adela is having a hard time adjusting to life on the outside. My psychologists thought she might benefit from more time at Thornfield.”
I’m gonna throw up.
“You monster,” I grind out, my fists clenching tight. “How could you put your daughter-in-law and future grandchild back in that place?”
“I suppose she doesn’t have to go…if—”
“If we give you back Brooks,” I snarl. “That’s not happenin’.”
“Then she can blame you when she’s ripped to pieces by the psychopaths in The Cathedral.”
I stiffen.
Hayden grabs my hand, holding it tight.
The Cathedral.
She can’t go there.
She can’t.
“Where is she?” I choke out.
“Sitting with my son, blissfully unaware of the danger she’s in.”
“Vander will never let you send her back.”
He laughs. “Vander has no say over what I do. Nobody does. He is my son, and he will always obey me. So what will it be, hm? Will you hand over a scientist you have no use for? Or will you allow a pregnant teenager to be sent to an insane asylum? The choice is yours.”
I can’t let her be sent back to Thornfield. I can’t—it’s not an option.
So I lie my fucking ass off.
“Brooks is currently bein’ held in a remote location that will take at least a week to transport him from.” I ignore the “WTF” looks from my guys. “You will not send her to Thornfield.”
“I am not a patient man, Jo,” Xavier warns. “Where is he exactly?”
Forcing out a snort, I roll my eyes. “Yeah, like I’d tell you. You’d just try to find him yourself.”
There’s a pause. “Fair enough. One week. If you betray me again, Adela gets sent back to Thornfield. You know where to find me. If you’re late…I’m driving her back myself.”