Chapter 19 #2
Once everyone was settled, I took my place between Bea and Taryn and started the discussion. The book we were reading was a fantasy romance that had a pack of sexy knights. I was laughing so hard as the group compared them, that tears were rolling down my cheeks.
“Oh no, don’t discount Anders. He’s hiding muscles for days under those clothes. You can’t tell me that beta isn’t strong as heck after using that big ass sword,” Taylor argued, her arms swinging like she was the one wielding it.
“Maybe,” Steph agreed with a playful huff. “Doubt they compare to Daddy Valor’s, though. You know that magic is used for all the right reasons.”
Her smirk had us all losing it again, sparking a debate on the use of shadow magic during sex.
When we started this, I was nervous that these topics would be too much for our older readers.
We had a mix of omegas and betas in their twenties, right up to the seventies and eighties.
I cautioned them it might get spicy, but they only laughed and said they’d been reading smut longer than I’d been alive.
How could I argue with that?
I was shocked we’d dragged in a few male omegas, but in the end, especially today, I was grateful for their presence.
“Girl,” Jack said with a huff. “Don’t you discount the villain. I mean, we all know that Lord Drake would absolutely ruin an omega.”
“And smirk while doing it,” Miss Dolly agreed with a wicked grin.
“Amen, girl,” he cackled. “I’m all for the ‘I’ll burn the world for you’ type.”
The conversation went on for over an hour before sweet little Miss Dolly turned to me, her eyes dancing with mischief.
Okay, maybe not so sweet would fit better.
"I saw those beefcakes you left with yesterday," she started, taking a sip of her tea. "Spill it, Dani. I'd rather hear it from you than the town gossips and an assortment of articles online."
Shaking my head, I took a drink of my tea before answering, trying to think about how much to give away.
"Well, Dolly, they are my pack and they happen to play for my favorite baseball team, the Knuckleball Knockouts."
"Oh, I know them! Those boys are always shaking their asses in between plays,” Pearl said with a little happy sigh. “Benny always wonders why I’m suddenly ready to watch baseball.”
"That they are," I chuckled, hiding my annoyance. My omega was, apparently, the jealous type even when it was ridiculous.
"Are you going to get us tickets to the games?" a different member asked.
"I don't have those kinds of connections or I would," I admitted.
"Do we get to meet them?" Dolly continued the questioning. “You can bring them down to book club soon.”
"I don’t know, Dolly. Are you going to try and steal them from me?" I shot back, arching a brow at her.
"An old lady can try," she laughed, throwing me another one of her little smirks. This old lady was crazy in the best way.
"Speaking of men joining us. Do you have a new man coming to bookclub?" Sally asked. Something about the way she said it had me freezing.
"What? No," Taryn told her, just as confused and a little concerned. “Why?”
"Then who's that at the window?" she countered and pointed behind us. We spun around, the entire group looking at the man from my nightmares.
Henry was here.
My blood ran cold as his eyes bored into mine. There was a twisted glee on his face. Like he had already snapped and was loving making me scared.
"That's the asshole that cornered me," was all I could get out. My voice was shaky and I knew the blood had drained from my face. Dolly and Pearl jumped up faster than their age should allow, purses in hand, and ran out the door screaming about peeping toms.
Panic was already rushing through me, pulse thundering in my ears and vision darkening. The logical side of me knew they were chasing after Henry and I needed to protect them, but my feet wouldn't move.
Bea cursed and ran out after them but Taryn stayed by my side. She had her phone out, hissing something into it before giving my hand a squeeze.
"Are you okay?" my bestie asked. Even Taryn was shaken. Her hand just as clammy as mine, her voice wobbling with nerves.
“No, but we need to make sure Pearl and Dolly are okay,” I said in a weak voice as I forced myself to stand. She hooked her arm in mine as the rest of the group was rushing out the door behind them.
He’d messed with the wrong betas and omegas it seemed. Not one of these ladies was letting this go.
Was it reckless? Oh yeah.
But I couldn’t help but be a little touched. They were doing all this for me. How sweet was that?
Henry didn’t seem to think the same thing.
Dolly and Pearl had Henry cornered in a store alcove. They were swinging their purses, Henry’s curses and groans echoing out of the small space as they wailed on him.
When Dolly noticed that I was here, she gave him one last hit and smiled up at me, "We got this bastard. The sheriff will be here in a few minutes to deal with him."
"You two are my heros," I said as I watched him cower, trying to cover his face.
“I carry this bag for a reason. It’s the same reason I load the bottom with rocks. It keeps up my strength and comes in really handy sometimes.”
“At least she admitted that before the cops got here,” Taryn said under her breath.
Pearl hadn’t stopped whacking Henry, each thud loosening anxiety’s grasp a little more. I could intervene, or try to get them off of him, but I was enjoying this far too much to stop them. Plus, he wasn’t even trying to fight back.
Who knew old ladies packed such a punch?
Bea’s laughter burst out as Dolly swung around, using momentum to knock Henry down. He fell on his ass with another string of insults and curses.
“I think Miss Dolly and Miss Pearl have earned special prizes for tonight. What do you guys think?"
The rest of the group shouted their agreement, hovering on the edges, ready to intervene if they needed to. Before anything could escalate, the flicker of blue and red lights appeared.
"Ladies," Sheriff Greg said with a tip of his hat as he got out, eyes swinging around. "I hear there’s a disturbance. What seems to be the issue here?"
I moved to the side and he spotted Dolly still swinging her bag at Henry. The sheriff pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh before rushing forward.
"Grandma, please let go of this gentleman," he ordered, grabbing the older lady's arm that was cocked back for another whack of her purse.
"He’s a peeping tom and he’s getting what he deserves," she said, giving Henry one final smack before she let her grandson pull her back.
"Can one of you tell me what is going on?" he asked, turning to us but not letting go of the feisty old lady he was still holding back. “I can’t arrest this young man for just being here and looking into an open store’s windows.”
My heart slammed in my chest at the realization he’d just walk away. Stalking always went like this until it escalated to the point of no return.
“He shoved me!” Dolly yelled, almost frantic. “Pearl saw the whole thing.”
The second old lady nodded solemnly. “It was self-defense.”
"I’ll give you the whole story, Sheriff," Bea started, laying it out for him. "We were enjoying bookclub when this asshole was spotted watching us. Dolly and Pearl chased him down and kept him here until you arrived."
Diplomatic.
“He tried to assault Dani at the last practice of the Knuckleball Knockouts and was recently booted from the team,” Taryn tacked on, earning a menacing growl from Henry. “Wait… and is that blue paint on his shoes?”
Sheriff Gregg pulled out his flashlight and shined it right on Henry’s shoes. It wasn’t just there, but up one side of his pant leg as well.
The same color that was on the building.
“In that case, I need to bring you in,” the sheriff said as he started barking out orders to the other officer with him. “Cal, get this man in cuffs. We’re going to have a few questions for him. In fact, we need statements from all of you.”
“On it,” Cal promised, but the sheriff wasn’t done with his lecture, turning right back to Dolly.
"Grandma, what if he hurt you?" Greg asked her in a pained voice. “And you can’t go around hitting people!”
"I've lived a good life. I have to watch out for my friends and if it's my time to go, might as well go out like a hero," she argued, trying to whack Henry again as he was dragged past, jerking against the other officer’s hold.
"Just wait until I tell Dad about this. He's going to put you in a home," he said to her.
She laughed him off and waved over the deputy. "Can you deal with this scum, Greg, honey? I want to file a complaint with the deputy here. You can have my statement."
"Yes, ma'am, but I'll have to take him to get checked out. You and Pearl did a number on him," he told her and my eyes returned to Henry.
He was bloody and there were bruises already showing up on his face. I guess those rocks weren’t a joke.
I didn't feel sorry for him in the slightest but maybe I should add some into mine. Apparently, I wasn’t even safe with a group.
Fuck, the guys were going to freak out.