Chapter 10 #2
After dinner, Foster and Hannah shoo me out of the kitchen. Leaving the two of them to put away the rest of the groceries, I tap Kaitlin on the shoulder and nod toward the living room. “I got you some presents. Would you like to open them?”
Starry hazel eyes blink up at me for several long seconds before the biggest grin spreads over her cheeks. “Yes! Please! I loves presents! But it’s not my birthday?”
Shrugging, I take her tiny hand in mine and lead her to the couch. “These are just-because presents, not special-occasion presents.”
I don’t think she understands my explanation, but she bobs her head in agreement.
The thought of gifts must be more important than the reason behind them.
When she’s settled on a cushion, I grab the bags from beside the couch and hand them to her one at a time.
She oohs and ahhs over every box before she gently sets them aside.
She takes such great care of all her toys. It’s adorable.
“Whoa, what are they?” She holds out one box of magnetic tiles, studying the other with a tilted head. I open the first box and show her what it does. The rest is forgotten as she pieces the tiles together on the coffee table.
Halfway through what looks like a castle, she turns and flings herself against my side, hugging me tight. “Thank you! They’s the best presents ever!”
Our paths may have taken us down long, lonesome roads before allowing us to meet, but having these three in my life… It’s everything an Alpha could dream of.
Hannah and Foster join us a few minutes later, whispering their own appreciation for the things I grabbed for them. I offer smiles in return. Taking care of them makes my inner Alpha happy, so it’s something I am glad to do.
“Oh!” Hannah exclaims from the side of the couch a short while later.
Her hand presses against the side of her stomach, and the softest smile stretches across her lips.
The dreamy, loving look in her eyes makes me want to kiss her senseless, but I hold myself back.
She suddenly turns to Foster and grabs his hand, placing it under hers.
“Is that?” The wonder in his voice matches the awe in our bond.
A hint of jealousy tries to surface in my heart, but the feeling fades when Hannah reaches out to me.
I place my palm next to my Omega’s and wrap my pinky with his.
Seconds pass before I feel it. The soft thump of tiny limbs hitting the side of Hannah’s belly.
“He’s kicking,” she tells us, teary eyes trained on where we touch her. The intimacy of this moment strikes us all, piercing deeply into the connection between us and strengthening it.
Clearing my throat, I put a little pressure on the spot, enough to get him to respond. “So strong. Just like his mother.”
“The strongest,” Foster agrees. He shifts his body so he can lean his head on Hannah’s shoulder. I can’t wait until this becomes our norm. Cuddles, laughing children, and so much love we won’t know what to do with it all.
Something has us all unsettled today. A vibe in the air that wasn’t there a few days ago.
I’ve been checking the camera feeds obsessively, expecting someone to have found us.
Maybe I should have let Hannah stretch our supplies and not gone into town two days ago.
It’s like we’ve all been waiting for an attack ever since.
The quiet ends when an alert chimes from the panic room. Glass shatters, and Foster swears. Rushing to their sides, I carefully lift Hannah over the broken pieces. Her jaw is slack as I set her on her feet. “You-I-How?”
Throwing her a wink, I help Foster get the mess cleaned up and dumped into the trash, and then I head down the hall.
The steady beat of my heart doesn’t match the anxiety crawling across my skin as I open the desk drawer and find the emergency phone hidden inside.
A message flashes on the screen from a number I don’t recognize.
Not that the latter is uncommon; DAU agents all use burner phones when contacting agents undercover or at safe houses.
Grant Montgomery has been arrested.
I’ll call you with more information this evening.
(link) Watch with caution, and make sure Hannah is prepared for what she will see.
My stomach churns as I hover a finger over the link. What hell awaits on the other side?
After a deep breath, I open it. And immediately wish I didn’t. There is no way I can let my Beta see this. Not when she’s already so stressed.
“Shepherd?”
Shit! I fumble the flip phone closed and turn to the door. Hannah hovers in the hallway, a worried expression on her gorgeous face. “I…”
“Whatever it is, I want to know. Please don’t keep things from me.”
The resilience she has shown is what breaks me. I cannot hide this video from her. Not without undoing the fragile trust we’ve been building between us.
“Donovan messaged. Your father has been arrested.”
A weight falls from her shoulders. I watch as her legs go weak, and she crumbles, catching herself on the door frame.
My knees hit the floor in front of her, arms encompassing her shaking body as she cries.
The sound is soft and full of relief. What this woman has endured…
it enrages me to no end to even think of the scars she bears.
To collapse, hearing she is finally free from that awful man’s wrath, speaks more than words ever could.
When her tears slow, she sits back, stretching her legs and rubbing her hip.
I jump up, pulling her to her feet and into the living room where she can rest comfortably on the couch.
“Thanks; sitting on the floor wasn’t a great idea.
” A watery laugh slips through her lips, drawing Foster’s attention from where he is building with the magnetic blocks I picked up for Kaitlin. “How… what allowed them to step in?”
I don’t respond until she is settled and has a bottle of water in her hands. Her health and comfort come first. Am I stalling? Absolutely. My stomach is still sick from the brief seconds of the video I watched, so how is she going to handle sitting through it all?
“Shep?”
Perched on the edge of the coffee table, I run a hand through my hair and sigh.
“Omen allowed herself to be captured and faced off with your father. She wore a body cam so the tech team at the FCDA could livestream the encounter. The things he admitted were enough for the FCDA to get a warrant for his arrest.”
Hannah makes a choked sound, hand flying to her mouth. “Omen, she… why would she endanger herself like that?”
Meeting Foster’s furious gaze across the room, I swallow thickly. We both know why. Pack fucking Graves. If Omen doesn’t survive their rejection… those assholes had better stay far away from my pack. I may not be comfortable taking their lives, but there are plenty of other ways I can ruin them.
“Based on what I saw of Omen in the video…” I trail off, not wanting to tell her.
“I want to watch it.”
The shake in her voice and the tears trailing down her cheeks gut me. I want nothing more than to pull her into my arms and purr her worries away, but no amount of comfort from me will help her through this. “Are you certain? Donovan told me to warn you against watching.”