21. Archer
Archer
“ L et go of me!” Brandy screams as I slam the front door shut behind us.
“Gladly,” I mutter under my breath.
I drop her like her skin is poisonous and she stumbles into one of the columns by our door.
The last person I expected to see at our home today was Brandy.
If I hadn’t been expecting someone over for some maintenance work, I would’ve never opened the door.
I’m going to have to figure out which one of the security guards was manning the front gate because they’re gone the moment I find out who they are.
I have no clue what’s given her the delusion that I’m at all interested in making her the pack’s omega, but the reality is that she’s here, screaming at the top of her lungs.
My hands are clenched into fists by my sides. I’m afraid that if I don’t keep myself in check, I’m going to do something stupid. My blood is still on fire and it feels like it’s going to explode from my veins.
Seeing Luna stumble after being slapped across the face nearly had me lose control. I don’t know what I would’ve done had Luna not taken charge in that moment.
There was just something about the way that she handled the aftermath of the blow… like she was familiar with the pain of being hit that tears me up inside.
I don’t think I’ve fully processed the fact that the tiny omega who appeared half-frozen a few days ago stood up for herself, stood up for our pack, and raised her hand against someone else.
She’s made so much progress from when I first met her.
“What in the world is going on?” Brandy cries, raising a hand to her cheek, her eyes filling with tears. “How could you just let her hit me.”
Her waterworks would probably be convincing to anyone else, but I’m at the end of my rope.
“You were the one who started it,” I grunt, crossing my arms across my chest. “I was always taught never to hit someone unless you’re prepared to get hit back.”
“But—But?—”
“Get off my property, Brandy. Nothing is going to ever happen between us. Ever. There’s no chance of me tearing apart my pack to include someone like you.”
She blinks away her tears, fury instantly replacing her “pity-me” act. She walks backward towards her car, biting her lip as if she’s in thought. She slides out her phone from her back pocket, narrowing her eyes at me.
“You’re going to regret that,” She hisses. “I swear, I’m going to call my father and report you all.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” I growl, taking a step toward her and reaching for her phone.
“I totally would.” She stumbles backward, wrenching open her car door, her phone ringing. “Daddy!” She cries when the call goes through.
I don’t hear the rest of what she says, because she slams her car shut and peels out of our driveway .
I scrub a hand down my face, digging my palms into my eyes.
This is bad.
Her father is the chief of police here, and a call about an unregistered omega is going to be taken seriously, especially with whatever twist Brandy is surely going to add.
God, I should’ve taken Brandy’s threats more seriously.
I guess if I’m being completely honest, I never took any of what she said completely seriously.
Fuck me. Shit is going to hit the fan.
I can feel my pulse in my temple as I walk back into the house. Everyone goes silent when they see the look on my face.
“Uh oh,” Chase mutters under his breath.
“I have some bad fucking news,” I growl. “Brandy was serious about calling the police.”
Luna’s minty perfume grows sharp with her fear. Her lip is busted open from Brandy’s backhand and an involuntary growl leaves my chest.
I stalk forward, ignoring the way Madden tenses behind her. It’s not like I’m going to hurt her. I’d rip off my own arm before doing that.
I reach out, gently ghosting my thumb across her bottom lip. She tries to hide it, but I notice the way the corner of her deep blue eyes crinkle with pain.
“I’m so sorry, I never should’ve let her into the fucking house.” If only I had kept her outside and sent her on her way, they never would’ve met and Brandy wouldn’t have ever made that stupid call.
“Am—Am I going to be taken away?” She whispers, reaching out and grabbing onto the belt loop of my slacks in such a vulnerable way it has my breath catching in my throat.
Her face falls when I don’t immediately tell her no.
“Fuck!” Kane roars, to everyone’s surprise. His normal cool, calm, and collected demeanor has flown right out the window. “We thought we’d have more fucking time!”
“More—more time for what?” Luna asks, her terror obvious in the set of her shoulders. All the progress she’d potentially made in standing up for herself to Brandy is also gone. She’s the closest to the trembling shell of an omega we first found than she’s been since she started staying with us.
Everything is falling apart.
“More time to register you,” I add when everyone else seems to be at a loss for words. “All omegas have to be registered with the Omega Center when they present. Your parents never registered you, so you’re unregistered.”
“Is—is that bad?”
“It means they’re going to take you to be registered,” I sigh. “All omegas need to be registered so that it’s fair for packs to find omegas.”
She grips onto Madden’s forearm, her knuckles growing white with how hard she’s holding onto him. “They’re going to take me away?”
“Yes.” There’s no point in sugarcoating anything. The truth is the only way she’ll be prepared.
“Will they try and make me see other packs?” She whispers.
“I don’t know,” I growl, my hands fisting by my side. I’ve never heard of a case like Luna’s, so I have no clue what will be done, especially since the police are involved now.
“But—But what if I don’t want to be taken away from you? What if I want to stay with you?”
“We’re gonna fight for you,” Chase promises, taking a step towards her. “Like hell are we going to just let you go.”
Her eyes fill with tears and I feel like my heart is being ripped out of my chest.
“I—I’m sorry for—for the trouble I’ve caused your pack,” she whispers as her head falls to her chest.
“No.” I stop myself from pushing Madden away from her so I can be the one to wrap my arms around her. He can support her better than I can. I’ve never been good at comfort or emotions. I’m the problem-solver of the pack. Always have been, always will be. “You have nothing to apologize for.”
She looks up at me through tear-filled lashes. “But?—”
“No buts. We were the ones who took you in. If it came down to it, you didn’t really have a choice around coming with us,” I laugh bitterly. “We’re the ones at fault and we’ll take responsibility for it.”
Kane’s expression is grim. “Do you think they’re going to press charges?” He asks.
“I wouldn’t put it past the Chief. We all know how Brandy can be. I wouldn’t put it past her to spin some sob story,” Chase says, rolling his eyes.
“I should’ve sent her on her fucking way the first time she approached me,” I groan, scrubbing my hand down my face.
“How—how do you know her?” Luna asks, her voice still shaky.
“She’s an omega that runs in the same circles as us,” I grunt. “It’s a relatively small community, easy to know nearly everyone.”
“Especially if they’re like a fucking fly and won’t leave you alone,” Madden grumbles under his breath, his expression still dark.
Luna looks over her shoulder and up into his eyes. “You don’t like her?”
“Fuck no,” Madden scoffs. “None of us fucking do. But why would I like someone who thinks I’m less than the dirt under her shoe?”
Luna’s nose wrinkles. “She did seem like a bitch,” she says.
Hearing Luna swear has my lips twitching into a smile. God, she’s made so much progress from the sobbing, terrified omega on Madden’s bedroom floor. If only this bullshit situation weren’t so fucked up. My fists clench at my sides.
Why did things have to go so wrong?
“Why would she hate you just because of where you were born?” Luna asks .
Madden’s smile is forced. “Not all omegas are as nice as you.”
“Now do you get why the four of us are so crazy about you?” Chase jokes. “It’s 'cause you’re the closest thing to not-crazy we’ve seen.”
His attempt at lightening the mood doesn’t seem to have its intended effect, considering Luna’s stress is still obvious in every single line in her body.
“What—what does registration mean?” Luna asks softly. “Especially—Especially for an omega like me.”
I hate Brandy even more for making Luna think that her status as Southside omega is any less than anyone from the Northside. She doesn’t deserve to feel that way, regardless of what the rest of this stupid society thinks.
“Registration is the process of the Omega Center keeping you in their records. They’re in charge of organizing meetings between unbonded omegas and eligible packs,” Kane explains. He winces. “The right thing to do would’ve been to bring you there right when we found you, but we didn’t.”
“We need to figure out a plan,” Madden says. “I don’t know how much time we have?—”
He’s interrupted by all of our phones buzzing. I tug mine out of my pocket and glance at the notification on the screen. When I check the cameras a the front gate, there are four police squad cars with their lights flashing and their sirens on.
“Fuck. We’re out of time.”