22. Luna
Luna
E verything is moving so quickly. I can’t seem to keep up. Hell, as hard as I try, I can’t even keep myself from shaking like a leaf.
“Holy shit, they’re here already?” Chase asks, checking his phone too. “What’re we going to do?”
“We cooperate with them,” Archer grunts, pressing a few buttons on his phone. “I opened the gate.”
“Seriously?” Chase says. “You’re just going to let them waltz in here and take Luna away?”
“The last thing we want is to actually get charged with something,” Madden says softly under his breath, his arms flexing around me. “This is already going to hurt the pack’s reputation, which’ll affect business, but we won’t be able to help Luna wherever she has to go if we’re in jail.”
All of their expressions are grim and resigned.
“Are—are you guys going to be in trouble?” I ask. I glance up at Madden specifically. From what I can tell, Southsiders aren’t treated as fairly by the rest of the Northside.
“You don’t have to worry about that, little one,” Kane says, stepping over and brushing some of my hair behind my ear. “Just focus on taking care of yourself until we can get back to you, okay?”
The way Kane talks about me being taken away from them, of being all alone again, so casually has my hands trembling all over again.
Someone pounds at the door and Archer lets out a deep sigh before walking over and opening it.
“Hello there, Chief Spielman,” Archer says, opening the door. “How can I help you.”
“Don’t ‘how can I help you,’ boy,” A large, burly alpha growls. “I’ve heard a report that you’ve kidnapped an unregistered Southside omega and are abusing her.”
“What? We’re not abusing her!” Chase yells. “And no one kidnapped her!”
Archer turns around and shoots Chase a glare. I guess his outburst isn’t that helpful, given the tense situation.
“So you do have an unregistered omega here,” The police chief huffs. “I’m disappointed in you all. This is a serious situation. I expect you’re going to be cooperative.”
“Yes,” Archer says, eyeing Chase again. “We’ll be cooperative.”
Chase just huffs, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.
Archer steps aside, letting half a dozen police officers into the house. The mix of their alpha scents and their angry expressions makes the sharp, acrid notes of my fear obvious in my perfume.
My brain fixates on the dirt their big boots are tracking into the beautiful foyer. It’s getting all dirty.
I don’t miss the moment the Chief sees me and my split lip. His eyes narrow on Madden, whose arms are still around me. “Step away from the omega,” The chief orders, his hand moving to his gun as if he’s prepared for Madden to start a rampage.
Madden sighs, moving his arms to his sides and stepping away from me slowly.
“This is evidence enough for an arrest,” Chief Spielman says, turning to Archer. “I’m arresting all of you, unless the one that did that to her wants to step forward, then we can maybe consider being lenient, considering how grateful the police force is to some of your parents.”
I hate how the Chief’s eyes dart back to Madden when he asks for the one who did this to me to step forward, as if he’s already made up his mind that this is all Madden’s fault.
“What the fuck!?” Chase yells. “You’re kidding me, this is enough evidence for an arrest? You haven’t even asked any of us what the fuck happened!”
“This omega is injured. It looks like with recent and old wounds. She’s also obviously terrified,” the chief grunts. “I’d say that’s evidence enough.”
“We didn’t do anything,” Archer growls. “So if you’re actually serious about making arrests, you’re going to have to arrest all of us.”
“Fine, have it your way. I was trying to be nice.” The chief nods and his officers start moving towards my guys.
I’m paralyzed. My feet are rooted to the floor.
Part of my brain must think that if I don’t move, there’s no way any of the alphas here can see me.
That part of my brain is stupid.
“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have a right to an attorney,” One of the officers says.
“You can shut the fuck up,” Chase mutters under his breath.
The officer moving towards him doesn’t seem to like Chase’s show of attitude, because he’s much more rough than he needs to be when he wrenches Chase’s arms behind his back. I see the flash of handcuffs.
“No! Stop! Please!” I say, running forward towards Chief Spielman.
I have no clue what I’m doing. Moving towards what my body thinks is a dangerous alpha goes against every single defense and protection mechanism I have, but I’m doing it.
I don’t know what I think I can do to stop what’s happening, but I have to at least try to protect the guys. They’ve done so much for me. I can’t let them get in trouble for it.
“Please—please don’t arrest them!”
“It’s okay, you’re going to be safe,” Chief Spielman says absent-mindedly, not even really looking at me.
“No, you’re not listening to me. They didn’t do anything wrong!” I insist, my hands clenching the fabric of my skirt.
“You’re unregistered. Plus, look at you. You don’t need to lie for them.”
“I’m not lying! They didn’t do any of this to me! They saved me!”
It feels like I’m talking to a brick wall. I feel the burn of tears behind my eyes. They’re not listening to me.
Madden glances back at me over his shoulder as two of the officers wrestle him into handcuffs. His expression is pained, as if he wants to help me, but doesn’t know how.
“That cut looks awful recent for nothing to have happened with them.”
They start dragging my guys towards the front door and it feels like the floor is crumbling out from under me.
“Your daughter was the one who did this to me!” I practically scream, tears streaming down my face.
My gaze is glued to the floor. I can’t face any of them right now.
“Archer let Brandy into the house and the moment she saw me she started screaming about me being a Southside whore. She slapped me after I told her not to insult Madden. I—I slapped her back.”
I take in a shaky breath, my gaze still glued to the cold marble floor beneath my feet. If I stop, I don’t think I’ll be able to start again.
“The—The Ward pack didn’t kidnap me. You can’t arrest them because they saved me after they found me in one of their train cars.
They—” My voice cracks, my chest spasming with building sobs, but I push forward.
“They saved me from my parents, who’ve sold me and my heat to betas ever since I presented as an omega.
They were going to sell me to a horrible alpha when I decided to run away. All my injuries are from them.”
I finally lift my gaze to meet the Chief’s, whose eyes are wide with shock. I guess Brandy must’ve told him a different story, trying to paint my guys as the bad guys here.
“You can’t arrest them because you’d be arresting the wrong people.
They did nothing but take me in, feed me, clothe me, and get me medical treatment.
They wanted to wait to get me registered until I felt comfortable around other alphas.
I’m terrified right now because of all of you, not because of them. ”
The part about waiting to register me is a bit of a lie, I didn’t know registration was this big of a deal, but the police don’t have to know about that.
I stand there, shaking and trembling in fear, but still standing.
Then what I said hits me like a truck. They know. They all know. Archer, Kane, Chase, and Madden. All of them are practically shaking with rage.
“Hey Chief,” One of the police officers says.
He’s not escorting any of my guys, which I guess means he was assigned to escort me.
“I think we should look into what she’s saying.
That makes a lot more sense than the Ward pack secretly hiding an unregistered omega, especially with the connections they have to the center. ”
He glances down at me, flashing me a small smile. His bright blue eyes are kind. Kinder than any of the other police officers here.
“Fine, don’t arrest them,” The chief sighs, waving his hand.
“I’ll have to talk to my daughter about this.
” He scrubs a hand down his face in exasperation before turning to me.
“If what you’re saying is true, we’ll have to take you to our station for some interviews before we take you to be registered. ”
My head falls in resignation. They’re taking me away. I knew this would probably happen, but my chest still squeezes so hard it’s hard to breathe.
At least now, the guys will be safe. Hopefully, they’re not going to get in trouble for helping me.
I hear the click of handcuffs coming off like I’m underwater.
“You can call me Officer Stone,” The police officer by my side says, his voice soft as if he doesn’t want to spook me. It seems out of place, considering how his shoulders are almost like boulders under the many layers of his police uniform. “What’s your name?”
“Luna,” I say.
“Alright, Luna. Could you come with me? I’m going to drive you to the station, how does that sound?”
It sounds like I have no choice. I slide on the pair of sneakers Chase put on the shoe stand by the door for me the other day, stand straight, and take a deep breath.
Officer Stone extends his arm out, gesturing outside towards where I can see what I assume to be his squad car. The cold air makes goosebumps rise on my arms. I’m not wearing proper clothing for this weather, but it doesn’t seem like any of them care.
I glance over my shoulder and do my best to give the pack a look of reassurance. I don’t think it’s as convincing as I would like it to be.
“Thank you for everything. I—I’ll be okay.”
I’m lying. Straight through my teeth. I don’t know if I’ll be okay. I have no idea what’s going to happen. All I know is I’m being forced to leave the warm safety of their pack house, the first place that I ever thought of as home.
I follow Officer Stone’s direction and step out into the cold.