14. Crow
Chapter fourteen
Crow
The man at the bar isn’t our normal clientele, and he’s watching Hunter in a way that is raising all my killer instincts. I want to take him out the back and beat his head in for the glare he’s leveling my pack mate.
Since she left, I haven’t been able to shake this fury that’s been sitting on my chest. Did I expect her to stay? Yes, I kinda thought she would stay. Take the crumbs that we offered her, like the low-lifes we are. She would be thankful for them. She would come around to the idea, and we could be friends. Obviously, she’d find a job, get a home, and live happily ever after. I’m not generous enough to hope she finds someone else. No, I’m the selfish bastard that hopes she pines for us forever.
I lean against the bar and turn to the man, glaring at him until he turns and meets my gaze.
I’m struck dumb. Oh, crap, I know those eyes. I stand up straight, but my head is spinning.
“Hi, are you the asshole who broke my daughter’s heart?” His voice is so friendly that I almost miss the question.
Hunter drops a glass. All I can do is stare at him until more of them show up. The woman peers up at me, narrowing her eyes.
“You made her cry. Now, if you want her, you’re going to have to prove you’re worthy.”
I open and close my mouth, wanting nothing more than to turn tail and run because I don’t do parents. Not mine, not someone else’s.
He, her dad, smiles at me with eyes that glitter with malice. “You made my girl cry.”
“It wasn’t intentional, Alpha. She deserves better than us,” I manage to rasp out. The lie is as clear to me as it is to them.
“Well, we can agree on that. Still, she says you’re scent matches.” He turns and pins Hunter with a glare. “I want to meet the other one.”
I pull out my phone, almost fumbling it, in an effort to send Saint an SOS. He comes out from the back, completely calm and unruffled. I’m jealous of how at ease he is.
Alpha Raines sits up straight, but he doesn’t stand. He just turns on the stool and watches.
Saint holds out his hand. “I’m Kellar Saint of Pack Crow. This is Oli Crow, and our third is Dale Hunter. He works behind the bar. Let’s all go back to where we can talk.”
The alpha with the stetson and Bethany’s eyes exchanges a look with the handsome blond man with blue-green eyes. “No, I think we’ve seen enough.”
Saint narrows his eyes, his lips twisting unhappily. “What does that mean?”
“You’re capable, financially stable, intelligent. Which means just one thing.”
“What’s that, Alpha?” Saint says the title as a barely concealed insult.
“My name is Wayne. This is Charles, Sol, and Auggie. We are Bethany's parents, and I’m glad we’re all on the same page. That one thing, it’s the most important part.” Wayne glares at Saint, but then flicks his gaze to me, then Hunter. “You don’t deserve my baby girl.”
With that, the alphas from Pack Raines stand up and walk away from the bar with their betas. I make a sound of protest, but it’s swallowed up by the thumping bass in the club.
Saint glares at them, and then turns and sags against the bar.
“I didn’t think it would be this hard,” he says and covers his eyes with his huge hand.
I agree. I didn’t know, either. It feels like I’m missing something vital. Like the happiness and excitement that was in my life went with her. I can’t put a finger on exactly what’s wrong, but everything is slightly off. No, more than slightly. I feel sick without symptoms, lost when I know where I am, hopeless when I have everything I want.
Six days. That’s all it had been. That’s not enough time to get to know someone. My rational brain screams logic at me. But I need to touch her. I need to smell her scent; I need to lay my hands on her and feel her breathing. It’s all-encompassing. This need.
But it had only been six days. Not even a week. She could have so many things about her that clash. She might be disloyal or corrupt, she might hurt animals or children. It’d only been six days.
I don’t know which side of me is going to win, the side that wants her, yearns for her or the scarred side of me that is screaming protests of caution.
Saint grabs my chin and presses his lips to my ear. “Breathe, Crow. Nothing is going to happen. We will keep you safe.”
Memories slam into my head, my cries dulled by the throbbing of my heart in my ears as hunger and pain try to drag me into a black oblivion. Older kids surrounding me, hitting me until I can’t move. Those times were few. Most of the time, it was hunger and being cold and alone. Being scared. I don’t like to be alone anymore, and I dislike admitting it.
But since she’s been gone, it feels like I’m alone again. Like something terrible is waiting for us just on the other side.
I jerk so hard I bite my tongue and curse, throwing Saint’s hands off me.
“Stop! Just don’t. I don’t deserve to feel better.”
“Get your head out of those thoughts! You aren’t back there. We have everything we ever dreamed. It’s going to be fine. We have to get through tonight, do the job, get the money, so we’re safe. That’s our pack priority,” Saint says the same thing I’ve heard thousands of times, our goals, our plan.
I squeeze my eyes closed because that saying that we keep repeating of ‘it’s going to be fine’ is getting harder and harder to believe.
“Stop it!” Hunter growls at Saint. “It’s too late now. They are gone, and we have a job to do. Bethany is gone. It’s too late.”
“Is it?” I wonder.
Saint gives me a disgusted look and stalks away. I watch him leave and look back at Hunter. His smile is forced, and he’s struggling, I can tell.
It’s been four more days. Every night, the Raines pack comes in for two hours. They don’t order anything but cokes, and they watch us intently. I’m not sure what they’re looking for, but Saint is almost apoplectic with rage. He trembles as he politely stands guard, watching them.
The stress of them being here is wearing us down. I’m running out of energy to fight the chasm that is my broken self.
On the fifth night, we don’t open, but even at home, we go our separate ways, and I find myself sitting on the floor of the nest that we took apart and remembering everything that happened.
The house has never been more silent, and I’m not sure if any of us went to bed. I certainly didn’t.
So, going to the bar on the sixth night was almost a relief. At least there would be a buffer between us. Only, halfway through the night, something intrinsic pulls at me, leaving me dizzy and elated.
And she walks in.
She’s in ripped skinny jeans, knee-high boots, and an off the shoulder white top that drapes itself against her body like water.
I clutch at the bar, finding it hard to breathe. Her white hair is a mane, and her eyes are smokey and determined. When she meets my eyes, she does it for only a second, but I swear, that second sears away any thoughts of self-control.
Her father walks in just behind her, along with the big golden-haired man. I know him now. He’s Charles Raines, the brother of the famous Raines pop princesses. He abandoned his family and his father’s label for love, for this pack.
Saint and Hunter are by my side in a blink of an eye, staring at her like it’s the first time all over again.
She cocks her head up in challenge, and her eyes glint the closer she gets. She looks like an amazon riding to war.
“Hello, Pack Crow.”
I clear my throat, but I have no words.
“You look like you’re doing all right now,” Saint says softly. “I’m glad.”
Her eyes soften a little bit, and she turns to Hunter, who lets out an explosive breath and puts his hand over his face like he can’t bear to look at her.
She smirks knowingly.
“So, can we help you?”
“Yes,” she says, dragging out the syllable with a smile that makes my stomach knot. “I’m here about the job you gave me.”
Saint starts to protest, but she simply shrugs.
“It’s okay if you don’t want to follow through. I understand.”
“Give her the job,” Hunter mutters. “This shit show is going to end one way. May as well just go along with it.”
I whip my head towards him, but he’s already walked off, returning to his spot behind the bar.
“Why?” Saint asks.
She tilts her head and looks him in the eyes. “Because you belong to me, and I’m not going to let you get rid of me that easily. And because you gave it to me. It’s mine.”
“You took my car.”
Wayne throws Saint the keys. “Washed and serviced and sitting out the front.”
Saint glares at the keys in his hand. He’s got no argument left.
“Are you sure about this, Bethany? You know what you're getting into. It could all go so wrong.”
“Scent matches are unique. And rare. But rejecting a scent match means that you’re very unlikely to find happiness with anyone else,” Auggie says from beside me.
I jerk my head to her as the horror of that statement sinks in. “Really?” I whisper.
She nods her head. “Once one makes an informal bond, an emotional connection with one’s scent matches, it’s almost impossible to move on.”
I tear my eyes from hers to stare at Bethany. Did we do that to her? Condemn her to a life of mediocrity? Loneliness. At least I have the pack. What does she have?
I shift my weight and look at Saint. “Give her the job.”
Saint’s eyes bore into mine. I can hear his thoughts as if he’s talking to me out loud. Are you sure you want to do this? We might not be able to come out of it unscathed?
I respond with a shrug. We’re already damaged. We can handle whatever storms come our way, but let’s not hurt her more than we have.
Bethany follows Saint, while everyone but Wayne disappears. The alpha steps up to the bar beside me.
“I made a very big error. I thought that I was doing the right thing, helping some people I love have the future I envisioned for them. Sometimes it’s harder to say no to someone you love, and sometimes it’s just fear talking.”
“I barely know her,” I murmur, but my eyes track her movements behind the bar.
“And I knew her better than anyone. Thing about my daughter is she walks a path that she creates. She doesn’t need me deciding her future or you protecting her from things you think might be bad for her.” He lifts a drink that Hunter puts on the bar for him. “Unless, of course, this isn’t about her and is about you, in which case, I guess I just have to wish you the best in learning to live with the pain you’re causing.”
I stare at him as he finishes his drink.
“Good drink. We’ll be here for a while, and then we’re heading home. But I’ve been where you are. When my alpha called my name, I ran the other way.”
“So, you get it?” I say, feeling justified.
“I was an idiot, and my advice to you, Oli, is quite simple. The alpha my daughter loves is in there. Bring him out and make sure you make her know how special she is when you decide to stop running. She’s decided I’d find her a new pack in a heartbeat, but she is stuck on you.”
“What if we can’t stop running?”
Wayne laughs. “Oh, son, you have no chance in hell. Not against her. The Raines women have decided to help their own. Ryn is in town, Lia is involved, and Auggie is having fun. No one is going to help you. And not a single alpha, beta, or omega connected to our family will save you. Give in gracefully. It will make things easier for you.”
I gape at him, unable to find any words to say. When I turn around, Bethany is right there. Only the bar separates us. Her eyes flick down my chest and back up to my hair.
“You look good tonight, Crow.”
My mouth is dry, and a million stupid thoughts go through my head, but still, nothing comes out.
She winks at me, turns, and goes to pour a beer for an alpha at the other end of the bar.
In the mirror, I see Hunter watching me watch her, and I can’t help but think that he’s already decided one way or another.
I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I know one thing. It’s so good to see her.
I don’t want her to disappear.