Chapter 37
The Alpha who spoke too familiarly with Briar rolled on the floor. Sinclair slammed his foot into the guard’s face. He could handle it. I whirled, searching for Briar’s bitter gaze, but there was no sign of her. I lunged toward the closing door.
It snicked shut before I could reach it, and it refused to open. I slapped my palm on the metal surface.
Dark circles had marred the skin below her eyes. They only seemed to be worsening. I couldn’t stand the pain on her face. It caused a visceral agony in me.
“—isn’t what we agreed to,” Bill accused, smoothing his hand down the front of his suit jacket.
“She wasn’t supposed to be in here this long.” Aggression rippled under Kyan’s skin. A tangible anger I’d never felt from him spilled through our Pack bond.
“I made sure she’s been getting certain privileges.”
“Fucking one of your guards wasn’t the privileges we asked for,” Kyan hissed.
Bill lifted his hands. “I had nothing to do with that, but attacking my guards? Fucking claiming the Omega?” he growled. “All under my watch.” He kept shaking his head. They continued back and forth.
I huffed a breath out, watching the chaos with detachment. Completing the bond to her had soothed that gaping ache a little.
If only it had stifled it completely. Kyan’s agitation escalated.
“Bugger off,” Sinclair snarled at the young Alpha, struggling to brace himself against the wall.
This couldn’t continue. Our lack of control and thought wouldn’t get Briar freed, and she was still at the mercy of the men in this room. I ground my teeth, battling with the urge to slam my boot into the door she was behind.
“Let’s go.”
Kyan and Sinclair must have heard something in my voice because they turned toward me immediately.
Sinclair stopped struggling against the other two guards who had come to defend the young Alpha.
He jerked his head down once and shoved free of their grips.
I turned to Kyan as I strode toward the exit.
“We’ll have her bail approved by end-of-business hours.” A quiet fell over me. A familiar one I hadn’t felt since she’d come into my life with the force of a storm. I latched onto my determination to free her.
I rolled my shoulders and looked at Bill. “She remains untouched.” The threat in my voice was clear, but I didn’t stay to take in anyone else’s reaction.
We were cutting off a lot of connections, but who the fuck cared?
We had a meeting with Corbin Jonas, the judge who’d sign her paperwork, tomorrow morning, but we couldn’t wait that long.
The impersonal hallways seemed to stretch even further. What a fucking mess.
This wasn’t what I had foreseen when I first broke into that Omega’s apartment. To be fair, I’d never believed I would see her again. But just as I had anticipated, she brought chaos with her.
She brought with her emotions.
Needs.
Wants.
But worse? I wanted to fulfill everything she desired. I rolled my shoulders again. The discomfort in my chest grew, and with the distance, the warmth she’d infected me with left a hollow pit in my gut.
It didn’t take long to get through the jail’s parking lot. Since it was a few hours past midnight, it was still dark out.
We sat in the car, silent.
“She didn’t really fuck him.” Kyan’s voice wilted toward the second half.
I closed my eyes.
Her determined expression, riddled with anger, flashed through my memory. She’d looked distraught as she spat the words at us.
A flare of doubt speared through the soured sensation in my stomach. Even if she had fucked someone, she was still ours. If it were true, it changed nothing.
She smelled of another Alpha.
A hot poker had taken up residence in my throat.
I’d rather live in denial because it wasn’t something I could face right now.
“No, she didn’t,” I agreed.
I leaned forward, dragging my fingers through my hair, hard enough to rip strands out.
I turned the key.
“Slow the fuck down,” Kyan hissed. “Before someone calls the police. You know how these neighborhoods tend to be.”
I ignored Kyan and careened down the street of ostentatious houses.
“Phantom came through, I have the floor plans,” Sinclair shouted, holding his phone up. We were going in without a plan. It was rash, but I couldn’t leave Briar in there a single day longer now that we had the information we needed about the judge.
Sinclair rattled off the locations of the different rooms in the Corbin Jonas’ house .
. . the judge we were waiting on to sign over the documents that would release Briar.
I rolled past a gate and leaned forward, searching the numbers on the large two-story homes.
There it is. I rolled up against the curb and parked the van, leaving the keys in place.
“At least hide your face.” Kyan grabbed my shoulder, jerking me to a stop.
I approached him until my chest hit his, our noses almost level. “Fuck. Off.”
“I’m not opposed to this. Let’s do it well.”
He was still mid-sentence, and I was already walking away. I headed directly to the front door and turned the doorknob. It didn’t give.
I stepped back, and Sinclair took my spot, crouching.
He slid two slim picks into the lock and turned his head to listen.
It didn’t take him long to get it open, and as soon as it swung free of the latch, I moved, not bothering to wait for either of them.
We reached a rhythm. Kyan was rarely with us when we partook in illegal shit, so I didn’t blame his reservations, but whatever came up, we would handle it.
Our combined steps echoed in the cavernous foyer. The lights were turned off ahead, but as I walked deeper into the house, I reached the staircase.
He was probably in bed. I ascended to the second floor. According to the plans, the master bedroom was upstairs. On the landing, I started shoving doors open. The third door was the one I was looking for.
I slammed the door open, and it rattled from the force. Jonas burst upright. Sinclair shone a light on the judge’s face. The woman on the bed jumped off it, screaming. I didn’t pay her any attention. She lunged for the cell phone she’d dropped, but Sinclair stepped on it, making her whimper.
“Into the bathroom,” he ordered. Sinclair and Kyan would take care of shutting her up. I would handle this bastard.
“Wh-what do you want?” he croaked. “I don’t have anything of worth here—” I grabbed the front of his shirt.
“Shut the fuck up.” I shook him, and his teeth clicked together from the force.
“And listen closely. Breaking into your place is the least I can do. That Omega stripper at The Bordello a few months ago doesn’t look like that little Beta you’ve got in there,” I murmured, keeping my voice nice and low. His eyes widened in fear.
“You—you—”
“I—I,” I mocked, and my lips stretched into a smile I couldn’t feel. “Get those fucking papers signed to have her released.” I leaned closer. “And keep your mouth shut about tonight.”
I shoved him back onto the bed. The Alpha stayed close, his fear battling with his dominance. But he couldn’t beat me.
Everything around me was built to protect my Pack, and everything I was made up of, my money, my access, was all for her.