CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT - BIRDIE #3
I can’t hide my flinch, and Hog’s arm slides protectively around my waist. Copper, of course, watches the gesture with a smirk. “The ones who got out, what happened to them?” I demand.
“Most have been relocated. A few refused to leave, even though the place was pretty much blown to pieces.”
“Because you blew it up.”
“Not more than was warranted.” There’s an edge to his tone now and he’s lost his smile. “It was boobie trapped. Plus, some of the militia set fire to their rooms so we couldn’t grab them. They were fanatics, but I shouldn’t have to tell you that. How long were you with them, anyway?”
I wave off the question. “What happened to the leader, Kyle?”
Those pale green eyes study me for a moment, and I can feel Axel stiffen beside me. “He was one of the last ones to hold out,” he says finally, scorn plastered all over his face. “The guy was nuts. He wouldn't surrender, even with fifty guns on him.”
That sounds about right. My stepfather was always very clear that he would burn for his beliefs. “You make it sound personal. Were you the one who killed him?” He shakes his head, looking a little disappointed by the fact. “But you saw him die?”
“I did. The guy is dust, if you’re imagining some scenario where he got away.”
“Okay,” Axel says abruptly, his dominance suddenly swelling across the table. “That's enough, Cooper.”
“I told her the details weren’t pretty.”
“It’s fine,” I lie, giving Axel a brittle smile. “I’m just going to the bathroom.”
I push away from the booth, feeling more than one pair of troubled eyes on my back as I make my way across the bar.
The pulsing lights and loud music no longer seem so magical, and when I look in the bathroom mirror, I’m not surprised that my face is ghostly white under the scarlet blotches in my cheeks.
I splash water on my wrists and grip the edge of the counter, staring into my eyes.
So, Kyle really is gone. No more humiliating lectures or brutal punishments.
No more looking over my shoulder, wondering if he’s changed his mind about selling me off and wants to drag me back to the compound.
I know I should feel something - vindicated, or at the very least, relieved - but all I feel is numb.
As I duck out of the bathroom, I’m not exactly surprised to find Cooper lying in wait.
He’s leaning casually against the wall, but his arm comes down in front of me, barring my way back to the bar.
“You know,” he says with a smirk, “under that bad dye job, you remind me of someone, and it definitely isn’t pretty little Charlie Lawson. ”
I’m tempted to take a step back, but a bunch of crates are blocking the end of the corridor. Besides, I don’t want to give this asshole the impression that he’s spooked me. “I never claimed to be his twin.”
“No, but you look a lot like a picture I saw of Kyle Billings’ kid, Juliette. Seems she left the compound a few months before the raid. Would you know anything about that? She’s still a person of interest to our team, especially if she’s out in the wild, cooking up some other brand of trouble.”
I raise both hands and shove his arm aside. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He grabs my wrist, spinning me around so my back is against the wall.
His scent washes over me, like charred meat stewing in whiskey, and I can smell the underlying stench of a predator on the hunt.
Ironically, it’s not that different to the alphas who followed my stepfather, and I wonder how much else he has in common with the militia.
“They sold you, right?” His teeth glint in a nasty smile.
“That’s the rumor from the other omegas.
Kyle peddled his stepdaughter’s ass in exchange for weapons and intel.
” He leans forward, his whiskey-sour breath in my face.
“So, what are you doing here? Why are you cozying up to the Lawson Pack by pretending to be their dead mate’s sister? ”
I drop my hand to my hip, my thumb touching the outline of Hog’s knife.
I’m just considering the best place to stick it when a wave of alpha menace rolls down the corridor.
Axel is backlit by the bar, but I can see the steely glint of his eyes as he glares at the other alpha.
“Get your fucking hand off her, Cooper,” he orders, his voice edged with a bark.
“Bad timing, brother,” Cooper drawls without turning away from me. “She was just about to confess to screwing you over.”
“Remove your hand and walk away,” Axel growls, taking a step closer. “I won’t tell you again.”
Copper tosses a sneer over his shoulder.
“Wake the hell up, Lawson! She’s not your dead mate’s sister!
You should be thanking me for saving you before she sinks her claws any deeper.
” I try to control my flinch, but after scent marking Hog, his accusations are too close to the bone.
“Oh, yeah,” he laughs, his tone mocking.
“I can smell Hog’s fingerprints all over you.
Not a bad strategy, getting the big ape to scent mark you so no one will dare touch you. ”
“Birdie,” Axel says, his voice deceptively quiet. “Go back to Hog and Colt. They'll walk you home while I deal with this.”
Dominance laces Axel’s words, but Cooper just tightens his grip.
I don’t know if he’s looking for a fight, or if he’s too drunk to see the danger he’s in, but he turns to Axel with a sneer.
“Jesus Christ! She’s playing you, Lawson.
I never thought you’d betray your mate’s memory for a piece of ass... ”
Axel moves so fast, I don’t see the punch until the blood bursts from Cooper’s nose.
He reels backwards into the wall, and I have a horrible sense of deva vu, but Axel grabs his shoulder and shoves him down onto the floor.
“She’s none of your fucking concern, Cooper.
When you finally limp out of here, I want you to lose my number and forget her name. ”
“You busted my nose!” Cooper howls, trying to stagger back to his feet. “Are you fucking crazy?”
“You should ask yourself that, putting hands on Hog’s scent mate.” The guy on the floor goes still and Axel gives him a nasty smile. “She tells him, you’ll be walking around with a pair of crosshairs on your back. That’s if I don’t rip your head off first!”
I look at Axel in surprise. He’s breathing hard, the cords on his neck pulsing in anger. His dominance is also swirling around us like a black mist, and it only thickens as he places a boot in the middle of Cooper’s chest and barks, “Stay down, or I’ll send Hog in here to destroy your stupid ass!”
I tug on Axel’s arm, my knees burning with the need to drop at his feet. “Come on, Alpha!” I try to pull him back towards the bar, a note of pleading in my voice. “I need you to take me home.”
He finally looks down at me, blinking at whatever he sees in my face. “Birdie…”
“Can we go?” I tug his arm again and he falls into step beside me.
It’s like dragging a six-foot log upstream in a raging river, but at least he’s not grinding his friend into the bar floor anymore.
“God, Axel,” I huff when we make it back to our booth.
The table has been cleared, and I feel a flash of disappointment as Axel steers me towards the front door.
“You didn’t have to hit him for me, you know. ”
Axel’s hand flexes before finally wrapping around mine. “I did it for me, too. If he opened his mouth and disrespected you again, the cops would’ve had to drag me off in cuffs.”
Given the state he’s in, I’m not sure how that would’ve gone down. “Axel… you barked at him.”
Punching a federal officer and grinding him into the floor is bad enough, but using his dominance to disable him is automatic jail time.
But Axel just shakes his head. “I’m sorry I left it so long.”
It takes me a moment to realize what he means. “You knew he’d come after me.”
He gives a grim nod. “From the second he laid eyes on you, something was off. I would’ve smashed his face into the table right then and there, but I don’t want you on any radar that we can avoid.”
Because he heard what Cooper said about me, or because there’s still the issue of Razor and the general?
Colt and Hog are waiting outside, our dinner in a takeout box.
Colt has his hand on Hog’s arm, like he’s trying to hold him back.
Their scents are sour with tension, but their heads snap our way as we step out of the bar.
Hog is in front of me in three massive strides, his face grim as he looks me over. “Did he touch you?”
“Only with his questionable charm.” A growl vibrates in his chest, and I lay a hand on his cheek. “I had my knife, Hog.” I peel up my tee, so he can see the hilt. “Besides, Axel took care of it.”
I don’t mention exactly how he did that, since I’m still trying to wrap my head around the way Axel used his authority against another alpha. And not just any alpha, but a federal agent and a so-called friend.
Colt comes around my other side to give me a hug, but he wrinkles his nose at his pack alpha. “Why do you smell like you’re about to kick someone’s ass?”
“Past tense,” I murmur, but Axel is already striding off and we hurry to follow.