18. Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Eighteen
Pierce
I think we should go straight to the mayor's house. I think we should go there first, and if the girl is there, we can tell her parents and be done with it. Unfortunately, Dana is looking at the bigger picture. She's determined to go to the mayor's office in the city council building downtown before she goes to his house. I want to argue, but she's the detective. It's her job. I can't tell her how to run her business anymore than she can tell me how to run mine.
Beckett shouldn't be going to either place. I don't care how brave and spunky he is. Omegas don't belong in these types of settings. Male, female , or otherwise. These are exactly the sorts of situations that they should be protected from. But he's as determined as she is, and all I can do is tamp down my frustration and go along for the ride.
I got tired of caring about this city a long time ago. The only thing that kept me invested in it was the hope that I would one day find my Omega, and now that I've got Dana, I'm not even curious about what happens to Coburn. Let it fall. Let the ashes scatter.
“You are staying in the car, Beckett,” Dana declares. “Listen to me. Almost any other time, I would be happy to let you come with me, but not this time. I know that Jonah and Michael said to talk to the mayor, but I know the mayor. Not personally, but professionally. I can't imagine that he'd be involved in a missing Omega case. I think it's the town council. Specifically Councilman Hunt.”
“Terrence?” I interrupt, genuinely surprised. Terrence has always been a good kid.
Dana nods. “Yes. I've been watching him for a while. He had one of the wharf boys picked up a few years back. For jaywalking, of all things. He isn't even an officer, he had no authority. But he called the chief and had the kid picked up. He didn't show back up to the wharf, but a while after he got picked up, other kids, especially kids with Omega siblings, started disappearing and the authorities started turning their heads the other way a lot more often. It's been a little better since the new mayor was sworn in, but we'll never get those kids back.”
I'll need proof. If Terrence is involved in those kids or any Omegas going missing, I'll forget all about watching him grow into a man and I'll consider him just another stain on this city's ass.
I hate this place. I hate everyone in it. They're all corrupt. All selfish. All horrible, pieces of –
“Pierce.” Dana calls my name cautiously.
I look at her and my disgust and fury recedes. “I'm sorry. I'm just surprised. I thought Terrence Hunt was a decent man.”
“There's no such thing,” Dana says sadly.
And sadly, I have to agree with her.
I sit in the back of my car, clenching and loosening my fists, the entire twelve minutes Dana is inside the council building. Her lips are pressed into a thin line when she gets into the car.
“I know it's him,” she snarls. “I know it.”
“Did he admit to anything?” Beckett asks.
She shakes her head. “No. He's out for the day. He has personal things he must attend to and he will be back in office tomorrow. I am, however, welcome to leave a note for him with his secretary so that he might call me back at his earliest convenience.” She slumps against the back of the seat and crosses her arms. “It's such bullshit.”
“So, we're going to his house?” Beckett asks.
“Obviously,” Dana answers. “Do you mind?” she asks me. “I don't mean to take over your life.”
“I don't mind, Dana. As stressful and frustrating as this all is, I'm enjoying it.”
“I feel like we're in a movie,” Beckett adds.
Dana smiles. “It can feel like that sometimes.”
I let the driver know where we're going and tell him to park in an inconspicuous place. When the car parks, I get the distinct impression that Beckett isn't the only one who feels like he's in a movie. I knock on the glass and smirk at Josef when he lowers the window. “Enjoying yourself?”
He grins at me. “Can't be obvious.”
I smile back at him and shake my head. “Just be ready to get out of here quickly if it comes to that.”
“Copy that, boss.”
Dana starts right for the front door. “Stay between me and Pierce, Beckett. Do you understand me?”
Beckett nods, but he glances back at me after she turns away to ring the doorbell. I tip my head at him. The silent understanding is that we will both collectively get Dana and her stubborn ass out of trouble if it's behind this door. It is neither safe nor ethical as far as Omega well-being is concerned, but Dana is going to be a priority for both of us in the majority of situations, not that she needs to know that.
The man who opens the door is not Terrence Hunt. The man standing behind him isn't Terrence Hunt, either. I don't know who either of them is, but they definitely know Dana.
“Hello, Detective Dana,” the one in front greets with a lopsided smirk.
“Tavi,” she returns. “Dixon,” she nods at the second man. “I have a couple questions.”
“You won't find any answers here, Detective Dana.”
The way they say her name and title grates against me. She isn't fazed, though. She just carries on.
“Oh, come on, Dixon. If you don't at least try to find an answer, I'll have to start making assumptions.”
The one called Tavi runs his tongue across his teeth. “Wouldn't want that. Okay, Detective Dana. What are your questions?”
Dana pulls out her phone and shows him the picture of Celia. “Do you know this girl?”
To their credit, they both look at her phone. I don't believe either of them when they say they don't recognize her.
“What business do you have at Councilman Hunt's home?”
“That's none of your business or your concern,” Tavi answers. “And you don't have any more questions.” He starts to close the door in her face, but Dana puts her hand against it to stop it from shutting.
“Just one more, and then I'll go.”
Tavi exchanges a look with Dixon. Dixon nods and Tavi turns back to answer Dana. “One.”
I can't wait to find out why there's so much animosity between these men and my Dana.
She pulls up the other pictures on her phone, the ones of the Alphas she killed for hurting Beckett. “Do you know either of these men?”
Dixon steps around Tavi and tries to grab Dana's phone. “What happened to them?”
“Who are they?”
“One of them is my brother,” Dixon says, starting to growl.
“Was,” Dana says flatly, and then time stops.
It isn't like it was at the center. Then, I knew Dana wasn't in any real trouble. I didn't doubt her ability to defend herself or her Omega in that situation because the only anger was hers. Those Alphas weren't expecting to pay for their sins when they saw her stalking toward them. This man is angry. This man wants revenge. And she just taunted him.
There's nothing I can do to stop what happens. I could never be fast enough to stop a bullet. Before I realize it's happening, there's a gun in Dixon's hand and a shot ringing in my ears. Dana collapses into Beckett's arms without making a sound. I see the red start to spread across the front of her shirt and then I don't see anything else.
I don't hear anything else.
There is nothing but foggy darkness until I finally register Beckett screaming my name.
I blink rapidly, trying to clear my head of the thick rage-filled mud it's buried in.
“Pierce!” Beckett screams again. “We have to go! Help me!”
It feels like I'm moving in slow motion as I focus on his face. There's blood on it.
There's been an incident.
I've had an incident.
My heart starts pounding in my chest to the point of pain.
“Pierce!” Beckett yells once more, and I shake my head. “We need to get her out of here! Now!”
I force my gaze lower to where Dana is gathered in his arms. She's unconscious. There is a growing red stain covering the upper left side of her shirt. She's a sickly pale color.
Then I look at my hands. They're covered in blood. Thoughts start coming in of ripping flesh and breaking bones and I have to shake my head again. I look at the door standing wide open and what's left of the men who were standing in it.
Oh.
Well, I don't mind that so much. That's worth the incident record.
“Valla!” Beckett barks, finally gaining all of my attention. “We have to get her to the hospital. Please! She'll need you.”
Josef comes running from the car that he left running in the middle of the front lawn. “Let's get her into the back seat. I'll get her there before …” He doesn't finish the sentence, which is probably a good thing.
Dana groans pitifully and that spurs me into motion. I take her from Beckett's arms and run with her to the car. I keep her on my lap as the car takes off, keeping her upper body elevated. Beckett takes off his shirt and balls it up to press against Dana's shoulder in an effort to stop, or at least slow the bleeding.
We get to the hospital in record time. The medical team takes Dana back immediately and Beckett sits beside me silently while I try to force my bloody and shaking hands to hold the pen so I can fill out the incident report. The only reason I'm bothering with it is because Dana has been shot and I want it to be known that those men lost their lives because they hurt someone who belongs to me.
“Give it to me,” Beckett says, holding out his hand for the pen and form.
I give it to him. I'm still barely able to concentrate on the letters, much less the words they're trying to make. He goes through the questions on the form, either writing down what I say verbatim or condensing my answers into a more concise explanation. The only question that requires any real thought is the one asking about pack members.
Both of us are shocked to realize that we're part of a pack. Neither of us realized that's what the three of us have formed. It's astounding. I wonder if Dana has thought about it.
“Do you have to mark me?” Beckett asks without looking at me.
“I don't know. I think we would be okay either way, but we can talk to Dana about it when she's up to it. If it's something you need, I don't mind and I doubt she will.”
He nods. “I don't know what I'll need. Right now, all I need is her. The bond is strange. I thought it would feel different.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don't know.” He shrugs. “I didn't realize I would feel so many conflicting things. We're brought up to believe that our Alphas will take care of us. That they're so strong. That we won't have to worry about anything once we're claimed.”
“You don't think Dana is strong enough for you?”
“No,” he says, shaking his head. “That's not what I mean. She's more than enough. I just didn't know I would feel protective over her. Possessive, yes. Intensely. But that's not the same thing as being protective.”
I don't have a response to that. I have my own issues concerning Dana. If she was an Omega, there would be no investigating. There would be no questioning people. There would be no gunshot wounds. There would only be keeping her safe and a whole lot of sex.
But Dana isn't an Omega. She's an Alpha. And while I can protect her to a large degree, I won't be able to control her the way I would be able to control an Omega. She will never blindly accept my authority. Beckett as her Omega confounds things further because he isn't my Omega. I can give him commands and he will follow them, but if I try to control him the way I would if he was mine, Dana wouldn't be happy with me. I want her happy. I want her to be so happy.
I offer to get Beckett something to eat, but he isn't any more able to eat than I am. Neither of us will be able to take a deep breath, much less eat anything, until Dana's in the clear. I just want to get her home. She'll be safe at home.
“Beckett? For Alpha Harding?” A nurse calls from the desk.
Beckett jumps to his feet and I'm right behind him. “How is she?” he asks.
“She's a tough bird,” the nurse says. “She's already awake and trying to go home. It's a clean wound. The worst part is the amount of blood she lost, but other than that she's okay to leave after the discharge papers go through.”
Beckett takes a deep breath and the tight ball of anxiety between my shoulder blades releases.
She's okay.
~
The car ride home is quiet. Dana leans against me with her eyes closed, dozing until she winces when we hit bumps on the road. I had no idea my driveway was so uneven. Every time the car dips and she's jostled, I get a little more angry. That anger mixes with the stress of the day and the knowledge that I should have marked her days ago until I'm sitting beside her quietly churning with determination.
It isn't fair. It might not even be safe. But I don't care. I almost lost her before I even had her. Beckett was distraught. Marking her will solidify our pack, which will help him feel more secure. I should have done it days ago. It will be done today.
I don't leave any room for argument or discussion when we get home. I lift Dana from the car and carry her inside the house with Beckett following behind. I take her upstairs and gently put her down in front of the bed. She opens her mouth to say something, but I hold up a finger to quiet her. This isn't a conversation. This isn't a debate. This is necessary.
“I have been scared out of my mind for hours. I watched blood pour out of your body. My shirt is soaked in it. I have watched you work. I have watched you fuck. I have watched you kill. And today I watched you nearly die. And all I've been able to think about is the fact that all of these things happened, but I haven't claimed you. That's changing. Right now.”
She lets me undress her. It isn't difficult. They had to cut her shirt off of her at the hospital and sent her home wearing a hospital gown over her pants, the only difficult thing is getting everything off around the sling she's wearing to help stabilize her arm and shoulder. She still has bloodstains on her torso and side, dried blood in her hair. I don't care. She could be covered in blood and I wouldn't care.
I jerk at my clothes until they're piled in the floor with hers and pull her against me as carefully as my determination will allow. I put my hand under her jaw and brusquely turn her mouth up to mine. The last kisses I gave her were full of gentleness. That's gone now.
Too many things could have gone wrong today. Too many scenes are flashing in my mind, full of fear and blood and desperation. There's only so much room left in me for gentleness and it will have to be enough to keep me from hurting her when I take her.
A low-rolling growl clogs my throat when she makes a small sound of acceptance as she lifts her uninjured arm to touch my chest. I feed at her mouth, moving my hand from her jaw to fist the back of her hair. She gasps and whimpers with every sensation, and I wrap my arm around her waist roughly, arching her back and deepening the kiss even more, letting my tongue taste her as she opens for me.
“Careful,” Beckett cautions from the doorway.
I don't answer. I'll be careful. I don't need the reminder. I'm not going to hurt her. Not on purpose. Never on purpose.
She wraps her arm around my neck, pressing against me as I hold her close. I want to make this last. I want it to be enough. But I think I need it too much for it to be anything other than what it is. This is a claiming. I can make love with her later if that's what she wants. Right now, I just need to make sure she's mine.
“Can you lean against the dresser? Can you stand?” I ask her, biting and licking a path down her neck.
“I think so,” she says roughly. “For a little while.”
That's all I need.
I walk her back to the dresser and turn her away from me to face the mirror hung above it. I can see every heated expression that crosses her face. I can watch the pleasure I give her flash in her eyes as I touch her.
I hold her gaze in the mirror as I reach around her to cup her breast that isn't covered by the sling and then down the front of her to cup her mound. “I can't wait until I can spend as much time as I want learning your body, Dana. I'll never get enough of you. It will never be enough.”
I know the truth of it as I say it. I am going to love her, but the truth of it is that I'm a Valla. We obsess over our mates. That's what I'm drowning in right now, the need to possess her. I will never get enough of her. I will crave her scent, her taste, everything about her. I will need her more than my next breath. It's already started.
Her thighs part and I sink my fingers between them. She's wet for me. So wet. I can smell her arousal, so sweet mixed with her natural citrus scent. She shuffles her feet, giving me more access, and I stretch my arm to push two fingers inside her.
She sighs my name and rolls her hips, teasing my heavy erection. “I want to taste you,” she says, but I shake my head.
“Later.”
I pull my hand away and urge her forward. She leans toward the mirror, never looking away from me, and braces herself on the top of the dresser with her good hand.
“This is going to be rough,” I warn.
She smiles at me. “I trust you.”
That sentence is better than anything else she could have said. My mine reels with the knowledge, and my heart soars with it. “Good.” I lean over her to put a kiss on her shoulder. “Good.”
She raises up on her toes and lifts her ass when I reach between us to grip the base of my cock. I'm hard, aching, heavy, and she gasps when I thrust my hips to push inside her.
“More,” she moans, and I give it to her, putting one hand on her hip and the other on the edge of the dresser as I push deeper.
“Yes,” she groans. “Yes.” She adjusts her stance, bringing her legs closer together and raising her ass a little higher. “More.”
The slight adjustment makes her squeeze tighter around me and my eyes threaten to close as I snap my hips, forcing most of me inside her. Over and over, I go deeper, harder, until the primal sound of my body thudding against hers is the only sound that registers to my ears.
“Pierce,” Dana cries, her eyes wide as she watches me fuck her.
“Valla,” I correct. Right now, I need her to know that I'm her Valla. I need to hear her say it.
“Yes,” she gasps. “Valla.”
I fuck her harder, forcing the dresser to bang against the wall behind it and jarring the mirror.
“Again,” I grunt, tilting my hips and pushing deeper. I can feel my knot forming and I want her cumming hard when it's full. I want to feel her lock milking the head of my cock when I mark her.
“Oh god,” she gasps. “Don't stop, Valla. Almost … almost …”
“Give it to me, Dana,” I growl against her neck, watching her face contort in her reflection. “Give me what I need.”
She thrusts back again, shoving herself onto me as she lets out a high-pitched cry. I feel her start to rhythmically tighten around me and I lean over her, nuzzling into the side of her neck. I lick once across her skin before I bear down, marking her deeply.
She gasps, going rigid as the bond begins to form immediately. Then I use my grip on her hips to move her body, using my strength to help push my knot inside her. Her eyes roll back, her mouth hanging open soundlessly as I circle and grind my hips, working it into her.
Another Alpha would never be able to knot her. Their bodies aren't made for it. But I can do it. The way my knot makes it possible, and based on her shuddering and gasping reaction, she didn't know that.
“Pierce,” she gasps, when she's finally able to suck in a breath. “Fuck.”
I loosen my jaw to release the bite and lick across my mark before I correct her. “Valla.” I let go of one of her hips and slide my hand around to press against her lower stomach. I can feel her orgasm still rippling through her as my cock pulses with my release. “Always your Valla.”
“Yes,” she breathlessly agrees. “Mine.”
As soon as I hear her say it, I sag in relief. My mind calms and I feel like I can finally take a deep breath. I kiss my mark again, relishing the sound she makes when I do it. “Thank you.”
Getting to the bed is awkward, but I don't care. Dana doesn't know how to move while being knotted, so it would be slow-going even without the additional hardship of a fresh gunshot wound. It isn't until we've carefully arranged ourselves that Beckett reappears with a collection of snacks, bottles of water, and the heavy-duty pain reliever the surgeon sent Dana home with. I didn't even realize he had abandoned his post.
“Thank you,” Dana tells him after he hands her the meds and a bottle of water. “Are you alright?”
“I'm better than alright,” Becket says. “This feels good. It feels right.”
Dana yawns, and wriggles her hips slightly. “It feels like I'm going to need an ice pack.”