JUSTICE
Justice
A giggle and a “shhh” were my alarm. I took a deep breath. Maybe the first real deep breath I had ever taken. I sat up. No headache. That constant weight on my chest, gone. I had actually slept. The clattering of dishes called me. I pulled on the linen pants I had discarded yesterday and surveyed the damage. The bed was a glorious mess.
I swooned. I literally swooned, had to hold on to furniture and everything at the sight of them at my table. They were both in fluffy white robes. Mackenzie’s hung off one shoulder. Theo’s hair was damp. She brought a delicate looking coffee cup to her lips with a pinky out.
She gasped and lit up when she saw me. “We met Todd the Butler!”
Laughing, I sank into a chair between them. Theo poured me coffee and Mackenzie put a chocolate croissant on my plate.
“We didn’t know when you’d be up, so we just asked for pastries and not eggs.” Theo explained.
“Where’s Ren?”
“He was gone when I woke up.” Theo said, neutrally.
But it wasn’t neutral at all. I couldn’t quite name the emotion burning my throat. Disappointment wrapped in anger with a sprinkle of desperation. I had been lying to myself for years that I had moved on from Ren Delano. And now he was gone again. He would be gone for good.
“We both know how this ends.”
I put a spoonful of sugar in my coffee and a splash of cream. Theo pretended he wasn’t watching me intently. Mackenzie licked chocolate off a finger that glittered in the morning light. Morning? Was it morning?
“What are your plans for the day?” I sipped the coffee. It was still warm, but not blazing hot like I normally liked it.
“We haven’t really discussed it.”
“Nothing from your spreadsheet?”
“Not a single green item.” Theo made a face and rubbed his hand across his stomach.
“You alright?” I asked, something deeper than generic concern stirring.
“I probably should have just had eggs.” He said absently.
Mackenzie was picking up crumbs on her finger and licking them off. Theo turned his fork over and over, grimacing. I looked between the two of them, doing their best, and failing, at acting casual.
“What?”
“You do it,” Mackenzie whispered to Theo.
“No, you.”
“We flipped a coin. It’s you.”
“I asked Todd the Butler about the panties,” Theo jerked his head toward me.
“Fine.” Mackenzie sat up straight and folded her hands. “Rose won the scavenger hunt.”
“Fuck.” I blurted. “Now you’re going to have to punch her, Mackenzie.”
“That’s what I said, but Theo said no.”
“There’s actually a lot of things we haven’t done on the ship. There’s a movie theater, a batting cage, mini golf. Or we could just hang out by the pool.” Theo rushed to change the topic.
“I’ll have Todd the Butler get us a cabana by the pool if you want.”
“The pool doesn’t have cabanas.”
“The VIP pool does.”
“You have your own pool?” Mackenzie leaned towards me.
“So we don’t have to associate with the riffraff.” I winked and sipped my coffee.
She gasped and put her hand to her chest. “Are we riffraff?”
“No, you are gold, baby.”
We decided on mini golf over cabanas. They went back to their room to change before meeting me up on the Games Deck.
I stood there in the shade, back to the wall, using every ounce of willpower I had not to throw an alpha overboard as Daryl and his pack strutted around schmoozing.
“How’s Mackenzie?” I felt Ren before he even spoke. He settled in next to me. His posture was much more relaxed than mine.
I knew he wasn’t talking about the morning after glow. This was about the spa. She had whispered it, but I knew he had heard it too by how his aura had gone all… spikey.
“It wasn’t a panic attack like I…” I cracked my neck. I could barely say the words “panic attack” without having one. “It’s like she doesn’t know how to deal with complex emotions.”
“We could kill him. I know a guy.”
I snorted. He probably did.
“CEOs don’t murder ex-alphas.”
“Oh, they most certainly do, Mr. Twill.”
“Shit.” I nodded across the deck. Mackenzie and Theo stepped out of the stairwell. She had on the hat I got her and Theo’s sunglasses. They had their heads together, whispering. I had said to meet by the rock wall, which would put them on a collision course with that pack.
“Knocking off the whole pack might be tricky, but I doubt they’d be missed.”
We both pushed off the wall at the same time, walking closer to the rock wall. Hopefully, the pack would continue over to the batting cages and they’d do the two ships passing thing.
Nope. That would not be our luck today. Daryl headed right for her. Ren and I walked faster, but we still had to watch his sad attempt at a hug. She had her arms folded across her chest and did not hug back.
“C’mon baby girl, make a different choice.” Ren whispered.
And that was the thing. Shit didn’t tend to go well when an alpha influenced a major life choice for an omega. Mackenzie was living that out right now.
We got close enough to hear her say, “I’m still mad at you, Daryl.”
“Not ideal, but we can work with it.” Ren muttered.
It wasn’t a no, but it wasn’t a yes, either.
“Are you trying to ruin our vacation?” Daryle cajoled.
“We can talk later.” That’s when she saw us. She brought her attention back to Daryl, real fear on her face. He saw us too.
“Keep your money and your knot off my omega!” He made a show of lunging so his pack lead could hold him back.
“Too late for that,” Ren said under his breath.
“Did you get your banter as well as your swagger from a porno?” All eyes swung to Theo. It took their wee alpha brains a couple heartbeats to register that the insult came from an omega. Daryl rounded on Theo.
“Justice! Did you say we’d climb the rock wall?” Mackenzie said with false brightness and tugged Theo with her to join us.
“Now, that is the funniest shit I’ve heard all day.” Daryl cackled. “You wouldn’t make it two feet without breaking a nail and crying.”
Mackenzie stopped right in front of me. Her face went all weird. Her fake smile faded to something beyond anger. She took off her hat and glasses and handed them to Theo. She headed straight for the staff member manning the climbing gear.
“She’s going to do it.” Daryl’s voice went high and squeaky.
“Well, if she falls and breaks a leg, she can’t run away,” Brock sniggered.
Ren shot out a hand, grabbing Theo by the shirt, and pulled him back a few staggering feet. We did not need an omega v. alpha brawl.
“This is not a good idea.” Theo said nervously.
“She can do this.” I said.
The attendant had her step into the harness and was probably giving her a standard speech about safety and instruction. He double checked the fit, pulling on the rope to make sure the carabiner was clipped in. Mackenzie nodded and looked up the wall. The attendant tapped the lowest jug and suggested initial hand and foot placements. She pulled an elastic from her wrist and secured her hair on the top of her head.
“Too bad she’s not wearing a skirt. At least we’d get a show.” Brock had his boys cracking up with that one.
“Justice, do something.” Theo practically spat at me.
“Do what, exactly?” I kept my voice low. “Be another bonehead alpha in her life who throws his aura and dick around and bullies her into decisions?”
“Ren?” Theo’s voice had a frantic edge to it.
“Oh, I’m already planning murder. Just not in front of Mackenzie.”
“There’s too many alphas on this boat. One good brawl and it will be a riot,” I added.
“I’m going to throw up.” Theo wrapped his arms around his stomach. Ren put his hand on the back of his neck.
She was struggling, going slow, but she was making progress.
“This is embarrassing. I can’t watch.” Daryl turned away. The pack drifted, but they were definitely still watching.
Mackenzie was about 10 feet off the ground now and stuck, not knowing what to do next.
Fuck it. I crossed the space and stepped up to the attendant. “I need gear.” He handed over a harness and then remembered he had procedures to follow, and tried to snatch it back. I ignored his protests as I stepped into the leg loops. The equipment was lighter than what I used to, built more for durability than performance. I motioned for the attendant to clip me in.
“Sir, this is not…”
“I’m going up that wall. I’ll free solo if I have to. Which do you think is a greater liability?” He just blinked at me and then clipped me in. I was next to her in about 10 seconds.
“Hey!” I said cheerfully. She didn’t seem surprised to see me.
“I’m going to die.”
“You are not.”
“I can’t do this.”
“You can.”
“I’m not strong enough.”
“This is about technique, not strength. Your legs are your greatest asset.”
“Not the time for pickup lines.” She said through gritted teeth.
“Put your left foot here,” I tapped a jug. “You’re going to follow the pink jugs.”
“Why does it have to be fucking pink?” she bitched, but got her foot in the right place.
“Perfect. You’re going to use your legs, not your arms. You’re holding on for balance, not to pull yourself up. Push into your left foot. Squeeze your butt. Stay as close to the wall as you can.”
She took a deep breath and did exactly as I said.
“Oh,” she said, surprised to find herself one foot higher. “That was easier.”
“Great. Walk your right hand over. Find a hold you don’t have to stretch for. Right there, you got it. Nope, left hand to the left a little more. You want a wider grip.”
“But it’s green, not pink.”
“Your feet are following the pink. Your hands can do whatever you like.”
“Break a nail, my ass,” she grunted as she pushed into her right foot this time. I grinned.
Foot by foot, we made it up the wall.
“You’re almost there. You have a choice to make. The pink jug is a big step. There’s a green crimp right there. But you’ll only get a toe on.”
“Pink.” She groaned with the effort, but her hand slapped the top. I vaulted to the top of the wall and grabbed her forearm to pull her the rest of the way up.
She looked down at her feet like she couldn’t quite believe they were there. She looked up at me and huffed a laugh before she lost it, giggling and bouncing in a circle. She got way too close to the edge. I grabbed the front of her shirt and pulled her to me.
“I love you.” The words were out of my mouth before I realized it.
She grabbed a fistful of my shirt and yanked me down to her. Her kiss tasted of victory. She tore her lips away.
“And Theo, too?”
It suddenly got hard to breathe. I turned my head to find him in the crowd below, but she grabbed my face and forced me back to her.
“And Theo, too?”
“And Theo, too.” I said, barely above a whisper.
“And Ren?”
“He doesn’t…”
“And Ren?” she insisted.
“It’s complicated.”
“If I can climb that dumb wall, then you can say it.”
“Why are my omegas braver than I am?”
“Say it.”
I closed my eyes. This felt like falling off a cliff. I nodded. “Ren.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck, her leg coming up high on my hip. This kiss was sloppy, almost drunk, like tasting her for the first time and wanting more than I could handle. I lifted her off her feet, guiding her leg around me. I wanted in her. I wanted all of her.
She broke the kiss first, gasping for air.
“Okay, but how do we get down?” She peered over the edge.
“Coming down,” I called to the attendant, who was probably royally pissed at this point.
“Can I just jump?” She asked as I put her down.
“Let’s not test the equipment.”
She followed my instructions perfectly, pushing off the wall and using her feet to guide herself down. Once she was on the mats, I took in the view. Blue water stretched as far as I could see, blending with the sky at the horizon. Fat white clouds dotted the sky like they were hung there on purpose. I closed my eyes and tilted my head back, letting the sun warm my face, and smiled.