MACKENZIE
Mackenzie
People scattered as we ran down the gangway. Maybe Justice used his aura? I was just focused on keeping up.
He stopped at the end of the peer to check my phone. He was barely out of breath. I was about to die.
There were a few vendor booths right at the end of the pier. Little more than a card table and an umbrella, one offering independent excursions for cruisers.
“Police station.” Justice said, looking at the PackFinder app on my phone and comparing it to the surroundings.
“Oh, my friend, that is the last place you want.” A man, a beta, in a black polo shirt and shorts, laughed.
“Good to know,” Justice said absently.
“Spend the day on my yacht instead.” He gestured behind him to a sign for luxury yacht day cruises and a picture of his boat. “Or maybe you’d like to escape the island?”
“I think if we take,” he shaded the phone with his hand, “Rue de la Marine…”
“No,” the man interrupted again. “Take this alleyway.” He gestured behind him. “The locals avoid Rue de la Marine. Too much foot traffic.”
Justice reached for my hand again, taking the street the guide suggested.
“I hope you have deep pockets,” he called after us.
“He should have waited.” Justice mumbled. He had had to restart my phone, and we’d missed Theo’s calls and texts.
“Everything is going to be fine.” I said, more for myself than for him.
The alley ended in a wide plaza. There were colorful taxis lining one side of the street, police cars lining the other. We walked in the street to avoid having to sidestep tourists looking at the pretty buildings.
Justice tucked my phone in his pocket and pulled the door to the police station open for us. I stepped in and blinked rapidly. It was much darker inside and my eyes needed to adjust. There was lots of angry shouting and… angry auras. I took a step back.
My vision sharpened, and all I could see was Theo in a cage at the back of the room.
“Theo!” I ran forward, but an officer got in my way.
“That is my omega!” Ren was handcuffed, blood streaming down a cut in his lip.
“I will take responsibility for the omega!” Gaston was belly to belly with another officer, backed by Tommy and Catherine, who was still in her bikini and weaving on her feet.
“Officer, how can we make this right?” Justice stepped in.
Something was off. I slipped by the officer and rushed the holding cell. There were two sets of doors, like department stores had, creating three feet of empty space. I shoved my arms through the bars. Theo could just grab my fingertips. He looked… terrible. His hair was damp with sweat and tears ran down his face.
“Mackenzie. Help.” Theo doubled over and sank to the floor as a cramp hit. He wrapped one arm tight around his stomach, the other between his legs.
No.
I dropped to the floor and stretched my arm through the bars. If I could just touch him…
“Theo!”
This was every omega’s nightmare. Going into heat. In public. Surrounded by strangers.
“Theo!” I shouted again, scraping my shoulder on the bar. “Give me your hand!” He tried, but another cramp hit and curled into a tighter ball.
I scrambled to my feet. That officer got in my way again.
“The new legislation is very clear. We can only release an unbonded omega to a pack lead.”
“I am a pack lead. That omega should belong to me!” Gaston shouted.
An officer was taking the handcuffs off Ren. I grabbed his arm, he slipped it around my waist to comfort me, but stayed focused on the fight.
“Ren!” I hissed, trying to keep my voice low. “Theo’s in heat.”
The room went dead silent. All eyes focused on me. Except for Ren and Justice, who looked to Theo writhing on the ground.
“Now! Give that omega to me now!” Gaston bellowed.
“I will take full responsibility for what happened here.” Justice’s voice was commanding.
“As I said, the legislation is clear. Only pack leads…”
“I am a pack lead!” Gaston motioned to Catherine and Tommy.
“Your pack bears no bites, no marks of ownership. You are not a pack lead.” The officer puffed himself up, his pot belly taking up even more space.
Pack lead.
Everything went quiet and still, like we pressed pause on life.
You have already found your pack.
The auracle knew. She was right. Theo was my pack. This was my pack.
I stepped in front of Justice and grabbed his shirt in my fits.
“Alpha.” The word got his attention. I could have whispered it and he would have heard. “Bite us.”