Chapter 29 Derrick
twenty-nine
Derrick
Red dust rises as the motorcycle crosses the ranch's threshold. I wonder if Major called for Carver again without telling us, but as the bike stops short, I know it’s not him.
This fella’s bike is flashy, and the rider is not a bulky man like Carver.
I cross my arms in front of my chest, watching carefully before I start kicking the intruder’s ass.
He hops off the bike and removes his helmet, and I know this fucker is an Alpha. There’s no mistaking the scent, and fuck if that doesn’t ruffle my feathers.
“You'd better put that helmet right back on,” I drawl, calling his attention to me. “And get right back on that bike. You’re not welcome.”
His face breaks into a smile, and he carefully brushes his jet-black hair back into place. It’s a slick style, like a goddamn 40s movie star, and I don’t like it.
“I’m looking for Major Wilde.”
My teeth grind. Of course, my foolish brother would call an Alpha into our home without telling any of us.
This is how it always goes: Major shoulders every responsibility and leaves us in the dark.
For a long time, I thought it was because I’m just his brother, not his packmate, but now I see he doesn’t share anything with Jesse either.
It was annoying before, but it’s dangerous now. We need to think about Veda first.
“Turn around and leave.” My voice goes hard. “I’ll pass on your message.”
His obsidian eyes lift to the house behind me, and I see the flicker of doubt crossing his face. There shouldn't be any doubt. He has to leave, and I’ll have a conversation with my brother later.
The front door opens, and I don’t look behind me to check, but I know it’s Major. The newcomer's eyes go to the figure behind me, eyes assessing, and I realize he doesn’t know Major, either. So truly a stranger.
He shields his eyes from the sun. “I’m looking for Major Wilde.”
“And who is looking for me?” I'm relieved to hear the same unfriendly tone from my brother.
“Dominic Savage,” the stranger replies.
Major curses. “I didn’t think you were really coming.”
Dominic rolls his shoulder, all at ease, and I don’t like it one bit. My eyes are still on him as he takes a messenger bag from the attachment on his bike and comes to my porch. Major shakes his hand. I’m so disappointed that I growl under my breath.
“I’ll explain inside,” Major says.
“Will you?” I stare at my brother before shaking my head and going in.
When I step into the house, I hear Veda’s giggling coming from the living room. Jesse is trying to teach her some chords on the guitar, and while this woman can do so much, I have to say she’s not very musical. I left them to it, preferring the quiet of the porch.
“Call Jesse and Veda,” Major says as he makes his way after me.
I don’t spare him a glance, but throw my head over the living room and ask the musicians to meet us in the kitchen.
I cross my arms in front of my chest. My eyes never leave Dominic, who sits at the table as if he’s a prized guest. Major stays by the counter, his back leaning and his eyes focused.
At least he’s not relaxed. He knows this is wrong.
“What’s going on?” Jesse is on guard the moment he steps in the kitchen, shoving Veda at his back.
“Hey!” she whines.
Dominic stands at his full height, all smiley again. The only smiley fella I tolerate is Jesse. Everyone else should be careful showing their teeth. I might knock them out of their mouths.
“I’m Dominic Savage, Miss Darling. I’m the US representative for the Alpha-Omega Alliance.”
The Alliance? He doesn’t look like a government employee, I’ll give Dominic that, but that just means I’m more than right to be suspicious.
“The fucking government, Major?” I ask with pure rage.
“I had to report the possible Omega trafficking situation. I reached out to the International Alliance, and Dominic got in contact with me.”
He doesn’t seem happy that Dominic is handling the case, yet the fucker is barely paying attention to what we are saying, his eyes shining as he looks at Veda over Jesse’s shoulder.
“Stop with this,” she slaps Jesse when he doesn’t move away. “Reporting to authorities was a great idea. Thank you, Major.”
She turns pretty pink when she calls my brother, and the fucker squares his shoulder as if he were awarded the biggest prize.
“Don’t start gloating just yet.” I point at him with menace.
“Can we start over?” Dominic asks, and he looks at me this time. “I’m here because I’ve been investigating Anderson St. James for a long time. The Alliance might think Veda is just a regular case of an Omega born among Betas, but if St. James is her grandfather—”
Veda pushes Jesse out of her way with all her might, and while I think he could still keep his foot firmly in place, he moves out of the way. Her delicate brows have a crease between them as she looks at Dominic.
“Do you think Grandpa is involved with trafficking?”
He extends his hand to her, but Jesse growls a warning, and he retreats.
Veda doesn’t even notice, her eyes flicking through Dominic’s expression as if she’s checking to see if he can be trusted.
Omegas are sensitive, true empaths.
People get caught up in the sexual side of things and forget that they are in tune with their feminine side, which means that they are the smartest people in every room. An Omega knows things by just looking at someone, and if she listens to her intuition, she can’t be deceived.
“Let’s just sit for a moment,” Dominic says.
None of us moves, but Veda takes a seat, and that’s enough to make Major and Jesse scramble after her. I want to remain standing, a bodyguard over her head, but when I don’t sit right away, she looks at me and grabs my hand, pulling me to a seat beside her.
Dominic watches us carefully, but I don’t take my hand from hers just because he’s watching. If she needs me, she can have me.
He clears his throat, and his eyes move from our joined hands.
“It’s been happening for a long time all over the country.
It started before any of us were even born.
Omegas might have disappeared completely about twenty years ago.
” He looks at us in confirmation, and Major dips his chin.
“But the births stalled many years prior to that. Everyone with eyes could see that fewer and fewer Omegas were born, and it was clear after a while that something was going on. So instead of putting money into research, they started stealing breeders.”
“Excuse me, what?” Veda blinks.
“I’m sorry.” Dominic winces, realizing the term he used. “They stole Omegas and forced them to reproduce while controlling the offspring.”
Yep, that sounds like the definition of a breeder.
We are stunned into silence after that statement.
I squeeze Veda’s hand, but I know it’d do very little to help.
Dominic opens a briefcase, documents spilling out as he spreads them over the table.
My mouth dries when my gaze flicks from one picture to another.
Men being arrested, women being rescued.
It’s not that I didn’t think it was real, but it hits differently when I look at the faces of every scared Omega.
My instincts react at once, rage boiling through my veins.
“Five years ago, we busted this pack’s operation,” he says, showing us the picture of the disgusting Alphas in question.
“The breeder escaped and reported to the Alliance. It quickly became obvious that they weren’t the only ones doing this.
In one conversation, I could tell the pack was as dumb as a rock.
They can’t be the mastermind of anything.
” Dominic shakes his head and continues, “Over the years, I’ve been busting more operations, and at each step, I get closer to the center of it all. I get closer to the puppetmaster.”
“Do you think Grandpa is the puppetmaster?” Veda asks, horrified.
“No, but his name has been appearing in many points of my investigation, so when Major reported that they found you, everything snapped into place. Did you know St. James makes sure to always be financially involved with Alpha packs?”
The hairs on the back of my neck rise. “What do you mean?”
“Every supplier of St. James industries is an Alpha pack living among Betas. That’s odd. We are not many, yet he managed to be the constant clash flow to all these packs.”
“Control,” Veda whispers suddenly. “Grandpa throws money into every problem. That’s how he controls everything.”
Dominic flinches. “And I have to ask you for my sincere apologies. I knew your mother was an Omega. I knew there was a possibility that you were too, but at the time, I had seen no signs of neglect. From the outside, you looked just like the pampered daughter of a millionaire. Just like I expected.”
Instead of cursing yet another male who failed her, Veda smiles.
“I played the part really well. How could you know? I don’t think I knew I was neglected until I arrived at the ranch.”
Pride fills my chest. I hate that she was neglected so badly that she thought this was all that life had to give, but I’m fucking happy that we showed her how life could be. She’s a goddess, and she deserves to be treated like one.
“I found out about your mom when I started to investigate your grandfather.”
“He told me she didn’t want to be a mom and returned to Brazil.”
“I don’t have anything on that, unfortunately. Just theories.”
“Say it,” Major barks.
“They are just theories,” Dominic says again.
Major opens his mouth to argue again, but Veda waves him off, her eyes on our unwanted guest. “Can you please just tell me?”
Dominic shakes his head, and for a moment there, I think he’ll refuse
“What I know for sure is that your grandmother wanted you. I heard from trusted people that the reason St. James agreed to raise you is that your grandmother couldn’t imagine giving her own blood away.
So here’s my theory. I think your mother was supposed to be a breeder, but your father got her pregnant.
I think St. James couldn’t let you go with the other Omegas because his wife thought of you as a granddaughter, and when she died, he got stuck with you because all Dallas already saw you.
He couldn’t get rid of a child. And then—”
“And then I got pregnant.”
Dominic nods. “This is the new part of the puzzle, and I only started thinking about this since Major’s report. You got pregnant and had a girl. That’s a huge win for them.”
Veda’s face shows all the fear, even before I can scent it in the air.
“What does that mean?” she asks.
All the Alphas in the room have the decency of flinching at the fragility of her voice. She’s too precious, and these people abused her trust for too long. Only now has she relaxed enough in our care to tell us about Mirasol, and now we need to deliver all this bad news. It doesn’t seem fair.
“I’m sorry for being crude, but they use the breeders to have more Omegas, and you had one so easily.
A fertile Omega producing other Omegas is worth a lot.
I think your grandfather gave the baby to them, but I also think he’s planning to give you away too.
There’s no way keeping you as his granddaughter is best for business, and what I’ve learned is that he only cares about that. His business partner is even crueler.”
“Joe’s father?” She twitches her nose.
Dominic checks one of his papers. “Joe Kingston?”
Veda nods. “Senior and Junior.”
“Sounds like a douchebag,” I point out.
Veda smiles sadly. “Both are.”
“I don’t have anything on Joe specifically,” Dominic offers, “but their finances are tied together. Unless he’s a dumbass, he has to wonder where the funds are coming and going.”
“So you’re telling me, Grandpa is going to jail.”