Chapter 40 Major
forty
Major
It takes a little longer than an hour until we turn onto a dirt road, and I sit up straight, my eyes scanning our new surroundings.
There’s not much here to see, just tall grass and what seems like many abandoned houses.
Dominic doesn’t warn me, but I notice he’s steaming in tension, shoulders squared.
At the end of the road, a house comes into view.
The paint is chipping, and the black shutters are hanging off their hinges.
It’s big and imposing yet fits perfectly with the abandoned houses around.
My skin prickles with awareness, and I know this is where we are heading.
They want it to look bad, so no one comes closer.
“Open the glove compartment,” Dominic says as we approach the house.
I do what I’m told, cursing when I find a gun waiting for me.
“Do you know how to shoot?” he asks as the car stops, his eyes on the house.
“Yes,” I grit out.
“Good.”
That’s all he says before he hops out of the car and leaves me to hurry after him.
He’s holding his gun when I step outside, making careful movements as he makes it past the porch.
I follow him, raising the gun too, though I hate the way it feels in my hand.
I wasn’t lying. I know how to shoot, but I like that I’ve never had to.
This might change today.
In my bones, I know I’d do anything for Veda and her daughter. There’s no doubt in my mind that I’d spill blood for them.
There’s no one waiting for us outside, but on an empty road like this, they saw our car a mile away. Dominic tests the door, and I’m surprised when it’s open. This feels like a trap. I look at him, my eyebrows raised, and he nods, agreeing with my assessment.
The house is dark. Every curtain is drawn, mold in the air. I bite back a growl. I can’t believe they are letting a newborn stay in this place.
We move to the living room, and while it looks like no one should be living here, everything is exceptionally clean. I notice that not even the ugly paintings on the walls have dust on them. The floors not only creak but also shine under my boots.
Awareness prickles my skin.
Dominic leads the way to the back rooms, and just as we round the first hallway, the scent of an Alpha hits me at once.
I press my back to the wall just as the first bullet flies too fucking close to my head.
The mold makes sense now. I can barely scent them with the smell this thick in the air.
Voices now erupt from the kitchen, steps thumping over the well-worn wood, and I know we are dealing with more than one man. Perhaps a pack.
“Hold on,” Dominic says as he retreats, disappearing back into the darkness of the living room.
Fuck. If that asshole leaves me here, I’ll hunt him down.
I don’t get much time to think about murdering Dominic, the shooting ceases for just a second, and their time to reload is my cue.
My eyes narrow to what I can see of the kitchen.
It’s all dark but for the beam of sunlight coming from a window not fully covered.
Movements catch my attention, and I shoot before I talk myself out of it. Glass explodes, telling me I was watching him through the reflection. I recalculate quickly, and I hit right where he should be.
There’s no time to check if my aim is true before they start shooting again.
I have to duck and dive into the nearest room to avoid the assault of bullets my way.
Something crashes, causing havoc. Two successive shots cut the rest, and I use the small window to turn back to the hall once again, eyes scanning for any movements.
“I have them,” Dominic calls from the kitchen.
I move forward, gun still raised, because I can’t trust anything. As I take a step in, the first thing I see is the smashed windows where he jumped through. Glass covers the floors, and two bodies lie to the side, blood seeping through their fatal wounds.
“A pack,” Dominic says, calling my attention to the other side of the room where she stands.
“Scum,” I spit.
The last member of the pack lies where I shot him, back against the fridge, head lolling down.
“Let’s go,” Dominic says, not sparing them a glance.
I should feel bad that I killed a man, but I can’t find it in me to care. This pack held and raped Omegas for who knows how many years. They don’t deserve a second thought.
Outside the kitchen, my eyes find the old-looking stairs.
Dominic nods and leads the way up. A series of rooms with the doors firmly closed is all we can see as we arrive at the landing.
It doesn’t escape me that if he’s wrong about this, it might mean the end of the road.
I have nothing, and he just got fired. In all my years, I’ve never been so scared.
It has nothing to do with the gun in my hands and the bad people I’m going to anger, and everything to do with the woman who doesn’t belong to me who I can’t imagine giving bad news to.
We move to the left, but then Dominic stops. His eyes scan the empty hallway, and he inhales deeply. I follow his lead, trying to grab on to whatever scent had alerted him. There’s something sweet in the air, but it’s so faint that by the time my brain tries to make sense of it, it’s already gone.
Dominic growls, just softly, and I’m taken aback.
In his easy nature, sometimes I forget that he’s an Alpha and his instincts are to take care of Omegas.
This situation has to mess with his head as much as it messes with mine, even if he doesn’t have an Omega of his own to protect.
As the thought comes to me, I know what the scent is.
A scared Omega. Any time Veda is scared, her scent sours. It doesn’t smell bad to me, yet I know something is wrong. We step farther into the hall, the scent growing strong at every whine of the floors under our weight.
I want to tell him to stop. We’re scaring her, but I can’t leave without the baby. I just can’t.
The last door to the left is where the scent is stronger, and there’s no doubt we are in the right place when we find the door locked. After only a second of hesitation, Dominic kicks the door open, and I enter, guns first.
At least fifteen sets of eyes turn to us in fear. We quickly lower our guns when the scared scent of fifteen Omegas greets us. They huddle against the back wall, hands on one another, proud chins, but no baby in sight.
“I’m here in the name of the Alpha-Omega Alliance in the USA,” he says the practiced words, though his face shows how bitter they taste. “We are here to rescue a baby girl taken from her mother.”
“And why would we believe in Alphas?”
The Omega breaks from the group, her eyes narrowed and unafraid. I’m glad that no one could break her spirit, but there’s no time for congratulations when she might know where Mirasol is.
“Do you know where the baby is?” I ask, voice hoarse in hope.
Her jaw ticks before she spits on my boots. “Go fuck yourself, Alpha.”
“Indie, come back here!” the eldest among them calls in a thick accent I can’t place.
I do not miss her motherly tone. Whoever this woman is, she’s known the Omegas long enough to treat them like her children. Each Omega looks too different from the next for me to think they are from the same family, but I wouldn’t know. Maybe they let this one raise her kids into adulthood.
“The pack that held you hostage is gone,” Dominic says in a controlled tone.
“Because you shot them,” Indie says. “To take us for yourself.”
I’m shaking my head before the words are even out of her mouth, “All we want is to help.”
“The clock is ticking,” Dominic says. “We need to bring you to safety.”
I’m not sure how he thinks he can do that. The truck we came in doesn’t fit fifteen people, yet we can’t leave them behind. I don’t speak my fears out loud, letting Dominic take care of the rescue. All I want to know is whether we are in the right place.
“You don’t have any reason to trust me.” I sigh. “But I came all the way here to rescue a baby. Her mom is back at the ranch with me, and she needs her daughter. All I want is to give her daughter back.”
The older woman approaches, her eyes heavy with suspicion.
As she comes closer to the light, I realize she’s older than the rest, but not old by any means.
Her eyes are sharp, with some lines on her temple, but she can’t be over fifty.
Her long brown hair is braided over her shoulder, brown skin warm even in the low light.
Something about her makes me feel like we’ve met before, yet I know it’s impossible.
I take time observing her too, trying to make sense of this familiar feeling, and it suddenly comes to me.
Like lighting, all the pieces of the puzzle click together, and understanding dawns at once.
“Manuela?”
The woman’s face softens. “Do I know you?”
“Veda.” I swallow thickly. “She told us your name.”
The name lights up her eyes, but she reels back from me, a frown between her brows.
Mom always said Omegas can sense intentions.
A nurtured Omega can’t be lied to. I know Omegas in captivity aren’t as healthy as they should be, but I’m hoping there’s a little inside still.
I stand there with my eyes on hers, begging her to read me like a book.
No one can miss how much I love Veda. It’s stamped all over my face.
I hope her mother can see it too.
“I didn’t think she knew that,” she says carefully. “I thought the bastards made sure to hide it all from her.”
“They let it slip.”
Slowly, her gaze softens, and she chuckles. “Don’t they know a name is everything? They gave my daughter my name, and now she can find me.”
She waves her arms around as if the name is what brought us there. I don’t dare to correct her. I’m more than happy if she thinks the universe brought us to her door.
“Manu…” the one called Indie practically growls.
But Manuela shakes off her concern. “Use your heart, Indigo. What do I always say? We are much more than what they know. Use your senses and read him.”
Suddenly, all eyes are on me. My skin prickles, but I stand there, letting them sense whatever they want. I know that my heart is true. I just need them to see that too.
An Omega to the right nods, her shoulders relaxing, and then one by one, they do the same. Last is Indie, who reluctantly accepts. I don’t blame her at all. They’ve been through a lot. It’s good that they don’t trust anyone coming through the door with guns in their hands.
Manuela smiles softly to the Omegas before turning around and opening the wardrobe.
My heart will never recover from the shock of finding that the baby was sleeping in there all this time.
She takes Mirasol into her arms, cooing softly when she complains, her little fists in the air.
I’m shaking head to toe, when she comes closer and puts the baby in my arms, as if I know what I’m supposed to do.
She’s so tiny, with the cutest button nose. I’ve never seen something so beautiful in my life, and I’ve seen her mother.
“He likes to torture me,” Manuela says. “He brought her to me, telling her she was my granddaughter because he knows how much it hurts when they take them from me.”
What St. James is doing goes against any law, and not only the ones made by men.
Any Alpha pack that works with him is ruining itself, destroying the part that makes them an Alpha.
We are made to protect. We are stronger, taller, and bond because it’s our job to take care of the most precious beings on this goddamn earth.
Words fail me, but in the end, it’s not just me affected by the rawness of her statement. Dominic shakes in anger beside me, his jaw set.
“I’ll make sure he pays for everything he has done.”
Manuela nods, something behind her eyes I can’t quite read. Maybe she doesn’t trust Dominic completely, but I can hear the promise in his voice. He won’t stop until he ends this.
The baby in my arms moves, and my focus returns to her. “Hey there.”
She takes my pinky finger with her whole hand, gripping too firmly for her size. Her big brown eyes open, and she stares right at me, as if she understands every word coming from my mouth. I hold myself not to buckle under the weight of her gaze. She already has me wrapped around her finger.
“Let’s go home.”