Chapter 28
TWENTY-EIGHT
ETHAN
Ipull up opposite the convenience store at ten minutes to seven.
It’s a good thing I’m not coming across as eager at all.
It’s also a good thing I don’t give a fuck.
I don’t see the point in pretending like I haven’t spent the entire day thinking about the moment I’d see Ollie again.
I actually think I did a really good job pretending to be doing my actual job when in fact all I did was daydream about wrapping my arms around him and letting his scent fill my lungs.
See? Cool as a cucumber.
I turn off the ignition and sit back in the seat, letting my fingers drum out my anticipation jitters against the steering wheel, knowing it won’t be long now.
Except seven comes and goes, and when it’s already been ten minutes past, an uneasy feeling settles in my gut.
It’s probably nothing. He’s just being held up, maybe released a little later from his shift.
Yes, it’s a perfectly normal explanation, nothing that warrants any worry.
My jaw locks and I’m out of the truck in the next minute.
It might be a perfectly normal explanation, but I’ve never been betrayed by my gut. Best case scenario, I go in, let him know I’m waiting outside and that he can take as much time as he needs. Worst case scenario…
I can’t think about that.
My phone rings just as I’m waiting to cross the street, the screen flashing with Devon’s name.
“What?” I all but bark into the phone which of course makes him chuckle.
“Uh oh. Trouble in paradise already?”
I sigh. “Sorry, man. I’m picking up Ollie from his mart job. I already informed your stuff about the next few days. Actually, do you mind waiting a second or is this urgent?”
“No, just wanted your opinion on something but it can wait.”
“Great, hang on.”
The automatic doors slide open and the cold of the afternoon immediately changes into a comfortable room temperature. My eyes swipe every inch of the store for any sign of Ollie.
But every time I think he’s going to pop up from behind one of those shelves with his beautiful smile in place, he doesn’t.
A blond guy behind the counter eyes me curiously as he rings up the customer’s purchases, offering me a friendly smile.
“Can I help you with something, sir?”
“Yes, thank you. I’m looking for Oliver. I’m supposed to pick him up.”
“Oh yeah!” he grins widely, briefly looking away to hand over the bags to the customer that’s leaving.
“He mentioned you earlier. He’s out back, taking the trash out.
” He glances at the clock behind him and his smile dims for a second, but it’s all the time I need for the uneasiness in my gut to sharpen into a sense of dread I can’t explain.
“What’s wrong?” I ask firmly.
“Nothing, it’s just that it’s a bit odd. He should have been back by now.”
The earlier dread spreads like poison, my mind conjuring up images I do everything to rip out of my head.
“Fuck,” I curse under my breath, already heading towards what looks like a back door.
“Ethan, what’s going on? Ethan!” Devon’s voice reaches me like static, my hand tightening so hard on my phone I’m sure I’m seconds away from crushing it.
“Something’s wrong, Devon. Something happened. I have to go.”
Fuck, is that my voice? Brimming with paralyzing fear?
“Ethan, don’t do anything stupid,” I can hear him saying but I’m already hanging up.
The door opens to a large storage room, a flashing green EXIT sign somewhere on my right what appears to be the only way out.
I almost rip it out of its hinges as I burst out of the store and into the cold evening, my heart beating so loudly in my ears it blocks every other sound coming from the main street.
Except for one sound that tears into me and slices me open.
A muffled whimper that momentarily freezes me to the spot before cold, unforgiving wrath floods my veins.
Following the sound, I round the corner and the sight that greets me makes every shred of control I possess dissolve into nothing.
My sweet Ollie pushed against the wall, scared, trembling, fighting to free himself from the piece of shit that’s holding him down.
A piece of shit that is so focused on what he’s doing that never hears me coming for him.
I see nothing but him as I reach them in a few strides. Grabbing his shoulder, I turn him around and plant my fist in his mouth before he can even blink. My punch makes a satisfying cracking sound that only feeds my need to hear it again, and again.
He stumbles back, eyes angry, swimming with fury, holding his jaw and nose.
“What the—” he attempts, but I’m on him in the next second.
He has no time to retaliate before I’m gripping the front of his shirt and throwing him against the wall. He might be an alpha so he’s stronger than an omega, but he’s got nothing on me, on my training and on the rage that’s fueling my body right now.
I slam him against the hard surface, punching him again exactly where I heard the crunching sound earlier and he howls in pain.
“Shut up,” I growl in his face, wrapping my hand around his throat until he can only sputter.
“I don’t know who the fuck you are but I know what you’ve done and that’s enough for me.
” I squeeze his throat until he’s gasping for breath, his hands trying to get me off him but to no avail.
“I know you terrorized that sweet boy over there and made his life a living hell just because you could and wanted to.” I slam my knee into his gut and he would be doubling over if I didn’t have an iron grip around his windpipe.
“I know you’ve been a dead man walking since the moment you thought about hurting what’s mine.
” His eyes widen and tears start running down his face from the pressure around his throat.
“I know I should chop off your dick and stuff it down your throat until you choke on it but you see, I don’t want to waste any more of my time on you.
Because I have a wonderful man over there I need to make sure is okay.
” I lean in closer and give him a smile that is all teeth.
“So, maybe I should just bury you somewhere no one will ever find you and be done with you.”
And I know I could do it, because even though I’ve only ever toed the line of morally questionable things while working for Devon, I know that I could end anyone who dared to hurt my mate and I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.
But before I can do anything else, the asshole passes out in my grip and crumbles in a heap when I release him.
“Ethan?”
Fuck, that soft, small voice.
My eyes search for him and find him a few feet away, looking at me with wide eyes, his own arms wrapped around himself tightly.
I’m at his side in moments, cupping his beautiful face, pain slashing through me at the sight of red scratches on his temple and cheek. At his long lashes still spiked with tears.
“Baby…” I whisper, pushing his curls back, my eyes jumping from his scratches, to his green gaze, frantically checking every part of him for more injuries that might not be visible. “Please, tell me you’re okay.”
Fuck, is this what panic feels like?
Ollie steps into me and my arms go instinctively around him.
He burrows against me, burying his face in my collarbone and it’s the first true breath of relief I draw, knowing he’s here where I can see him and touch him.
I can feel the way his hands clasp my shirt on my back, fisting it tightly.
His chest rises and falls rapidly, his body still shaking from what happened, but I hear him clear as day when he whispers against me, “You found me.”
His voice betrays how scared he was and it takes everything in me not to choke that fucking asshole all over again. But Ollie’s more important and he needs me.
“I’ll always find you when you need me,” I say in a harsh whisper against his hair, taking his scent into my lungs, letting it calm me, reassure me that he’s okay. I squeeze him tightly until he whimpers against me.
“Tighter,” he pleads and I oblige greedily, wishing I could mold us together.
The sound of running behind me makes me tense immediately, every sense I have on high alert as my head swivels to look at the source of those footsteps while shielding Ollie with my body.
“Who the fuck are you?” I bark out at the two guys who step out of the shadows.
Two sets of eyes widen before one of them chuckles and the other lifts his hands as if in surrender.
“Well, that’s not very nice,” Blond Guy who chuckled says. “We’re here to help. Although,” he glances sideways at the unconscious heap, “it doesn’t look like you need much of our help. Did you kill him?”
“What my brother here means,” Not-So-Blond Guy says, shooting a glare at the other guy, who’s currently nudging the fucker on the ground with the toe of his boot, “is that Devon sent us. Said there was some kind of emergency and we came as soon as possible. It’s a good thing we’d literally just left our post.”
At the sound of Devon’s name, I slightly relax, though I never take my eyes off them, not sure what to make of this duo.
Do they work for Devon just like I used to? Personal security and everything that comes with it?
“Yep, we’re here now, so you go take care of your boy,” Blond Guy grins at me before looking at his brother, “and we’ll make sure everything is taken care of here as it should be.”
It’s not easy to spot immediately, especially with his laid-back tone and smile, but the underlying menace behind his words is enough to raise the hair at the back of my neck.
And glancing at the other man, I know he’s not so different either. Just more controlled.
“Don’t worry,” Not-So-Blond Guy says calmly when he catches me looking. “He’s not going to be a problem anymore. We can be very convincing.” His gaze drops to Ollie who’s peeking at them from behind my shoulder and it softens. “Go. You have more important things to deal with.”
I nod at him and at the other man who’s wiggling his fingers in ‘bye,’ and turn to look at my precious mate.
Ollie tilts his head up and pierces me with his bright green eyes, visibly calmer than earlier.
“How about we go home?” I whisper for his ears only.
He never looks away as he nods. “Yes, please.”
And when I bend down and pick him up in my arms and he sighs in my hold, just like the first time I found him, I know that there will never be anything more important than him.