27. Ulysses
The storm didn’t end as quickly as Gareth assumed it would.
Thankfully, there was a break in the rain, and we booked it back to the house as quickly as we could.
It ended up working out for the best since we’d worn our girl out.
I can’t blame her for passing out after taking on all five of us guys, who’d been a little pent-up.
Going from having sex all day every day and having to adjust to a more realistic expectation was hard.
I now understood why people talked about their bonding leave and how they wished they could go back to those days.
All you needed to worry about was you, your Omega, and your pack— that’s it.
Everything else could be put on the back burner to deal with once you came down out of the bonding haze.
The thing was, that haze lasted a lot longer than one month.
It was fucking hard to keep my hands off Rosie and not resent her clothes for being closer to her body than I was.
Yet we were in someone else’s house, and walking around naked wasn’t going to fly.
I suppose I would want the same respect from a guest staying with us, so I couldn’t be that upset.
However, that didn’t keep me from slipping my hand under Rosie’s shirt so I could rest my hand on her stomach while we watched a movie.
A fluffy blanket covered her, so it wasn’t like I was flaunting her bare skin to the room.
She giggled as my thumb brushed over her belly button, and I couldn’t help but grin.
God, that sound did something to me in a primal way.
It fulfilled a need deep down fueled by my Alpha instincts, which constantly pushed me to ensure our Omega was happy and safe.
“Lysse, stop,” Rosie whispered.
“Stop what?” I asked, this time purposefully tracing her belly button, knowing full well she was super ticklish there.
Slapping her hand over mine to keep it from moving, I snorted, trying to keep my laughter to myself.
Waffles lifted his head, looking up at me with a warning in his expression.
You wouldn’t think a dog could communicate that clearly with a look alone, but Waffles wasn’t just any dog.
He wasn’t like Nugget, who wanted pets and cuddles from Rosie, but there was no doubt in my mind that Waffles adored Bailey-Rose.
The silent suffering he endured as Rosie put his fur in pigtails or painted his nails was enough to prove it.
Another thing we Alphas figured out was when it came to Waffles, he would always put Rosie first. Something I didn’t know I would value as much as I do.
Knowing we were nearing the end of our leave and I’d have to go back to work, I was comforted to know he was with her.
Yes, Gareth got Waffles because of the Randall situation.
Yet the reality was with as big of a heart as Bailey-Rose had, she could easily end up in a situation she didn’t anticipate and might need a little backup.
The vibration from my phone jolted me out of my thoughts as I pulled it out of my back pocket. Seeing it was Eli, I instantly answered and waved for the guys to pause the movie. “Hey, Eli,” I answered.
“Do you have a minute? Are the others with you?” Eli asked.
“Yeah, we’re just hanging out watching movies. Give me a sec, and I’ll put you on speaker,” I said, sitting up and turning up the speaker volume. “Okay, go ahead.”
“The cops just arrested Randall Steele,” Eli announced.
Everyone erupted in cheers at hearing the news. Vili stood and clapped with how excited he was.
“Guys, there's a catch,” Eli said loudly, cutting off any further excitement. “Steele isn’t his real last name, or I suppose it’s not his legal last name, which is why it was so hard to find him.”
“I don’t understand. Why does that matter?” I questioned. “Legal or not, it doesn’t change what he did.”
“Yeah, well, when your mother is the highly regarded Scent Matcher, Mira Chambers, it matters,” Eli stated.
Shock slammed into me hearing the name of the woman we’d met with on the day of the attack. “What?” I snapped. “His mother is a fucking Scent Matcher?”
“Hoooly shiiit,” Warrick said, drawing out the words.
“Wait, you mean that bitch we met with is his fucking mother?” Gareth demanded. “I knew that whole thing was a bunch of bullshit. The last thing she expected us to do was fight to keep Bailey-Rose. What, did she plan to give Randall our leftovers if we did reject our Omega?”
“Eli,” Yun-Sun cut in, waving for everyone else to shut up. “What haven’t you told us yet?”
There was a slight pause, and I could feel Rosie’s panic building the longer the silence went on.
“His mother is claiming we have the wrong person. That Randall couldn’t have been the one to attack Bailey-Rose or to be stalking her.
Claims that Randall Steele and Randall Chambers are two different people, and we’ve got the wrong man arrested.
She’s demanding the police let him go at once. ”
“No, they can’t do that, Eli,” Rosie blurted. “We have video proof it was him, not to mention all the phone records and texts.”
“Yes, we have all that for a man named Randall Steele. Mrs. Chambers’ lawyer is demanding proof be shown that Randall Chambers is Randall Steele,” Eli explained, his tone gentle, trying not to upset her even more.
Rosie looked at me with desperation, begging for me or anyone to find a solution.
Her head whipped around to Yun. “Wait, what about the pack he told me about? Could those records be under his legal name, and that’s why nothing came up?
If they come forward about him assaulting their Omega, it wouldn’t matter if we could prove what he did to me. ”
Yun frowned as he processed that idea. “Eli, do you know if the cops found anything on Randall Chambers?”
“As far as they can tell, he’s been a model citizen. Although, with a mother as powerful as his, I wouldn’t be surprised if she got his record wiped or paid people to keep things off his record. They’d have to get a court order to look at the Scent Matchers’ official records.”
Yun scoffed at that. “No one has ever been able to get a judge to approve one of those.” Leaning forward, he rubbed his head with both hands before shooting to his feet and pacing.
“How long can they hold him?” I asked.
“Twenty-four hours,” Eli sighed. “If they don’t have proof by then, they’ll have to let him go.”
“Wait,” Yun shouted. “What if Bailey-Rose picked him out of a lineup? They can’t deny an eye-witness, especially when it’s the victim of the crime.”
“No,” Eli barked. “Bailey-Rose is not going anywhere near him.”
“I don’t like the idea either, but I would much rather get this man put in jail,” Yun argued. “All right. What if we could have your investigator look at the hospital records and see if there’s anything about his previous pack? There can’t be many Omegas who were admitted for being attacked.”
“Oh, there might be a report about a fight too,” Rosie added. “He attacked one of the other Alphas when they refused to let him see her. They called security, but he ran off which is when he met me.”
“It’s worth a try, but I don’t know if they can find that information in time. Hospitals are not known for giving out information,” Eli warned.
Bailey-Rose’s hands were curled tightly around the blanket in her lap as if she were trying to hold herself together.
It was hard to get a feel for her emotions since they were changing faster than I could track them.
Then she started to chew on her bottom lip as her brows furrowed.
I knew that look. I’d seen it on her face anytime she needed to face up to something that scared her.
As if to echo what I already knew, a tidal wave of determination poured out of her.
“Eli,” Rosie said, cutting off the conversation between her brother and Yun. “We’re coming home, I’m getting off the plane, and I’m going to the police station.”
“I said no, Bailey-Rose, that’s not going to happen,” Eli stated.
There haven’t been many times that I’ve seen these two siblings fight, but from what Crew told me, it was legendary.
“Eli, I love you, and I know you want what’s best for me, but you can no longer dictate what I do.
I am a bonded Omega, and the only people who can keep me from doing this are them,” Bailey-Rose countered and took a deep breath, trying to calm the adrenaline flowing through her.
“I’m not asking… I’m telling you that’s what we’re doing. ”
Before I could even think to stop her, Rosie reached out and ended the call.
While I understood they were siblings, I somehow got the feeling no one hung up on Eli Thatcher.
Instantly, my phone was ringing, and Eli’s name popped up on the screen.
I went to answer, but Rosie hit the fuck-off button and turned on the do-not-disturb mode.
“He will stop calling eventually,” Rosie commented as she got up from the couch.
“Kitten, I think we need to talk,” Vili pointed out, catching her wrist as she passed by. “No, do not glare at me. This affects us all, so we will take a moment to talk as a family.”
“He’s right, baby girl, and before you get all fired up, none of us are saying no,” Gareth reasoned. “Please, just let us walk through what this means for you to do this. There is nothing we want more than for this to be over, but not at the expense of your well-being.”
She relented and let Vili tug her to sit next to him. “Tell us why.”
Rosie frowned. “What?”
“Why you? Why not find other pack and arrest him again for that crime?” Vili clarified.
Not expecting that question, she needed to sit with that a moment before she answered.
“Because if I can do something that will get him off the streets and put away so he can’t do this to me or anyone else ever again, then that’s what I’ll do.
I would never be able to look myself in the mirror if I didn’t.
What if he did this to another Omega, and they couldn’t or didn’t fight back? Part of the blame would be on me.”