Chapter 31 – Wilder
Chapter Thirty-One
Wilder
My buzzing phone wakes me at some point in the middle of the night. I frown at the texts, attempting to make sense of what I’m seeing.
Patrick O’Connor is always clear and to the point, but apparently I’m more exhausted than I realized.
Target was attempting to flee. We have both assets and are relocating to our residence. Will update you later.
It takes me way too long to determine Charlotte was trying to run.
I’d love to know if she opted to go with the O’Connors peacefully or if they kidnapped her and the kid. I’m sure they explained how much safer she’ll be with them, and the woman decided of her own free will that she would like to accept their protection.
I’m at least twelve percent certain the O’Connors wouldn’t actually kidnap a woman and her child…
And you know what?
Not everything is my problem, especially not days before Christmas when Lacey is on the verge of her first heat.
I’m occasionally allowed to relax while the rest of the world figures out its own shit.
I glance around, looking for Lacey, only to determine she’s nowhere to be found.
Okay, now see…
This is an example of something that is my emergency.
Flinging off the blanket, I roll off the bed to search for my omega.
I wanted to wait to sink my teeth into Lacey until I had the chance to fully court her, but having a bond would be a convenient way to track her sexy ass down.
Lacey sits up against the pillows on the bed in the pack bedroom. She has her phone in her hands, and I begin to panic that a call from her friend might have upset her.
Striding over to the bed, I take a seat on the edge of the mattress. “You startled me. I didn’t like waking up to find you missing.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I had a dream that Christmas morning came. You all gave me amazing gifts, and I had nothing for you. I thought I could buy a few things and get them here with rush delivery, but there’s no way.”
“I will take you shopping myself once your heat is over,” I assure her, grabbing her phone and putting it down on the nightstand.
Turning back to face her, I cradle her jaw with my hand.
Just by touch, I can tell that she’s warmer than I am, but it also doesn’t feel like her fever is at a concerning level.
“You’re the only gift I want, and I know Grim and Callum feel the same. ”
The tip of her nose is red, possibly from shedding a few tears, but the scratches from her attack are lighter than they were. Perhaps Grim isn’t delusional, after all. I’m tempted to lean forward to lick them myself, but it feels like the wrong time to address that.
“I appreciate you saying that, but it’s the point,” she says, sniffling.
“I understand,” I say, smoothing my thumb over her cheek. “I’ll put you in touch with Alice tomorrow. She’s got a team, and she’s quite efficient. She’ll make sure your gifts arrive before the holiday. All you have to do is tell her what you’d like to get each of us.”
“That’s really sweet, but I’m not sure I can afford her prices.”
“She’s on retainer.” It’s technically not a lie.
Alice is paid a flat rate monthly, but I also pay her per hour for any shopping she does on my behalf, which Lacey doesn’t need to know.
“If you’d like to pay for the gifts she selects, we can work something out.
She has a card which she uses for all my transactions. It’ll be easy.”
The little omega continues to study my face like she’s attempting to parcel out whether I’m being truthful.
“Ready to head back to bed? Your bonded alphas will be equally as frantic if they wake to find you missing.” I give her a tired smile. “Come on, beautiful. I won’t be able to sleep without you plastered to my chest.”
“Okay,” she agrees with a nod.
Well, there’s one crisis averted, but I need to check in with Patrick tomorrow to ensure Lacey’s friend won’t be calling to stir up any drama.
The next morning, Lacey wakes with no fever and no symptoms to indicate her heat is on the horizon. It’s not what I was expecting, and I do a fair amount of research on my phone as Callum feeds her breakfast by hand, seated across from me at the table.
At some point, I’d like to get in on that action. It seems to build a type of tender affection between them as she sits on his lap, eating directly from his hand when appropriate and from the fork when the food item is messy.
Grim is missing, but I assume that’s because he’s checking on the kittens. Collins abandoned us as soon as the sausage was fully cooked. He dropped everything on plates and told us to enjoy as he practically ran from the room.
We might have to wrestle the kittens away from him when the time comes to let Lacey in on their existence.
Everything I find during my internet search seems to indicate that it’s normal for omegas to have waves of heat leading up to the actual event.
There’s no way to be sure exactly when it’ll hit, but all the sources recommend giving her a safe place to nest and constant access to our pheromones to ease the transition.
Considering she’s never had a heat before, the best thing we can do is keep her comfortable and calm.
“I vaguely remember you promising to set me up with Alice so I can procure gifts for you three,” Lacey says, shoving Callum’s hand away as he wipes her mouth with a napkin. “But I’m also feeling much better today. I could probably do my shopping on my own.”
Leaving the house when a wave of heat could pop up at any moment seems like an awful plan. Not to mention, it’s completely at odds with the advice I found while researching.
Callum beats me to it, saying, “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Remember what went down at the shop yesterday?”
“Yeah, but you took care of me.” She pokes out her lower lip. “And I feel normal today.”
“You didn’t have much warning then either,” I remind her, smiling softly. My phone buzzes, lighting up with a call from Patrick O’Connor. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to take this.” Placing my hand over the screen, I attempt to block Lacey from seeing who’s calling as I shove out of my chair.
“Hey, wait, is that about Charlotte?” she asks, trying to push to her feet.
“He’ll have no way of knowing until he answers,” Callum says, and it’s weird to hear him sounding like the voice of reason. He must keep her in place because she doesn’t catch up as I stride toward my downstairs office.
I answer the call to the sounds of Lacey arguing with Callum, with Cal threatening to spank her ass if she doesn’t settle down.
“This is Wilder.”
“Do you want the good news or the questionable variety of information first?” Patrick asks.
“Just speak,” I growl, striding down the hallway and shoving my forearm against the door to my office.
“The omega you asked us to watch knows more than she’s saying.
” He hums. “I’d even go as far as to suggest she could deliver a name if she’d simply open her mouth and speak.
But alas, I’m not about tormenting obviously terrified women, so that’s going to take some time while we build up a certain level of trust.”
“Was that the good or the bad news?” I ask, kicking the door closed behind me and pacing the room.
“The other piece of information is that I got a call from Emory Moretti this morning.” Patrick laughs, and my proverbial hackles rise. “He was inquiring about how attached you are to your second. If I were you, I’d make it blatantly clear that Grim isn’t to be fucked with.”
My eyes narrow.
Christ.
The Boston syndicate always has someone looking to break the rules.
This is why we can’t have nice things. The scheming to fuck over another family is never ending… Except, my team and I are supposed to be immune—untouchable, even.
The Morettis have no reason to have it out for Grim.
And with that, it clicks.
“That means someone knows Grim murdered the assholes who attacked Lacey. What are you saying, Pat? That the dead guys’ associates reached out to the Morettis to help them gain access?”
“I mean, he didn’t say it in so many words,” Patrick says. “But yeah, that would be my first guess. Emory knows you have at least three families that would go to war if anyone attacked you. I made sure to remind him of exactly that during our chat. You can thank me later.”
“Jesus,” I mutter, shaking my head. “This is the last shit I need.”
“Especially with your pretty sister on the verge of going into heat.” Patrick laughs.
“Stepsister,” I correct, because he made it sound weird.
“Yeah, sure, right.” He continues laughing. “Anyway, if I were you, I’d put a call in to Moretti. Let him know he can hand over the interlopers or there will be problems.”
“I’ve only been at this job for three years, and I’m already ready to retire,” I say, my frustration spilling into my tone.
“Ahh, it’s not so bad,” Patrick says.
“Are Charlotte and her son okay?” I know it’ll be the first question out of Lacey’s mouth, and I’d like to be able to truthfully tell her they’re fine.
“They’re good. The boy never seems to run out of things to say, but Charlotte agreed to come with us mostly willingly.
” He chuckles. “At least, once we explained the severity of the situation. However, I’m hoping you’ll contact Moretti and handle that for all of us.
Maybe then she’ll stop planning her exit route for the second one of us falls asleep. ”
Again, I’m baffled.
How the fuck does everything become my problem to solve?
Grim comes into the office as I’m wrapping up the call with Emory Moretti. The bruises and cuts he’s been sporting since his last fight are finally almost healed, but if all goes to plan, he’ll have a few more to contend with after tonight.
“Lacey is having a fit about something,” Grim says, scratching his beard. He shrugs. “Got any idea what that’s about?”
“Shut the door,” I tell him, shoving my phone into my pocket. “We have a problem.”
“It’s always something,” he mutters, perfectly echoing my thoughts.
“You have no idea.” I exhale heavily. “I believe I have a better understanding of exactly what happened the night Lacey was attacked…” I go on to inform him that Charlotte must have, at some point in time, been tangled up with a motorcycle club out of Jacksonville.
I have no information as to why they’re now hunting her, but I feel confident that they were actually after her that night at the Christmas festival.
“Perhaps they smelled Lacey and got distracted. I have no idea, and Charlotte isn’t talking.
At least not yet, hopefully the O’Connors will be able to gain more details as she begins to trust them. ”
“They sure weren’t hard to kill for being affiliated,” Grim says, chuckling. “Point me at the others. I’ll handle them by nightfall and be back in plenty of time to cuddle up in the nest for bed.”
“Actually…” I smile tightly. “I have no interest in having the entire MC show up on our doorstep. Emory Moretti was approached by the man in charge of their Boston congregation. There are six men in town. I spoke to someone named McCarthy and explained why his men were removed from the equation—”
“What a goddamn mess,” Grim interjects.
“It is,” I agree. “But it’s not as bad as it could be. Even outlaw bikers understand the code. Their men attempted to touch something that didn’t belong to them, and they paid the price.”
“What now?”
“Lacey is probably going to be rather furious with me, but Emory Moretti negotiated on our behalf.” I swipe a hand over my face.
“You’re in the ring tonight with two of their guys.
You come out on top, and the slate is wiped clean.
You fail to hold your own…” I shrug. “They’ll probably attempt to beat you to death. ”
Grim scoffs. “You really think the others will walk away once I wipe the floor with their men?”
“If they have even an ounce of intelligence, they will, but from what we’ve seen so far from their people, I won’t be holding my breath.”