Chapter 56
Chapter Fifty-Six
Sage
Is my alpha betraying me? That scent turns my dreams into nightmares, and to smell it on my teddy bear alpha is horrifying. My omega cringes away, and my entire body starts to shake as the blood drains from his face and I lean back into Vee’s strong arms.
Is she in on it, too? What about Riley? Are they going to give me back to them now that they’ve had me?
“Shhh,” Neveah says behind me, her purr rumbling into my back. “He ran into them today, but he got rid of them. You’re safe.”
“You’re not going to give me up?” I ask, putting voice to my worst fear.
“Never,” Neveah says, her voice vehement.
Both Riley and Brooks surge toward me when I voice the question, but while Riley circles his arms around me, Brooks stops, freezing a foot away.
“I’ll be right back, Petal,” he says.
Then he disappears up the stairs, and it’s all I can do not to cry. The logical side of my brain is urging me to hear him out, but it’s the emotional side taking over. The side that’s been hurt over and over again. And that side is telling me to run, hide, make myself smaller, protect myself.
“Sweet omega, it’s going to be okay. I’ll let him tell you what happened, but please know we aren’t giving you up. It wouldn’t even cross our minds to do so.” Neveah murmurs soothing words into my hair as she holds me tight in her arms.
“Never,” Riley agrees. “Over my dead body will they get their filthy hands on you again. You’re mine, Sage. Ours.”
“That’s right. You’re ours to love. Ours to protect, care for, keep safe and happy with all the sweets and little lambs your heart desires.”
I know they’re trying to distract me, and I latch onto their words desperately.
Then Brooks comes stumbling back down the stairs with a new shirt on, and he rushes over to kneel at my feet.
“Petal,” he says, hazel eyes wide and pleading. “Can I explain?”
“Yes,” I whisper, holding his gaze.
“They saw me working across the road. Recognized me. Came over and questioned me, then scented you on me.”
My eyes widen with every word, and my heart starts to pound for a different reason. This is not the story my panicked, insecure brain concocted, but it’s almost as bad.
“Josh put his hands on me, that’s why you smelled him on my shirt.”
“He what,” Riley growls, seeming to grow six inches next to me.
“I’m fine,” Brooks says, eyes darting to Riley as he tries to give him a reassuring smile. “They made threats, but didn’t actually do anything. They thought I had Sage, but I denied it. I think the brother may have bought it, but Josh…” He shakes his head, and I already know what he’s going to say.
“Josh didn’t believe me.”
Silence descends, thick and suffocating as we all absorb what that means.
“What do we do?” Riley finally asks. “How do we make sure Sage is safe?”
“I don’t know if there’s much we can do,” Vee says. “They haven’t actually done anything, and we’ve done all we can to protect you here. I think we remain vigilant and careful, but beyond that…”
I slump, feeling defeated. They’re going to keep coming after me, keep searching for me, and I don’t want to be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life. But Vee is right. There’s nothing we can do, unless…
“Should we confront them?” I ask, irritated at how small my voice sounds.
Brooks tilts his head, and Vee hums thoughtfully.
“You know them best,” Riley says. “What would they do if you confronted them?”
I shudder. “They’d do everything they could to take me back. They’ve never cared what I want.”
“What would they do if we confronted them?” Vee asks, indicating herself and Brooks. “Or all of us as a pack?”
I consider that for a moment, but then shake my head.
“I think you guys could take them in a fight, but I don’t want it to come to that. Because it would. If they knew you had me, whether I’m there for it or not… They don’t shy away from…” I trail off, my memories attempting to suck me back into the past.
I take a deep breath, and Vee scratches her nails against my scalp, helping to ground me.
“It would turn violent, even if you tried not to let it. They revel in it, and even if you won or whatever, they’d just try again.” My head falls as I look down at my clenched fists in my lap.
“No,” I whisper. “There’s no confronting them on this.”
“Okay,” Vee says, tucking me more firmly into her arms. “Then we focus on safety and prevention. You don’t go anywhere without one of us, and in the meantime, we’ll order some extra cameras for the property. Just in case.”
That actually does make me feel better, and after a family dinner, I insist that everyone join me in the nest for the night. I want all of my pack surrounding me, so I don’t have any doubt about their safety either.
We all get up together for work the next morning, and Brooks scrambles eggs with veggies for everyone.
I think we’re all in denial about the situation confronting us, or at least I am.
We haven’t acknowledged it, but the reality is that looking over my shoulder and never going anywhere alone isn’t a long term solution.
That’s not how I want to live my life.
We all tromp out the door, but when Vee turns around to lock it, she gasps.
Then she dives for me, attempting to block my view with her body, but it’s too late. I stare at the front of our house. At the vile words spray-painted across it.
OMEGA WHORE. YOU DONT BELONG HERE.
“What the fuck,” Riley whispers.
It’s not only words on the wall and door, though. When I look to the porch swing where I like to curl up and read sometimes, there’s what might be a knife and big X’s painted on it.
“Call the sheriff,” Vee says to Riley, then she turns to Brooks. “Can you stay here today?”
“Already on it,” Brooks says, his phone in his hand as his fingers fly across the screen.
“What can I do?” I ask, my eyes frantic as I spin around, looking for a way to make myself useful.
“Sheriff is on his way,” Riley says, then he hesitates before speaking again. “Do you think… Did they do anything else?”
“The shop?” Vee says.
“My lambs!”
I take off at a sprint, cutting across the rows of lavender like I’m running hurdles as my heart nearly pounds out of my chest, and then barreling through the grassy field as I head for the barn.
“Sage!” Brooks yells behind me, but even his clear distress isn’t enough to stop me.
If Steve or Josh are still here, I’d rather they hurt me than my baby sheep.
I burst through the gate, leaving it swinging behind me, and my fingers fumble as I unlock the side door to the barn.
“Daisy?” I call as I enter, my voice desperate. “Bramble!”
An excited bleat meets my ears, and then Daisy is pushing into my hand, nosing for snacks. Bramble saunters over behind her and allows me to scoop her into my arms.
“Oh my god,” I say, crashing to my knees in the hay. “You’re okay. You’re both okay.”
I rock her back and forth, but Bramble quickly loses patience and starts squirming, then nips at me to let her go.
I scoop Daisy into my arms just as Brooks makes it to the door behind me, huffing and puffing.
“You can’t… run off… like that,” he says, gasping between words. “Might not… be safe!”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, looking up at him as I stand with Daisy cuddled to my chest. “I had to make sure they were okay.”
Brooks scoops me into his arms in turn, and we’re like a massive snowman of alpha, omega, lamb piled on top of one another.
He buries his nose in my neck, inhaling my scent, and Daisy takes the opportunity to nibble at the hair that’s escaped from his bun.
Then he shuffles me until he can hold me against him with one arm to pull out his phone, tapping it quickly.
“I got her,” Brooks says. “She’s fine.”
I can hear Riley’s sigh of relief in the background as Neveah says, “Might be best to keep her back there for a bit.”
“What does that mean?” I ask, raising my voice to be heard.
A moment of silence greets me, then Vee speaks again. “A warning next time I’m on speaker would be great, big guy.”
Brooks grimaces. “Yeah, sorry about that.”
Vee sighs. “They hit the shop, too. Just graffiti on the outside, though. No actual damage. Riley is going to check the community garden. The barn and lambs are okay?”
I didn’t actually stop to check the outside, so I shrug when Brooks looks to me for confirmation.
“The babies are good,” I say, as Brooks turns—still with me in his arms—to check the outside. “And it looks like the outside is clear. They must not have come this far onto the property.”
“Thank goodness for that,” Vee says. “We’ll pick up those cameras today. Motion sensor ones that can notify us if anyone’s here.”