13. Liam
CHAPTER 13
Liam
Two cops, huh? Well, it wouldn’t be the first time the Valor pack would be forced to remove two asshole cops in one way or another. I’d rather have their hearts than their badges because there was no fucking way I was going to let them try to force Lucy to do anything ever again.
Her skin was finally cooling down, but I couldn’t let go of her. Not when her nose was buried in my neck.
Even if it hadn’t been, I wouldn’t have been able to let go.
This was something else, wasn’t it?
I was supposed to be a fucking legacy alpha, but I’d nearly lost control tonight for the first time in my life. Her scent – fuck me , I’d never smelled anything like it. She was asleep at least, so it wasn’t as bad as it had been earlier, but my entire goddamn body was aching.
It wasn’t just my dick either, but my teeth .
Pressing down on her neck to force her even closer only helped a little. No one would be able to see her neck with my entire hand around it like this.
The smell of black currants reminded me of the end of summer, just before fall came with its golden leaves and cinnamon apples…
If I buried my nose in her hair like I wanted to, I was going to fucking lose it.
I’d never felt this unhinged before. Every single part of me wanted to tie her down and mark every fucking inch of her body. I wanted to drown her in my scent and feast on her – see if her blood tasted as sweet as her scent…
God, I wanted to rip her apart and burrow deep inside her.
Fuck .
When the hell was Cassius going to get back?
The door opened and my sanity just evaporated . The low growl that escaped me was a warning – one my pheromones would follow through with. If someone wanted to challenge me?—
“Liam, it’s me,” Cas murmured, his raspy voice soft enough it was actually a bit hard to hear him. “Frankie’s finishing up with the last one for the day.”
I didn’t want that alpha anywhere near Lucy right now even though I’d promised…I’d promised to let her go.
No, I couldn’t do that.
The last time I’d let her go, she’d fucking disappeared and I hadn’t been able to find a single trace of her. Years and years of searching. So much fucking agony every time it rained…and yet, she loved rainy days. How fucking typical.
Did she like them because she was glad I left?
It was so hard to read her sometimes. She hadn’t looked even a little bit sad when I’d told her I had to leave.
Had she thought about me at all since that day?
“Fuck, Liam, I need you to calm down.”
I glared at Cassius, my entire body tensing as I waited to see what the other alpha would do about this new situation.
“What is with you and this omega?” Cas demanded. He crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow, not exactly challenging, but definitely being a giant pain in the ass. “Is it just her pheromones? ”
“And if it was?” I pressed her head to my chest, covering her ear with my other hand to soften the noise so we wouldn’t wake her up.
“I don’t know.” Cas sat down on the couch beside me, every movement slow and careful. “You’re acting like a jealous alpha though. What exactly do you have to be worried about?”
I slid my gaze to the other alpha and tried to decide whether I should tell him or not – wondering why it didn’t bother me that he was so fucking close to her, reaching for her.
Cas gently untied her shoelaces before sliding one sneaker off at a time. It was such a careful, calculated movement that she didn’t even stir.
“You like her scent, don’t you?” I gritted my teeth when Cas looked up at me through that dark hair of his, those blue eyes fucking glowing . “You’re doing a better job of containing yourself than I am. Maybe you should be the one holding her.”
“ No .”
Cas’s response was a little too forceful and I raised an eyebrow, wondering why the fuck not.
The other alpha sighed and tucked her shoes under the couch before leaning back to stare up at the ceiling. “She doesn’t like me. Pretty sure she’s still trying to prove I murdered your brother, and she’ll find…other shit, if she digs too deep. It’s not a good idea.”
“So, not because you don’t want to.” I smiled slightly and finally gave in to the urge to bury my nose in her hair, breathing her scent in deep until she was the only thing that existed.
It wasn’t just her pheromones that had me ready to lose my fucking mind. No, watching her freak out like that had been more than I could take. The need to fix it had pushed at me until I’d nearly ruined everything and called her by her old name just to get her to fucking relax.
For a brief moment, I’d panicked, wondering if she was in heat, but it had been something else – something that made me want to hunt down those cops, and every single doctor she’d ever seen who’d told her she was defective.
Lucy wasn’t defective, she was perfect.
She just hadn’t been born to please other alphas. Lucy was born to be mine and in her own way…she’d waited for me, just like I’d asked.
I forced myself to hold as still as possible so I didn’t try to touch even more of her. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
“Don’t worry, I have no plans to challenge you for her,” Cas muttered.
“I don’t give a fuck about that.” I didn’t exactly understand why, but it was fine if Cas touched her. Even the idea of giving her to him so I wouldn’t lose control wasn’t making me blind with fury. “When you were doing your background check, did you find anything else on Lucille Parker?”
“There was nothing suspicious about her past, so I didn’t look deeper. Should I?”
I slid my gaze to the side to see Cas doing the same thing, watching me out of the corner of his eye like he didn’t trust me not to fucking lose it and do something ridiculous like murder everyone still in this building so they’d never be able to scent her. Alphas, betas – it didn’t matter.
The only reason I hadn’t was because Cassius was by my side, and just like always, he knew exactly how unhinged I was feeling. He’d somehow picked up on the fact that his presence might not be enough this time.
Not when I had something so incredibly precious to protect.
“Cas…do you remember that girl I told you about?”
“The one you’ve spent the last fifteen years looking for? How could I forget?”
Cas and I stared at each other for a moment, both of us wary and suddenly, I couldn’t hold his gaze anymore. This wasn’t some small confession. This was going to change everything .
Or maybe nothing .
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Cas demanded, lurching forward to get a better look at her.
“I swear to god, if you wake her up, I’m going to kill you.”
“How?” Cas slid off the couch to kneel in front of me, looking up at her with narrowed eyes. “You’ve known this whole time?”
“Since I saw her shoes after she ran into me in the elevator.” It was fucking impossible not to smile when I remembered the feeling that had swept through me at the sight of them. “But she doesn’t remember me.”
“I find that hard to believe, considering.” Cas waved his hand, indicating the way she slept so peacefully while curled up in my arms. “She’s also a fucking genius, how could she forget?”
“I was fourteen when I saw her last.” God, I’d really found her, hadn’t I? She was here, in my arms. Alive. “Lucy has partial face blindness and isn’t great with names. Plus, we were so young. Neither of us had settled into our designation before I had to leave for school and my mother had all records of my attendance wiped.”
“Jesus.” Cas sat back on his heels and ran his hand through his hair. “Are you going to tell her?”
“Maybe after she finds Gideon’s killer.” I slid my fingers through her hair, unable to resist anymore. The soft noise she made at my touch made me fucking melt. Did she really have to be so fucking cute all the time?
“Lee,” Cas hesitated and then stood, shaking his head. “I can’t be in this room anymore. Her scent is too strong.”
“Not mine?” I gave my best friend and partner a lazy grin before sliding my hand back to expose part of her neck. “I’ve covered her in my pheromones. You don’t mind?”
Somehow, those psychotic blue eyes got even brighter and Cas looked like he wanted to fucking kill me. “I always thought your scent was a little bland for a legacy alpha and now I know why. ”
“Oh? Why is that?” I couldn’t help but angle her head just a little, exposing her throat to the other alpha, just to see what he would do.
Cas leaned forward and planted his hands on either side of me, staring into my eyes with the same kind of intensity he’d been staring at Lucy with not that long ago and just like that, the sharp scent of apples, cedar, and moss joined mine.
“Her scent is just as strong as yours,” Cas noted, glancing down to see how she was reacting to the shift in pheromones. “Like she wants me to choke on it.”
“She probably does, knowing her.” Lucy was the kind of person who would definitely wield her omega pheromones like a weapon, and I really hoped I’d get to see that for myself sooner rather than later. “But I’m not sure what her scent has to do with me.”
Cas didn’t hold back this time. He released the rest of his pheromones and I grinned when they tried to force me to submit, but we both knew I never would. This fucked-up game we played would never have a winner, but we still liked playing it anyway.
“It’s almost like her scent was created to enhance yours. It’s a little disgusting if I’m being honest.”
My grin widened and I released her neck completely. “Jealous?”
Lucy made a small noise of protest and Cas instantly fixated on her bare neck. There was a flash of hunger in his eyes before he tried to shut it down, but I wasn’t playing this game by myself today.
No, he had to suffer just as much as I was.
Grabbing his wrist, I set his hand on Lucy’s neck where mine had been, refusing to let him go until I knew he wouldn’t pull away.
“Don’t do anything too rash,” I warned. “You might just wake her up and I already told you what I would do if that happened. ”
“This is dangerous,” Those psychotic blue eyes were flashing at me now. “She doesn’t like me.”
“Your scent doesn’t seem to be bothering her. If anything, her fever has gone down a bit more since you got back.” It was impossible not to look down and see how she was doing with the new change.
Her arms were still around my neck and she seemed so content and peaceful that it eased some of my lingering rage.
I would take care of everything once I knew she was okay. Until then, the rest of the world would have to wait.
“Liam, what the fuck am I supposed to do now?” Cas gritted out, looking uncomfortable as hell in this awkward position.
Seeing him like this was pleasing. Having such a dangerous alpha hovering over us meant nothing could get to her without going through my guard dog first, and that eased some more of the stress and anxiety I felt every time I considered what another alpha might do with such a potent omega scent.
“Take her.” Cas looked at me liked I’d lost my fucking mind and it was just too amusing not to push him as close to the edge as I could. “If you don’t, I’ll end up sleeping here with her all night and someone is going to find us. When that happens?—”
“ Fine .” He slid an arm under her knees and lifted her like it was nothing, keeping his hand on her neck. “You’re such a fucking asshole.”
“Yes, I am, and we both know I need to calm down before I speak with Frankie. So, do me a favor and get ready to take her to the house. I’ll call the pack doctor and have him take a look at her. Then we’ll get this shit with those cops sorted tomorrow.”
Cas gave me a look as I crossed one leg over the other and pulled out my phone to set the air cleaners to the highest setting.
“Why are you giving her to me? I told you, she doesn’t like me and I know how fucking possessive you are. Is this some kind of a test? ”
“Of course, but probably not the one you think it is.” It was a test for me – to see exactly how far this oddity could go before I lost my shit.
Cas and I have had a mostly platonic bond for years. He was one of the only people in the world who could withstand the full strength of my pheromones. He’d never be stronger than me, but I’ve never been able to force him to his knees either.
I really liked that about him.
And no one else could accept that Cas had the strength of a legacy alpha without the name or eyes to match. He came from a normal family – well, normal in the sense that his mother was a beta and his father was a pretty average alpha.
Cas was stronger than most legacy alphas though, including Gideon, but he had this psycho little trick that was probably the only reason he was still alive. At some point, Cas had figured out how to hold in his scent and pheromones no matter what he was thinking or feeling.
Even during his rut, he kept it contained until he was somewhere it wouldn’t leak through the cracks and hit someone on accident.
He’d tried to teach me how, but I’ve never been as good at it as he was. I’d been improving though, at least, until Lucy had showed back up in my life to set off every fucking instinct I possessed.
Despite that ass on her and her height, this omega of mine looked tiny in my guard dog’s arms. Together they looked…perfect.
His dark hair complemented hers, and she held onto his shirt, content to use his chest as a pillow. Lucy even turned her face into it as she sighed, adjusting to the shift without waking up. The girl was completely knocked out.
She must have been exhausted.
Her pheromones were still strong, but they no longer exuded fear and pain. She was relaxed and content, even with Cas .
Tucking my hands in my pants pockets, I considered the two of them and my strange lack of jealousy and rage when it came to Cassius. She was mine whether she knew it or not, but so was Cas. I’d never let him run off with someone else, but this? This might work.
“This is a bad idea,” Cas muttered, but he couldn’t look away from her.
She looked like a delicate little flower in his arms. Brute strength surrounded her, and he was desperately trying not to crush or bruise her, but Cassius couldn’t stop himself from gently sliding his thumb along her jaw, tilting her chin up slightly so he could see her face.
It was too much to resist.
Pushing off the couch, I closed the distance between us and hooked a finger in Cas’s belt loop, pulling him closer.
Between the two of us, nothing could touch her.
“Any idea who murdered my brother?” I tucked her hair behind her ear and slid my thumb over the tiny earrings that went all the way up the shell of her ear.
“It could be anyone,” Cas admitted, his gaze following the path of my hand as I checked her neck for any sign of a bond. “But she noticed his wedding ring was missing. No one seems to know where it went.”
“Interesting.”
There were no signs of a bond. Nothing new or old, but there were scars on her neck, hidden under the spider lily tattoos. Gently brushing her hair away, I could see the ink went down her spine, disappearing beneath her shirt.
“As soon as we get home, pull all her medical records. I want everything you can find, including the names of the doctors and specialists. If you find any sign of malpractice, incompetence, or discrimination…”
“I’ll take care of it,” Cas promised, adjusting his hold on her so she was a bit higher. Then he grabbed me by the back of my neck with his free hand and yanked me closer, those psychotic blue eyes flashing in challenge. “What game are you playing here, Liam?”
Giving him a lazy grin, I leaned in closer, holding his waist to press him against me. “You look so pretty when you take care of her. I couldn’t resist.”
“Why are you like this?” Cas tried to shove me away, but I had no intention of moving just yet, and no one on this fucking planet could make me do anything I didn’t want to.
Except, maybe her.
“You’re holding my heart in your arms, Cassius, and I don’t want to kill you. Don’t you find that interesting?” I sure did. This was a fucking miracle considering how possessive legacy alphas were. “Do you remember the last person who tried to hurt you?”
Lucy would never hurt Cas, not on purpose.
Even if she did, I’d probably forgive her.
But the last one? I grinned and released him. “If you thought I’d let you live your own life, Cas, you’re delusional. Don’t ever forget, you belong to me.”
Waving a hand, I headed toward the doors, reeling in my pheromones as I went.
Getting these two back home was going to be a fucking nightmare, but I would allow nothing else. The apartment I’d broken into earlier wasn’t secure enough for something as precious as my omega.
It hadn’t been easy to see how intertwined her life was with another alpha’s. Scenting how well her black currants mixed with Frankie’s tangerines had put me on edge, but I’d left without leaving a trace.
No, I’d just taken something to ease some of the pain she’d caused without even realizing.
Lucy had disappeared from my world, making it impossible to find her like I’d promised I would. Yeah, Frankie had done well over the last fifteen years, but she wasn’t Lucy’s alpha. She couldn’t help her the way I could .
The way Cassius could.
Hopefully, Frankie would understand, because if I had to go to war with a Lopez, I would without hesitation. I didn’t give a fuck about the press or the political ramifications.
Lucy was mine and there was no reason to hold back anymore.