Chapter Seventeen
Carl
I hadn’t thought anything of it the first time I called Gwyn and she didn’t answer. I figured she was busy and either didn’t have her phone on her or hadn’t felt it vibrating.
But when I hadn’t seen or heard from her thirty minutes later, and she didn’t answer again, the worry got to me.
I ran to the café, my heart pounding as different scenarios played out in my head. Each one was more ridiculous than the last, and while I could realize that, it didn’t stop them from continuing.
As soon as I turned the corner around The Hangout I saw her on the pavement. While seeing her upright quieted some of the fear, the way she sat motionless, staring at the ground in front of her despite the heat of the sun shining down, had me running faster.
“Gwyn? Gwyn, are you okay?”
I’d had enough mental health issues of my own, I was scared to touch her in case it triggered the wrong response, so all I could do was drop to my knees in front of her and duck to look into her face.
There were no tear tracks, and her nose wasn’t red. There wasn’t any hint of blood on her clothing or in the air around her, and she seemed to be breathing easily, so I had no clues to work with.
“Gwyn, Beautiful, what’s wrong?”
Her head slowly lifted, and she blinked as if just realizing I was there. There was no hint of expression on her face, but her eyes were dark, as if with pain, even when her lips twitched the tiniest bit.
“Nothing. Everything. I fucked up, but it’ll be taken care of soon.”
There was such hopelessness in her voice it felt like a blow to my chest, a band wrapping around my heart and lungs and squeezing. My bear dug his claws into my insides, demanding I fix what was wrong, but I still had no idea what to do.
“What happened? What can I do?”
Her lips pulled higher, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes as she let out a huff.
“My son came by. He smelled my heat coming. He’s going to tell the other alphas my mate was associated with, and I’ll be put in my place soon enough. They’ll take the café from me, or make me run it their way once I’m claimed and bonded again, since an omega isn’t capable of doing anything on their own.”
“Bullshit.”
She jerked when I spit the word out, although I thought I saw a spark of something in her eyes, and a purr poured from me without thought.
“You’re capable of doing anything you want. You’ve bought two pieces of property, investing the money you had in a way to continue providing for yourself, as well as bringing value to the community. You’ve come up with a plan, made repairs and renovations, and you knew when to ask for the help you needed. You’re so close to the finish line, to getting what you’ve wanted, and you’ve done it all on your own.”
I carefully took her hands in mine, watching for any signs that my touch made her uncomfortable, but she remained relaxed, staring into my eyes as if she needed my words more than she needed her next breath.
“Omegas could rule the world if alphas would just get out of their way, and probably do a better job of it. Our aggression gets in the way of logic sometimes. There’s nothing you can’t do.”
I’d thought I was saying the right thing when she’d huffed a laugh and color returned to her cheeks, but then tears gathered along her lashes and panic gripped my insides.
“I can’t stop them from claiming me.”
Her broken whisper tore at something inside, cracking open that dark void I kept locked away. My bear roared, turning my purr into a rough growl that filled the area around us as black claws extended from my fingertips.
Gwyn’s eyes went wide, the tears spilling over, but she didn’t try to pull away from me. I wasn’t sure I could handle thinking she was scared of me, so I tried to rein it in.
“I won’t let anything happen to you.”
The words were hard to make out through the battle I was having with my animal side. I thought I saw another spark in her eyes before it went out and she ducked her head.
“This isn’t something you can prevent. They’re going to come for me, and I won’t have a choice. If I fight, they’ll just take me back and lock me up until I go into heat. It’s getting close. And once I do, I won’t even want to stop them until it’s too late.”
My arms rippled with fur, muscles bulging as my bear tried to take over. He was sure Gwyn was ours, was ready to claim our omega before anyone else could, and he didn’t care about consent or permission. She liked us enough to let me have her the day before, and that was good enough for him.
I clenched my jaw, teeth gritting as I struggled to stay in control. I didn’t want to scare her, but I was going to if my bear won.
“Gwyn.”
I reached out, careful of my claws, and put one finger under her chin to force her to look up at me.
“I can protect you from that, too.”
I felt the way she trembled as she met my eyes. I knew they would be glowing orange with how close my bear was to the surface, but I was more worried about her running from me because of what I’d suggested.
She wanted freedom.
Independence.
She wanted to prove she could make it on her own, and I believed whole-heartedly that she could.
But I was suggesting she willingly give up her independence before it was forcibly taken from her by the alphas she feared. I might not have been a complete stranger, but she didn’t know me well.
The Gwyn I had met at the bar would have rejected the idea immediately.
Would have forced me out of her life for suggesting it.
But the scared omega kneeling before me hesitated, chewing on her bottom lip because she didn’t want to accept, but thought she might not have any other option.
And that wasn’t how I wanted her to agree to take my bite.
“We could disappear. I could take you out to the mountains, too far from anything for them to find you. I know a place where you would be safe.”
She drew in a breath and lifted her head, letting it out in a slow stream as she seemed to pull herself together before shaking her head.
“I’d have to stay hidden forever and give up everything I’ve been working on. I wouldn’t be able to see my sons—Son.”
My heart broke over the way she stopped and corrected herself. I knew how hard it could be to cut off family, even when they’d hurt you.
“We could go there and wait out your heat at least? Buy you some time?”
She shook her head again, and the Gwyn I knew started to appear.
“It wouldn’t matter. They’d wait until I returned and then lock me away until the next. And it wouldn’t be safe for you. They’re part of the Purists, and they’d use any connection to me as a reason to go after you.”
For a moment I was stunned. The Purists were our greatest enemy, yet the mate of one of them had slipped into our community without any of us knowing.
Suspicion tried to take over, clouding my thoughts, but my bear forced it aside. I’d seen the fear responses, the trauma Gwyn delt with, and that couldn’t be faked. Even if it would be smarter to distance myself from anything to do with the radical group, there was no way I could push Gwyn out of my life.
Chuckling, I forced the same smile I used any other time I was trying to hide the dark shit messing with my head.
“They have way more reason to go after me than just being associated with you, Beautiful. I clearly remember laying waste to one of their warehouses before the cops showed up to rescue some unfortunate women not too long ago. On top of some other incidents we may have had with them this year.”
Her mouth popped open, brown eyes rounding.
“The motorcycles! You’re in that MC?”
There may have been a bit of guilt mixed in with the pride. I wasn’t someone to take a life lightly, but those men had been holding kidnapped omegas. Some had done the worst things to them, and I couldn’t muster up an ounce of regret over what I’d done that night.
“I am. We’re Hell’s Knights, so let me be your Knight. Even if I’m missing the armor.”
It was a corny line, but it got her to smile, and that was all that mattered.
“My knight with benefits.”
That got me grinning, and I finally relaxed as I realized the worst had passed. She was going to be okay.
I’d make sure of it.