Chapter 18
18
Kellan
Calla had caught a ride home with Joel, and the quiet that filled the car on the way home was eating me alive. The tension in the pack bond was making me edgy, and by the time we arrived home and ate a quick dinner, it was crackling around us like a live wire.
We were trying to pretend things were normal, but it was a shitty fucking act since we’d all felt Jude’s bolt of alarm when he was back with the doctor and Hazel. Learning our girl had some weird piece of metal shoved inside her arm wasn’t doing us any favors, and Hazel had been weirdly withdrawn since leaving the lab.
“Movie?” Jude suggested, leaning a hip against the kitchen island as Rhett and I finished washing up. Crew and Hazel were seated at the island, watching us with tired eyes.
Rhett shrugged and put a glass in the dishwasher before using his foot to lift the lid to close it. “Sure.”
“What sounds good to you, babe?” Crew asked, rubbing Hazel’s back.
Her shoulders lifted a smidge. “I think I’m going to go upstairs and put away some of the clothes we bought. At least I can organize some of the chaos in my life.”
Crew flinched. “Haze.”
She dropped her head into her palms and sighed. “I know we’re going to figure it out, but right now, I just need to do something kind of mindless.” She slipped off the stool and froze when all four of us moved to follow her like the tides followed the moon.
“Actually, I’d kinda like to be alone.” Her words were so soft, so hesitant, that it damn near broke my heart.
“Of course.” Crew was the first to recover. “We’ll check on you in a bit, baby.”
Rhett cleared his throat. “If that’s all right.”
Hazel nodded and ducked her head as she silently padded out of the kitchen. Every instinct in my blood was roaring for me to go to her. To find out what was wrong so I could fix it or kill it.
Jude glanced around at us. “So… movie?”
I scoffed. “Don’t think a movie’s gonna cut it.”
Crew rubbed his jaw, the stubble rasping under his palm. “I fucking hate this.”
“We all do,” Rhett murmured, drawing Jude to his chest.
I watched Jude melt into Rhett, turning his face toward the alpha for a slow kiss. Sometimes I wished I had someone the way they did. Rhett and Jude had each other and Crew had his family, which meant I occasionally felt like the outsider in the pack.
“Did Dr. Abernathy say anything else about what she thought the implant might be?” Crew pressed, looking at Jude.
Jude shook his head. “No. Hazel and I both told you everything she said. We’ll have to wait for their report.”
“I hate waiting,” I grumbled while leaning back on the counter and folding my arms.
“We’re aware,” Jude replied dryly.
I flipped him off. Fucker.
“I took a picture of the implant,” Jude added.
Crew’s spine went straight. “Can I see it?”
Jude pulled his phone out of his back pocket and slid it across the island to Crew, who easily unlocked the phone. We’d stopped giving a shit about things like privacy when we’d become a pack.
I stepped around the island, hovering over Crew’s shoulder to see the small device. Honestly, I didn’t know what it should’ve looked like if it was a normal birth control thing. I moved away as Crew gave Jude his phone.
“What about asking Bowen’s hacker friend if he knows anything about it?” I suggested.
“That’s a good idea,” Crew agreed with a nod.
Rhett rubbed the back of his neck. “We owe him a huge thanks. Without his help, we might have been delayed getting to Hazel.”
Silence filled the space between us, all of us battling the mental images of what could have happened to our girl if we’d been any later.
My hands curled into fists, reminding me that we needed to ask Hazel which room we could convert into a home gym for moments like this .
The sharp ring of a phone startled us all out of our thoughts, our attention trained on Crew as he grabbed his phone and answered it with a brusque, “Dutton.”
I went over to stand near Jude and Rhett, watching for any signs of the conversation Crew was having.
It was pointless—Crew Dutton was a fucking vault when it came to emotions. He could teach a master class on the art of the poker face. It was something that came in handy in the field.
“I understand. Thank you,” Crew muttered before hanging up and exhaling hard.
Jude broke first. “Who was that?”
“Omega Services,” Crew replied, lifting his head. Fire filled his blue eyes as he pushed away from the island and stood. “They’ve officially granted us permission to bond Hazel.”
“Holy shit.” The words left my mouth in a rush as I felt my knees get a little wobbly.
Jude grinned and spun to crush Rhett in a hug.
“She’s ours,” Crew whispered, sounding awed.
“About fucking time,” Rhett said with a grin.
Jude let out a whoop that echoed off the high ceilings. “Let’s go tell her.”
“Wait,” Crew called out, halting the celebration. “We’re aware this changes everything, right?”
“Obviously,” I retorted, aching to go and claim Hazel.
Ours. She was ours for the rest of our lives.
It was about damn time.
“I have our resignation letter drafted,” Crew went on. “I planned on all of us talking about it to make sure it was still what all of you wanted.”
Jude’s lips flattened. “I think you know where I stand. The bureau can fuck all the way off.”
“Agreed,” Rhett added.
Crew looked at me. “Being an agent was all you talked about in college, bro.”
“It was,” I admitted, “but my dreams changed the moment I laid eyes on Hazel. She’s the dream now.”
“Okay.” Crew nodded and looked relieved.
“Are you good with this?” I asked him. Crew was the type of leader who would smother his own emotions for the good of the pack, but we didn’t need that type of secret amongst us, eating away like a festering sore.
“I spoke with my dads today and they’d like to hire our pack to run security for their omega foundation,” Crew answered. “I think it’s the best move for our pack. And, yes, that includes Hazel. As long as I have her and you guys, I’m good.”
“Then send the email and make it official,” Jude said, practically vibrating with excitement.
Crew chuckled and scrolled through his phone. He tapped a few keys and then tossed the phone on the island. “Done. We’re officially unemployed.”
Unemploymented had never felt so freeing.
“Now can we go get our girl?” Jude demanded.
I was already heading for Hazel’s room when I heard Crew’s yes.