Chapter 3
Prodigy
“Tyb, what the fuck?” I demanded when he came running from the direction of the dock to where we’d parked our bikes, the omega passed out in his arms. “I told you to look after her.”
“Take it up with Sweetie,” he growled, surprisingly angry.
I shouldn’t have been surprised—I knew what he’d been through.
But they were both part of the Alpha Knights MC, both under my care and command, and I had no idea how the fuck I would soothe these tempers.
I understood the choice Sweetie had made.
There was no world that existed where he’d leave ChaCha, not a year ago and certainly not after ChaCha was kidnapped by the darkest, most degenerate men and abused for days on end.
But I understood Tyb’s rage too, and how close his memories must be to the surface, how just the sight of a rejected mate must rake up his trauma.
I sighed, dragged a hand through my messy hair, and nodded. “Get her on a bike. And I mean it, Tybalt. Take care of her.”
His glare was a challenge, but I allowed it because he was right. Of course I knew he’d look after her, and repeating the order was unnecessary. But seeing anyone in this state got my hackles up, and triggered every last one of my protective instincts.
I wouldn’t lose anyone else to a sadistic, monstrous alpha. It was what drove me on every raid, what had pushed me to create the Alpha Knights in the first place. We couldn’t save everyone, and deep down I knew it, but fuck that. No one I took into my care would die.
Not again.
I opened my mouth to tell Tyb to stop pacing because it was driving me mad, but the omega came violently awake.
She threw a fist at my face so fast I had just enough time to catch it, alpha reflexes saving me from a broken nose.
My thumb stroked the warm silk of her hand of its own accord as I lowered it back to her side.
I smoothed a frown from my face, keeping my expression neutral as I released her hand, anticipating more blows. The small touch was confusing, especially because I wanted to do it again.
Her scent was pleasant—more than pleasant, she smelled good, a calming mix of lily, mint, and fresh laundry, and my base instincts wanted me closer.
They urged me to inhale right over her throat where the scent was the strongest. It wasn’t the first time I’d had this response to a scent, but this was…
stronger. Compelling. Strangely reminiscent of meeting Tyb for the first time.
“You’re okay, you’re safe,” I told her, giving her space as she came fully awake, her mouth in a flat line that warned me to be careful.
Any alpha who thought omegas were weak and harmless had never truly met one; they were fierce, dangerous creatures who could take down a massive alpha given enough determination.
I’d seen it happen. “Do you remember me from the house in Liverpool? I’m Prodigy, president of the—”
“Leather wearing boy band,” she cut in dryly, pushing herself into a seated position on the sofa Tyb laid her on in the eastern wing of the clubhouse. “Yeah, I remember. Where’s the unfriendly bastard?”
“Pacing a hole in the carpet over there,” I replied, amusement smoothing the tension from my smile until it was genuine. “We held off getting you checked over by our medic; letting some random guy assess you while you were unconscious didn’t seem like a good way to earn your trust.”
“No shit,” she muttered, rubbing her eyes, her skin a beautiful, lustrous gold but her face almost wan, dull.
Her eyes—a remarkable shade of forest green—were flat and heavy despite the humour in her voice.
Part of me didn’t want to know what had happened to her in that pristine, minimalist apartment, but the rest of me needed to know so I could make a care plan for her.
So I knew how badly she’d been hurt, what kind of recovery she needed, and whether she needed to be ensconced in the sanctuary and left alone immediately.
She should have been in the sanctuary now, and would have been if not for Tyb’s sudden burst of possessiveness.
“Can we bring our medic in now?” I tried to catch her eye, and earned myself a glare.
“Do I have a say in it, or are you just humouring me?” She cast a glare around the living room, from its red velvet curtains, the matching damask wallpaper that had started peeling at the edges, to the frilly lampshades casting the cosy room in amber shades.
Five bookcases lined the opposite wall, stacked edge to edge, and beside them a table was piled with a dozen well-loved board games.
This was one of my favourite rooms in the clubhouse, but the omega assessed it with derision.
“I can’t help but notice you’ve abducted me to your high-security prison despite me saying, multiple times, I was going home. ”
“Home, where you’ll be grabbed off the street again?
” Tybalt demanded, stalking closer, waves of aggression pouring off him.
I shot him a warning look. His body language read as threatening, his energy dangerous.
The omega wouldn’t know he was furious on her behalf, riding a protective edge as he battled his own trauma.
It had taken a serious amount of coaxing to get him off his bike, let alone for him to release his arms from around her so she could be set on the couch.
“Home, where those bastards are probably watching, waiting to see if you’ll go back? ”
Her face lost more colour, panic brightening her eyes. “I need to call my mum. If they get her—”
“She’s more than welcome to come here,” I offered, patting my pockets until I found my phone. “Here, call her.” I unlocked it and handed it over, finding the omega’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.
“My mum’s too headstrong to leave her own home,” she said, her voice tight with the same distrust. “But I’ll call her. Thanks.”
It sounded like it cost her to thank me, so I just nodded and headed for the door to get Giant to check her over. I turned in the doorway and gave Tyb a hard look. “Be nice.”
Before he could respond, the omega snorted. “That’s like asking a fish to fly.”
“Flying fish exist,” Tybalt fired back, his voice a mix of growling alpha rage and usual Tyb smartassery. “Just saying.”
She gave him her middle finger without looking his way.
I left them to it; she could handle him. Might even be more than he could handle. I smiled at that. It wasn’t often Tybalt met someone who threw his attitude right back to him.