Chapter 22
Wren
“Is there a problem, officer?” I’m startled awake by Maverick’s curt but polite voice.
Officer?
My head shoots up, and I look around wildly. I’m still being held by Brennan, but now we’re in front of the cabin, next to Maverick’s Range Rover.
I look to the other side, and see a police car stopped in front of the house, the passenger side window rolled down. The officer is looking at my guys suspiciously, that is, until his eyes land on me.
“We’re responding to a call from a concerned hiker…” the officer says slowly, a frown forming on his face. “They heard a screaming woman down by the lake, but when we drove by it was deserted. We were just doing a quick run around the block to double check.”
Shit. A woman screaming? That was me, but I wasn’t screaming, I was laughing.
The officer glances down at something in his lap before he looks back at me. “Ma’am? Is everything alright here? Is this your pack?”
“I—yes, of course,” I nod, my voice squeaking.
I scramble out of Brennan’s hold, but when I hit the ground, I realize I’m not wearing any shoes.
Before I can say a word, Ethan drops to his knees, sliding my shoes on for me.
“Thank you,” I whisper, and he nods before standing again, wiping his pants off.
“Yes, officer, this is my pack.” I take a step forward, hoping to hell the officer doesn’t recognize me as I pull my towel tight.
Anxiety spikes in my chest as I speak to these unknown men, but I can’t let my pack get in trouble.
“And that was us down by the lake. I wasn’t screaming though, I was laughing.
I’m so sorry for any trouble I’ve caused. ”
“What were you doing by the lake at this time of year?” The officer in the driver’s seat leans over, looking at us. “The water must have been pretty cold.”
“It was,” I can’t help the grin that pulls at my lips, “but we were on a date. We don’t live here, we’re on…vacation.”
“Vacation.” The officer on the passenger side repeats, and I nod. He looks at me again before glancing down into his lap yet again.
“Yep,” Brennan answers, putting a hand on my shoulder. “This is my buddy’s cabin. We’re just here for a quick little getaway.”
The officers exchange a glance before nodding. “Would you guys mind if we came in for a minute to ask a few questions? We just need to follow up on the whole…screaming thing.”
Teddy grumbles behind me, but Ethan elbows him, hissing, “If we turn them away it’ll look like we’re hiding something.”
“Not a problem,” Maverick says easily. “Is it alright if these two,” he motions to Brennan and me, “get cleaned up real quick? As you know, they were at the lake and we don’t want to get the furniture dirty.”
The one in the passenger seat looks hesitant. “It won’t take long.”
“I know,” Maverick winces apologetically, “but besides the whole furniture thing, our omega…she’s still pretty sandy. You know how omegas are about irritating textures.”
The officers exchange a look before the one on the driver’s side lets out an exasperated sigh and puts the car in park. “Fine. Just make it quick.”
Brennan nods once, leading me into the house while the rest of the guys wait for the officers. He hurries me into the bedroom, shutting the door behind us.
“Wren, I need you to listen to me very, very carefully.” His voice is low as he grasps my shoulders, looking into my eyes.
“We’re lucky they let us back here, they really shouldn’t have.
Whatever you do, do not admit who you really are.
Your family is dangerous. For all we know, these guys are working for them. ”
“My parents don’t work with police officers.” I wrinkle my nose. I would know if they did.
He shakes his head. “No, I mean…they have half the police-force in a hundred-mile radius in their pockets. The best we can hope for is that they aren’t dirty cops who will leave none the wiser. But if it comes to it…”
“If it comes to what?” I breathe, looking up at him.
“If they try to take you from us…” he huffs, “Wren, I don’t know what I’ll do to them if they try to take you back to your parents, but it won’t be pretty. And then we’ll really be on the run.”
I swallow, goosebumps settling over my skin as his meaning sinks in. “Okay, I won’t.”
“Good girl,” he sighs. “Okay, hurry and get cleaned up, I’ll rinse off in the other shower and meet you out there.”
I nod, and he presses a kiss to my hair before leaving the nest and heading to the other bathroom.
By the time I enter the living room, freshly showered and in one of the soft loungewear sets the guys ordered me, the two cops are sitting on the couch across from the rest of my pack.
“Ah, there she is,” one of the police officers says. His nametag reads “Bingham”, and the other officer reads “Espinoza”. Espinoza is the one who was talking to us from the passenger side of the car.
I give a nervous smile as I immediately climb into Maverick’s lap. His arm tightens around my waist.
“Alright, miss…?”
“Bloom,” I answer quickly, and Maverick’s fingers press into me slightly—a silent “good girl”. “Sylvia Bloom.” I’ve never been more grateful for my painting pseudonym than I am now. The anxiety that I felt early slowly starts to melt away with Maverick holding me.
“Miss Bloom,” Officer Espinoza continues, holding a pen in one hand and a notepad in the other. “Would you mind just quickly describing your trip to the lake? You said you were laughing, and not screaming?”
I nod my head fervently. “That’s right. We were rinsing the sand off, and the water was really cold. It was more of a…shrieking laugh, because Brennan splashed me.”
Espinoza nods, making notes on his pad. “Got it.”
But Bingham frowns, his hand coming to his chin. “Sylvia Bloom…why does that name sound familiar?”
I frown. There’s no way he knows about my paintings…is there?
“Oh! You’re that painter!” My brows shoot up. “Our omega loves your stuff!”
Their…omega? So these officers are pack brothers?
Espinoza sighs, running a hand through his hair. “Pete…you can’t go spouting off words like ‘our omega’ while we’re at work, remember? Home life and work life are separate.”
“Sure,” Officer Bingham shrugs, “but I’m right. This is the artist that Lydia has been telling us about.”
“Does your omega go to auctions often?” The question comes out of me before I can think better of it.
He gives me a confused look. “Auctions? No, there’s this influencer online that she’s obsessed with, and they showcase popular pieces. The video featuring your painting of a bumblebee has millions of likes.” He tilts his head. “Surely you knew that?”
The bumblebee painting. One of my favorites, one that I actually considered not parting with. Millions of likes? Is that why my last two paintings sold for so much?
I quickly shake my head. “I don’t do social media.” Hell, I hardly know what social media is.
“Ms. Bloom…” Espinoza gives me another funny look. “Could we see some ID, please? And then we can wrap this up.”
Fuck.
“Um…I don’t have any ID on me…” I give a nervous laugh, lying through my teeth. “The guys told me to leave my wallet at home—that they’d be treating me on this vacation.”
“Here’s the thing, Ms. Bloom.” Espinoza sighs, reaching into his front pocket. “You bear a striking resemblance to a missing omega we’re trying to locate—a Wren Messina.”
My heart stops. I watch, the world moving in slow motion as he unfolds a photo and puts it on the coffee table in front of us.
I’d recognize the photo anywhere. It’s the same picture my parents have been putting out on the news, from that godsforsaken photoshoot they arranged. And of course, it has that “Nest Luxe” stamped across the bottom.
The omega staring at me in the photo has sunken eyes, skin so pale it’s almost translucent, and looks damn miserable.
It’s me.
But…is it?
Teddy frowns, leaning forward. “Huh. I don’t see it. I mean, this omega…she’s all…sick lookin’.”
He’s right. The omega in the photo looks rough. Her hair is pulled back so tight it looks painful, and she looks ridiculously uncomfortable in the clothes she’s wearing.
“I suppose I can see the resemblance,” I admit, leaning back into Maverick’s hold. “But I don’t know how to prove this isn’t me.”
Maverick shifts slightly underneath me. “When was this omega kidnapped?”
Officer Bingham answers, sighing. “Originally? About five days ago. But she was only with her original captors for two days before she was taken from them.”
“If I can speak freely…” Maverick trails off, tilting his head, and both Bingham and Espinoza nod, “Well, the omega in this photo looks to be malnourished and a little sickly. Obviously, Sylvia is neither of those things, and if it’s only been five days since she was taken, it would be impossible for her to go from that,” he points to the photo of me, “to this glowing picture of health right here,” his hands run down my arms, “don’t you think? ”
“Look.” Bingham sits forward, his hands clasping in front of him.
“I get what you’re saying. I believe you…
but we need to perform some kind of verification.
I can see this all being one big misunderstanding, so I’ll try to make it as painless as possible.
Do you have anything in this cabin that can verify your identity as Sylvia Bloom? ”
Teddy’s back goes straight. “We do! I can grab it right now!”
My brows furrow before I blanch, realizing what he’s talking about.
He wants to show the officers my Magic-Mike-esque painting of him.
My face flushes. “Teddy—”
“You do?” Bingham looks pleasantly surprised.
“Sylvie had me model for a paintin’ just last night.” He shoots me a wink before standing. “I’ll be back in a jiff.”
My hands cover my face as my cheeks heat. This is the most embarrassing thing to ever happen to me.
“Is everything alright, Ms. Bloom?” Officer Espinoza asks gently.
“Yes!” I squeak out, before quickly uncovering my face. “It’s just, uh…this painting is a little different than what I normally do.”
Bingham grins. “You’re really very talented—I’m surprised you haven’t been notified by anyone about how this blew up.
Here.” He pulls his phone out, typing quickly before turning it around to face us.
A photo-realistic, up close painting of a bumblebee sitting on a flower fills the screen, a woman’s voice speaking in the background.
“Look at this, you guys,” the woman says, zooming in on the detail of the water drops on the flower petals.
On the side of the screen, there’s a small number under a heart, reading…
two-point-one million? “This is a painting by ‘Sylvia Bloom’. Never heard of her? Me neither. The woman is a ghost. I can’t find a single thing about her anywhere, besides these paintings.
I’ll be posting again in a few days, I had someone DM me to say they just bought two of her pieces—”
He clicks the screen off, grinning. “See?”
People…they like my paintings?
My breath catches in my chest as I stare at the blank screen. I had no idea so many people…
“Alright, here we go!” Teddy comes back into the room, canvas in hand facing him.
Right. I was so distracted by all the people loving my art, that I forgot that Teddy was just about to embarrass me to save me.
“Ta-da!” He flips the painting around with a shit-eating grin, and…fuck. It’s even more thirsty than I remember.
There’s a moment of silence before Ethan snorts, quickly covering his mouth. “Of course, Song Bird,” Brennan grins at me, leaning over to squeeze my leg, “only you could make Teddy look like he’s about to sign a modeling contract.”
“Well…” Bingham opens his phone back up, looking between the bumblebee video and the painting that Teddy is holding. “I’m not an expert, but I’d say it’s definitely the same style.”
Espinoza tilts his head, observing the painting. “The…water droplets are the same?”
Bingham looks back down at the phone, comparing the water droplets on Teddy’s chest to the ones on the flower in the video. “Holy shit, yeah. That’s crazy. Well, I guess that settles that, then.” He stands, brushing his hands down his pants.
“Thank you for your time, and we apologize for the misunderstanding.” Officer Espinoza nods, putting the photo of me back in his pocket.
“Just like that?” Teddy gapes, earning an elbow from Maverick.
“Yep,” Bingham nods, “We’re not here to try to make anyone’s lives harder.
We know what a well-taken-care-of omega looks like, and Ms. Bloom here is a prime example.
The only way she could have gone from that,” he points to the Nest Luxe photo in his pocket, “to this,” he motions to me, “is if she was exposed to her true scent matches, which is a whole other can of worms.” Am I…
imagining the glint in his eye? “Between us, the Messinas seem like nasty pieces of work, and wherever Wren Messina is now, she’s probably better off. ”
Espinoza looks each of us over. “As far as we’re concerned, everyone here is a consenting adult, capable of making their own choices, and that’s what it comes down to, really.
So…” he glances at his partner, “have a great rest of your vacation. Just…try to keep the…laughter down. At least down by the lake.”
My face burns at the implication. “Yes, Officer.”
We stand to walk them out, and they shake our hands before heading to the door.
But then, Officer Bingham pauses. “This may be wildly unprofessional…” Shit.
What is it now? “But…do you take commissions? Our omega’s birthday is next month, and I bet she would lose her shit with an original Sylvia Bloom painting. ”
This can’t be real…can it?
My mouth opens and closes once before I nod. “I…yes, I do.”
“Great.” He grins. “Do you have a card I can take with me?”
“We just ran out,” Teddy steps forward quickly, “but if you ‘ave a card, we can reach out as soon as we’re done wiff our vacation.”
“Ah…” He rubs the back of his neck, looking sheepish. “I don’t.”
Officer Espinoza steps forward, reaching into his back pocket for his wallet and pulling out a card. “Good idea,” he says to his partner before handing the card to me. “That’s my cell on there, so just call it when you get settled and we’ll go from there.”
I take the card with shaky hands. “Thank you,” I breathe, reading over the card. Daniel Espinoza. “I’ll be giving you a call soon.”
A small growl leaves Maverick as his hand comes around my waist. I stiffen, waiting for the officers to growl back or take offense, but instead they smirk.
“Apologies, Officers,” Maverick grunts.
“We get it, don’t worry.” Bingham chuckles, stepping out the front door and giving us small waves as they both head back to the police cruiser. “Instincts can be a real bitch.”