Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Syrus
For the most part, working in Widows Peak involves helping with car accidents, patrolling the border for anyone suspicious, and community safety. I’ll honestly take this over Seattle any day of the week.
Even though it’s almost nine at night, I get a text message with a link to a news article from my ex partner.
She’s still fighting the good fight in Washington, while I chose to leave.
It discusses the rise in missing omegas in Seattle, and it makes me swallow hard as I read through it. This shit isn’t getting any better.
I can’t protect a city the size of Seattle and I know it.
It also doesn’t help that my ex partner found out that the police commissioners over the years since I left are part of the problem.
I can still remember how I was curb stomped on my last night on the force by dirty officers I thought had my back.
They broke my nose, leg, and almost put a bullet in my brain before the chief shut down the beating. Seattle is a mess, and I know I can’t fix it alone. Widows Peak is protected, and I know that everyone in this town is committed to keeping it safe.
The girls think I don’t know about the camera set up in all the public spaces that Lark monitors, but I do. It’s my job to know as much as possible about my town. I won’t fail this time in protecting what’s important to me.
My eyes flick over to Silva’s truck as she opens her door, and I roll down my window to lean toward her.
“Hey,” I say, leaving my phone in the cup holder. I don’t want to tarnish my time with her in any way. One day soon, we’re going to need to have a conversation, but it’s kept for nine years already.
There’s no hurry.
“Hey yourself,” she says softly with a small yawn.
“Still planning on that bath?” I tease her.
“Yes, but I really am a little worried I’ll fall asleep,” she says sheepishly.
“I’ll be there,” I say easily. I’m inviting myself over, yet she doesn’t seem to mind. She’s wearing my hoodie tonight, and she looks really fucking good with it. “If you fall asleep, I’ll fish you out, dry you off, and put you in bed before I leave.”
I wasn’t always as observant as I am now. I trusted the people around me too easily, and it fucked me over. Now, I question everything and overthink things.
It didn’t escape my notice that Silva was very insistent about staying the night in her own bed, which means I’m not going to push to spend the night with her. There’s obviously a reason for it.
“Okay,” she says with a nod. “I’ll see you there.”
Silva gets into her truck, and I have to keep myself from offering her a ride. She’s so fucking tired tonight. The community center did her dirty, which is why I went over there earlier today and suggested they put up a volunteer sign up and schedule around it.
I understand that people call out, but there are plenty of people who aren’t my omega to help them out. I’m getting more and more possessive of Silva in my mind, and I’m trying not to get ahead of myself.
She’s so damn independent, almost detrimentally so. I meant it when I told her last week that I want to take things off her plate, which is exactly what I’m doing.
Silva pulls out of her parking space, and I follow her home. She’s driving well for how tired she is, yet I still grumble about it the entire time.
I know she lives next door to Lexi, and she’ll see my car parked in front of Silva’s house, but I don’t care. She’s aware we’re dating by this point, so keeping things quiet is beyond me.
I drive a sedan for now, but will be switching to my SUV once the first snow fall hits. Winters can be brutal in Colorado.
Hefting myself out of the vehicle, I lock up and walk up the driveway to join Silva. I can see the shadows in her eyes today and surprise both of us by lifting her into my arms.
“My legs aren’t broken,” she mumbles, laying her head on my shoulder.
“I know, baby. Just let me carry you,” I murmur, taking her keys from her to let us into her house. “I got you.”
Silva sighs a little as I lock the door behind us and points up the stairs.
This house is really big for one person, but my understanding is that there was a neighborhood already here when she found the town.
It was abandoned housing, left behind when the housing bubble burst, and the developers pulled out.
This neighborhood already had plumbing, electricity, and was fully functional, making it the perfect place for them.
I just don’t understand what she and the other girls who started this town were running from.
I climb the stairs in the darkness, finding that the house is in perfect order. Nothing is on the floor, and it’s very clean.
“First door on the right is mine,” she says around a yawn.
“Silva,” I groan. “Baby, you’re definitely close to passing out.”
“So get in with me,” she replies. “The tub is huge. That's one of the reasons that I picked this house when we decided to stay here.”
I’ve mostly heard rumors about why she decided to found Widows Peak, which led to her and her friends founding a town as a haven for omegas and betas. No one talks too loudly about it, as if it’ll bring bad luck to us.
While I can understand that, I really want to learn more about Silva.
“Any other reason?” I ask, flicking on the light switch in her bedroom, to find that it turns on the wall sconces over her bed. Upon a closer glance, I see that they’re ravens holding a light in their beaks.
It’s whimsical in a dark way. That’s Silva though, you really never know where a conversation with her will lead you. I’m constantly surprised by her.
“The ceilings are lower in this house, and there’s a small room off this bathroom. I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be for an office or a nursery, but I use it for my nest,” she explains.
Knowing now that there’s a connected bathroom, I walk across the room to find it. There’s a sliding switch for the lights, and I make sure there’s just enough lighting for me to see as I place her on the counter.
Turning toward the tub, I snort as I gaze at it.
“It’s big enough for two huge alphas to sit inside it,” I chuckle, turning on the water.
“God, I hope not,” she grins, her green eyes sparkling. “I always forget it’s this big. I was wondering if you’d fit inside with me.”
“Oh yeah?” I ask, filling the tub and finding the bath salts to dump some in. “Is that what you want? I bet I’d make a decent pillow.”
I want her to teach me how to wash her hair so I won’t fuck it up and have her let me dry it. I’ve never wanted to do that before. Was I protective of the girls I’ve dated previously? Kind of, but I worked so much, the job was my relationship.
It was a fucking soulless and crushing job. The level of corruption meant nothing was really ever accomplished. I don’t need accolades, just the knowledge that I fucking did something that meant a damn.
The tub fills quickly, and I straighten to help Silva out of my sweatshirt and the gorgeous corset she’s wearing. Her body makes my mouth water, but I focus on taking care of her instead. Her lids are heavy, as are her limbs as she raises her arms.
“Baby, you are wrecked tonight,” I murmur worriedly. I help her out of the rest of her clothing, happy when she can carry her own weight when she hops off the ledge to take off her shoes and pants.
“The guys got a little fired up tonight about a pick up football game happening tomorrow. How there’s so much testosterone at times between them is beyond me,” she mumbles.
My lips twitch in amusement as I undress as well, and then get us both situated in the tub after I turn off the water.
Water sloshes over the side as we displace it, and I promise myself that I’ll mop it up with towels later.
Her hair is gathered on top of her head in a bun, allowing me access to her neck to kiss it.
“Being knotless doesn’t cut off our testosterone,” I tease her. “A couple of guys on the police force are on that football league. It’s four teams, and they cycle out their games, but the rivalry is fierce.”
“You don’t play?” she asks.
“I’m usually working so everyone else can play,” I explain.
“We both tend to do that, huh? Give up our time so others can enjoy the things they want to do,” she mumbles.
“I guess we do,” I murmur, my fingers massaging the stress from her body. I start at her arms and move up until I’m working on the knots in her neck.
Silva is breathing deeply and asleep by the time I’m finished, allowing me just to hold her while she dreams. Her body is loose and she’d definitely be going under the water if I wasn’t holding her up.
“You’re so damn stubborn,” I sigh, kissing her temple. I wait until the water almost goes cold before I gather her body against my chest and stand up with her in my arms.
She stays asleep as I dry her off, put her to bed, while I get dressed again.
I make sure to clean up, and then throw everything beside the hamper so it doesn’t get everything wet.
I find her purse forgotten in the bathroom, and I dig inside it to find her phone to plug it in by her nightstand.
In my hunting quest, I locate her back up house key and make sure her main set is where she can find it.
It takes me a while to hunt down a pen and paper, but I manage it after a few minutes of looking.
Spitfire,
I’m locking up for you, please remind me for your house key back or I’ll keep it. You looked so peaceful sleeping, I didn’t want to wake you up.
Talk later.
Sy
Placing the note where she’ll see it, I turn out all the lights and take my leave. I’m thinking about how I really wish that she had a security system when I see the control panel for it by the front door. It’s unarmed.
“Silva,” I groan. I know she has a system at the club because some kids tried to break in a couple of years ago. They dared each other to do it, and Silva scared the fuck out of them while she explained how dangerous that was.