Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Syrus
“Are you happy?” I ask, watching her taillights brake at the stop sign before she continues on.
I still have her truck tagged, so I’m not worried about her for the moment. I’ll follow behind her shortly.
Putting my firearm away, I turn my back on these assholes while I lock up.
“No,” Harlan says sullenly. “She’s my scent match. The sneaky omega tried to hide that from me.”
I wouldn’t be surprised if I have a heart attack at this point. I have to remind myself this isn’t a competition. I’ve told Silva several times that if she wants to add people to whatever we have going, I was open to that.
I just wish it wasn’t these jackholes.
“Do you blame her?” I ask, shoving the keys in my pocket.
Pulling out my phone, I post to the town community board that Club 21 will be closed tonight.
“Many of the people who live here have had a shit experience or two with an alpha,” I add, finding my car keys next. “Silva has no interest in being tied to alphas, because in her narrative, all you do is take and try to possess omegas.”
“Harlan doesn’t feel like that,” Isidro says, rubbing his face.
“I don’t think omegas are things to possess,” Harlan agrees. “I’m in shock. We all hit her really hard, and then I got hit in the face with her scent.”
“She hid it because she felt threatened by you three,” I say, needing them to get it through their thick fucking skulls. “Silva isn’t the type to run from a fight. If she’s retreating, it’s because she’s working through some shit.”
“I figured she was just going home?” Kyren asks, appearing confused.
“Oh no. My girl is on the run,” I say, opening the tracking app. “She’s on her way out of town.”
“How…” It’s like a bad joke as two alphas and a beta crowd around me to stare down at my phone.
“Does she know about this?” Isidro asks, jaw slack.
“Nope. This is how I keep my girl safe. Take notes,” I say smugly, ready to get the fuck out of here.
“That’s funny,” Harlan says, sounding anything but amused. “Are we going to have a problem?”
“Harlan,” Kyren and Isidro groan.
“Sounds like I’m not the problem,” I snort, beginning to stride away.
“Can I go with you if you’re going to find Silva?” Isidro asks, half jogging to catch up with me.
“To find someone, you have to not know where a person is. I know where Silva is,” I correct him.
“Syrus,” Isidro says. “Don’t be a dick. Harlan is really easy going until his sense of justice is triggered. He’s been looking for Silva for a long damn time. I don’t think she was what he expected to find.”
“If it’s one thing I’ve learned, reality is better than any fantasy when it comes to Spitfire,” I tell him. “You don’t deserve her; not the way you three spoke to her.”
“What if you’re in the doghouse too?” he asks.
“For not telling her about my sister?” I ask. At his nod, I shake my head. “Silva is more apt to feel guilt than anything else regarding Maeve. We know we don’t know everything about each other yet. That’s why it’s called a new relationship.”
The unsaid “dipshit” rings loud as I get to my vehicle, and Isidro has the sense to appear sheepish.
“I’ve been with my alphas for ten years,” he says. “New isn’t in my vocabulary with them. I need to fix this. Silva is Harlan’s scent match, as well as Kyren’s. They do everything together. It would figure this would be the same.”
Even you? I think. Hmm. Well, that’s another odd thought I’ll think about later.
“If you fuck this up, I’ll shoot you and leave you for dead,” I finally say, nodding at him to get into the SUV.
Isidro wisely doesn’t reply, and climbs into the back seat. I don’t like him at my back. It makes me twitchy.
Choosing Silva over my own comfort, I begin to follow the little GPS dot tracking her.
Come on, baby. Don’t do anything stupid please.
Harlan
As the SUV disappears, I find myself annoyed.
“I’m a damn bull in a china shop,” I grumble, getting ready to walk back to the bed and breakfast.
“You are,” Kyren agrees, falling into step beside me. “I’m not much better so I can’t give you shit for it. We fucked up pretty spectacularly.”
“I get the feeling that Silva is terrified of everything, she simply does a damn good job of pretending she’s not,” I sigh.
“You went through the same psych courses that I did,” he says, smacking me upside the head. At this rate, my ears are going to permanently ring.
There’s a bruise along my jaw, and it didn’t escape my notice that Silva completely ignored it. Or, she was too busy freaking out to notice.
“I need context,” I say, scowling. “I don’t like feeling dumb.”
“Silva can push through her fear when she needs to,” Kyren says, his glare insisting that I pull it together immediately. “Think about the way we speak to people. We can stay calm and collected even when we’re mad as hell.”
“We’re trained for this. Unless you’re about to tell me Silva is a secret operative, then I’m still lost.”
“Nah,” Kyren says. “Trauma makes her able to push everything else away until she can deal with it. That’s what Syrus meant by things rarely spooking her. It’s the outward appearance of being upset more than anything else. If she’s showing her emotions, then shit is going south. See?”
“Yes,” I say, understanding what he means. “We’re also an unknown. Silva saw us as a threat, and still does. I haven’t done a great job of neutralizing that.”
“You also made it clear you think she’s hiding here,” Kyren says helpfully.
“Fuck,” I groan. “Yes, I think she might have the tools to blow this shit out of the water. Silva and her sister could save other omegas. Why won’t she?”
“Look around you,” he hisses.
There are houses all around us as we walk. This will turn into businesses soon enough, along with people bustling around living their lives.
“Ugh. Yes, there are people here too, looking for stability and safety,” I admit.
“Silva, and those who escaped with her, are right to be wary of alphas,” Kyren drawls. “I’m not saying I didn’t fuck up as well. I did. So we are going to go on our ‘we are stupid fuckers’ walk of shame and let Isidro save our asses.”
I can’t help the strangled laughter that slips out. It’s not funny in the least, but everyone handles stress differently. Sometimes, I laugh like a loon when it affects my personal life.
“Think about it,” Kyren continues. “Everyone moved to this town for a softer way of life. Even the alphas that live here seem super chill. I’m still having a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that you have two scent matches.”
I’d shush him, but his words are barely said above a whisper. No one is going to overhear him. It was amazing when Isidro joined our team and we figured out that he was scent matched to both of us. We keep his secrets, and he keeps ours.
“She was as far away as possible from both of us at the bar,” I remind him. “I think she’s both of our scent matches. Silva must have figured it out at the bar, because she smelled like Isidro does.”
“She was wearing perfume,” Kyren realizes. “It didn’t smell bad, just off somehow. Now I see why. We have a lot of work to do.”
“I need pie,” I grumble. “Let me mope, Kyren.”
“God, you are so dramatic,” he sighs. “Only one slice, then I need to see what I can dig up. She didn’t give any names, but I can see if I can find a pattern in the missing omega files based on age.”
“You’re one scary motherfucker. I’d lick your brain if I could,” I say.
“Ew,” Kyren chuckles. “God, let’s get your sugar rush to keep you from saying weird shit.”
“Whatever gets me what I want,” I grin.
I won’t feel better until I get eyes on Silva. I don’t know how much alcohol she can tolerate, and she was drinking before she left the club.