The Middle of the Night
Kofi
I can't believe it. My pack is going to have a baby. I was honestly resolved that it would never happen, and I was okay with that. Of course, I want a baby. A little son or daughter that we could love and raise. My mind is already swirling with the possibilities. Will our babe have my dark eyes or Swan’s red hair? Either way, I hope they have their mother’s sweet temperament.
A soft moan drifts from Carys as she rolls into Isaac, resting her head on his chest. They’ve been wrapped around one another all night. I love it so much I haven’t wanted to fall asleep. I want to cherish this moment forever.
The quiet is disturbed as one of our cell phones buzzes on the dresser. I stare at it, curious as to who the hell is texting us at this hour. It buzzes again and Swanley jerks awake. He immediately looks at Carys and Isaac, then his eyes meet mine.
“Is someone calling?” he mouths, not wanting to wake them up.
I nod, crawling slowly off of the bed. My phone buzzes again, and I pick it up. It’s Judson.
come outside
bring Swanley
do NOT bring Carys
I look up at Swanley, giving him a worried look. Then I point to the bedroom door, silently asking him to follow me.
“What’s going on?” Swan whispers once we reach the living room.
“Let’s find out.” I pull open the front door, but there’s no one there. I take a careful step onto the porch, looking up and down the road. “Jud’s car is here.” I point to the dark vehicle parked near the oak.
Swanley startles as someone taps on the back door. We both spin, shocked to see Judson standing on the patio. I quickly shut and lock the door, then we both move to the young alpha. The second Swanley opens the door, I shut down my bond with Carys, blocking her from feeling the absolute shock ripping through me.
Judson is shirtless, his tan skin covered in sweat and blood. He’s panting hard and holding the nail gun. “Are they both still asleep?” He looks past me, making sure there’s no one else behind me.
“What the fuck happened?” Swanley moves to the young alpha.
“I need your help.” His voice is raspy, filled with pain.
“What happened?” I repeat Swan’s question in a firm tone, making it very clear that he will tell me now .
“This way.” Jud moves toward the shed. He’s holding his side as he lumbers along. He’s hurt. I can’t tell how bad it is, but his waistband is covered in blood. He leads us to the shed, and my heart stops as he opens the barn-style door.
A beaten and gagged alpha is tied to one of Swan’s heavy weightlifting machines. He’s wearing only a thin pair of bloody boxers, giving me a full view of the cuts, scrapes, and bruises that litter every inch of his lanky form. His eyes meet mine and he mumbles something, making blood ooze out around the bandana duct taped over his mouth.
“Is this…” Swanley moves toward the man, seeming to recognize the stranger. Swan’s eyes go wide and his heart beats wildly in the vein in his neck.
“Meet Preston Hyde,” Jud growls at the tied-up man.
“No, fucking way,” Swanley approaches the bound alpha, his voice pitched high with excitement. “How the hell did you get this fucker here?”
“It was much easier than I thought it was going to be,” Jud snorts. “I asked to meet up for old time’s sake. The fucker actually showed up alone.”
Swan lets out a vicious chuckle, turning his attention back to Preston. “I’m always a little disappointed when assholes make it too easy.”
I try like hell not to think too much about his shocking reaction. Swanley is a good man who has a violent job. He’s forced to compartmentalize parts of himself when it comes to this kind of violence, similar to how I am with critical patients. I know this. But it doesn’t make his reaction any less disturbing. He’s almost giddy, grabbing a handful of Preston’s hair, and jerking his head up. “How does it feel to be the one that bleeds, you fucker?” Swan growls.
“Why the hell would you bring him here?” I snap at Jud, making the young alpha flinch.
“I told Swanley—” Judson swallows hard, still clutching his side. “I told him I’d fix it. That I’d do right by Carys and prove my devotion to your pack.”
“Judson,” Swanley’s voice edges soft as he moves to the young alpha. “You did this for her? For us?” He looks almost touched.
“I love Carys,” Jud whispers. “I want to be a part of your pack. I am committed to Carys and Isaac and Kofi and you. I’m not going anywhere,” he says forcefully.
Swan’s dark eyes drift over Judson’s face, then he reaches out, placing his hand on Jud’s shoulders. “You did good, alpha.”
Jud sucks in a deep breath, his chest expanding and I swear I can see tears in his eyes. There’s so much to deal with right now, but I still can’t help but feel a bit of affection for the young alpha—he’s just as fucked up as Swanley, and maybe even Carys. And this is how he’s chosen to show his commitment. It’s fucked up, but it is what it is.
“Come here,” Swanley urges Judson toward a bench. “Take a breath.” He helps Jud sit down, then he leans down, ghosting his hands over Jud’s bloody side.
“What the hell is your plan?” I ask Jud, glancing back at the bound alpha. “He can’t stay here.” My fear rises, hoping my omega and beta are still sound asleep. “If Carys were to see him here, she would fall into a deep distress so thick she might never come out of it. It could literally kill her.” I turn on Swanley, growling deep in my chest. “It could cause her to miscarry.”
Jud gasps loudly, then flinches, pressing even harder on his wound. “She’s pregnant?” he gasps as if this is the best news he’s ever heard. “She’s having a baby.” He looks at me, and I’m suddenly struck by how young he is. Carys too. They’re both barely in their twenties, trying to navigate a world of violence that has scarred them horribly.
“She’s having our baby,” Swanley smiles wide, but then he tenses, looking all around us as if expecting to see someone else. “How did you get him here? Did anyone see you? You could have been followed.”
“No,” Jud flinches, then hisses as if a stab of pain just cut through him.
Deciding I have to focus on something other than the monster tied up in my shed, I concentrate on Jud’s wound. “Let me check your side.” I sink to my knees, prying his hand away. The second I do, blood gushes, seeping into the waistband of his jeans, and I curse.
“We weren’t followed,” Jud says to Swan as I pull his shirt off. “I made sure.”
“How?” Swanley asks, his voice calm but firm. This is how I imagine he talks to his men. He’s so dominant when he wants to be. It has always surprised me that he’s never wanted to be a pack leader. But I guess he needs to be cared for at home, absolved of making the harder decisions he has to at work.
“I took back roads, doubled back, and made a mental note of the license plates for all cars around us.” He grunts as I press around the obvious stab wound to his belly. “I even circled a few cul-de-sacs right outside the city, before stripping him down and heading this way.”
“Why did you take off his clothes?” I ask.
“Trackers,” Swan and Jud answer at the same time.
I don’t say anything. There’s nothing to say. These two men know and do things I could never understand. “You need a hospital.” I turn my attention back to Jud’s wound. “This looks concerning.”
“No,” Jud shakes his head. “No hospitals.”
I give the young alpha a firm glare. “You’d rather bleed to death than answer a few medical questions.” I make it clear in my tone how ridiculous he’s being.
“It’s a knife wound, Kofi,” Swan says simply. “Doctors will call the police for suspected violence, and you know that.”
“This looks pretty bad.” I glance up at Jud, but he doesn’t look panicked or upset. He’s calm, almost relaxed, waiting for Swan and me to finish talking about him. “Jud, you need to go to the emergency room,” I try to convince him. “You need stitches, maybe even surgery.”
Jud manages a weak shrug then says, “This is the price of doing business.” He looks up at Swan. “Shot or stabbed, you grit through it or you die from it, but either way you don’t put your crew at risk.”
Swanley nods as if this is some kind of mantra he’s familiar with.
Anger at the pair's ridiculous mentality quickens my blood, but I don’t have time to dwell on it. I’ve got to get Judson’s bleeding to stop. “I’ll do what I can,” I say, rushing to the small first aid kit secured next to the door.
I dump the contents, ecstatic to find a small sewing kit mixed in with the bandages. I start rummaging for what else I need as Swanley turns his attention to Preston.
“Do you know who I am?” Swanley bends, resting his hands on his knees.
The bloody man mumbles around his gag, but I try to block him out. I need an antiseptic, and something sterile to pack the wound. My eyes land on a small packet of iodine and a package of gauze. I get to work, pouring all my energy into fixing Jud’s wound.
“What was that, motherfucker?” Swan swipes out at Preston, ripping the duct tape off his face, then the gag from his mouth.
“You stupid piece of shit!” Preston yells at Jud. “You think you’ll get away with this? Huh? My men will track you down and rip you—” Swanley’s fist connects hard with Preston’s face, making his head snap back.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Swan says. “Did I interrupt you?” Ice tips in my veins at his cool demeanor.
This isn’t my Swanley, I think to myself. This is who he has to be at work. It’s a bullshit excuse, but it’s all I have. When it comes to Swan’s job, I agreed to look the other way many years ago. It’s not his fault Jud brought it into my house.
Jud hisses and I pour the iodine directly into his wound. “I’ll try to do this fast,” I say to him as I pop open the sewing kit, fishing out the needle and thread.
“Do you remember Carys Day?” Swan asks, and Preston sucks in an audible breath. “Yeah. You remember her,” Swan chuckles. “You see me and my brothers here, we’re Carys's new pack.”
I stop threading the needle and look up at Jud. He seems as shocked as I am at what Swan said. Admittedly, he could have said it for effect or out of excitement for the moment, but still, it seems that Jud’s reckless actions have sparked something loving in my red-haired alpha.
“Carys?” Preston whips his head around the room, looking from Swan to Jud then me. “Is she…”
“That’s right!” Swanley laughs, slapping Preston’s shoulder hard. “How ya doing, man?” His voice is loud and overly cheerful. I’m sure there’s a reason for it. Something about the psychology of keeping a prisoner on edge, and unsure of what’s coming next, but I can’t think about that right now. I have to thread this needle.
“He hasn’t been very friendly,” Jud says, glaring at the prisoner. “He might need some convincing to talk.”
“You lying piece of shit,” Preston hisses at Jud. “I actually thought you wanted a fucking job.” He flashes his bloody teeth. “I have to give Carys credit, though. She hooked her talons in you and managed to string you along for what…two years now? So how long have you been fucking her?”
“I never touched her!” Jud screams so loud it makes me wince. “All I did was talk to her.” his voice pitches high, filled with emotion. “She was so broken and starved for attention. She didn’t….didn’t…” His body jerks as if to attack, but I quickly stand, hugging him around his waist.
“It’s okay,” I whisper, trying to hold the young alpha in place. “Carys is okay, Jud. She’s safe and sound, sleeping next to Isaac.”
Jud’s body eases, and he nods as he continues to glare hard at Preston, his dark eyes filled with tears. For a moment, he looks like he might burst into tears, but then he sucks in a deep breath through his nose, and swallows all that thick emotion down. His expression goes blank, the devastation in his eyes is instantly replaced by pure rage. “I’m good.” He finally looks me in the eye. “Fix me up, doc.”
I slowly release him, before returning to his wound.
“That bitch attacked me!” Preston yells, and Swan punches him again right in the center of his face.
The thread slips through the eye of the needle, and I fill my lungs. I didn’t realize I was holding my breath.
“Try not to move,” I say, using a pair of small pliers to curve the needle.
Judson leans back to give me plenty of room, then he nods. “Do it.”
I pinch his flesh, pleased to see it’s a perfect jab, with no torn or hanging flesh. Then I push the needle into his skin, stitching Jud back together.
“So you're telling me that Carys ripped herself open?” Swan pushes into Preston’s face. “That she attacked you—stuck you once!” He holds up a single finger. “Then she stabbed and sliced herself fourteen times over her entire body?” But Swanley doesn’t give him a chance to answer. “How has it been living as an alpha whose whole defense was that a hundred-and-ten- pound omega was able to stab him, then try to frame him for his own murder? Huh?” Swanley pushes into his face. “Do you like being known as the alpha that froze up, unable to defend himself from a little girl all because of some bullshit biological desire to sacrifice yourself in the midst of your mate’s psychotic break ?” He mocks Preston, going on and on about his shitty defense.
I don’t want to look, but I do. I stare right at the monster’s face, waiting for him to say something.
“You might think it’s bullshit, but it’s true,” Preston finally says. “Alphas train and correct their omegas. Carys was just too fucking stupid to figure out the difference between a loving spanking and abuse. She wasn’t?—”
Swanley punches him once, twice, three times right in the face. Preston’s head rolls, and he gags. A long string of bloody spit drips from his busted lip.
“She was fucking crazy!” Preston screams, blood spraying from between his broken teeth. “That bitch never appreciated the things I gave her. She never obeyed me, always sneaking about to get her way.” His watery eyes turn to me. “Mark my words. She’ll do it to you too.”
“Liar!’ Jud screams and jerks, scaring the shit out of me. “She didn't touch you!”
“Calm down, alpha.” I press my hand to his clammy cheek, forcing him to look at me. “It’s okay. Swanley will handle him. Right now, I need you to calm down so I can fix you.”
Jud nods, the movement especially jerky. The poor kid is flooded with adrenaline right now, but he doesn't seem to be in shock. “I’m good,” he grits out, sucking in a deep breath.
“I’m almost done.” I look up at Swan. “Let me finish stitching him up, and then you can handle this.” I shift my gaze to Preston.
“You don’t want to hear what he has to say?” Swanley asks, gripping Preston by the throat. “There’s nothing you want to know?”
“No,” I say firmly. “I don’t care what he has to say.” My attention swings to the monster. “He has no voice in my house.” I tie off the last stitch, placing a patch of gauze over it. “I’ll clean this better when you two are done.” I stand, looking around at the chaos before me.
There’s so much blood and dirt and rage, but this is what justice looks like sometimes. But I don’t want any part of it. I’m a doctor. I protect and heal. Not whatever this is.
“I want this asshole gone by the time Carys wakes up,” I say firmly, then I turn and leave.
Before the door closes behind me, the sound of fists hitting flesh fills the air.