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Martin’s eyes lit up. “Ah, but she wasn’t an omega when her uncle legally took custody as her only living blood relative. Her designation hit months later, which means you never could have claimed her as you said. Alphas can’t claim betas as pack.”
I flinched because I’d heard this my whole life, and it still fucking stung. Like being a beta made someone less. That only alphas and omegas could form a pack. It was absolute horseshit.
“Martin, don’t do this,” Crew rasped, and I felt his desperation through our bond.
“Give me a reason not to,” Martin entreated. “Tell me what evidence you found that convicts any member of the APA of any crime.”
“Ask Hazel,” Kellan barked. “She’ll tell you all the sick things they did.”
“Perhaps,” Martin agreed, “or perhaps she’s simply saying what you’ve coached her to say. We all know omegas will do anything to please an alpha. It’s what they’re made for.”
A crater opened up in my stomach, my heart plummeting through it.
But Martin wasn’t done yet. “You were investigating the APA for months, and yet the only thing to come out of this was your pack finding their omega.”
None of us spoke because there wasn’t anything to say. We hadn’t found anything in the APA compound, and neither had Oakley’s team. We’d blown a months’ long op when Donovan Ellis threatened to forcibly bond Hazel. She’d become the priority.
When Jude had been shot, our whole team had left to make sure Jude and Hazel were taken to the hospital. We hadn’t stopped to look for evidence of the crimes we were investigating.
“Exactly.” Martin grinned smugly. “The only thing you left their compound with was an omega that had already been promised to another alpha.”
“This is bullshit,” Kellan hissed, his fury rising like a tsunami in the bond. His scent had turned acrid and dangerous, a warning to anyone nearby that he was close to snapping.
He wasn’t the only one. Crew and I were both struggling to hold it together, too. But if one of us broke, it would be a domino effect that none of us would walk away from.
Taking a deep breath, I tried to push a sense of calm through the pack bond before speaking. “So what happens now, Martin?”
Martin turned his grin to me. “Now I inform you that you’re all under arrest for the kidnapping and illegal keeping of a protected designation.”
“And Hazel?” Crew demanded.
“In case it hasn’t been made clear,” Martin added, “Omega Services has denied your claim to the omega. She’ll be removed from your home today.”
With a snarl, Kellan lunged forward at Martin and Henry. Crew and I tried to stop him, but it was futile.
Martin had just said the one sentence that changed everything.
They were taking Hazel away.
The amount of guns trained on us didn’t matter as Kellan crashed into Martin. They crashed to the floor while Henry yelped and scurried back.
Time slowed as a masked agent lifted his gun at Kellan’s back and fired. The popping noise echoed off the glass and marble.
“No!” Crew bellowed, hurling himself at Kellan.
I wasn’t far behind as more shots fired.
Something like a bee sting pricked my throat, the heat of where it connected with my skin spreading out and through my limbs with crippling intensity.
Not a bullet.
Tranq.
They were sedating us, not killing us.
That thought should’ve been comforting as I fell to the floor, but all I could think of were my beta and omega, waiting for us at home.
And having no idea they were about to be ambushed by OS agents.
