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“Unfortunately, Blake saw it too.”
“We offered anything, everything we had, if he would let us take her home. Turned over all the money in our savings. We didn’t want it anyway knowing where it came from, but it wasn’t enough. He said we could have her because he ‘could make more’ but that she would never be our public mate. We would still have to make the connections his pack couldn’t.”
“Of course we agreed. There wasn’t anything that he could have asked that we wouldn’t have done to get her. Her terror was clawing at us to fix it, make her safe, make her happy.” His words became softer and broke with emotion. “Love her. It took a week to prove we weren’t like them. She told us everything about being taken and the injections and the others. The ones who turned and the ones who… didn’t make it. We were planning to run. Turn to the police. Something.”
“Then her heat hit. When we came out of it, we found out that you all had destroyed their operation. We got desperate, terrified that Blake and the others would come and take her from us. Then the police came tonight and tried to separate us, thinking we’d forced her.”
He shuddered with the revulsion I could scent in the air and his fists clenched.
“The only thing that matters to us is keeping her safe. We will do anything.”
They had certainly filled in a lot of blanks. Since we had the information we needed, it was taking a toll on both me and Theo to not walk out the door, find Graves to dispose of him for good this time. But it wouldn’t be enough. Cutting the head off the beast only works if the beast isn’t a hydra. We didn’t know everything about the organization that Pack Jackal ran to ensure no one else would step into the power vacuum. One detail from their story tugged at my attention.
“You said he faked the scent matches? How? Ethan believed he was matched with your pack through the Foundation.”
“They blackmail people left and right. It’s not that much of a stretch to assume they have someone on the inside there too.”
I opened my mouth to ask more questions when Gavin cut in.
“Will you help us? I know we hurt your Omega but we really were trying to keep him out of this. Our Omega, she isn’t safe, and I don’t trust them to not have cops on their side?—”
Theo’s voice was incredulous when he interrupted Gavin.
“You want our protection?”
They both nodded and looked at me.
“I don’t know if we will be able to get you out of police custody.”
“That’s fine. We will take that risk, but she can’t. Please.”
I turned to Theo and he sent an urgent push down our bond. He knew I wouldn’t turn down protecting this woman who had been through the same hell that Cat and Shae had. He wanted me to stop trying to gather information so we could go find Graves. I looked back at the two desperate Alphas across from me.
“You’ll give us everything you know about the Jackal’s organization but especially Graves.” Their emphatic nods sealed it for me. My attention went to that one-way glass, and I spoke directly to Jack and whoever was there with him. “My pack is claiming full rights to retribution when it comes to Blake Graves?—”
The little speaker in the corner crackled before Jack’s voice came through.
“Done. You can take the Omega and Cade Rothchild into your protection as well, but the others will have to stay and provide statements before any deals can be made.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
ETHAN
The next morning, I was feeling like the textbook example of a moody Omega. I understood why Jade and Theo had needed to be away from the house, and the nest, last night. For fuck’s sake, I’d told Theo to go to Jade. Unfortunately, my heat was too close for my hindbrain to let something like rational thought get in the way of all the hurt feelings it wanted to wallow in. Waiting for me in the kitchen was a spread of all of my favorite breakfast foods. Both Jade and Theo were adorably rumpled, until I realized they were still in their clothes from the night before and looked like they hadn’t slept a wink. That set a whine loose from my throat because they weren’t taking care of themselves. Stupid fucking hormones.
Theo turned at the sound and moved to wrap me in his arms with that killer tilted grin fixed to his perfect face. I bent my arms behind his back and dug my fingers into his shoulder blades as I took a deep inhale of bayberry and oak. He purred for me and my emotions settled to just the normal level of anxiety. A soft hand trailed up my back and I turned my head so my cheek was against Theo’s chest and I could see Jade’s gorgeous face. She leaned in and kissed my nose then pulled one of my hands from Theo’s back and tugged me over to the island to load up a plate. I yawned and made grabby hands at the coffee mugs by Theo.
“Did either of you get any sleep?”
“No but we will sleep at Drake House later if we need to. A lot came out last night, but we need to steal you away from your nest if you’re okay with putting that brilliant mind to use again today?”
I scrunched my nose at the over-the-top flattery Jade was pushing but then I bit into the crispy but somehow still fluffy Belgian waffles and moaned. Theo pulled his chair over until he was sitting right next to me with a hand on my thigh as I shoveled another bite into my mouth. I caught amusement from him in the bond but then a flash of other, deeper, emotions. That glimpse stopped the bite that I was raising to my mouth. I realized I hadn’t been paying attention to his emotions, really, in the bond. Only what he was letting me see or pushing towards me. I took a moment to look deeper as I set my fork down, and there was gratitude and love but also worry and rage.
I looked between both of them and knew something was wrong. I took Theo’s hand that was on my thigh to hold it in mine before lacing the fingers of my other hand with one of Jade’s. A gentle purr thrummed from me, trying to soothe them even though I didn’t know why they needed soothing.
“What happened last night?”
Jade sighed and told me everything they had learned from Gavin and Max Rothchild. Hearing that they were weirdly trying to help me the night I met them was all sorts of confusing. Not the facts of what they’d done, but my feelings about it all. I’d painted them as villains when they were mostly just caught in the crosshairs of a psychopath and my father’s endless ambition. My heart broke for their Omega but as horrible as what she had been through was, I couldn’t help but feel relieved that what we’d been told about her being sold had been wrong. She was with a pack that loved her already and hopefully they could help her heal in the same way my pack had helped each other and me.
