Alric is covered in blood when I get to my feet. Jensen is sprawled in a bloody pool beneath him, his face destroyed beyond recognition.
“Alric!” Madi begs in a broken voice.
Shit. She doesn’t need to see that level of carnage right now. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s get you out of here.” I turn so Madi doesn’t have to witness the full extent of Alric’s feral retribution as we leave.
He looks up with the sharpness of a predator when he hears her calling for him, leaving Jensen’s corpse on the floor. He’s within his legal rights to murder this man; a feral alpha defending his omega is protected by our laws. Kidnapping an omega, especially during her heat, is a heinous, unthinkable act.
Men like Jensen can’t be redeemed. Evil like that can’t be rehabilitated, and he deserved to die painfully. I’d bet a million dollars Madi isn’t the first omega he’s hurt, and they deserve justice, too, even if they aren’t here to see this monster’s execution.
Hunter has the other man restrained on the floorwith his belt binding his hands. Blood drips down Hunter’s forehead from the shattered glass, but thankfully, he looks clear-eyed. The bound man is unfortunately alive, though at least unconscious, so he can’t look at Madi when we get her out of there. Hunter gets to his feet, leaving the man there, and Alric follows after us.
I want to light this whole fucking office on fire.
The nurse glances at Alric, her nose scrunching up at the sight, but faces me and Madi. “Bring her to the ambulance. I need to check her vitals.”
My heart beats so fast, I fear it will break out of my chest at any moment.
Madi writhes in my arms, whining and still crying when I try to settle her on the gurney so the nurse can check her over, but Alric snaps at the poor woman and grabs Madi from me with a snarl, hauling her against his chest. He growls at all of us when anyone tries to get near her.
Fuck.
“Damn it, Alric! She needs to be looked over by the nurse!”
His bloody arms tighten around her, but it does seem to soothe her a little. He’s gone feral—there’s no reasoning with him now. His only instinct is to protect our omega and I can’t fault him, but it’s going to delay us and we can’t have that.
Alric backs himself into a corner of the ambulance and slides down the wall with Madi. Cocooning her, his nose deep in her neck, he gasps in her scent. I hate that I can’t touch her right now, but my friend needs this to calm him down long enough to return to himself.
A feral alpha is a dangerous one.
The nurse turns her back to them and whispers. “I need to give him a relaxation shot. It’s not safe for anyone to be in a locked, moving vehicle with an alpha like that, nor is it a good idea for her to go fully into heat at an active crime scene. Weneed to leave.” She pulls out a syringe from a drawer, but before she can pull off the cap, I grab it from her.
“Hey! You can’t do that!”
“I was premed in college.”
“That doesn’t make you qualified to do anything!” she hisses at me.
“Watch me.”
I take a small step closer to them. “Alric, you need to let the nurse see her. She could be hurt.” When he doesn’t growl at me, I take another step. “No one is going to take her from us ever again.”
His dark eyes watch me.
“You did such a good job protecting her.” When I take the last step, I kneel in front of him, putting one hand on Madi to see his reaction. “She’s gonna be so proud of you.”
Madi starts to cry louder, reaching for me, and he turns all his focus on her again.
Now or never. I pop the lid off the shot and jab his thigh with it. He lets out a roar of rage before he slumps, his eyes returning to normal. Shit, that was scary.
He is still tightly holding onto her, but I can see the moment he comes back to himself.
Alric’s tone is gravelly when he speaks. “Sorry.”
The nurse cautiously comes closer to them. “Can you stand? You don’t need to let go, but I need you both on the gurney.”
I let out a huge sigh of relief when he rises from the floor and lies down on the gurney with our omega draped over him, allowing her to have her vitals checked. He’s getting blood on her, but he’s still half-feral and needs to reassure himself she’s okay, so we don’t fight him. We can all shower this horrific evening off soon.
Hunter and I frantically surround them, wrappingour arms around her, all of us purring loudly to try and comfort her, touching and kissing every part we can reach.
