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I lean forward and press my lips hard against hers, grabbing the back of her head to hold her to me. She whimpers against me, and I pull back, resting my forehead against hers.
“Don’t ever get kidnapped again. I can’t take it,” I tell her seriously, only slightly joking.
Of course, it’s not her fault she was kidnapped, but I’m still going to need her to not do that again. You know, acquire any more stalkers. We still don’t know anything about that other guy that she ran into, but that’s something to worry about later. Ripley giggles and pokes me in the chest.
“I’ll work on it.”
“Good.”
She snorts and leans her head back against the tub. Knight hands me a loofah and some soap, setting some shampoo and conditioner on the edge of the tub before squeezing my shoulder and leaving us alone. Just before he walks out, Ripley calls out to him.
“Will you send Kian in, too?” she asks.
He grins and nods at her, leaving us be. I turn back around to my omega to help clean her up.
I lather the loofah up good and then work to clean the grime and sweat and blood off her, meticulously scrubbing at her hands and fingers. I’m quiet as I work, putting all my attention on getting her as clean as possible, making sure I leave no surface unscrubbed. The water turns pink as her hands are cleaned, so I let the water out before refilling it with clean water and washing her body again.
Then I grab the spray attachment and make sure the water is warm. I have her sit up and lean her head back so I can wet it and then lather some shampoo into her long tresses. Kian finally comes in while I’m scrubbing her hair, so I stop what I’m doing momentarily, waiting on him. Ripley looks at him and waits for him to get to her other side. Kian kneels beside her and places his forehead against hers, closing his eyes and breathing deeply.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t protect you, Starlight. I should have been more vigilant and gone with you to the bathroom,” he sighs, a tear slipping free.
Ripley cups his cheek and gives him a small smile.
“It’s not your fault, chicken little. None of us could have expected things to go the way they did the other night. I’m back home now and our nightmare is over. Time for our happily ever after, ‘kay?”
Kian laughs lightly at the pet name, and I grin as well. She’s good at those. After she says that, Kian kisses her and then helps me clean her hair. Ripley’s eyes close as we massage the shampoo into her scalp, and she groans. When we’re sure her hair is clean, I rinse the soap out and we condition it, combing our fingers through the strands to make sure it’s evenly distributed. We let it sit in her hair for several minutes, then rinse it out as well.
Once she’s clean and nearly falling back asleep in the tub, I let the water out and Kian holds out a towel for her. He helps her out of the tub, wrapping the towel around her, and sets her on his lap. She leans her head against my shoulder while I rub some arnica cream I found in the cabinet on her throat and bruised shoulder gently. I place a kiss on her shoulder once I’m done, and Kian stands up with her in his arms. I follow them into the nest where everyone is sprawled out, waiting for us. There’s a spot in the middle of the alphas left open for us, and I rush to it, laying down and waiting on Kian to bring her here so I can have her curled in my hold. Once he sets her down, he hugs her to his front and Syn, Nico, and Knight all surround us, each of them making sure they touch some part of Ripley.
Syn curls around my back with her arm thrown over my waist and her hand resting on Ripley’s side. Nico is between her legs, nearly laying on top of her, as he cuddles his face into her belly. Kian has his head resting against hers and Knight rests both of our heads on his abdomen, alternating between running his fingers through her hair and down her nose.
I think we lay there for hours, just staring at her as she sleeps, her brow furrowing every now and again. When it does, Knight is there, running his finger between her brows and down her nose, making her face relax, and her lips twitch. We watch her as the sun rises high in the sky and then dips back down before disappearing completely. Then we watch her as the moonlight shines down on her in a halo of silver light.
***
The next morning, we take Ripley to the police station as promised. As she recounts everything that happened from her and Huntleigh’s bathroom trip to her leading Cozette out of that house of horrors, I feel sick, and I don’t think I’ll ever trust anyone around my omega again after this experience.
“Do you know why Mr. Travis was so set on taking you?” Officer Taylor asks Ripley when she’s finished reciting everything with a sympathetic frown on her bedraggled face.
“Um, actually, I don’t think it was so much me he was obsessed with as it was Syn,” Ripley hedges, looking at her with a wince.
“It’s the way he kept bringing you up and spoke about you that makes me think this was all to get to you. I mean, I’m sure in the beginning he was interested in me, but I think once you stepped between me and him at the Ceremony, it made him want to go after me more. And that day in the diner I ran into him, and Nico told him that Pack Kingston was courting me. I believe that day solidified things. He hated you, Syn, and I guess it was all because you’re a woman that stood up to him instead of cowering in fear, thanks to your alpha genes,” Ripley tells her.
Syn is stunned speechless and honestly, so are the rest of us. I swear you could hear a pin drop after Ripley says what she does; none of us sure what to say. All of this because my alpha didn’t back down when she was around him and was trying to put him away? Gods.
“Are we done?” Nico clips out, his patience stretched way too thin.
Officer Taylor clears her throat under Nico’s penetrating stare and glances back at Ripley.
“Just one more thing. Why was there a knife stabbed through his tongue?” she asks my omega, a brow raised in question.
Ripley straightens her spine and lifts her chin. “He wouldn’t stop bad-mouthing my alpha, so I did it for him.” Then quieter, she says, “I was too squeamish to cut it out.” She mutters it low enough under her breath that the officer doesn’t hear her, but I sure as fuck do, and I nearly bark out a laugh.
When we’re finally let go and walk back outside, everything seems brighter, better. We all collectively take a deep breath and smile at each other, coming together in a group hug with one battered but perfect omega right in the center.
“Can someone take me to the hospital? I have someone I need to see,” Ripley says, her words somewhat muffled since her face is pressed against Nico’s chest.
“We’ll all go,” Syn says when we all break apart.
