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Then he shoves his hands in his pockets and leaves the way he came in, just as the incense burns out and Kendra's scent seeps back in.
4
Maddox
She'sintherewiththat alpha and she's in heat.
I'm confident he has her locked away somewhere. I could smell her, even over all that damn incense, and her scent was like...bad decisions. Bad decisions like the one I made when I unlocked her cuffs, when I should have just thrown her in the back of my car and driven her away from there.
I've been trying to find her ever since the Enclave attacked the auction, but I didn't track down a damn sign of her until I caught her scent by that tattoo parlor. After that, I bided my time...waited to see if she was inside. But the guy went about business as usual.
I'm fairly confident it's an old Enclave hideout, but not anymore.
Zane Stone isn't on any lists.
So why is he helping Kendra Morrison?
I book a room at the motel across the street from the tattoo parlor and make my way inside, ensuring that the view from my room looks down at Eve's Apple. I can still see Zane through the window, closing up shop and finally pulling down the curtains.
The lights stay on.
I feel myself going crazy with jealousy as I sit in the window and watch shadows flicker across the shades. I could go in there and demand he give her to me...put a gun to his head and claim that she's mine, that I'm taking her whether he likes it or not. But that would get the ACB involved, and even though I technically work for the ACB, I'm not actually supposed to be here.
I would lose my job if they knew what I did.
I would go to prison, maybe even get the death penalty.
Because I looked into her eyes and I let her go.
The attack on the auction was my first day working there, and I thought I could hack it...but I couldn't fucking stand it. Seeing them so afraid and in pain made my skin crawl. I would never claim I'm a good guy, but I'm not a monster.
I thought the Alpha Control Bureau was keeping the peace, not destroying lives.
Turns out I was wrong.
That's to deal with some other time though...because I realized one other very important fact on the day that I let her go. When I looked into Kendra Morrison's eyes, I realized that she was mine. I've met a few omegas and plenty of betas, but I've never had that kind of instant connection with anyone, and I can't just let her go.
Why didn't she stay with me?
Why did she run to this loner asshole instead?
I could be helping her through her heat right now, fucking her until she screams, and she's tucked away in the worst neighborhood of Solstice Bay while I lose my mind across the street.
My phone rings, and I glance down to find that my partner is calling me. I've been working abduction cases for years, and the Kendra Morrison case was one of the most high profile ones we'd taken on. I've been ignoring his calls for days, and I think it's finally time that I at least let him know I'm okay.
I swipe up to answer and put the phone to my ear.
"Hey, Barnes," I mutter. "What's up?"
"What the hell, Maddox?" he says. "Where are you?"
He's an older guy, mid-fifties and career ACB. He's gruff, too--a decorated veteran from the Control War, a true believer in the cause.
He would never understand how I could just...turn tail and run like that.
And he's predictably very pissed.
I go over to desk in the corner and snatch up a pack of smokes, grabbing one and putting it to my lips to smoke through the open window. I've been trying to quit, but this has me so fucking rattled that I can't help giving into the sweet release of my addiction.
