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“I’d bet my bottom dollar it doesn’t.”
I swoop in on her, wrap my arm around her back becausefuck it,I’ve kept my hands off of her for too long. I sink my fingers into her ass cheek and haul her up against my body, pulling her high enough I could steal a taste of her mouth, but I don’t. Because it’s a taste I want her to give me.
“I’d bet on that,” I whisper.
Her pupils dilate. Her scent blooms around me. “I…thought my heat was over.” Her wrists fall lazily onto my shoulders and I rub the bridge of my nose across her jawline.
“It is. What you’re feeling now isn’t your Omega, Echo.”
“What do you mean?” she says, completely breathless.
“It’s just you.”
She gasps, grabs hold of either side of my face, looks at my lips and licks her own and leans in…and then she jerks back. Eyes glued to somethin’ happenin’ over my shoulder, she wriggles until I’m forced to release her from my grip. I don’t see what’s claimed her attention until she starts towards it — the Alphas standing on the corner up ahead, a Beta man and a Beta boy on the ground beneath and between them.
The Beta boy is in the street and an oncoming car has to swerve to avoid him. The father is reaching for the boy, shouting, but the Alpha closest to him places a leather-soled shoe on his shoulder and gives him a kick, forcing him back, away from the child he’d been trying to protect.
Several triggers fire in my chest, reminding me why I don’t come out into the city. I’ve been out here. I’ve also seen worse. Reminds me of when I was a Beta boy but, in this moment, it makes me think of the conversation Echo and I just had about kids. What if that were me? Tryna protect my own kid? Not even sure the two males are related but the thought still claws its way into my skull and grabs ahold, and I find my feet moving faster down the sidewalk.
“Echo,” I call, panic firing as I realize that my Omega had the same idea at the exact same time I did. And she’s moving faster. “Echo!”
But Echo’s already at the corner, her arm outstretched. The Alphas turn to face her and I feel my Berserker rearing, ready to enter beast mode and obliterate them if they touch one strand of hair on her head, but Echo’s far more than two steps ahead. Her fingers curl and the sidewalkcrumbles. Thorns branch out between cracks in the concrete and even Echo is forced to a stop when they unfurl in long brown and black vines and fully encircle the Alphas, creating what look like bird cages around them. Big, beautiful, and terrifying.
My heart thumps and the taste of chicory and fear floods my mouth.This is my Omega and she’s a breathtaking and savage thing.I come to a stop at her side and see her covering her mouth with her hand. Her eyes are enormous, pupils tiny in the midst of so much brown. So much warmth. So much violence.
I take her hand by the wrist while the captive Alphas scream and gently lower her hand back to her side. “Berserker Dragnovic! Berserker Dragnovic! Help us! That female…the Omega…control her!” Ignoring the Alphas in a way Ineverwould have before, I lace my fingers through Echo’s and approach the Betas on the ground.
The Beta boy kneels next to his father now, just outside of the ring of broken concrete. I stretch my hand down to help him up, but he flinches, holds his hands over his head, and cowers from me.
Shame.
I’ve felt it before, before Echo. I know I have…but I can’t ever remember feelin’ it the way I’ve felt it since Echo came into my life. Bitin’ her against her will, hurtin’ her…yeah, those were lows. But this? And knowin’ she’s seein’ this? The hole I dug myself has dug itself deeper. And worse, I’m frozen on the spot, not sure how to proceed. Don’t wanna touch the boy if he’s ‘fraid a me. Don’t wanna leave my hand suspended in the air like a fuckin’ dick.
And then Echo moves. She edges her body half in front of mine and pushes my wrist down, just like I did to hers earlier. She slides her fingers along the boy’s arm and I notice that his clothes are a little dirty, his sweatshirt not as clean as it should be. Shame. It hurts my chest, like a bruised heart beating.
“You’re okay. It’s okay. They’re not gonna hurt you,” Echo whispers.
The boy opens his eyes and Echo helps him stand. I reach for the man and he hesitates before touching me. Everything hinges on him touching me. He looks up into my eyes, his blue eyes small and hesitant. But…he’s still brave enough to try — or maybe, he just senses my desperation. I want him to prove this to me, to Echo, to himself. I want my wife to like me.
He looks to Echo, and then his gaze drops to where my hand is still laced with Echo’s, before he takes mine.Relief.
“What happened here?” I can feel his bones through his thin skin as I haul him up onto his feet.
“The boy…he’s my protégé. We’re working for the paper. We do the deliveries.” It’s only when he gestures to the courier bags on the ground and the newspaper spilling out of them that I register what he means. “The Alpha lords…” Alpha lords. Do they really deserve such a title? “They accused the boy of being my son…said I needed to report him to our…to the Dark City Berserker. I…refused…I mean, he isn’t my son…”
The man is lying. I can tell. I can tell that Echo can tell because her hand squeezes mine as if pleading with me and I fuckin’ hate it. I ignore Echo for now, though I want to take her over my knee, but I know that’s not gonna convince her of who I am and what she means to me as much as what I do next right now, right here.
I step forward and take the man’s shoulder in my hand. His blue eyes fall to the ground between us and he starts to shake just a little bit before I say, “You and your son don’t need to register yourselves and you don’t need to put up with this harassment. I’ll help you gather your things and then my driver will take you anywhere you need to go.”
I call Sierra and she pulls up to the curb while the Alphas go quiet in their cages — quiet, yet I can feel their rage. It’s a rage my Berserker longs to explore…to match. That theydarein the presence of my Omega is…well, I’d love nothing more than to set them free and let mytrueform take over.
I block Echo from helping gather the newspapers up and do it for her. I hand the heavy bag to the boy and whatever cash is in my pocket to the man. At least a few hundred dollars. “For your family. And there’s my number in there, too. Any Alpha asks you to register yourself again, I want you to call me directly. I’m changing things. Betas don’t need to give up their kids anymore.” I’d decided this earlier, but hadn’t decided to announce it so publicly until then. Didn’t wanna piss off the Alphas, my Six counciled…
My Berserker’s beast has got other fuckin’ plans.
In front of me, the Beta’s jaw drops, revealing a mouth full of crooked teeth. “Are you…when…when did this happen?”
“Now. ‘Cuz of you. ‘Cuz of her.” I raise my voice, pitching it loud enough that the Alphas trapped in their cages — and the gathering crowd — can hear me. “Betas are no longer second-class — I’m gonna make changes. Until then, I catch wind of any Alpha causin’ trouble for Betas, they’ll have to answer to her.”
