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“Dean,” she says.
“Saint, call me Saint, spitfire,” I murmur into her hair, pressing kisses against her scalp as her scent calms me in a way nothing else can. I need her. I will die without her.
“Dean–Saint, let me go,” she says.
“No.”
“No?” she chokes.
“No,” I repeat. That is all she needs to know. No.
When the car slides to a stop on the curb, I scoop her up into my arms and carry her to the door that Mark is holding open. Then I fold us into the interior. She doesn’t fight me or make a scene, and I’m not sure if that is a good or bad sign.
I settle her on my lap, my arms around her like a band, as Mark navigates the streets back to the penthouse. He pulls into the darkened garage, and I slip out of the car with her still in my arms and head for the elevator. She hasn’t said a word and is silent as we ride the elevator up to the apartment.
I push in the door and stride with her across the living area and directly into her bedroom. I drop her to her bed, a squeak popping from her lips as she bounces and stares up at me wide-eyed.
“Don’t come out until you understand that this is where you belong,” I order, and then I stride to the door and shut it between us. I don’t bark the order, because if she comes out sooner, we will discover other ways to convince her.
Her wide surprised eyes are the last thing I see before I’m turning to face my pack.
“What the fuck did you do?” Austin says. His gaze darting to the shut door behind me.
“I brought her back home.” I pass him to the kitchen, a need to cook for her driving me. Pulling out pots and pans, I search the fridge for items to cook, while ignoring my pack.
Felix clamps down on his lip ring and eyes the door, a smile wanting to play on his lips. “She didn’t fight you.”
“She didn’t have a choice.”
“You kidnapped an omega and are holding her hostage in our penthouse. Do you know how insane that sounds?” Austin asks.
Slowly lifting my gaze to his, I blink. “At least the reason I’m doing it is that she is our scent match and belongs with us. We aren’t whole without her. When you did it, all you wanted was a fucking old ass painting you don’t even care about.”
“I didn’t hold her hostage,” he grumbles.
I laugh, loud and deep, as I throw my head back. “Is that the lie you tell yourself? A contract doesn’t mean shit when you had to blackmail her to have her sign it.”
“It was business.”
“This is business, too. Personal business. Audrey isn’t going anywhere until we convince her she belongs with us.”
“We don’t need an omega,” Austin protests.
“You know that not every omega is Sidney. Not all of them are out to get your money or control you. And if Audrey was doing that, she wouldn’t have left earlier. That is all the proof you need. If you make me choose between pack and her, I’m choosing her, just so that is clear.”
Felix joins me in the kitchen and pulls out sliced cheese. “She likes grilled cheese,” he says, his words making it clear that he would choose her too.
Austin paces on the other side of the island, his fingers tugging through his hair. “I know Audrey is nothing like Sidney. I’ve known it from the start when she wanted to walk away from money just to be away from an alpha.” He inhales deeply, his gaze fixing on the closed door. “I didn’t mean for her to leave earlier. I only said that she could go because I wanted it to be her choice to stay with us. This isn’t giving her that choice.”
“If you think for one second that hellcat wouldn’t be out here tearing me to pieces for bringing her back here, if she didn’t want to be here, you haven’t been paying attention.”
CHAPTER38
Audrey
Hoodieup over my head and hands shoved into the pocket, I take in the fresh air. It doesn’t help. My brother, with his perceptive words, echoes in my head like an awful song.‘Aud, just remember, it is okay to go after things you think you don’t deserve.’
Who says I don’t deserve happiness? I do. But why does it have to be with a pack?
