For a split second, terror seized me so severely I couldn’t think, couldn’t feel. And then my alphas reached me through the bond, responding to my fear, and it propelled me into action.
“Run,” I said to Jennifer, pushing her towards the hallway to the right. She wouldn’t be able to outrun Jericho, but I could be her shield.
My pack father sneered, the viciousness in his eyes a stark contrast to his usual icy calm. I had no idea why he was here, but I could tell he hadn’t expected to see me.
“What perfect timing,” he said, adjusting his cuff links as if bored. “Pack Madden and I were coming to check in on this new facility. What a happy reunion this will be. I couldn’t think of a better location for them to bond a worthless slut like you,” he spit out.
My blood ran cold. What if Pack Madden found me before my alphas did? There was no way I could fight them all off. Cam sent a rush of rage and love through the bond, and my chest eased. They were coming.
“We were displeased to hear of your escape from Glen,” he said with a sneer. “Of course, the excitement for alphas is in the chase. Your mother thought she could get away from us, run off with that weak, useless excuse of an alpha. She learned the error of her ways in the end.”
A sick feeling settled in my stomach. I had always suspected it, but this felt like confirmation: this man had taken my chance at having a loving father and a mother who wasn’t so wrapped up in her suffering that she took it out on her daughter.
“But I’ve tired of her, just as I’ve tired of you.”
He took a few steps towards me, and I had to fight the urge to run.
“Kneel,” Jericho barked.
The bark barely did anything. There was a slight tightness at the back of my knees, but it was more the whisper of a command.
The door down the hall slammed shut, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Jen had gotten out. I felt my alphas getting closer, but I needed to be smart about this.
I forced myself to my knees in front of Jericho.
“You’ve always been such a worthless piece of shit,” he snarled. “I don’t know what your mother ever saw in you. I wanted to send you away, you know. Richard and I had it all planned out. A tragic accident would have ended you while in boarding school.”
I bristled at his words but forced myself to stay kneeling, slowly inching my hand down the side of my thigh.
“Your mother fought for you, convinced us you would be useful in the future,” he continued, his mouth twisting into a grimace. “When you revealed as an omega, I thought we might finally have some use for you yet. At least omegas are good for one thing—their cunts.”
Jericho took another step forward, and I struck without hesitation. My fingers curled around the stun gun at my thigh and I thrust it forward, pressing it straight into his crotch. His shrill scream echoed off the halls, but I didn’t move my hand.
“Stop!” he barked, trying to shove me away. His voice was strangled and high-pitched, drenched in agony, and completely ineffective. He fell to the floor and I straddled him, keeping the stun gun pressed to him as he screamed.
“You have no more power!” I shouted, tears filling my eyes. “You’re nothing.”
“Josie!” Cam shouted.
I glanced up and saw him and Theo sprinting down the hall towards me, their eyes wild.
My alphas.
The adrenaline coursing through my body dropped, leaving me cold and dizzy. The room swam around me.
Cam and Theo stopped a few feet away, moving as if afraid they would scare me.
“Good girl, you got him. He’s passed out. You did so well,” Cam said, his eyes wide as he took in Jericho’s writhing body.
I didn’t move. Couldn’t. I was frozen where I sat. I didn’t want to be touching Jericho, but I couldn’t make my limbs obey me.
“Baby girl?” Cam asked, trepidation in his voice as he moved in slowly.
“Josie, love? Can you hear us?” Theo said, stepping over Jericho to get closer to me, quickly wiping his hands on his pants.
I didn’t know what was wrong with me, but I couldn’t speak, couldn’t do anything but clench my hand around the stun gun.
“Why don’t you drop that?” Cam suggested, glancing at the weapon. It wasn’t on anymore, but was still pressed firmly to Jericho’s crotch.
Cam crouched down so we were at eye level. I tried to release the weapon, but my fingers wouldn’t work. Ice trickled through my veins.
And then the bond burst to life with love. Cam and Theo broke through my defenses, pushing as much affection to me as they could. It filled me up, overwhelming me, and the stun gun clattered to the ground.
Immediately, Cam had me in his arms, pressing me tightly to his chest while Theo wrapped around my back.
“Did he hurt you?” Cam asked, his voice a deep growl as he kicked Jericho’s prone form with his boot.
I shook my head, still not finding my words.
“You did so good,” Theo murmured. His body trembled against mine as he clutched at me with desperation.
“What a good omega. Fuck, you deserve a big reward for this,” Cam said.
My omega perked up at that, and I realized she was in control once more.
“That’s right, you did so good. You’re so powerful, so strong,” Theo said. He ran his hands up and down my back in a steady rhythm until my muscles slowly unclenched.
My limbs shook as I slowly came back to my body.
“Is he…?” I whispered, not wanting to look at Jericho while Theo tied him up.
“He’s alive,” Theo responded. “Although I don’t know if that pathetic excuse for a dick will be salvageable.”
I waited for the guilt to wash over me, but it never came. My omega was fucking satisfied with what we’d done, and I didn’t fight her.
“Ben?” I whimpered. I could feel him in the bond, his feelings so wild and chaotic I couldn’t untangle them.
“On his way. We had to deal with the other alphas that came with Jericho,” Theo said softly.
I pressed my face to Cam’s throat and closed my eyes as he carried me out of the warehouse. I wanted to burn it, bomb it, destroy it so completely nothing could ever be built in this place again.
The cool air washed over us as we left the warehouse behind. I heard a shout, and then Ben’s body collided with Cam and me. I threw myself into his arms and he caught me easily.
“Why did you go in there on your own?” he growled, his fear so visceral it almost choked me. “Never do that again.”
His stern tone was enough to shake me out of my semi-catatonic state. I met his bright blue eyes and realized his glasses were crooked. My hands shook as I adjusted them for him.
“I don’t think I want to be a badass anymore,” I confessed. My bottom lip trembled, and I pressed my face to his neck.
“Too bad because you already are and always will be. But you don’t have to do it alone. In fact, I insist you don’t.”
I ran my tongue across the bond mark on his neck. Ben huffed, his reluctant arousal reaching me in the bond as he tightened his hold on me.
“Love you,” I said, placing another wet kiss on the bond mark.
“Love you, too.” His tone was so grumpy it made my lips twitch.
“The alphas?” Cam asked quietly.
“Got them tied up,” Ben responded. “The other pack will stay behind to take care of the pieces of shit. All the omegas are in the vans. Let’s go home.”
