Curiosity tugs at me, and I wonder what their own story is. It’s not my right to ask, though.
Ezra, the older alpha and Ace’s grandfather, looks around, his eyes shining. “This is quite the location you have here.”
Nikolai nods next to me, but neither of us offers a tour. “It’s home,” I say simply, and Ezra’s eyes move to mine with an understanding glint.
“We’ll get out of your hair,” he says firmly.
Ace and Devlin exchange a loaded glance, and I tense. Nik pauses next to me, and I know he’s noted it as well.
Devlin turns to me. “When we agreed to help, we weren’t aware of her name.”
I frown. “Does it matter?”
The two alphas share another look, and Ace nods.
“We met our own omega, Harper, over a year ago,” Devlin continues. “She came from the OC too. I think that your omega may be a friend of hers. Someone she’s been looking for.”
Surprise fills me. Their omega knows Ava?
Beside me, Nik takes a protective step forward. “She’s not going anywhere,” he growls.
Devlin holds his hands up. “Steady. We’re not suggesting that,” he explains hurriedly. “But when she’s feeling a little better, I’d like you to check to see if she’d like to get in touch with Harper.”
Ace snorts. “If Harper thinks this is Ava, we’ll probably be knocking on your door in the next few days.”
I shake my head.
“No. We’ll let Ava know, and she can decide if she wants to reach out. It should be her choice.”
God knows she’s had enough choices stripped away from her. Ezra nods approvingly from where he watches us. “Quite right. Harper will understand. Let’s get going.”
Ezra and Ace get back into the ambulance as Devlin lingers.
“Even if it doesn’t turn out to be the same omega, Harper would be thrilled to speak to her either way. She doesn’t get a huge amount of contact with other omegas.”
His eyes soften as he mentions their omega.
Hesitating, I ask, “She came from the compound?”
His face darkens. “She did.”
Not giving any more information, he nods at me before turning and getting into the driver’s seat. Ace waves from the passenger window as we watch them drive away.
Nikolai frowns. “That was unexpected.”
Unexpected, indeed.
“She might need a friend.” Especially with everything she’s been through.
Nikolai sighs as we move back towards the house. There’s no sign of Ava, Max or Luc. I hope they’re okay.
“I need to check on Nash,” he mutters and strides off in the direction of the treehouse. I let him go without saying anything.
Grabbing a coffee from the kitchen, I settle back into my office, monitoring the activity on the cameras and trying not to think of our new guest. My mind keeps drifting back to her no matter how much I try to focus on tracking Stone’s men through the city. They spread out like little black ants, but they’re nowhere near us.
I wasn’t expecting to feel so drawn to her. As a beta, I don’t have the same instincts as Luc and the rest of my pack. I’m not driven by my hormones in the same way, but protectiveness ripples through me at the thought of her.
She reminds me of a quote I read once.
