“Of course, you didn’t kidnap the pups, Sky. No one thinks you did that,” I said soothingly. “Where did you get that idea?”
Then it hit me.
“Did Clint accuse you of that?”
“Not…exactly,” Sky hiccupped, trying to hold back his tears.
“But he implied it? When he put you in the cell?” I called my old friend a few choice words in my head. “Is that why Colt wants to tear him apart?”
Sky nodded and then jumped when I barked out a laugh.
“Sorry, kid.” I moved my hand up to his neck and squeezed. When a shudder ran through him, I pulled it back. “Feel better?”
“A little,” he admitted. His brow furrowed deeply as he stared at the crowd of shifters who had crowded around to watch the twin werewolves trade blows. “Shouldn’t we stop them?”
“Nah,” I assured him. “Colt needs to burn some energy at the moment and, based on what he pulled, it sounds like Clint deserves to be popped a few times. They’ll be fine.” I nudged Sky with my shoulder. “Come sit with me.”
Sky looked over his shoulder again, but followed me to the picnic table where I sat down and took out my notebook. “Now, can you tell me what happened?”
“After Darren surrendered to Colt in the ring, he came over and started talking to me.”
“Hitting on you?” I guessed.
Sky nodded. “It seemed like the perfect opportunity to try and find out where Juno was. It had never occurred to me that when we arrived at that small, ramshackle house, I’d find nearly a dozen pups locked in cages.”
“Of course not.” I shook my head. “You wouldn’t have any reason to.”
“When we got there,” Sky said softly, “Darren tied me up right away and said he was going to trade me to Colt for Chloe.”
Finally, it was starting to make sense. Colt was definitely going to kill him.
“When he left to go and find Colt, I pulled against the ropes and they pretty much just fell off.” Sky shrugged. “He’s not a very good kidnapper. I found Juno right away, but I couldn’t leave the rest of the babies behind, so I let them out and we snuck into the woods.” Sky sighed. “I didn’t know where to go, so I brought them all here.” He shuddered, a stricken look taking over his face. “Clint locked me up.”
“I’m so sorry about that, Sky.” I shook my head. “It’s no excuse, but I know he was upset about Colt melting down and I think he might have misunderstood why you left with Darren.” A thought occurred to me. “Did Darren ever say why he took all those kids?”
Sky nodded. “He said his pack was wiped out and he needed them to rebuild.” Sky wiped his eyes. “That was why he said he had to have Chloe. He needed an Omega to raise the kids and he can’t afford to buy one.”
That sent everything sliding into place.
“Can you excuse me for a minute?” I pulled out my cell phone and called the office. Within minutes the COPSD wide text message buzzed my phone, alerting all agents that a warrant had been issued for Rogue Alpha, Darren Bowlock.
Shortly after, the crowd surrounding the fight began to disperse, giving us a clear view of the ragged, bleeding Alphas being taken to task by a pregnant, pissed off Omega in full werewolf shift.
“Is that Trevor?” Sky gasped, his jaw dropping.
“Yep. Scary as hell, isn’t he?”
Sky nodded, still staring in awe. “He won’t hurt them, will he?”
I laughed heartily. “No, Sky. Neither one of them is stupid enough to cross him. Look, they’re coming this way now.”
As they came into hearing range, Trevor continued to blister their ears with sharply worded criticism about maturity and responsibility and setting a good example. Sky rose and began to back away as Clint walked toward us.
“Sky? Honey, he just wants to apologize,” Trevor called out, the gentle voice coming out of a hulking werewolf made Sky hesitate.
I reached a hand out. “Come here, Sky.”
He stepped hesitantly to my side and I dropped my hand on his neck again, rolling my eyes when Colt’s lips pulled back and bared his fangs.
“Oh, can it,” I snapped. “The kid is scared and you know damned well he’s safe with me.”
Clint stopped several feet away and focused on his shift, waiting until he was back in his human form to walk up to Sky. “I owe you an apology,” the chagrined Alpha said with a sigh. “I thought..”
Trevor cleared his throat and Clint shrugged. “Well, it doesn’t matter what I thought. I fucked up and I’m sorry.”
Colt moved toward us then, still in full were shift. His shredded clothing hung from his massive frame, showcasing bulging, battle-swollen muscles. He reeked of sweat and aggression, and he was focused in on Sky like a hawk on a mouse.
Watching the beast stalk toward us, Sky’s eyes widened and he trembled under my hand, but the scent rolling off him assured me that fear was the last emotion he was experiencing. Dropping my hand, I stepped aside as Colt bent to bury his face in the Omega’s neck, growling and chuffing as he plastered the smaller being to his body.
A smile crossed Trevor’s face as he nudged his mate back toward the packhouse. I was trying to decide if I should follow them to give Sky and Colt some privacy when Colt solved my dilemma by lifting Sky from his feet and carrying him off toward his cottage. Turning back to the table, I stacked my paperwork back into my file and decided to call it a day. After all, my Omega and kids were waiting at home and tomorrow would be soon enough for the case briefing.
