Lighting the arrow for Beckham, I give him room to take his shot. The arrow flies flawlessly, hitting Ralph in the stomach.Nice. I didn’t want to micromanage him, but non-lethal shots are very much the goal.
The turpentine catches fire easily, and Jamie grins as he lifts the bow from Beckham’s hands. My omega appears mesmerized by the fire, watching as each arrow finds its mark, and Ralph continues to scream.
Miraculously, it takes half an hour of target practice for him to die, both due to his injuries, the flames forcing his body to give up the ghost, and blood loss.
“I’ll let the fire burn out on its own,” I decide. “Go home, shower, and snuggle with Jamie, Beckham. He’s dead. Ralph can never hurt you again.”
Beckham’s body slams into my body as he hugs me, and I wrap my arms around him.
“Thank you,” he whispers. “It helped, watching him die. Otherwise, my brain would keep looking for him around every corner.”
“I know,” I murmur, kissing his temple. “Now go home. I love you.”
We took two different cars here, because I knew I’d be sending him home at some point. Once he’s gone, I sigh, watching the human bonfire burn.
“He took this well,” Tatum mentions beside me.
“He did. This wasn’t easy, but he didn’t flinch,” I say. Feeling ill is normal. I’m not talking about that. “If Ralph wasn’t such a jealous shit, he’d still be alive.”
“Nah.” Tatum snorts. “Idiots like him always fuck up. We’d be here either way.”
Nodding, I play Minecraft on my phone as Tatum begins to clean his tools. It’s just another day in the life of the mafia. Only today, we found justice for our omega.
No one will ever touch him without permission ever again. Not if we have anything to do with it.
CHAPTER 22
ONE YEAR LATER
BECKHAM
The bell to the coffee shop chimes. Glancing up from my phone, I smile when I see one of my students, Camden, walk in.
He looks around before spotting me. He gives me a small shy smile and a little wave before heading over towards me.
“Hey,” he says, pulling a chair out. “Sorry I’m late.”
“No need to be sorry.” I chuckle. “Thank you for meeting with me.”
Normally I wouldn’t make it a big deal being seen having coffee with a student. I’m often someone they tend to lean on, mostly other omegas because I make it my mission to make sure everyone feels seen and cared about. It’s a big reason why I teach.
It’s not all about the knowledge I can provide them, but also offering a safe space outside school work.
Camden is one of those students. I could tell from the moment he started at Crown Well that he needed someone to fight for him. And while I did my best because I am his professor after all, Jamie became a big part of his life. The two of them hit it off right away and became the best of friends.
My crazy, bratty, sassy, mouthy alpha became the person this young man needed when he was struggling. It’s another reason I fell in love with Jamie all over again.
Camden came from a world similar to mine and my alphas. Only unlike our families, Camden’s father was a monster.
Camden was so afraid to be himself he had to mask himself as a beta and hide both his designation and sexuality from the world.
“Of course.” Camden smiles.
“Is Jamie outside?” I ask, looking towards the window. I chuckle when I get my answer. Jamie is sitting outside at one of the tables, his blond hair shining bright in the sun. He gives us a little wave before going back to his phone. “I’m surprised your alphas let you out of their sight.”
“It wasn’t easy.” Camden laughs softly. “They threatened to kill him if anything happened to me. But I think after everything that went down, they trust my life in Jamie’s hands.”
“How is everything going with them?” You think my pack was bad? They have nothing on Camden’s pack when it comes to being assholes. The amount of times I wanted to strangle those men since the moment I met them is too many to count.
