“I’ll get them,” Linus said in a wobbly voice, breaking away from me and dashing into the hall.
“You’re going to have to put him in a closet on the far side of the house and gag him so he doesn’t make so much noise it blows everyone’s cover,” I told my brother.
“Yeah, I know,” Fenn said, manhandling Lucas to try to get him to stop squirming. “With any luck, he’ll be so exhausted after all this that as soon as he’s tucked away, he’ll fall asleep until it’s all done.”
“I’m not gonna fall asleep,” Lucas insisted, though by the way he was bucking and struggling and using up a ton of energy, I didn’t see how he would be able to stay awake. “I swear to god, I’ll make sure the two of you pay for this. I’ll tell Wally everything you did and how you set him up. I’ll?—”
Lucas went suddenly quiet and limp as Linus reentered the room. Probably because Linus wasn’t alone. He had three, looming, tough-looking alphas dressed in black with him.
I moved forward before I could stop to think, striding straight for my omega and scooping him into my arms. Only after I had Linus secured and was halfway to the far side of the room, where I’d be able to protect my omega from the alphas who’d just arrived and who I’d immediately seen as a threat did I stop to consider who they were.
“Were you looking for these?” the alpha that stood in front of the other two asked, holding up a set of handcuffs and a small duffle. He wasn’t the biggest of the newcomers, but he had an air of authority. Plus, I recognized his voice from the phone.
“Zane,” Fenn said with a nod, struggling with Lucas again, who was now trying to get away. “My brother, Saint Boscoff, and his omega, Linus Cahill.”
I had enough sense to put Linus down, but I kept one hand on him. Despite everything else going on, Linus was still in heat, and I could tell from the way the newly arrived alphas’ nostrils flared, like they were picking up on his heat scent, that they knew it.
I didn’t like it at all when Zane glanced our way to nod, then did a doubletake when he saw Linus. “I see what you mean about having an alternative solution,” he said.
“Let go of me!” Lucas shouted, nearly breaking out of Fenn’s grasp. “Don’t touch me. Who are you fuckers? I demand you let me go!”
Zane marched right over to Fenn and Lucas, narrowing his eyes and hunching just enough to stare at Lucas eye-to-eye. “Are you the slippery little rat that’s been acting as a mule for us and Wally Dumfries?”
Lucas gasped and twisted in Fenn’s arms. “You’re one of the Westfields! You can’t be here. Wally said to handle the hand-off on my own. “I don’t care if they’re your guns or your drugs or whatever, you can’t be here!”
“So you know who I am?” Zane asked.
I frowned at the question and felt Linus’s confusion as well, but it all made sense as Lucas opened his big mouth and spilled everything.
“You’re really Jacob Westfield, maybe, right? You’re here to take the drugs when Wally brings them. You aren’t supposed to be here, though. You’re supposed to wait until I drive the van out to Corberrie Mountain. The drop-off from your end is supposed to happen there.”
Zane turned to nod to one of his men, who pulled out his phone and stepped down the hall to make a call. Then Zane turned back to Lucas.
“So you’re telling me that you’re working with Wally Dumfries and Jacob Westfield as a go-between, transporting illegal firearms and drugs?” Zane asked.
I felt Linus’s shock and regret half a second before Lucas said, “Yes, of course I am. You should know that. You’re Westfield…right?”
Zane stood straight, reaching for one of Lucas’s wrists and putting one side of the handcuffs on. “Lucas Cahill, you’re under arrest for assisting in the illegal transportation and sale of firearms and narcotics.”
“Wait, no! What?” Lucas gasped, his eyes going wide. Between Zane and Fenn, they managed to plant Lucas face-down on the sofa so they could cuff his hands behind his back. “You fuckers! You lied to me. You double-crossed me. You can’t do this!” he shouted, then turned his head to me. “Linus! Tell them this is all a misunderstanding. Tell them it’s a joke, just another one of the pranks I play on you all the time.” He tried to fake laugh, but the sound came out weak and wheezy. “Just ask my brother. This is all a joke.”
Linus wasn’t going to defend his brother this time, I knew. He just shook his head and watched as, on Fenn’s advice, Lucas’s legs were secured by some rope from the small duffle.
“I guess it’s what we have to do,” Linus sighed.
I didn’t get a chance to answer him. Lucas’s phone rang, bringing everyone in the room to sudden, stunned silence.
Fenn had put the phone in his back pocket before he caught Lucas, and since Zane had him now, he pulled it out and looked at the screen. “It’s Wally Dumfries.”
“Wally!” Lucas shouted. “Don’t come near the house! It’s a trap!”
The phone kept ringing, and Zane clamped a hand over Lucas’s mouth to keep him quiet. “Answer it,” he said, looking straight at Linus.
My omega didn’t hesitate for a moment. He stepped away from me, quickly taking the phone from Fenn, who got up to hand it to him. He tapped it, then said, “Yeah?”
A quick smile played across my face. My good, sweet omega sounded amazingly like his brother.
“There are not a bunch of people around the house,” he went on, so convincing I had to press a hand to my mouth to stop myself from making any noise. “You were late,” he went on, looking at me, his eyes wide. “I guess the Westfields got impatient to get their stuff and decided to show up in person to get it.” There was a pause. I could feel Linus’s panic setting in, but he went on with, “How should I know? They’re here now, and they don’t want to wait. They’re threatening to take their stuff back if you don’t get it right now.”
