So far nothing suspicious had happened. If not for his call to Peter, Chad would have thought everything was as it should be.
Staying on the line, he waited for something to happen as the car continued driving down the highway. He closed his eyes, forcing himself to remain calm as he listened to Dawn breathing in his ear. He could hear the sound of her fingers flying over her keyboard in the background, and occasionally she would speak to someone in the room with her, but she didn’t address Chad other than to ask if he was still with her.
“Yeah,” Chad said, wondering how much time had passed. It felt like hours, and for a moment Chad felt ashamed of himself that he wasn’t handling this better. If it were Peter in his place—or any of Peter’s alpha friends—they would have punched their way through the partition and murdered whoever had the gall to kidnap them.
None of them would have sat around and waited to be rescued.
“Any second now,” Dawn said.
Chad swallowed, nearly jumping out of his seat when he heard a police siren go off behind them.
“That’s us,” Dawn said before Chad could ask. “If your driver pulls over, get down on the floor. If he doesn’t, keep your seatbelt fastened.”
“Got it,” Chad said, his palms sweaty. He wiped his hands on the front of his jeans, relief coursing through him when the car slowed down and pulled onto the shoulder of the highway. The speaker next to the door cracked to life, the driver’s voice coming through loud and clear just as Chad sank down to the floor and laid himself flat.
“Sorry, sir. This will just be a mom—"
Chad jumped at the sound of a gun going off. A second later there was a crash, like a window shattering, and Chad heard the lock in the door click open. Whoever had shot the driver must have punched in the front seat window and turned the master lock.
“Can you tell me what’s going on?” Dawn’s voice came out of the phone on the floor next to Chad’s head. She sounded frustrated, but not worried. Before Chad could answer, someone ripped open the door and reached down and grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket. Chad let out a grunt of surprise as he was lifted clear off the floor and out of the car, hoping to God Peter was the one manhandling him.
“Don’t fucking pull shit like this,” Peter growled at him, sounding both furious and relieved as he spun Chad around and pulled him in for a crushing hug—lifting him off the ground without a shred of effort.
Chad buried his face in the crook of Peter’s neck and breathed him in, wishing that Peter wasn’t clamping his arms down to his sides and that he could hug him back. Peter’s chest rumbled, and the next thing Chad knew he was dropped to his feet and Peter was crouching down in front of him with an intense expression on his face.
“Peter, what are you—"
Peter didn’t answer, patting Chad down and checking for injury. He ran his hands up Chad’s legs and over his waist with firm but frantic movements, breathing hard as he reassured himself that Chad was okay.
“I’m fine,” Chad said, nonetheless letting Peter do as he pleased. He’d never seen the alpha so agitated. Instead of answering, Peter glared up at him and bared his teeth in a snarl. Chad held up his hands in surrender and spread his legs to allow Peter better access.
Peter huffed, and continued his exploration. Chad lifted his chin and looked around, startled at the sight of the police car behind him and the officer sitting behind the wheel. The man was watching him with wide eyes, looking away quickly when Chad caught him staring. On the other side of the road, Chad saw Peter’s motorcycle. Peter must have come down the highway in the opposite direction and pulled over when he saw Chad’s car being stopped.
The whole situation was absurd. Less than forty minutes had passed between Chad realizing he was being kidnapped and Peter’s rescue, and now that he was safe it was like he’d woken up from a dream.
“I’m okay,” he repeated, looking down at his mate. Peter glanced up with an expression that said quite clearly that he wasn’t going to take Chad’s word for it. He kept on patting Chad down, his roaming hand making their way to Chad’s crotch. It made Chad jump away and cover himself. He was already half hard from having Peter’s hands all over his body—his mental state notwithstanding—and the last thing he needed was an erection tenting his pants in full view of every car passing by.
“You’re really okay?” Peter asked. He seemed to shake off his feral haze and rose from his crouch, boxing Chad in up against the car with his bigger body. Chad closed his eyes at the feel of Peter’s muscular arms wrapping around him, subtly tilting his head and baring his neck when Peter leaned down to scent him.
“I’m fine. Never even would have known it was a kidnapping attempt if I hadn’t called you,” Chad said. He shuddered, Peter’s teeth scraping over his neck, the alpha’s warm breath making his spine tingle. His cock stiffened, pushing against the front of his jeans. There was no way Peter couldn’t feel it.
“I’m pretty sure you would have noticed eventually,” Peter said darkly. He pulled away, his hands coming up to grip Chad’s shoulders, and looked him in the eye. “You’re okay? Really?”
Chad nodded. He knew how he would feel if something like this had happened to Peter, so he didn’t begrudge the man his slight overreaction.
“I’m perfectly fine.” Chad looked over at the driver’s side of the car where the window had been punched out. He nodded toward it. “What about him?”
Peter’s face went hard, and he shrugged. “He’s dead.”
Chad nodded, feeling weird. He didn’t regret Peter killing the guy who had attempted to kidnap him, but he couldn’t make himself feel nothing. Besides, what if the driver hadn’t been in on it?
Taking a deep breath, Chad forced himself not to think like that.
“So what do we do now?” he asked. Peter’s hand slid down his arms and he stepped forward again, pressing his body close as he answered.
“Merchant is on his way. He’ll deal with the police and take lead on the investigation.”
“Investigation?” Chad asked. Peter glared down at him. The expression was savage. Standing close like this, Chad was struck by how big Peter was. The alpha was just a few inches taller than him, but combined with his muscular build those few inches made it feel like he was towering over Chad.
