Kain laughed, more in shock than amusement, as he stared at the picture.“Guess he won’t forget Lucky in a hurry.”
Ford nodded, the vindictive type to approve of that sentiment.“Not likely.”
Kain managed a smile, though it seemed a mixture of relief, sadness and confusion.On one hand, he was free of Lincoln, but on the other his mate had just been punished as severely as an alpha could be.Not only did he have a prison sentence and a permanent mark from Omha’s influence, but he’d been stripped of his right to take a mate.
The Containment listing wasn’t just writing a name—it required a medical procedure to inject the drug Containment straight into his veins, which screwed with an alpha’s flare.Lincoln could no longer influence an omega or scent the difference between alpha, omega or beta.He couldn’t take a mate and any bond that existed with his true mate would disappear.It would hurt like hell for Lincoln, but Kain should only feel a quick tug where the bond had existed before he was free.Once injected and rendered medically safe to be in the world, anyone on the Containment listing would be allowed to roam freely, no longer a burden to omegas, no longer a danger.
Not Lincoln.His fifteen-year sentence was a criminal record.Lincoln had to serve every day of fifteen years in an ORT prison, where there was no such thing as leniency for good behaviour, no luxuries, no hierarchies or manipulation between cell mates, and sure as fuck no parole or shortened sentences.
Lincoln was gone, out of their lives for the next fifteen years.Chase couldn’t have been happier.
Kain started to smile, maybe because once Lincoln was given Containment, he would be free—of Lincoln, of their bond, and free to find another alpha actually worthy of him.
Chapter Sixteen
Two days later
Chase
The phone woke him too early for a Saturday.He grabbed it off the bedside table, flicked the screen and scowled at his mother’s name.Swiping the green button, he rolled onto his back and mumbled an indistinct, “Mum?”
“Morning, dear.I hear that Lucky’s recovery is going well.Now you’ve had a few days to settle back into college, I’d like to meet your true mate,” Wynna said, barely making sense to his tired brain.“I’ll meet you at the mall around ten.Don’t be late.I’ll be bringing Pip and he gets anxious waiting for people.”
Chase opened his mouth to argue, to ask what she was talking about, but she hung up.He groaned, buried his face in the pillow, and braced for the day ahead.
He reached out without looking to place his phone back onto the bedside table.He was almost asleep when a breath against his ear forced his eyes open.Chase turned his head on the pillow to find Ford grinning, barely an inch from his face.
“Get up, shower and dress sharp.We’re meeting your mam at the mall for ten.”
“She called you?”
“Said you’d just go back to sleep.”Gentle fingers raked through his hair, far more tender and familiar than Chase was used to.His stomach swooped?though he couldn’t tell if that was from the bond strengthening, nerves, or the hope that Ford would keep going?then Ford dropped into a crouch to look him in the eye.“You want five more minutes?I haven’t called Lucky yet.”
“If we’re late my mother will never let me hear the end of it.Did she wake you up?”He instinctively brushed fingers through Ford’s bed hair to right the mess.
“It’s not often I get to sleep in late.Kinda nice to wake up when it’s bright outside, instead of minutes after going to sleep.”
Chase hummed, not sure what to do with that information.No ORTa could survive a lack of sleep for long.The job took too much from them and losing sleep could lower their reactions enough to make a split-second difference between dodging a bullet and getting shot.“We’ll fix that.”
Ford stood and pressed his hands into the mattress, leaning so close that Chase expected to be kissed.He hadn’t decided whether to lean in or away when Ford smiled.“I look forward to it, meda.Get your ass up and into the shower.”He waited until the last second to steal a quick kiss.
“How did you get in here, or should I not ask?”
Ford stole another kiss but didn’t answer.Chase figured there was no point pressing for an answer and Ford didn’t linger, which meant Chase didn’t have to make up his mind about whether to react to that kiss.
Ford headed out, reminding him they were on a tight schedule.He had a feeling that his mother wouldn’t care as long as Ford claimed to be the one holding them back.Though Chase had been nervous when Ford had walked into their lives, he’d proven to be more than he appeared.He was ORT, but could be soft and sweet with Lucky, intense and inappropriately flirty with Chase, and resolutely single-minded about taking care of their omega.When they were together Chase never had to worry, because nothing would get past Ford to hurt their omega.
It was time Chase accepted that their bond went three ways.There was no point fighting Omha’s will.He’d seen enough this week to be convinced that She had plans well beyond anything he’d expected and resistance was futile.
* * * *
Chase stopped the ORT truck at the front entrance of the mall.While Lucky unbuckled and stepped out, Chase told Ford to wait with Lucky while he searched for a parking space.The place was packed for early in the morning.
Ford guided Lucky to the front entrance, where a small wall divided the entryway from a trolley bay.Lucky sat down, fiddling with his hair, while Ford lit a smoke.
Chase wished he’d thought of that.
Turning the car around, he spent the next three minutes searching for a space and found one by the back exit.It wasn’t ideal, but it was quick to find on the way out.Chase parked, shut the engine off and grabbed his phone to send a quick text to Grant.
