Pip was an unexpected bonus to a life that was shaping up to be pretty spectacular.
Chapter Eighteen
Lucky
“I’m fucking proud of you.”Ford’s eyes softened as he placed his hand on the far side of the passenger seat, caging Lucky in.“You did something not many people would.You’re a baby omega, all sweet and shit, but you ain’t even had your first heat and you ain’t responsible for other folks’ kids.You stepped up for that boy.You showed him that even if his family ain’t worth shit, he is.”
Lucky’s heart fluttered at the heady look in Ford’s eyes.“Thank you for understanding.”
“Ain’t nothing to understand.You want it, and I got this feeling inside that says I need to make you happy,” he admitted, like that was amusing.When his eyes darted to Lucky’s mouth, he cut the distance between them for a deep, gentle kiss.It wasn’t their first kiss, but it felt infinitely more important.
Lucky couldn’t resist.He sank into the kiss from this incredible alpha,hismate.Of all the omegas in the world, he was the one gifted with an alpha who could understand and trust him, an alpha who cherished his opinions and respected his choices.Between Chase and Ford, he couldn’t have been given a better alpha mate—they were both equally wonderful, filling in whatever gaps the other didn’t fit into.
Ford groaned and nipped his top lip.“You’re fucking hot when you look at me like that.I ain’t done nothing, but your eyes say I hung the fucking moon.”He sealed the words with another kiss, barely more than a graze until Lucky pressed for more.“Later.”Ford started the engine, while Chase handed him a cigarette from between the seats.He took it, glancing at Chase through the rear-view mirror.
Amazed by how natural this felt, how easy it was to be their omega, Lucky took advantage of Ford’s good mood.“Why did you become ORT?”
“That’s a long, boring story.”Ford gripped the wheel in both hands, smoke drifting from his mouth as he removed his cigarette.“The ORT are not government funded.We ain’t got time for their bureaucratic bullshit or the loopholes they write into our practices.Depending on how you look at the ORT, we spend our days kidnapping pretty young omegas.”
Lucky swallowed the instinctive fear those words sent soaring through his veins and opened his mouth to mention the upcoming red light.
Ford put the brakes on and screeched to a halt barely an inch from the line.He took the cigarette from his lips and blew out a cloud of smoke.“We enter criminal ranks, work our way from theft, burglary, to basically living a gang lifestyle.Your sense of right and wrong gets skewed, since you see a lotta shit on the streets.There are people who thrive there, people who don’t belong, and those who are drowned in the dirt by the scumbags we’re forced to call pals.”
He flipped the signal with one hand as the other propped his cigarette out of the window to tap off the ash.“The shit we’re made to do for the ORT took me straight back to being a kid.My mam was no good.Hooked on Euphoria since she was a teenager, she lured my pa into the gutter then let him die there.Why she kept me is a mystery.”
How could Ford sound unaffected by such a horrible story?He kept switching between calm and amused, attention split between the front window, rear-view and side mirrors, like a paranoid drug user.Except there was purpose and tension in him that said this wasn’t pure paranoia but inbred precaution.
“She died when I was a kid and I raised myself on the street,” Ford said, dispassionate and stark, like his childhood was a distant memory.“I became a runner for the gangs when I was twelve, and got paid for being an omega chaperone at school.Got boxing lessons at the local gym, and dropped outta school at fifteen ’cause I weren’t no good.I can fight, though.Started in underground fights, where some guy bet on me three straight weeks, waiting for me to lose a fight.Never lost one.”
“Typical,” Chase muttered, smiling faintly.
Ford glanced at him but didn’t comment.“The night of my eighteenth birthday, he bought me dinner, then suggested we find a sweet omega for the night.Showed me enough Euphoria pills to have the druggies lined up for miles.Told me we’d use them to buy ourselves some obedience for a few nights.”
Lucky knew the dangers of Euphoria.Some omegas had lost their ability to bear children and others had been stuck in a permanent false heat until they died of heart failure or were taken for medical intervention.
Ford’s mouth twitched with amusement.“I knocked him on his ass and flushed the pills down the lav.When he got done laughing and ordered a couple shots, he explained the plan.He was ORT and wanted to recruit me, but needed to check I had the right views, the right temperament.If I’d been tempted, he woulda walked away.
“He smacked my head for losing him months’ worth of Euphoria and grumbled about the paperwork.”Ford laughed, low and quiet.“Knew then we’d be pals.Bastard made me go through police training for a year before I got to sign on as ORT.Didn’t include that in the small print.”
A car honked as Ford crossed a junction, skimming past other cars with expert ease.“Been working ORT ever since.Two years on the job, one year off for eight years.Ain’t no vacation, neither.We got training courses, psych visits, studying and weapons training every time we come off the job,” he explained, making it sound far more complicated than the recruitment posters suggested.“Every time you go home, you gotta check nobody followed you off the job, the big boss hasta make sure your head’s on the right side and you ain’t gonna use all that fancy training for the wrong team.”
Lucky understood how complex the process was, how easily people might be swayed by the wealth and power.According to his father, the Omega Market was a lucrative business.
Ford stopped the car and yanked the parking brake.“Now you’ve got my life story and we’ve arrived home safely.”
Lucky leaned in to kiss him in gratitude.They’d talked about a lot of things over the last few days, but Ford had always been closed off about his personal life, changing the topic whenever he could.He’d hoped knowing that Wynna accepted their AOA bond without putting his work as an ORTa at risk would help him open up.He just hadn’t expected the tragedy of it.
* * * *
Ford
After dropping Chase and Lucky at their respective homes, Ford reluctantly went back to headquarters.Going through the story of how he became ORT had only reminded him of all the shit he’d seen and left him irritated by the lack of progress in Lucky’s case.
He sank into the chair at his desk, raking a hand over his face as he realised what a shit week it had been.In just a few days, he’d seen Sykes arrive back from a WOT?Waste of Time?call out, and the chaos when a call came in for an active case that had a dozen agents rushing out the door.
After three hours of paperwork, he was still only halfway through and getting nowhere.
Ford walked into the tech room, concerned about how quickly he’d lost control.There had been three different agents handling his paperwork while he was gone and it was time to take the reins back.He grabbed a coffee from the table in the corner, then settled into the swivel chair behind Ross’ ergonomic computer chair.“You found Lincoln Halloway’s drug contacts yet?”He smiled when Ross jumped and spun his chair.
