My pack surrounded me briefly for a moment, their hands touching my face and hair as they gave me their silent goodbyes.
“I’ll be back soon.” I told them, trying to project confidence into my voice. Gage and Ric gave a little tug on the bond, letting them know that they were present to my moods and feelings and could feel my anxiety and worry.
“We’ll be with you every step of the way Ellie.” Ric’s kiss was blistering and desperate. I went from Gage, to Owen and to Link who’d remained the quietest and least vocal about the whole operation.
“Kick their ass and get back here. I’ll be waiting for you this time.” Was all he said and I pulled him down into our first kiss in twelve years.
“I’ll be back soon.” I told all of them as I turned to take Dominic’s outstretched hand and we headed for the car.
I was quiet in the passenger seat of Dominic’s BMW as we drove towards the coastal side of the city where he’d frequented to communicate with Volkov.
“Eloise, I am so sorry.” Dominic apologized again. I was sure that everyone was listening to our conversation back at the house, but he continued anyways, “If I could go back in time and change things, just know that I would.”
These men, I thought with an eye roll, if we got out of this alive I was going to sit all of them down and tell them that the phrases ‘can we start over’ and ‘if I could change it I would’ were forever banned from use in our house.
“Don’t be sorry for the things that happened in the past. Focus on how you can fix them in the future, Dominic. We need to focus on getting out of this alive so that you can work on making this up to me and the rest of the pack.” My tone was a bit harsher than I’d meant it to be but I was so seriously done with these men making dumb ass decisions and wanting them to take them back. That invalidated the experiences of everyone who was affected by their stupid decisions and kept them from really growing. I put ‘therapy for the pack’ on my mental list and turned to look at him.
“Leon, I hope you are listening to this. Everyone else too. When we get out of this we are all sitting down and having an adult conversation about how to move forward. Dominic made some stupid decisions but so have all of you. Dominic is a part of our pack. End of discussion.” I could feel Ric and Gage’s irritation faintly through the bond and I was sure that Leon was growling right about now but I didn’t care. I’d waited long enough for a pack to call my own and Dominic was an important part of that.
“Eloise…” Dominic began but I held up my hand and cut him off.
“Uh-uh. You don’t argue with the omega who is currently risking her life. It’s not a battle you are going to win.” Dominic closed his mouth and we drove the rest of the way in silence.
As we pulled off of the road into a dirt parking lot Dominic began to go over the plan again, “Remember, we need to act like I am surprising you with a late-night picnic. Act surprised and confused when they get here.”
“Got it.” I’d heard this about five-hundred times over the last five hours but I knew that he was soothing himself by repeating the plan. I was dressed in a pair of jeans and an expensive looking white turtleneck sweater that was oversized and chunky. I’d tucked the locket inside of it to further hide it from prying eyes. I fiddled with the ring on my finger as my nerves began to get the best of me. Luckily for me I had two alphas who sent calming vibes down our bond and I was able to let go of the ring, reminding myself not to play with it and draw attention to it.
We got out of the car and Dominic pulled the huge wicker basket that Gage had put together out of the backseat. I was sad that we wouldn’t be able to eat any of this food because it smelled delicious. I doubted that the Russian mob would give us a chance to finish it and it would just go to waste.
“Wow, Dom, you were right, you can see the stars super clearly from here!” I forced a note of false-excitement into my voice as I skipped ahead of him into the abandoned picnic grounds. Several wooden picnic tables were arranged along the coast line, looking out into the dark choppy waters of the Pacific Ocean.
Dominic chuckled as he put the basket down on one of the tables, “I told you and you weren’t sure you wanted to come out this late.”
“Well you know how protective Leon is.” I shrugged a shoulder and began to unpack the various food items that had been put inside of the basket. Wondering how long I’d have to keep up this false cheerfulness.
The answer came faster than I thought. The sound of crunching gravel was the first thing that alerted me to the presence of others.
“Dominic.” The same gravelly voice from the phone call came from behind me. I whipped around, a confused look on my face as I got my first glimpse of the infamous Alexei Volkov. He was a bigger man dressed in what I was sure was a several thousand dollar suit. He had a gut and his face showed his age. He was probably in his sixties or seventies, I couldn’t be sure due to the large liver spots that covered his face, neck and hands.
“Dominic, who is this?” It was hard not to show any recognition in my face or voice and let’s face it—I wouldn’t be winning any awards anytime soon.
“Eloise—” Dominic began, turning to me with an apologetic expression.
“My, my you are a beautiful omega. My sources were right. I’ve come to take you with me. Your wonderful alpha has bartered for your life… or that is what I would say if I had any interest in keeping up with this charade.”
Huh? What did he mean?
I didn’t get a chance to respond because Volkov held up a pistol, aimed and fired. The sound was deafening as I watched Dominic crumple into the ground. Realization came next, we’d been made. My own panic and that of Gage and Ric’s filled my body as I dropped to my knees in front of Dominic. Blood was blooming through his shirt as he looked up at me with confusion and pain.
“Why did you do that?” I shouted at Volkov who had begun to approach us. I knew that somehow they knew all about our operation with the FBI and our plans I just didn’t know how. I leaned over Dominic who was gasping and gurgling, the light in his eyes beginning to fade. I knew I’d only have this chance so I slid the ring off of my finger and dropped it into my boot.
“You stay with me Dominic, you hear me?” I pressed my hands to the wound in his chest but even I could see that there was too much blood seeping from it, pushing between my fingers as I applied pressure. How could anyone survive a gunshot wound in the center of their chest like this, “You promised you would make it up to me, Dominic. Dominic?” Hands grabbed my arms and I struggled against them screaming as Volkov knelt down next to Dominic, nudging at his shirt collar with the muzzle of his gun.
“Hello Leon. How wonderful it is to speak to you one-on-one again. I’ll be taking your omega for real, I hope this doesn’t remind you too much of your poor dear mother. I’ll be in touch.” He said into the device that was sewn into Dominic’s shirt collar. What did he mean by that? Leon’s mother had killed herself, hadn’t she? The hands gripping me began to rip my earrings off and dove under my shirt, yanking the necklace.
“Where’s the ring?” one of them asked in a gruff voice.
“Ring?” I asked and cried out as one of them yanked me by my hair. “It’s in the car. I didn’t get a chance to put it on yet.” I lied, hoping that they would somehow believe me. Hands slid over my body and I wanted to vomit at the disgusting feeling it gave me.
