Rex was still busy pretending that he hated everything about Juneau staying with us. He refused to have anything to do with her in the house, and when they did speak to each other he usually picked a fight knowing full well that Juneau had a temper and would respond. Rex was my best friend, so I knew better than anyone that he was 100% putting up a stubborn front. I’d caught his lips turning up when she made a joke or the sneaky softness in his eyes when she was excited about learning something new.
And me? I think I was starting to like Juneau too much. Everyone else seemed to be forgetting that Juneau was only going to be with us for three months before going back to her own time.
They were growing attached, but I couldn’t forget that she was temporary. Every time she made me laugh or she smiled and flashed her cute-as-shit rabbit teeth, my brain was quick to remind me that she wasn’t going to be a permanent fixture in our pack. She belonged to a different time.
With that delightful thought, I finished washing my hands and headed into the room where a wild-eyed Doberman was waiting for me.
An hour later I was sitting at my desk nursing the bite on my hand as I glared at the picture of Rocky that was attached to his paperwork.
“You’re wearing a muzzle next time, buddy,” I muttered with a shake of my head. Mrs. Pearlman had apologized profusely when the Doberman had nipped at me as I gave him his shots, but apologies wouldn’t make the bite go away any faster. I wasn’t sure how she controlled such a big dog anyway. She was a tiny eighty-year-old woman with failing eyesight and rickety limbs, but as soon as she clipped the leash onto Rocky he acted as docile as a kitten.
“How’s the bite?” Alicia asked as she stepped into my space with another file folder in hand.
I held up my hand and wiggled my fingers. “It’s all right, I think he nibbled on my pride more than anything else,” I answered, holding my hand out for the folder. “This Beelzebub’s file?” I asked.
Beelzebub was the fattest, angriest tabby cat that I had ever met. His new adoptive mama had been trying to get him to lose weight with little success and we were supposed to discuss a new game plan for operation Fat Cat today.
“Yep, the king himself is in room two,” Alicia said and opened her mouth, probably to make some kind of a joke, but whatever she said fell on deaf ears. A wash of pure fear tugged its way down my bond with Podcast, making my entire body go cold.
There was only one thing that made Podcast as terrified as he currently was and that was the Titans MC.
I shoved the folder at Alicia without looking at it. “I’ve got to go.”
I grabbed my jacket from the back of my chair and my helmet from underneath the desk.
“What? You can’t go, you have a whole afternoon of appoi—” she started but I cut her off before she could finish.
“Find someone else to cover them, something is wrong with my omega,” I said as I hurried past her and out the door. Before I put my helmet on I opened up the location sharing app that all of my pack members had installed on their phones and found Podcast and Storm’s locations in the eastern part of the city. Bat and Rex’s dots were already moving toward that location and I was going to need to hurry the fuck up if I wanted to arrive at the same time as them.
“Why are they there?” I muttered to myself as I buckled my helmet and skidded out of the parking lot.
Then it hit me and I kicked myself the entire short ride to their location. I knew exactly where they were. I had seen the website for Wilde Manor open on Podcast’s computer the other day and hadn’t connected two-and-two together. Of course Juneau would want to see what her home looked like now, but I just wished that they had asked me to take them so I could help protect them.
As I turned onto the street where I’d seen their last pings, I felt Podcast’s fear turn and morph into pain and I pulled the throttle of my bike even tighter, not caring if I got into an accident. I needed to get to him, the urge to make sure my omega was safe was pushing its way in through any fear I had of eating asphalt.
I wasn’t sure what I was expecting to find, but it sure as hell wasn’t the alphas from the Titans tucking tail and running away from them like a bunch of scared babies.
The smell of burnt flesh greeted me as I quickly parked my bike and yanked the helmet off of my head. I could hear the rumble of Rex and Bat’s motorcycles close behind me, but my eyes were on the two omegas crouched on the sidewalk.
They’re hurt, my brain screamed at me though I could feel no pain coming from Podcast anymore, only an abundance of surprise.
Storm was standing a few feet away from them, worse for wear. His nose was bleeding and I could already see that it was probably broken. But I would have to take care of him later because right now my mind was on the two omegas who were huddled together.
Juneau was closest to me and it felt natural to pull her into my arms and tug Podcast along with her. The mixture of sugary lemon and eucalyptus was intoxicating, even if their scents were still tinged with panic and fear.
“Are you two all right?” I asked breathlessly as I ran my hands down their arms and torsos, checking for injuries and quickly finding that they were blessedly unhurt.
Then Rex was there, pulling Podcast into his arms. His chest was heaving with panic as he re-checked our omega’s body to see for himself that there weren’t any wounds on him. “PC, are you okay? Why the fuck aren’t you guys at the house?”
I felt Juneau flinch in my arms as Rex glared at her. On the surface, he looked pissed, but she couldn’t feel the thread of anxiety and worry that was being directed toward her as he spoke.
Juneau turned and buried her face in my chest, her nose brushing against me and making my back shudder. It was the most contact I’d ever had with her. I blinked away the haze her sweet scent gave me and focused on the situation at hand.
“Not now,” I told Rex. He immediately opened his mouth to argue. “Wait until we get back to the house,” I finished, cutting him off.
Rex grumbled something under his breath but Podcast shook his head.‘Don’t say anything you’ll regret,’he signed, his green eyes stern.
Rex sighed, letting out all of his frustration and panic in one, long whooshing breath. “Fine,” he finally bit out, helping Podcast to his feet. “Can you ride?”
