She’s just as moody as I am. She hangs up on me when I refuse to set a firm date with her so she can meet my pack. Which is fine, because I’ve just come out of my heat. I’m super busy and overly emotional too. Before her guilt sets in, I send her a message telling her exactly how much I love her and promise to set something up.
It takes a few minutes, but she responds with her own overly long winded and explicit explanation of her mood swings, including something about Reno returning to work, and Koda being called into help at the Alliance with the interrogation of a man and a woman.
I show Valak her text, and he nods before he lifts the phone out of my hands and slips it into my briefcase. “You can tell her about us,” he says.
“I know.” I pout, pointing to my phone, but he distracts me by brushing the hair off my face. The need to work disappears.
“You need a break from working. And we’re nearly at Noah’s.”
“What’s the plan?”
I sit up and take the bottle of water Valak passes. “Noah’s staying at his apartment opposite the hospital while he’s on roster. I’d like to check his place out with Gabe, so we know if we need to make any modifications to security for when we come stay.”
Even I feel my eyes go comically wide. Valak shakes his head at me before getting into work mode, watching out the window as we turn off to the carpark entrance. “Might need to start remembering you have your own pack too, Lennon. Ares,Alert.”
He winks at me then hops straight out of the car, closing the door behind him.
“Hang here for a few minutes with Lincoln and Noah, Len,” Gabe says. He leans over to give me a quick kiss before he climbs out the car. Ares follows him out. “We’ll just do a quick sweep. Being back here is going to stress Valak out. Bailey’s reminder you’re not safe with us will be like acid in his veins. Back in five.”
Lincoln turns in his seat. He looks good, not even a little tired after driving for so long.
“All okay with you?” I ask as I fight hard not to climb through and sit on his lap, for nothing more than the comfort I know he’ll bring. Lincoln fills a gap I never quite knew how to fill.
“Nothing to worry about, dove.”
“I know. I really do feel safe with you all. Any update from the people who are looking after the woman from the carpark?”
“With Koda involved, it’s safe to say he’ll get all her secrets out of her. Last I heard, she was talking about a deal to release Regalo’s notes for her freedom. Lucky we have more accurate information about how fake her claims are, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. She was pretty nasty when she tried to take me. It freaks me out that people discount women as being capable of being the biggest, most violent assholes.”
Lincoln’s eyes flash black the more I say, and I start back tracking. “Maybe we won’t tell Valak or Gabe that.”
“It’s not always the loud ones you need to worry about,” he says, his eyes burning into mine. Seems like Lincoln has a violent streak that matches his jealous one.
I try to calm him down. “Is it bad I don’t want her to die an easy death?”
“No. It makes a lot of sense. But you also need to be mindful that it’s fast becoming apparent she wasn’t only responsible for what happened to you.”
“Do the police know?”
“In due course, we will advise them. The Alliance followed the approved procedural steps on her question and sentencing. She is our problem and we will deal with her.”
“Will the government let that happen?”
“She attacked omegas, Lennon. Omegas fall under Pack law. If it was one omega she attacked, it might be arguable that she could be tried in the normal court system, but we know it’s more than one. Her fingerprints match open cases where omegas have been abducted or hurt. Everyone in our society knows that, and it’s not like the laws changed overnight, it is still an eye for an eye in our world. And just so you know, we got an update from Gabe when you were sleeping. He will have a more detailed overview and he’s pretty keen to go through it with you. We’re not hiding information, merely managing our time. You sleeping, working, then talking with Bailey was more important than talking about what punishment that bitch will get.”
And I know that’s the truth. Lincoln is not a man who bothers with lying.
“Thanks for telling me.”
“We were always going to, dove.”
“It’s taking a little bit of getting used to,” I offer, and I know I don’t need to explain to either Noah or Lincoln what I’m referring to.
Lincoln turns around in his seat, reaching out for my hand. “We’ll be bickering like a pack that has been together for years before you know it. Once you are in your home, you’ll feel better.”
“Maybe.” I smile. And it’s easy to do. Lincoln makes me happy; he makes me feel safe and secure, differently to how Valak and Gabe do. “I’m worried how we’re all going to fit now.”
