“I get that. I’ll keep your secret safe, Hayes.”
Obviously, we need to look at our options about the Pack Dissolution Form. For it to be approved without question, everyone in the pack needs to sign as confirmation they want to dissolve the pack. The more I find out the more I’m swaying towards Koz’s old fashioned way of dealing with this, removing Reid forcibly from the pack. First though, as much as I want to stay with him, Hayes needs to go.
I stay snuggled up on his lap. “I’m calling you an Uber.” He’s withdrawn, but at the same time I know he’s listening. I use the app to book. “Four minutes until they’re here. Are you going to be okay?”
He pulls his eyes to mine, and I want to say he looks okay, but I’d be lying. I’d like to tell him everything is going to work out fine, but I’m not the kind of person to make promises I can’t keep, and he’s suffered enough.
“I want you to know, I’m here for you…”
“You can’t be. If they know about her… I can’t even think about what would happen if they knew. Everything they’ve done to me and Talon is going to look like kindergarten play if they know about herandif they discover you’re an omega. It’s you for starters.”
“Hey? What do you mean?”
“Reid is obsessed with making you suffer,” Hayes says defeatedly. “It started with his parents, but they kept feeding him lie after lie, and he never once defended you. He’s obsessed but not because you were hurt or disappeared. I seriously think they messed with him.”
“When’s the last time you saw him?”
He shakes his head, his eyes blowing wide. “Reid we haven’t seen in person since we left. Talking to him on the phone, it’s easy to figure he’s not the same person he was. You have to be careful dealing with him.”
I go to say something, but he stops me. “Raney, we try to break away and they wave another bullshit threat in our faces. It’s me going to jail, it’s restricting our money, it’s running us out of our rental… They’re pretty good at being assholes. But somehow, they don’t know about her. And I need it to stay like that. Before you showed up, we were doing okay.”
I look at him, incredulously. “Excuse me?”
“Not like that, you beautiful idiot. I mean we were flying under the radar. We were head down, working our asses off while trying to find a safe way forward.”
“Okay. I thought you were suggesting I was the problem.”
“No chance. The Anders are the only ones that should be taking the blame for any of this.”
“We can agree there. But Hayes, obviously you’ve got reasons for doing things, but I’m the same. You know I’m attending the upcoming gala, right?”
“You can’t.”
“I can. There is nothing stopping me from taking Koz as my alpha.”
“Do it through the lawyers.”
“I am already. I’m covering all my bases, Hayes. I’m getting Koz out of wherever the fuck they’re holding him then, we are going to the gala and announcing our pack, with all the Fallen and every bodyguard we need, but nothing is stopping me.”
“It’s not safe.”
I flick up an eyebrow instead of answering, because it kind of seems pointless confirming what he said considering his life update.
“I get that, but you should just go back to your home. Do it next time or something. I’m sure I read the next gala has been announced in the South.”
“It has been, but no. Especially in light of what you told me just now. Once I’m packed, we get all the laws associated with it, we get the safety of being registered around the country because snatching an omega from their pack is a federal offence. Plus, I’ll be able to list the Anders as people of risk because technically I’m still at Unity.”
He shakes his head in disbelief, but he doesn’t argue it further.
“So now, I’m going to put you in an Uber so your boyfriend can look after you while you make sure your daughter stays hidden away. Then I’m going to see Puck play before I focus on getting Koz and King out.”
And then he does argue. His scent gets all bitter, like his sweetened sugar and cinnamon gets burnt by his anger. “After what I just said, you’re going to watch Puck?” He pretty much growls louder with each word as he unwittingly tries to alpha me, but he forgets exactly who is sitting on his lap.
“Yes, I can,” I correct him. “Besides, it’s not like I can go home because Talon and the lovely people he works with are currently ripping the Fallen compound apart. Anyway, I promised Puck I’d see him play, and I’ve missed out on him enough. I’ve got three security with me, and according to Puck, a whole team of Wolverines are going to be watching too.”
Hayes kind of glares harder, rolling his shoulders, and I hold his challenging stare with one of my own.
“Far out, Raney, why do you have to be so stubborn?”
