“This is my Omega, Foster. He’s a nurse. We weren’t sure what your situation was, so if there is anything you need…” I trail off, feeling the sharp spike of desire in Foster’s bond. Fates, we’re a mess. Maybe I should have taken the extra twenty minutes to knot him before we left.
“Hello. I would say it’s lovely to meet you, but that feels inappropriate given the circumstances.” Foster gives her a shy grin, his light blue-green eyes sparkling beneath the limited moonlight.
A blush spreads across Hannah’s cheeks, but her mouth curves into a frown. I watch as her eyes dart around the parking lot, so full of fear it sets me on edge. “I appreciate the DAU sending a nurse, but you shouldn’t be here.”
Her words bother him, but he hides it well. “I know this is a lot. Is there anything I can do to help? We should check your blood pressure.”
“No. Thank you, but we need to leave. Quickly.” She turns panicked brown eyes to me. “I would appreciate help to get my daughter’s car seat unbuckled and moved into your car. Fitting between the seats to hook it in tight enough isn’t easy with this little one in the way.”
Grunting, I round the car and quietly open the rear driver’s door. An adorable, sleepy brunette no older than five blinks up at me. Fear fills her hazel eyes, but she doesn’t protest. She just averts her eyes.
“Little Bug, that’s Shepherd, and this is his mate, Foster. They’re going to help get us somewhere safe, okay?” Hannah leans in from the other side of the car to comfort her daughter. I don’t move until the little girl nods, whispering a soft “okay,Mommy.” Moving quickly, I unbuckle the straps keeping her in the seat and help steady her tiny feet as she climbs out of the SUV and moves to tuck herself against Hannah’s side. A few minutes of maneuvering later, the car seat is strapped into the back of my car.
I scan the empty parking lot as Foster helps to settle the little girl into the car. After she is secure, we round the car. “Do you get carsick?” he asks Hannah. “You can ride up front if you need to.”
“I’ll be fine back here,” Hannah reassures him.
Sensing no one nearby, I turn to watch Hannah slip into the car. Her arm reaches out to grip the roof, and my hands clench into fists. Foster sucks in a sharp breath, his shock flowing through our bond to meld with mine. There is a birthmark on her left elbow. A faintly butterfly-shaped patch of skin that matches the ones on Foster’s and my arms.
The door closes, and my Omega whirls to face me. A mixture of excitement and apprehension lines his handsome face. “Did you see-”
I jerk my head in a nod, glancing at Hannah over his shoulder. “She’s our Fate-matched mate. But we have to take this slowly. We don’t know what she has been through or why she is finally fleeing this shithole.”
Stepping closer, his head bobs rapidly. “Yeah, of course. We can do slow.” His eyes narrow when I snort out a laugh. Pressing my lips to his, I savor his lips in a quick kiss before turning him around and opening the passenger door for him to climb in. He startles when I pat his ass on the way inside, heat flaring in his eyes as I buckle him in. “Tease,” he mutters grumpily, but his attention quickly flickers to the Beta waiting nervously in the back seat.
Swallowing back a response, I close his door and jog around the front of the car. We can figure out how to address our connection to Hannah after we get her to safety.
Chapter Three
Forcing myself to remain seated,to be patient, takes every ounce of willpower in my body.
Urgency vibrates through my body, making my knee bounce as I sit in the passenger seat, eyes flickering toward the back every few seconds. My instincts are screaming at me, demanding I climb between the seats and pull this sweet Beta woman into my arms.
As an Omega working in a career field where I interact with the public regularly, I’m used to squashing rises in my instincts. Uncooperative patients are something I no longer allow to bother me. But Hannah Montgomery’s mere presence threatens to implode everything.
Not only is she my Fate-matched mate, she is pregnant and on the run from an anti-designation cult. The need to comfort both her and the terrified little girl clinging to her arm is overwhelming. Shepherd’s palm grips my thigh, squeezing in small, rhythmic bursts. If we were alone in the car, his scent would blast through the air to soothe me, but the scent cancelers we took before we left have made that impossible.
Fuck, this night is turning out to be much more than we ever expected. It’s like the path we were taking has suddenly veeredoff course, taking us down a back road so winding it feels like we’re on a rollercoaster.
Of course, I would finally step foot in anti-designation territory only to find my damn mate.
Shaking my head at the craziness of it all, I glance out the window and see a sign welcoming us into Vermont. Relief floods my body.Thank goodness.
An audible exhale has my attention snapping back to Hannah, who practically wilts against the seat, her eyes locked on the same sign. I want to smack myself for not considering how scared she must be. Worrying that something would go wrong and someone would discover us before they could get away.
“We won’t let them get their hands on you again,” I promise, keeping my voice low so I don’t startle the sleepy preschooler.
Dark brown eyes meet mine, mouth twisting into a tight smile. She nods, but I can tell she doesn’t believe me. Why would she? We’re strangers to her. DAU agents sent to her rescue. She doesn’t know the truth.
One day soon she will realize who we are to her. And when she does, she’ll understand that we would tear this world apart to keep her and her children safe.
We don’t stop until mid-morning, when Shepherd steers us off the highway and into the parking lot of a busy chain restaurant. He parks us at the edge, next to a nondescript gray car. During the drive up to New Hampshire, he had told meabout the safety procedures we would have to follow. Including multiple vehicle swaps to ensure no one could track us.
Hannah sits up, her eyes flickering around the lot as if she is afraid one of those assholes from her father’s cult will spring up. Seeing her so skittish makes me want to drive back and kick her asshole husband in the balls. He should have protected her, not fed into the trauma she’s endured.
Someone exits the driver’s seat of the gray car, and she flinches, hand itching toward the door handle. I can’t stop the purr that rattles to life in my chest, instinctively trying to soothe her fear.
“Walters works for the DAU,” Shepherd explains, eyes trained on her through the rear-view mirror. “He’s here to swap cars with us.”
