“Yeah, he’s a fuckwad streamer we pity allowed in our friend group,” they said. “He and Jesse were friends, I thought, but I never liked him.”
“So what do we do now?” I asked.
“You do nothing,” Mason said, putting his phone back. “Jason has got himself mixed up with the Bison’s Motorcycle Club. They’re a nasty group that’s been trying to do business up in my territory for a long time. It’ll be nice to squash them once and for all. So I will retrieve her and bring her back when the job is done.”
“No,” Cameo said. “They tookouromega, we’re coming. Protecting her is my job, and I need to see this to the end.”
Marcus and Indigo nodded their agreement. I felt torn. I agreed with my pack, wanting to save Eva for ourselves, but I knew Mason was the best at this, and when he said he’d do something, he normally did.
He looked between my pack, the assessing look on his eyes obvious. “You understand this isn’t one guy who committed a little kidnapping. This is a large organization that I’ve been working to shut down for months. I’m not sure how it so serendipitously landed on my brother's lap, but I’m not wasting the opportunity. So I can’t have a bunch I need to look out for.”
“We can hold our own,” Cameo assured. “And we’ll stay out of your way. I just want to take care of Jason.”
Mason sighed. “Fucking packs,” he murmured to himself. “Fine. But you’re also there to keep my brother safe, understand.”
“We do,” Indi said, squeezing my shoulder.
“Good.” Mason tracked the care in Indi’s movement. “I can’t believe after I got you out of that bond the first time, you decided to tie yourself to an entire pack.”
The entire room froze, save for Mason, who was the least bit aware of the giant secret he just spilled.
“What is he talking about?” Indi asked in that same hushed tone they used when we fought the other day.
“N-nothing,” I stuttered, wishing Mason weren’t a foot taller than me so I could kick his ass right now. “We don’t need to talk about it right now.”
“Yes, the fuck we do,” Cameo said. “You were bonded before?”
I swallowed. This wasn’t really how I wanted to tell them all, but I guess I didn’t have a choice now. “I-I was bonded once,” I said. “To some alpha my parents wanted me to marry. But I didn’t want to, he forced it on me. So Mason stepped in, got it broken, and… well, now I’m here.”
Indi’s face was angry, but sad for me, Marcus’ tight with that same rage as before. But Cameo looked… deadly. The same way I’d seen Mason look sometimes.
Tears welled in my eyes for the second time. I couldn’t help but peek at Cameo, who had appeared right next to Indi. “Whoever it is, just know he’s a dead man,” Cameo promised. “You’re ours now, we’ll protect you.”
I wasn’t sure how he planned to make good on that, but the sentiment warmed me anyway, even though it was a bit morbid. “Thanks.”
Mason cleared his throat, all of us obviously forgetting for a moment he was there. “Well, glad I could sort this out for you. Should we get going? I don’t mean to alarm you, but the Bisons trade in… flesh. Getting her back soon would be wise.”
My stomach hit the ground. “Yes, let's go.”
We all made our way out the door, determination settled between us.
We were getting our omega back.
When I came to,my head was throbbing. I tried to sit up, but my body quickly pulled me back down, my muscles too weak to lift me yet. The mattress beneath me was thin, its springs bouncing back as I flopped onto it.
My vision blurred as I stared at the ceiling. Where was I? I remember being home. Cameo and I fighting. He came in that mask and…
I shot up again, the room still spun, but I was able to hold myself up. It wasn’t Cameo in the mask at all. Someone else was there. The fight was all a blur now, and I never got a look outside of that cheap Halloween mask.
And now, I was in a room that looked to be a basement. The entire thing was concrete, with a single staircase in the corner. I was lying on one of many rollout mattresses on the floor. Were there normally people here? My stomach rolled at the possibility of what that meant. I couldn’t think about it—that would only slow me down.
Where’s your knife?
Cameo’s voice rang in my head. I patted around my body, but it obviously wasn’t there. Whoever took me disarmed me. My mind tried to focus on his instruction. I’d stabbed him before, but now I was defenseless.
It took me a few tries, but I managed to get myself up and standing. I pressed a hand to my aching head, feeling what I guessed to be a bruise on my forehead.
Don’t think about that either.
