There’s no time to check if my aim is true before they start shooting again. I have to duck and dive into the nearest room to avoid the assault of bullets my way. Something crashes, causing havoc. Two successive shots cut the rest, and I use the small window to turn back to the hall once again, eyes scanning for any movements.
“I have them,” Dominic calls from the kitchen.
I move forward, gun still raised, because I can’t trust anything. As I take a step in, the first thing I see is the smashed windows where he jumped through. Glass covers the floors, and two bodies lie to the side, blood seeping through their fatal wounds.
“A pack,” Dominic says, calling my attention to the other side of the room where she stands.
“Scum,” I spit.
The last member of the pack lies where I shot him, back against the fridge, head lolling down.
“Let’s go,” Dominic says, not sparing them a glance.
I should feel bad that I killed a man, but I can’t find it in me to care. This pack held and raped Omegas for who knows how many years. They don’t deserve a second thought.
Outside the kitchen, my eyes find the old-looking stairs. Dominic nods and leads the way up. A series of rooms with the doors firmly closed is all we can see as we arrive at the landing. It doesn’t escape me that if he’s wrong about this, it might mean the end of the road. I have nothing, and he just got fired. In all my years, I’ve never been so scared. It has nothing to do with the gun in my hands and the badpeople I’m going to anger, and everything to do with the woman who doesn’t belong to me who I can’t imagine giving bad news to.
We move to the left, but then Dominic stops. His eyes scan the empty hallway, and he inhales deeply. I follow his lead, trying to grab on to whatever scent had alerted him. There’s something sweet in the air, but it’s so faint that by the time my brain tries to make sense of it, it’s already gone.
Dominic growls, just softly, and I’m taken aback. In his easy nature, sometimes I forget that he’s an Alpha and his instincts are to take care of Omegas. This situation has to mess with his head as much as it messes with mine, even if he doesn’t have an Omega of his own to protect. As the thought comes to me, I know what the scent is.
A scared Omega. Any time Veda is scared, her scent sours. It doesn’t smell bad to me, yet I know something is wrong. We step farther into the hall, the scent growing strong at every whine of the floors under our weight.
I want to tell him to stop. We’re scaring her, but I can’t leave without the baby. I just can’t.
The last door to the left is where the scent is stronger, and there’s no doubt we are in the right place when we find the door locked. After only a second of hesitation, Dominic kicks the door open, and I enter, guns first.
At least fifteen sets of eyes turn to us in fear. We quickly lower our guns when the scared scent of fifteen Omegas greets us. They huddle against the back wall, hands on one another, proud chins, but no baby in sight.
“I’m here in the name of the Alpha-Omega Alliance in the USA,” he says the practiced words, though his face shows how bitter they taste. “We are here to rescue a baby girl taken from her mother.”
“And why would we believe in Alphas?”
The Omega breaks from the group, her eyes narrowed and unafraid. I’m glad that no one could break her spirit, but there’s no time for congratulations when she might know where Mirasol is.
“Do you know where the baby is?” I ask, voice hoarse in hope.
Her jaw ticks before she spits on my boots. “Go fuck yourself, Alpha.”
“Indie, come back here!” the eldest among them calls in a thick accent I can’t place.
I do not miss her motherly tone. Whoever this woman is, she’s known the Omegas long enough to treat them like her children. Each Omega looks too different from the next for me to think they are from the same family, but I wouldn’t know. Maybe they let this one raise her kids into adulthood.
“The pack that held you hostage is gone,” Dominic says in a controlled tone.
“Because you shot them,” Indie says. “To take us for yourself.”
I’m shaking my head before the words are even out of her mouth, “All we want is to help.”
“The clock is ticking,” Dominic says. “We need to bring you to safety.”
I’m not sure how he thinks he can do that. The truck we came in doesn’t fit fifteen people, yet we can’t leave them behind. I don’t speak my fears out loud, letting Dominic take care of the rescue. All I want to know is whether we are in the right place.
“You don’t have any reason to trust me.” I sigh. “But I came all the way here to rescue a baby. Her mom is back at the ranch with me, and she needs her daughter. All I want is to give her daughter back.”
The older woman approaches, her eyes heavy with suspicion. As she comes closer to the light, I realize she’s older than the rest, but not old by any means. Her eyes are sharp, with some lines on her temple,but she can’t be over fifty. Her long brown hair is braided over her shoulder, brown skin warm even in the low light. Something about her makes me feel like we’ve met before, yet I know it’s impossible. I take time observing her too, trying to make sense of this familiar feeling, and it suddenly comes to me.
Like lighting, all the pieces of the puzzle click together, and understanding dawns at once.
