Joyful relief burns ridiculously bright in my chest. I feel like I could explode with gratitude and excitement that she needs us. That she wants us. I try to remember that it doesn’t mean forever but fuck, it’s enough for now. We’re going to make this so good for her. Every fear and anxiety she has about us, her heat and pack life, we will wash it away.
Other hotel guests fling themselves out of our path as we run through the pristine lobby and past the red carpet for the arriving guests. A taxi drops off a couple here for the event and we all hop in, Hunter throwing himself in the front seat next to the confused driver.
“Omega’s Comfort, please.”
“Which location? There are at least five of them scattered across the city.”
“Fuck, we don’t know where she is!” I growl.
Zachary messages her and all of our phones are notified.
Zachary:
Sweetheart, which location? Are you still at Harper’s?
No response.
“We’ll make another stop until we know the location,” I tell the driver and rattle off Harper’s address. If Madeline doesn’t get back to us in time, then Harper will probably know where we should go.
Hunter opens his wallet, takes out five hundred-dollar bills, and gives the cash to the driver. “I need you to drive faster than you’ve ever driven before.”
The driver nods excitedly and floors it, sending us all flying back in our seats as he weaves in and out of traffic like a professional stunt driver on the set of a Hollywood blockbuster. Harper’s building is only a few blocks away. The anticipation has my fists clenched at my sides, desperate to get to Madeline. I won’t know a moment’s fucking peace until she’s in my arms again, moaning between us.
Dread punches me in the gut when we arrive. There’s an ambulance out front and a hysterical Harper on the sidewalk. She’s being comforted by an older nurse with a high blonde ponytail,Omega’s Comfortembroidered on her scrubs.
Where the hell is Madeline?
We scramble out of the car and race towards her. Harper lets out a wail and nearly collapses, but Hunter reaches her in time and holds her up.
“He took her! I’m sorry. I should’ve checked. He took her away.”
Blackness floods my vision, anger poisoning my blood.
“We’ve already called the Omega Protection Services,” the nurse says, calm and professional. “They are aware that two men pretending to be Omega’s Comfort staff arrived ten minutes ago. Building security has footage of her getting in a vehicle with them.”
Harper sobs. “He was wearing scrubs and it was a nice car. Neither of us has ever used Omega’s Comfort before, we didn’t know to look out for an ambulance. I didn’t even stop and think to verify his identity when he knew her name and that she was waiting for them.” She clings to Hunter, both of them looking as terrified as I feel.
Zachary grabs his phone, frantically typing something. “Unless Madi deleted our app, we’ll be able to pull up her exact location. I need to get into our system and pass a few layers of security to get into the back end, where I can access her account information.”
Please, honey, don’t have deleted NourishNow. We need to find you.
Acid burns through me at the thought of Madeline going into heat with that monster.
“Got it!” Zachary holds up his phone, triumphant. “We have her location, but she’s moving.”
The Omega’s Comfort driver waves us over. “Come with us. This is a medical emergency and we don’t have time to wait for Omega Protection Services to get here. Let’s move!”
Zachary joins the driver up front to navigate. Hunter and I follow the nurse into the back, slamming into the seats. Zachary yells directions over the sirens blaring above us. The ambulance makes a few rough turns, traffic parting for us as we run red lights.
“Okay, it looks like she’s finally stopped moving. Warehouse district, fucking bastard,”Zachary growls.
“Alric, we’re going to find her.” Hunter is trying to be reassuring, but I can’t stop the snarl that comes out. My alpha instincts claw at me, tearing apart my insides. I scream to let my rage out. How dare he take her from us when we just got her back?
When we find him, I’m going to tear him limb from fucking limb.
Chapter 32
Madi
