Page 107 of A Farmer’s Guide To Gamers

“You’re going to want to ice your hand,” Dean said from behind me, holding out a bag of frozen peas. “Trust me. It hurts now, and it’s gonna hurt a lot tomorrow.”

“Thanks.”

I grabbed it and put it on my knuckles, wincing at the bruises already showing up.

“That was a good punch, by the way, alpha. I didn’t think you had that in you.”

“I didn’t know I did, either.” I told him honestly. “But that guy was an asshole.”

“Understatement of the year,” Dean muttered as he sat down in the chair beside me, his shoulder slumped. “She was right there by us… how the fuck did she get away?”

“There were a ton of people there, Dean,” I told him bluntly. “None of this is our fault. All of the blame lies squarely on Jonathan. That alpha just couldn’t stand the fact that Tillie said no. We couldn’t possibly be by her every minute of every day, forever.”

“We were calling for her in the chaos, too,” Dean said after a heavy moment of silence. “I just wish we had been able to get to her earlier.”

I reached out with my unhurt hand and grabbed his shoulder, squeezing it to show my support.

We stayed silent after that, both of us wrestling with our own complicated feelings until we sensed Tillie coming over.

I looked over at our omega to see her still red-rimmed eyes but a relaxed slump of her shoulders. Kai and Aiden were near her, calming her even more as she came over to give both of us hugs. No one said anything until Tillie’s stomach rumbled.

She let out a watery laugh and leaned back from me who she was currently hugging. “What sounds good for dinner? You hit him, it’s your choice.”

“Why don’t we do a food run? Fast food so we don’t have to get out of the car?” I offered. “Roll down the windows, play good music, and relax.”

“That sounds amazing. And drive through means I don’t have to put a bra back on.”

“We could do Fast food roulette,” Kai said with a grin. “There’s five of us. I can write a different thing on each paper, we each draw, and that person chooses. So, drinks, appetizers, main, side, and dessert.”

Tillie perked up at that. But before we could grab shoes and keys, Dean’s phone rang. He answered quickly and put it on speaker.

“Hello, is this Dean Ames?” I recognized the Sheriff’s voice from earlier.

“Yes,” Dean confirmed. “I’m here with my pack and Tillie.”

“Good, good,” he said. “I’m sorry that happened to her in our little town. We’ve got Jonathan in custody. At the very least it was a violation of the restraining order and he’ll face consequences for that. But if you would like to press charges for attempted kidnapping and assault, it can stick longer. With sensitive cases like this and a long list of witnesses, I don’t think you’ll have to come in for that. We’ll gather a statement from her, and everyone involved, then go down the list of witnesses.”

“That’s a relief,” Tillie answered when Dean looked to her to see what she wanted to do. “I don’t want to see him again. Ever. And I want to press charges.”

“Good choice,” he said. “Because that’s not all we found. There was a little camp on the edge of town. Someone called it in tonight. We investigated and… let’s just say he had spiraled. There’s pictures of you, journals of plans for a new life together. It’s enough to keep him away for a long time.”

“Thank god,” I said, pulling Tillie close as she shivered.

“You have a good rest of your night and call into the station in a few days for an interview. I’d write down the incident tomorrow in detail while it’s fresh, though. The more detail, the better. I hope you have a relaxing night.”

With that, he hung up.

“He’s not going to be around for a long time, it sounds like,” Aiden said.

“With charges like that he’d be considered a danger to omegas. Alphas like that get sent to psych facilities, not home,” Dean added.

“Good,” Tillie said. The news definitely had her sagging in relief. “Now, onto food. And if anyone gets dessert, we’re swapping.”

“I want drinks,” Aiden said quickly.

“Appetizers!” Dean called.

Kai and I looked at each other for a second before he called out, “Sides!”