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Creeping closer to the house, I said, “I can only see one car, but let’s not count on him acting alone.”
We silently approached the wall covered in ivy, peeking around the corner at the muddied Audi parked near the door. I recognised it as Harris’s car, and my heart sank a little further. It seemed useless to hope I’d be wrong about him by this point, but still, part of me persisted.
Staying low to the wall, I peeked inside the nearest window. The glass was completely missing, allowing me a perfect view of an old living room. Every surface was smothered in a layer of dust, except a spot on the sofa and footprints around the furniture. I couldn’t hear anyone moving around nearby, though. Were they upstairs?
Wherewas he?
My heart was pounding too wildly to know if I was feeling Trystan’s nearby anxieties through the bond, or simply my own. Gritting my teeth, I inhaled deeply, desperately searching for even the slightest trace of Trystan’s scent. There, beneath layers of dirt, country air, and rotting wood, was the heady mixture my alpha recognised as mine. A cocktail of mint, metals, and vetiver that was entirely Trystan.
“He’s here.” I felt like I could finally breathe again, knowing I’d be with him soon and there was at least a chance he was okay. “Or at least he was recently. I’m going inside.”
“Wait.” Norah pulled out her phone, tapped on it, then thrust it into Bee’s hand. “Here, take this and go back to the car. It’s already dialling detective Rhodes. Tell him to get his arse over here immediately with at least one ambulance.” Her eyes flicked to me before she pushed Bee back towards the car and crouched beside me. “Remember, Emerson, we need Harris alive to go through the courts. I know every instinct is telling you to kill him, but do everything you can to hold it back.”
“I won’t kill him,” I promised her. “But if he’s doneanythingto harm either of them, I’m going to make sure he suffers as long as possible.”
Her grin turned feral, matching my own. “Oh, he’ll suffer. I promise you that.”
Not wanting to waste any more time now that Bee had gone for help, we hopped in through the empty window. Broken glass littered the floor, impossible to avoid under our footsteps as we crept through the room to an empty hallway.
Norah tapped my shoulder and silently pointed to an open doorway where a clean blazer lay on the back of a chair. As we snuck into the room, empty of recent life except for the jacket, I could hear a muffled voice somewhere nearby.
Trystan’s scent was stronger here, the metallic undertones of his scent taking centre stage, likely from the stress of the situation. Letting my alpha instincts take charge and follow his scent, I approached a large wooden door leading further into the house. As I carefully turned the handle, a dark staircase greeted me, along with the snarling voice of my former friend.
“Miranda might be gone,” he said, “but you and Pearl are gonna earn me the money I need to get her out of there. And you’re gonna fucking beg to do it, like a good little omega.”
White-hot rage burned in my chest as I descended the stairs with Norah right on my tail, the two of us abandoning all attempts at stealth in favour of reaching the omegasnow. We hit the ground in time to see Pearl slam a chair into Harris’s back, and my eyes zeroed in on Trystan against the wall.
He’s alive!
Despite Trystan’s bound limbs, he pushed to his feet, yelling as Harris pulled a gun from his waistband, aiming directly for Pearl. “Pearl, run!”
He launched his body at Harris, knocking him back to the ground in a painful tackle. The gun fired wildly as Norah lunged for Pearl, and I rushed to Trystan, praying that he wasn’t hit. As I reached out to grab my omega, a hair’s breadth from having him safe in my arms again, he was pulled away from me.
“Don’t come any closer!” Harris yelled, one hand around Trystan’s throat while the other pressed the gun against his temple. “Get back, or I’ll shoot! Now!”
Stepping away from Trystan meant smothering every protective instinct I had as an alpha. I wanted to rip Harris’s throat out with my teeth, and I knew I could, given half a chance, but I just couldn’t risk him.
“What’s your plan here, Harris?” I asked, backing up to the opposite wall next to Norah, who held a shaking Pearl behind her. “There’s no way out. Police are already on their way. If you let him go, you’ll at least get out of this alive.”
Harris scoffed, getting to his feet and pulling Trystan up with him by his neck. “You think I’m an idiot? I’ve seen the mark on his neck. I know what you alphas will do for one of these whores!”
I know you’re an idiot; else you’d know better than to call him that.
Trystan’s bright green eyes met mine, and he wriggled in Harris’s grasp. If his omega was screaming inside him half as much as my alpha, it must’ve been maddening. I was one wrong move from going fully feral to get him out of here, my own life be damned.
Was it really only this morning we were together? Newly bonded and excited at the thought of planning a life together? I swore I’d protect him, and I fully intended to keep that promise.
“Then you know that every second you keep him from me endangers you,” I growled, baring my teeth. “One last chance, Harris. Let him go.”
Harris’s eyes darted around the cellar. Norah stood closest to the stairs, ready to get Pearl out at the next opportunity. But Harris would have to go through all of us to get out.
“No, see, you’re gonna go keep the police away,” he said, his shaking voice betraying the confidence in his orders. “I’m holding the fucking cards here!”
“Bitch, you’re not even holdingme,” Trystan sneered as he twisted violently in Harris’s grip.
A rip reached my ears, and Trystan’s hands separated from behind his back. As one arm stretched up sharply to knock the gun away, he spun to face his captor and thrust his other hand into Harris’s face. Norah seized the opening, dragging Pearl upstairs out of harm’s way, and I sprinted to my omega.
Grabbing Harris by the collar, I ripped him from the wall and slammed him against the ground with an animalistic roar. His skull cracked against the concrete, and blood poured from his eye, a small key sticking out of it grotesquely. He stopped moving.
