Snapping upright, he was about to launch himself out of the car, when the door slammed shut in his face. He tugged the handle, cursing loudly as the child locks prevented his escape.
Lucas marched to the front of the car, huffing down into the driver’s seat as he struggled to fold his long legs behind the steering wheel. Oliver might have found it funny, were it not forthe seething anger curling in the pit of his belly. They locked eyes in the rear-view mirror, tempered steel into blazing hazel.
“I suggest you choose your next words carefully,” Lucas said, ramming the seat back into Oliver’s knees. He yelped, breathing rapidly as Lucas sped off the driveway, leaving Helena and Shirley behind them.
Oliver’s desire to fight seeped away with every passing minute, and he began to wonder just where Lucas was taking them.
“I’m sorry,” he said, scrubbing his hands across his face. “I’m sorry for reacting like that. It’s just… you have no idea what it’s like. You catch drug smugglers, lock up the bad guys, dismantle international drug rings. Glory, fucking,glory. But it’s the kids, Lucas. It’s the kids that are left to suffer in this shitty world. They’re the ones that are being let down time after time, day after day. I joined the police because I wanted to protect the weak, but how the fuck can I do that when we’ve got so-calledprofessionalslike Shirley fucking Spencer piss-arsing around, making excuses? This never would have happened if someone had been watching out for Helena. And I…fucking hell, I should have done something sooner.”
Tears slid down his cheeks as he cried silently into his hands. He stayed like that for quite some time, biting his lip to stop it from trembling. Lucas was probably disgusted by the outburst, but said nothing.
The car came to a stop after a while and Oliver peeled his hands away from his face. Glancing out the window, he realised he had no idea where the fuck they were or how they had got there. They appeared to be in some kind of picnic spot on top of a hill.
“Where are we?” He said, voice still shaking a little.
“I have no idea,” Lucas replied, tone flat as he got out the car.
Oliver tried to catch his eye in the mirror, but the next thing he knew, he was being tugged out of the rear passenger door by his arm.
Spluttering, he took a step back, inadvertently sandwiching himself between the filthy Jazz and the six foot five alpha. His instincts didn’t know whether to run or fight, so he froze to the spot like a rabbit in headlights.
What he hadn’t expected was for Lucas to wrap his massive arms around him and cradle his head against his chest. Oliver’s whole body tensed, his spine turning rigid as though someone had shoved a stick between his shoulder blades. It wasn’t until something pulsed in his chest that he realised the rhythmic thrum of Lucas’ heart was sending him into a sort of trance. He wanted to fight the stupid alpha mumbo-jumbo, but found himself pressing his cheek into the lapel of the Lucas’ jacket, until the buzzing in his brain eventually stopped.
“It’s alright, Reed,” Lucas said, warm fingers pressing into the base of his skull.
Oliver blinked a few times, his hands gripping the alpha’s shirt so tightly that it’d leave creases in the fabric. Without meaning or wanting to, he slumped against his chest, all the energy draining from his body as he allowed himself to be held upright by the embrace. If the alpha didn’t think he was emotionally unstable before, he certainly would have then. No beta would swing from latent aggression one moment, to silently crying the next.
“I’m sorry,” Oliver whispered, the words muffled by Lucas’ jacket.“I’m sorry for implying that you’re only in it for the glory.”
“Reed.”
“The truth is, I have no idea what Special Branch does. But I’m sure it’s a lot cooler than the Child Protection Unit.”
“Reed.”
“And I’ll make sure I apologise to Sh?—”
Then there were fingers in his hair and a hand pressing into his lower back. A mouth on his mouth. That was all Oliver could comprehend as Lucas tugged his head back and kissed him. Grey eyes met hazel, each looking as surprised as the other.
The alpha’s’ teeth nipped his bottom lip, five o’clock shadow grazing his chin, and the taste of peppermint toothpaste in his mouth. Nothing close to tender, but Oliver was getting lost in Lucas’ heavy-handed kiss all the same.
But then cold, hard panic chased away the fuzzy haze as he felt himself losing control. The wolf within him thrashed, though he couldn’t tell if it was the alpha or the omega.
Oliver yanked his head back, hand flying to cover his mouth as the tips of his ears turned pink. The turmoil must have shown on his face, as Lucas pushed himself away. “Apologies, Reed.” He cleared his throat. “That was extremely unprofessional of me.”
When Oliver regained his senses, he wiped his mouth with an indignant tutt. “Teach you that one at training school, did they? Some kind of Metropolitan distraction technique?”
Sucking his lower lip, Lucas let out a sharp breath. “No. I don’t think that was in the training manual.”
They stood shoulder to shoulder, each of them staring out across the West Newton countryside. Clouds billowed over the hills as the wind made the corn sway in the fields below. Oliver wasn’t sure what to do, or what to say, so he just pressed his back against the filthy car and hoped for the best.
“You know,” Lucas said, finally breaking the silence. “I can’t say I’ve ever built a Lego Ferrari whilst taking a statement.”
Oliver huffed out a laugh, the tension in the back of his skull slowly uncoiling. “Sometimes you just have to let kids be kids. Even when they’re telling you the most horrific things.”
Lucas ran his hands through his dark hair, expression softening as he looked across at Oliver. And he thought, for one uneasy moment, that the alpha was going to kiss him again. Instead, he glanced down at his feet and tapped the tip of his shoe against the dusty ground. “You are exceptional at what you do, Reed. I hope you know that.”
And if that comment didn’t just make his fucking chestswellwith pride.
