Faith & the Dead End Devils (Sweet Omegaverse, #8)(123)

Adam groaned at my side, and I bounced my stare between our packs and my brother.

He rolled his eyes at me. "They want to use us as bait."

"We want to provide you as a temptation," Eve corrected smoothly.

"I hate this plan," Bear growled.

"If you're comfortable with this crew, they'll be here to protect you," King said, catching my gaze. "If you aren't, we scrap the idea."

I bit my lip, nerves jangling in my chest, flicking my eyes over to the group of men standing and awaiting judgment. I looked at Eve next. "How confident are you that Omikron is out of the picture?"

"Eighty-seven percent," Eve said, and I wasn't sure if she'd chosen the number at random or had diligently weighed the odds. "But I'm ninety-three percent sure they aren't equipped to manage the work of kidnapping you again effectively."

"I will protect you myself," Adam said to me.

"No," Rory corrected. "DID protocol."

Adam gaped at the alpha. "No! Come on!"

"DID protocol, sugar," Eve said with a nod.

I frowned and glared at them. "What is DID protocol?"

"Damsel in distress," Adam snarled.

"No fighting back, no sassing. Just let yourself be kidnapped and wait for us to come and kill them," Eve said matter-of-factly.

Bear snarled, and Ghost joined him in the arms-crossed pose. "Is that really the best idea?" Ghost asked, brow furrowing. "Like, isn't the idea that they don’t get kidnapped?"

"The idea is that they don’t get hurt," Garrett answered. "Adam will have a tracker on him—"

Adam grumbled again, and Eve gave him a sultry smile in response.

"—and complying within reason will buy them and us time to reach them without them being harmed. And this is in the least likely scenario," Garrett said.

"The ‘least likely scenario’ that has happened twice since we came up with the plan," Adam muttered. He sighed and turned to me. "I'm not complaining because it's frightening. I'm complaining because it's boring, and I didn't spend weeks learning hand-to-hand combat and marksmanship just so I could let some bozo tie my hands behind my back and stick me in an uncomfortable folding chair."

"No one's ever hurt you?" I asked Adam.

"Not since we implemented DID protocol," Eve said.

Adam's lips flattened in annoyance, and he shook his head. "No. They're never allowed to mess with me. It's always transport and waiting for some bigwig to show up. By the time they do, so does the cavalry."

I turned to my pack. None of them looked or felt happy about the idea, but King tried to offer me a smile, even if it was grim.

"Least likely outcome," he said.

Eve cleared her throat and caught my eye. "Do you think you could handle it?"

I gaped at her, wanted to shout no, that I would prefer she and the others take out the Wasted while leaving me in my nest with my pack, before I realized what she meant. Would I go feral if someone tried to kidnap me and Adam?

"I don't know," I admitted.

And for some reason, Eve smiled. She was a little crazy, or she knew something she wasn't telling the rest of us, or both.

I turned back to the betas and alphas waiting and recalling their names in my head—Grim, Mikey, Wave, and Frost.

"Are you going to let me get kidnapped?" I asked them.

"Not a fucking chance," Wave answered immediately. "Bear would take my nuts."

Bear grunted in agreement.

Least likely scenario, I told myself. It would've felt even less likely if we hadn't needed a plan for it in the first place.

A plan to deal with any stray dogs who might be watching me or Adam or both of us. To wipe the slate clean before my pack and I moved on, together, and started a life. I wanted that life, and I wanted it without the looming threats of alpha gangs who wanted to buy me, or Omikron wanting to sell me.

"Okay," I said, nodding.

Adam sighed again, heavy and defeated. "Fine," he groaned.

"Fuck," Bear muttered.





"Stay inside, keep the guys close," King said, his hands cupping my shoulders, pale blue gaze fierce.

"Be careful. Don't get hurt and don't get caught," I answered.

King's hand caught my chin, lifting it a fraction, stare sparking as his mouth lowered to mine. "Be good, princess. Or you'll get a spanking when I get home."

That's a confusing set of directions and he knows it, I thought, already considering how I might go about earning that spanking.

He grinned at my expression, reading me too easily now, then kissed my forehead and crossed the parking lot to his bike. Ghost and Chance took his place in front of me, folding me in between the two of them.

"You're sure you're okay with this plan?" Chance asked. "I can stay here with you too."

I relaxed a little, recalling Chance fighting off the two Wasted who'd come sniffing. In the bond, Ghost's nerves wormed through my chest. If Chance stayed, Ghost would want to stay to keep an eye on the both of us.

"You trust the guys staying here?" I asked Chance.

"Definitely," Ghost said easily.