Faith & the Dead End Devils (Sweet Omegaverse, #8)(17)

"Maybe. Might not go smoothly at this stage," he said with a shrug.

"And the suppressants? Will they help?"

"Not enough," he answered quickly, and his hands stuffed into his jean pockets.

He's hiding something.

Bear had told me what he'd done for a living after the army. Fucking omegas seemed like an alpha's dream job. Amazing pay, getting your knot squeezed regularly, soft beds and twinkle lights and whatever other shit the little princesses supposedly needed to see them through. And he'd walked away from it, landed in Dead End, of all places, and seemed content to stay.

I'd seen that as a good sign. He'd seemed to understand what our brotherhood was about, a bond stronger than the forces of our designation. I didn't care who my men fucked, whether or not they shared pussy with one another, but we were a crew, not a pack. The Devils came first.

Certainly not after a fucking omega.

"You're getting attached," I said.

Bear's stare whipped back to me, eyes narrowing. He held his tongue for a moment. I generally respected this alpha's ability to think first before running his mouth. Now I wished I could rip whatever thoughts were running through his head right off his tongue.

"I don't care about the drugs. I don't care about the guns. I do the work you give me," Bear said, pulling a hand free of his pocket and bracing it on the back of the chair in front of him. "But if you want me to not give a shit about a young woman who's been kept in fuck knows what kind of conditions, auctioned and sold, hurt, frightened, then I am not working for a leader I can respect."

The alpha in me wanted to bark, to lunge over my desk and snarl into Bear's face, remind him that in spite of his size, I was in charge. But that was designation. I swallowed it down.

"You're worried her being here will test this brotherhood in a way you haven't been forced to before now," Bear continued. "You're probably right. But if you believe in the words you lead with, you'll believe in our crew and our bond."

Fucker was right, of course.

"She's a person first," Bear said.

I pressed my lips flat and held my hand up before he continued preaching. "You're right. I hear you. Omegas don't bite."

Bear let out a sharp and startled laugh, and his hand dove back into his pocket. "Right. Exactly. And I know how to keep my teeth in my mouth. So calm down, old man."

I grunted and scowled, and Bear backed away from my desk. Had he already knotted her? I debated the idea of going out on the road with the others, uncertain if I really wanted to be stuck in the club during an omega's heat.

Bear was right. I did trust him not to lose control. I was the untested one.

"Keep me updated," I said, reaching for my phone.

Bear nodded. "Of course. I'll do as much scent canceling as I can. It'll be easier when the others head out."

I wasn't so sure about that, but I nodded and he let himself out of my office as I turned my phone face up, swiping past the lock screen.

The best solution was to get the girl out of our lives, and fast. I weighed the risks and made the call.





8. FAITH





My eyelids twitched as the floor beneath me trembled with his approach. I could smell him coming. Warm, safe, comforting.

"How did you know about my eyes?" I asked as Bear shut the door to the bathroom behind him.

I hadn't been fully aware of the tub the day before when Bear had cleaned me up, but it was impressively deep. Decadent. Not a normal motel tub. Chance said Bear had gutted and redressed the bathroom a few years back. Made sense. He was a big man.

"You fumble when you reach for things sometimes, and it didn't strike me right away, but…the way you looked at my cock while I was showering," he said.

My lips twitched. "Can't blame a girl for trying. Hands-on study will be required."

Bear sat on the edge of the soaking tub and I shifted, resting my head against his thigh and sighing as his fingers brushed the back of my neck.

"We gotta do something about it, Butterfly. Doctors—"

"No."

Bear sighed, and his hand cupped my throat. "And if there's more going wrong than just vision and headaches? That's a big enough deal already."

I shuddered and tried to hold onto the present, reaching wet hands up to Bear's wrists to use him as my anchor. My fingers brushed over his palm, and I found the rough welt and scabs from my bite, a soft thrill rushing through me. Bear purred, and my breath hitched, gentle warmth and worry in my chest cutting through some of the old memories trying to creep in.

"Can I start by agreeing to…to take the ibuprofen?" I asked.

"Yep." There was a quickness to the response that belied its casual tone, but he didn't say anything else.

I trusted Bear. I trusted this alpha. I'd already offered myself to him on a silver platter. He would give me what he said. I could trust one little pill.

Relief for my head would be nice.

I didn't realize I was shaking until Bear was stroking my back, his hands sliding into the water. "It's okay. You tell me when you're ready. It's okay."

"W-will you get in the bath with m-me?" I asked. I was shivering in hot water, panic settling in like a layer of snow in my veins.