Faith & the Dead End Devils (Sweet Omegaverse, #8)(25)

My girl was shuddering and whining and warning us all with her soft snarl, and all I really wanted to do was shove this fucker out of my way and scoop her up. I watched to make sure she let Chance guide her back to the hall, and then I stepped between Preston and the view of them.

"We don't know how long she was kept locked up. We don't know what they put her through. We don't even know her fucking name yet," I said, glaring down at the bastard of an alpha that had tried to bark an omega into submission. "She needs care."

Preston puffed up, and there was power to this man, but I didn't like the flavor of it. He smelled like cigars and exhaust, luxury, and I was sure that suited him. It didn't suit her.

"You didn't give me time to get her under control," Preston said.

My hands clenched, and I opened my mouth to explain what fucking control meant, when King interrupted us.

"Bowers, my man is right. We rushed this."

"She's at the edge of her heat," Preston said, glancing back at King with an obvious gleam of interest in his eyes.

He would still take her if we let him. He wanted her heat. He and his pack would try and stifle her into accepting them.

I would kill this asshole—and King, if I had to—before I let that happen.

King crossed his arms over his chest, gave me one quelling glare, and looked back to the man he'd invited into our club, invited to Butterfly. "We'll handle it."

I swallowed hard and stepped back. King's words were final. I had plenty to fucking say, but I'd wait until we got Preston Bowers back to his fancy fucking city life before I said my piece to King.

Preston scoffed, and I stiffened as he glanced down the hall, before turning back to King. "You wasted my time."

"I did." King nodded, and his jaw ground before he added, "I owe you."

"You can send her our way when you work some of that crazy out of her," Preston said, brushing his hands over his clothes. There was a tear in the cuff of his polo shirt, somewhere Butterfly had caught her claws.

"We'll see," King said before I could tell the man to fuck right off to hell.

Preston rolled his eyes, and I paced to the bar, helping myself to a beer and keeping my back to the pair until I heard the door to outside open. I turned at last, watching Preston march to his sports car as the door swung shut. King approached the bar out of the corner of my eye.

"You fucked up," I said, unable to keep my mouth shut at last.

"You did not keep me—"

"You didn't fucking tell me you arranged this. That you'd even found someone. I could've told you she'd regressed. I could've given her warning instead of making her feel like I—the person she was attempting to trust—was springing a complete stranger on her to just fucking haul her off!"

King sat at the bar, staring impassively back at me.

"Not to him," I growled.

His eyes blinked, and his shoulders sagged slightly. "No. No, not to fucking him. You're right. That was…"

"He barked at her." I stared hard at King.

He turned his face away, a little color of shame in his cheeks.

"Tell me you don't fucking—"

"Of course I don't fucking approve of barking at an omega," King hissed at me, eyes flashing before he leaned forward into the bar. "Get me a fucking beer if you're going to ream my ass out."

Considering it permission for all the speaking my mind I planned to do, I went ahead and got the man a beer.

"I just wanted her out of here," King muttered. "She's…got those little claws in you, Bear."

I wanted to deny it, but I needed King to cooperate with me from now on. And to get that, I was going to need to be honest. "I want to see her through her heat. I want to know she's safe. Personally."

"You want to keep her safe," King said, punctuating the words with a swig of his beer.

I stalled with my own gulp, glaring back at King while I wrestled with the truth. "Yeah. I do. Hell, I want to keep her, period. But that doesn't mean I think I should or that I've fucking decided to. It's just that I know I can be what she needs right now. And I'm not going to let you pawn her off to the first available alpha just because you're fucking terrified of her."

"I'm not—"

"You're terrified that you're fucking powerless to resist her. That she could whine and you'd have your knot in her before you could blink. But guess what? You think like that, it's what'll fucking happen," I growled. "King, she's tiny and she's terrified. She wants to be protected. If you can't do that without losing control, then I don't want her here."

King scowled. "I'm not going to fucking knot her. I just…" He trailed off and blinked, and I knew that he didn't have the faintest idea of what it would be like to be alone with Butterfly.

"You ever been around an omega?" I asked.

King blinked and shrugged. "Not really."

"It takes some getting used to. Breathe through your mouth if you like their scent. Tasting is intense, but it doesn't go straight to the brain like a good deep whiff. Purr if they're stressed, but stop if they're getting aroused. At least if that's not your goal. Cuffing your hand around their wrist or the back of their neck will settle them down. Doesn't have to be hard," I said watching him. "Better if it isn't, in her case."