Faith & the Dead End Devils (Sweet Omegaverse, #8)(4)

"I've got her," I said, because no, she wasn't good. In fact, I didn't really want King to know exactly how rough this omega was. Didn't want him to know about the bite on my hand either. Not until I understood the repercussions too.

I managed to open the driver's door while holding onto the omega, and I slid her onto the bench seat first, untangling her from my chest for the brief moment it took to haul myself into the cab.

"See you at the club," I called over my shoulder.

"Keep her in your room till I make a decision," King answered, watching the girl slide down onto the seat, press her head to the side of my thigh. She seemed to ignore his presence easily enough, but I was tense, waiting for King to reach in through the window. Would she bite him too?

He patted the outside of the passenger door. The girl flinched and whimpered, drawing a scowl to his lips. I turned the key in the ignition, then pulled away from the scene with a sense of one weight lifting from my chest while another landed in its place.

My ears rang in warning the whole drive back, an omen of change.





2. FAITH





Thick, unfamiliar fingers catching in my hair, working out the tangles. Not the usual pair. The vibration of an engine, a new one, dense and heady.

An alpha's purr? A soft scent, safe. The smell of an imaginary home I'd built a hundred times in those moments before falling asleep.

Struggling, kicking, trying to bite through the strong arms as too many scents hit my nose. A low growl, gentle, warning. Stubbing my toe on a door frame and whining through the pain. Being surrounded by the home scent again.

A huff. Soft, humored, as I burrowed down into a pile of blankets.

My screech as I was dragged out again.

Warm, milky water, silky on my skin. Big hands in my hair. A broad, square face and blurry black eyes.

"Rinse twice, hmm, Butterfly?"

Another huff as I sputtered through the water pouring over my head.

Sniffing my own skin, rubbing my cheek on my shoulder, and finding the right scent. Me. Myself.

Faith.

Him too. The alpha. My alpha?

I ran my fingers over the soft collar that hung loose around my throat and drew it up to my nose. The scent lingering in the cotton was a bit sweet, a bit warm. The taste of his blood was still a sharp edge on my tongue.

I cleared my throat, opened my mouth to call for him, my hands searching the expanse of brown and white in front of me. Where am I? Who are you? But he'd said something a bit ago, and it had been quiet since. Had he left me?

Too much space to be a cage. Too bright. A dark shadow space to my right. I gathered my alpha's blankets and pillows and crawled slowly off the bed and into the shadows. A nice small nest. Only I will fit here. Quiet.

Smells like a home should.

A blue house with white shutters, bright lights on through the windows. A big tree in the front yard. A porch swing. Flower beds. A big dining room table, and a soft nest up in the…

No. Down in the basement. Safe, dark, cool.

The alpha made the floor shake as he returned, steps heavy but quiet. He froze, his breath caught audibly in that huge chest I'd clung to, and I knew he was looking at the place on the bed he'd left me in.

Would he be angry? Growl.

Then he exhaled, and I blinked at the sound of knees creaking.

"There you are, Butterfly."

I smiled. My alpha had found—

Not my alpha. He was scooting across rough carpet, his shadow appearing in the open brighter space of the closet doors. The closet where I was nesting. Hiding.

I frowned, hid my face in my hands, and tried to reclaim reality. My head was pounding, aching, as it had ever since—

The cement floor cracked against my skull, my shoulder throbbing at the sudden impact.

"Davis! What the fuck!"

"She fucking tried to—"

"She's merchandise! Her delivery date is coming up. What do you think her buyers are gonna say if we send her damaged? Not to mention the fucking boss!"

"Fine, fine."

But he'd dug his fingers in my hair to drag me back to the little room.

"Did you buy me?" I whispered to the massive blurry figure in front of me.

The alpha was huge and muscled, with dark hair and eyes and tattoos on his chest and arms smearing in my damaged vision. I'd been able to see clearly just a week ago. Something was wrong.

"No," the alpha said immediately. "Can't say we meant to find you either, though. Thought we were intercepting drugs or guns from a gang we don't want around our territory."

Which meant they were some kind of gang too, probably.

Adam's voice rang in my head.

"If anything ever goes sideways for us, I'm gonna find us the biggest, baddest, scariest alphas around and I'm going to make them bond me." His grin was grim, determined. "That way we've got them on our team, fighting for us."

"We both will," I'd said.

He stared at me a moment and that grin vanished, gaze solemn. "No. No, Faith, you're gonna have the fairy tale. The pretty house. The good pack. I'm just gonna take care of you in the meantime."

Apparently, it had never occurred to my older brother that we might end up separated. That I would have to figure out a way to take care of myself.

"You don't need to worry, Butterfly," the alpha said, and he shifted and rustled, leaning against the closet door that faced me, giving me space. "We're gonna get you to the Omega Center in—"