by Leann Ryans
Hired To Protect
An Omegaverse Romance
The Hired Series Book 2
Leann Ryans
Copyright © 2019 Leann Ryans
All rights reserved.
ISBN-13 9781691653997
No part of the book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and events are fictitious in every way. Any similarities to actual events and persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Any trademarks are assumed to be the property of their respective owners and are used only for reference.
Leann Ryans
Hired To Protect
This book is intended for mature audiences only. Adult content, explicit scenes, violence, and other triggers.
Dedication
To my betas. Without you, these books wouldn’t be nearly as good!
1. Penelope
Heart racing, Penny ran as fast as she could through the alley, fleetingly wishing she had opted for flats today instead of the stilettos. Stumbling around a corner, she narrowly missed slamming into a smelly dumpster before careening off the brick wall opposite it. Scraping her arm on the rough wall, she turned her head to look over her shoulder for the man chasing her. She didn’t notice that the side alley she had turned into came to a dead end until her body jerked to a painful stop, the side of her head meeting the bricks with a jarring blow.
Bouncing back from the impact, Penny lost her balance on the stilettos and her ankle twisted. Butt hitting the pavement, her lungs struggled to pull in enough air for her to cry out at the pain. She would have been grateful for the forced silence if she had been far enough ahead for it to matter, but Adrian was already striding around the dumpster she had passed, ugly smirk spread across his face. The fact that he hadn’t had to run to keep up with her only added insult to injury.
Chuckling, he stopped a few feet away, arms crossed over his chest as he looked down at her. Still imitating a fish gasping for air, Penny attempted to scoot away, but whimpered at the pain radiating from her ankle. Stilettos had definitely been the wrong choice today.
“Why are you running from me, Sweetheart? I went through all the trouble of tracking you down so we could talk, and you didn’t even let me say a word before you bolted. Makes me think you don’t love me anymore.”
Eyes narrowing, Adrian’s arms dropped to his sides as he took a step forward. Pressing her hands to the rough brick behind her, Penny used it to leverage herself up to her feet, trying not to show how she couldn’t put any weight on her foot. Bad enough that he knew she was too slow to get away, he didn’t need to know she couldn’t even try now.
“You know I don’t love you Adrian. I’ve told you to stay away from me. I even had a Force officer tell you to stay away, but apparently you can’t take a hint! You need to leave me alone! It’s over. I’m not taking you back,” Penny managed to say once she had gotten her breath back.
Lips pulling back in a snarl, he came closer, pinning her to the wall with an arm on each side of her body.
“You were supposed to be my girl, Penelope. My little omega slut. What makes you think you can tell me that we’re done?”
He tried to growl the words at her as one hand moved to her cheek, thumb pulling her bottom lip down before she jerked her head away.
Nothing more than a beta, his attempted growl was pitiful compared to what an Alpha’s would be, and only grated on her nerves. He had always tried to act like an Alpha. Growling, ordering her around, and getting angry when she didn’t produce slick for him. Penny had dealt with him for over a year before finally growing tired enough of his crap to call it quits, but unfortunately, he wasn’t ready for it to end. Omega numbers were dwindling, and he probably couldn’t find another stupid enough to deal with him.
“You know what I think? I think you’ve fucked up your body. Those pills you take to stop your heat make it to where you might as well not even be an omega anymore. Nothing but a useless beta bitch. I always told you that you needed to stop taking them. Maybe then you would behave right.”
Pressing his body to hers, Penny felt his pitiful erection dig into her hip as the bricks bit into the exposed skin of her back and his hot breath washed over her face.
“Maybe I just needed to be rougher with you, you seem excited now. From now on, you’re not going to take those suppressants. You’re going to come back home with me and be a good little omega bitch.”
“The fact that you mistake panic for excitement is one of your issues. I am not coming back to you. Ever, Adrian. Get it through your thick head!”
Snarling, he clenched a hand around her throat, cutting off her air before she even had a chance to yell. Wrapping both hands around his wrist, Penny did everything she could to try to get his grip to loosen, but with her body pinned to the wall by his, she had no leverage.
Lungs burning and vision going dim, she wasn’t prepared for his hand to be ripped away suddenly, dropping her to her knees on the pavement with a sob.
Tears streaking down her cheeks, she lifted her eyes to see a large man with greying hair tossing Adrian into the wall beside the dumpster before reaching down to wrap an arm around her waist, helping her up. The scent of Alpha aggression surrounded her as he easily held her weight while turning back to where he had tossed the bag of trash that was her ex.
Unable to see clearly through the tears, Penny scrubbed her cheeks with her hand. It took her a moment to realize Adrian was gone, running while the Alpha had been distracted helping her.
“Are you okay, Miss?”
The deep voice rumbled from above her, and she had to tip her head back to be able to meet the faded blue eyes of the Alpha looking down at her.
“Y-yes, I think so,” she managed to whisper, throat screaming with the throbbing imprint of Adrian’s hand.
Trying to pull away from the Alpha but falling back onto his arm when her ankle sent a spike of pain up her calf, Penny couldn’t stop the sob that tore free.
“Come ‘ere,” he said, swooping down to put his other arm behind her knees and lifting her into the air. “Let me get you into the café.”
Hands clenched tightly in his shirt, Penny was carried through an open doorway she hadn’t noticed into a brightly lit kitchen. Passing through it in a few strides, the Alpha turned to the side, bumping open a swinging door into the dining area of a small cafe.
“Clara!” he called out, sitting Penny gently onto a tabletop just outside the kitchen door.
Glancing over her shoulder into the rest of the room as she got her sobs under control, she noticed an older, grey-haired woman about her height look up from clearing dishes off a table.
“Wha- oh my gosh, honey, are you okay?”
Figuring she probably looked as bad as she felt at this point, Penny still tried to give the woman a smile as she came bustling over.
“What happened?” the woman cried, cupping Penny’s cheeks in her warm hands.
“I was taking out the trash and some guy was in the alley. Had her by the throat,” the Alpha rumbled, anger still rolling off his big body. “He ran off before I could catch him.”
Penny assumed the woman was the ‘Clara’ that the Alpha had called for. Clucking, she tipped Penny’s head to the side to look at her throat, giving Penny a clear view of the claiming mark on her own neck. She knew the Alpha had to be bonded to be outside of an Alpha-camp, but it was still rare to see a bonded pair, and she felt her eyes widening as they darted between the two.
“Well, don’t just stand here, go call the girl an ambulance.”
“No!�
� Penny blurted, startling the older woman. “Really, I’m okay. It’s just a few scrapes. No need for an ambulance.”
“But Sweety, your neck is already bruising, and I can hear how hard it is for you to talk. There could be damage we can’t see.”
Clara frowned, stepping back from Penny and clasping her hands together.
“He only had me for a moment, my neck feels fine, just a little sore. I don’t want all the fuss,” Penny pleaded, wide eyes begging the woman to listen.
Heaving a sigh, the woman turned and looked up at her mate who gave a shrug.
“Oh, fine, but I really think you should be looked at. Let me get you something,” Clara said before passing through the kitchen door, leaving her mate standing awkwardly beside the table.
“Thank you,” Penny said looking up at him with a weak smile.
Returning it, he gave another little shrug before rubbing the back of his neck.
“I don’t really want any fuss, but you should report that fellow. He could do it to someone else. And you should be more careful! Young omega like you shouldn’t be out alone.”
“Oh, hush,” his mate said, returning with a glass of water she passed to Penny before handing her two orange pills. “For the swelling, dear. Things aren’t like they were when we were young, an omega can go where she pleases now without having someone breathing down her neck constantly.”
Grumbling, the Alpha turned and stomped back into the kitchen, his mate chuckling as she watched him go.
“They get grumpy sometimes, but they generally mean well.”
“Who?” Penny asked, brows drawing together in confusion.
“Alphas. I’ve never met one who didn’t want what was best for an omega, though it wasn’t always what she wanted.”
Giving Penny a knowing look, Clara turned and grabbed a phone from a small cubby on the wall.
“Let me call you a cab dear, you don’t need to be walking anywhere with the way that ankle is swelling.”
2. Penelope
By the time Clara had helped her limp to the AutoCab, Penny had to admit that her ankle was going to have to be looked at. She could barely put any pressure on it, and it had doubled in size as she waited on the cab.
Typing in the address to her doctor’s office, Penny leaned back in the seat and propped her foot up on the cushion next to her. Heaving a sigh as she looked out the window, she tried to figure out what to do. She had already reported Adrian to the Force when they first separated and he threatened her, but obviously, he hadn’t taken the warning to heart. She would file a report on him while she was at the doctor, but she doubted it would do any good.
Shaking her head, Penny pulled herself out of her thoughts as the AutoCab slowed to a stop outside of the office building. Using the doorframe to pull herself up, she looked at how far it was to the entrance, trying to figure out how she was going to make it that far without completely embarrassing herself or hurting her other ankle.
Beginning to feel a bit desperate as the cab pulled away, Penny leaned towards the pillar holding up the awning that covered the sidewalk and used it to hop out of the street. She had pulled off her heels in the cab and was about to attempt hopping to the door barefoot when she noticed a car pulling up behind her, and a nurse pushing someone out of the office doors in a wheelchair.
Heart soaring in relief, Penny attempted to look casual as she waited for the nurse to help the man from the wheelchair into the car. Once the car pulled away the nurse turned to her with a raised eyebrow.
“Do you need some help?”
“Oh yes! Please! I twisted my ankle and it hurts to walk,” Penny gushed as the nurse moved closer to her. “Thank you so much, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do to get inside.”
“You should have called ahead so we could send someone out for you,” the nurse chided gently as Penny settled into the seat of the wheelchair.
Feeling heat creep up her cheeks, Penny ducked her head and mumbled, “Sorry.” That would have been the logical thing to do, but her mind didn’t seem to be able to come up with something that simple as an answer right now.
Remaining silent as the nurse pushed her inside, Penny thanked the woman once she dropped her off in front of the receptionist. Explaining what happened to the woman at the desk in as few words as possible, another person came out of the back and pushed her to a room to wait on the doctor.
Keeping her mind as blank as possible, Penny simply stared at the wall as she waited. The soft knock on the door warned her it was about to open, and she pasted the best smile she could muster onto her face as her elderly doctor stepped into the room.
“So, what happened to your ankle?” the doctor asked as she sat on a stool and rolled closer to Penny.
Reaching down, the doctor gently gripped her calf and raised Penny’s foot until she could rest the heel on the stool between her legs.
“I twisted it running a little while ago. Haven’t been able to put weight on it since then without pain shooting up to my knee, and it swelled up pretty fast.”
Humming, the doctor poked and prodded, turning her foot as Penny hissed and whimpered.
“We’ll need to get some imaging, but I think it’s just a strained ligament. There could be a small fracture. I hope you weren’t running in those?” the doctor said, looking at her over the top of the glasses perched on her nose. Penny had her heels sitting in her lap.
“I didn’t really have a choice,” Penny mumbled, ducking her head.
She must not have ducked her head fast enough because the doctor reached out and took her chin, tipping it up as the other pressed on her neck. The burning pain had subsided at the café, but it was still sore when the doctor pushed on it, and Penny grimaced.
“You may have convinced me the scrapes you have were from the fall, but this definitely is not. Have you filed a report yet?”
Unable to meet the doctor’s eyes as she continued to hold Penny’s chin up and examine her throat, she admitted, “Not yet.”
Tsking, the doctor released her but left her foot on the stool as she carefully stood.
“I’ll send an officer in as well then. Keep the foot up, the nurse will be in to do the images in a moment.”
One of the things she loved about her doctor was that she didn’t pry, but she was still a very no-nonsense person and would make a report herself if Penny didn’t. Sighing, Penny didn’t get to brood for long before another tap came on the door as it opened to let in a small man in scrubs followed by a much larger one dressed in dark grey.
The smaller of the two gave her a smile, shuffling over with a large white box in his arms as the one in grey stopped just inside the door.
“Let me get this set up really quick and I’ll step out so you can chat with this gentleman,” the nurse said.
When he leaned over her leg, she realized the box was just a frame, and he sat it on the stool, covering her foot and ankle. Pressing a few buttons on the top, he stepped back with another quick smile.
“It’s all set. Please keep your leg still until it beeps. I’ll be just outside.”
With that, he slipped past the officer, closing the door gently behind him.
“I was told you needed to file a report for assault. Was this a random person or someone you know?”
Penny described what happened as she had been heading to the shop earlier. How her ex had grabbed her, attempting to pull her into a car before she managed to slip out of his grip and run. Giving his name and last known address, she asked what would happen now.
“We will issue a temporary restraining order and have him served so that if he approaches you again, we can arrest him. That will remain in place until you go to court and a judge decides what more should happen.”
“Court? I’ll have to face him again?” Penny asked, sinking into herself. “What do I do if he doesn’t stop following me around?”
“If you see him again and he doesn’t leave immediately, call the Force.”
Snorting, Penny lo
oked back up at the officer.
“That’s kind of hard to do if a hand is wrapped around your throat.”
The officer looked a bit startled and at a loss for words, so Penny waved her hand in the air, thanking him for his time as the machine on her leg beeped. He left as the nurse entered to collect the imager. Telling her the doctor would be back in just a moment, Penny was left alone with her thoughts again.
3. Penelope
Hobbling out of another AutoCab in her new boot, Penny made her way into her apartment building. The doctor was right about the strain, and there was also a hairline fracture, so now she was going to be stuck in this giant awkward thing for the next few weeks. Considering how much walking she did on a daily basis, Penny was not happy about it.
Glaring at the stairs that she usually took to get to her apartment, she jabbed the elevator button, crossing her arms over her chest as she waited for it to arrive. While she lived in a newer building near downtown, the elevator had always seemed too slow for her, especially since she only lived on the fourth floor. Waiting for it to come down from the top took longer than it did for her to climb the stairs, but with the boot on, she knew she couldn’t manage to make it up three flights before the elevator could get her there without the risk of losing her balance and falling.
A cheery ding preceded the doors sliding open, a family exiting the elevator forcing Penny to wait even longer to enter the metal death trap. Stabbing her finger into the button for the fourth floor, she tapped the toe of the boot on the tiles impatiently as her stomach was left behind on the main floor.
It caught up to her once the elevator stopped with a swoop of nausea and bile burning the back of her throat. Stumbling into the hallway, Penny was grateful it was only a few steps to her door. Sliding the keycard through the reader and typing in her passcode, she stepped into her home, leaning her back against the door behind her.
