by Nora Phoenix
Omega's Protector
An Irresistible Omegas Standalone
Nora Phoenix
Omega’s Protector by Nora Phoenix
Copyright ©2019 Nora Phoenix
Cover design: Vicki Brostenianc (Let’s Talk Designs)
Editing: Jamie Anderson
All rights reserved. No part of this story may be used, reproduced, or transmitted in any form by any means without the written permission of the copyright holder, except in case of brief quotations and embodied within critical reviews and articles.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The use of any real company and/or product names is for literary effect only. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.
This book contains sexually explicit material which is suitable only for mature readers.
www.noraphoenix.com
Contents
Publisher’s Note
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Thank you!
Books from Nora Phoenix
More About Nora Phoenix
Publisher’s Note
This is a novella set in the Irresistible Omegas universe. It can be read as a stand alone, but in the timeline, it fits in right after book five. To keep the series numbering in order, I’ve labeled it book six.
This series depicts mature situations and themes that are not suitable for underage readers. Reader discretion is advised. Please note trigger warnings for an attempted rape on page (but not successful).
1
They had been staring at the same house for two hours now, and Sean was tired. The skies were uncharacteristically gray, and intermittent drizzle added to the gloomy atmosphere of the rundown neighborhood they were in. The city's infamous south side lived up to its reputation, offering little but menacing apartment buildings, dark alleys, houses that hadn't seen updates in decades, and trash lying around everywhere.
You'd think no one would want to venture there, let alone live there, but for the desperate and the poor, there were few alternatives. Then, of course, there were the not-so-legal reasons to be around the neighborhood, like the drug house they were watching. Their informer was solid, or so Sean's partner, Igor, had assured him. Apparently, this house was a hotbed for heroin activity, both for distributors and direct sales.
Sean had no reason not to trust Igor's information, and yet, as they’d been watching the house for two hours without even a single person going in or out, something tickled at the back of his mind. Maybe it was because Igor, unlike Sean's previous partner, Lidon, didn’t seem inclined to share much information with him.
Igor's reasoning was that Sean was a newbie, and as such, still had to learn the ropes by watching. Fair enough, but Lidon had taken a different approach. He'd always explained as much as possible so Sean could learn from him. That made it a hell of a lot easier to trust a partner, since he at least had an idea of his reasoning.
But Igor had come highly recommended by Sean's father and brothers, all of whom were cops as well, so it wasn't like he was in a position to criticize him. Hell, his father had flat out told Sean he should be grateful someone as experienced as Igor was willing to take him on as a key partner. Again, the statement frustrated Sean, though he couldn't explain why. Wasn't it normal for experienced cops to take on rookies? Wasn't that how the newbies learned? Why should he be grateful someone was willing to teach when that was part of their job?
"There's not much happening," he dared to say, keeping his voice soft.
Igor sipped from his expensive coffee, not even sparing him a glance. "We've barely gotten started. You'll need to learn more patience in this job if you want to become good at it."
And another reason why he disliked Igor. Every word out of the man's mouth was an underhanded barb of some kind, a dig at Sean's age, his inexperience. Sure, he was only twenty-seven, and that was pretty young to be recruited for narcotics, but he'd earned it. Unlike what many people thought, that position hadn't come about because of his father or brothers. On the contrary, his father had pushed hard to get him into white-collar crime, which Sean thought was boring.
"I'm just expressing my surprise that we haven't seen a single person go in or out, considering this house is supposedly a hotbed of drug activity. What are the chances they know we’re here?" he asked, unable to keep his mouth shut, which surely would have been the more prudent course of action.
They were set up in the house across the street, hiding behind dirty windows and see-through curtains that had once been white. It offered enough protection to not be seen from the house they were watching. At least they were dry, Sean thought, though the cockroaches scurrying in every direction as they had entered the place for their stakeout hadn't exactly improved his mood.
"Rookie, you need to stop talking before I lose my patience. I told you, we're gonna be here all day. Now, settle in and shut the fuck up."
Sean swallowed back the anger that rose in him at being addressed like that, even if it was by another alpha. Igor was fifteen years his senior, probably, but Sean rivaled him in size. And he sure as hell was faster, that he knew. Of course, that didn't matter to the older cop. Seniority, that was all that counted, and so Sean had to put up with being addressed like that, no matter how much it hurt his pride.
An hour passed slowly, Sean occasionally taking a sip of the herbal tea he'd brought. Lidon had taught him not to drink caffeine when you were on a long stakeout, since it tended to make you pee more often. Not that he would bring that up to Igor, obviously. No, he just watched that damn empty house across the street and let his mind wander.
It was a strange thing to say, but he missed Lidon. They hadn't been close, not like friends, but Sean had respected the hell out of his former partner. He still couldn't believe how the man had been fired from the department. The accusations against him had been crazy—wild stuff about him doctoring evidence to help one of his boyfriends, who was a reporter, get a scoop.
His father and brothers had instantly condemned Lidon, urging Sean to distance himself from his former partner and come out in support of the department. Sean had refused, saying he had seen no evidence of wrongdoing by Lidon in the year that he'd been training with him. Still, he hadn't dared to support Lidon either, too scared of the consequences since he seemed to have pissed off some pretty high-up people.
So he'd kept quiet, annoyed with himself for not having the guts to take a stand. But what were the alternatives? Pissing off his entire family? Invoking the wrath of his bosses, who seemed hell-bent on working Lidon out the door? In the end, it hadn't seemed worth risking his own career over, though Sean still wondered if he'd made the right call.
He was drawn from his thoughts when a cab turned onto the street they were watching. What the hell was a cab doing here? Most cabdrivers didn't want to venture this far into the south side. Sean watched as the cab slowed down, then took a quick left turn into the alley next to the house they were in. It led to a back parking lot where nothing good ever happened.
"I wonder where that’s going," Sean said.
No reaction from Igor.
"Cabs aren’t common here. Maybe he'
s dropping someone off in the back," he tried again.
Still no reaction, other than a tightening of Igor's jaw.
"I'm gonna take a quick peek from the back bedroom into the parking lot, see what's going on," he said, deciding to make it an announcement rather than a question.
That, finally, got a reaction out of his taciturn partner. "You need to stay here. We’re watching that house."
Normally, Sean would've budged, but this time, something inside him steeled. "Considering nothing has happened the last few hours, I'm sure you can manage it by yourself for a few minutes while I check out what's going on in the parking lot," he said, his voice filled with resolve.
"Lilienfield," Igor growled in warning, as usual calling Sean by his last name rather than his first.
Sean quietly got up from his position behind the window, backing away. "I'll be right back," he said, not looking at Igor, because he knew what the man's face would look like.
Fuck him, he thought while carefully making his way through the house. The previous owners had apparently left in a hurry, leaving a pile of trash and debris on the floor. Sean didn't even want to think about the health consequences of staying in the house for too long, but for now, it fit their needs. He quietly made his way to the back bedroom, which offered a view of the parking lot.
He pushed the dirty curtains to the side so he could look out, and his eyes had no trouble finding the cab. It was parked in the lot, and the driver's door and back passenger door were open. The car’s headlights were still on, suggesting the engine was still running.
Huh, that was weird. Why would the driver leave the car sitting like that? This was not a neighborhood to leave a car unattended in. It would get stolen in under two minutes flat.
He debated calling out to Igor, then decided against it. He looked around the parking lot as much as he could from his vantage point, not seeing any sign of the car's occupants, until he caught a muffled scream through the thin glass of the drafty windows. His blood stilled in his veins, and then his heart jumped into action. Someone was in trouble.
Violating every instruction he'd been given, Sean called out to Igor, “There's something going down in the parking lot! I'm heading out to investigate."
"The fuck you are!" Igor's voice boomed through the house. "Get your ass back here, rookie. That's an order."
Did the man think they were in the Army, that he could command him like that? Every bad instinct Sean had had about his partner rose to the surface. He'd taken an oath to protect and serve, and that meant stepping in when he knew someone was in trouble, even if his asshole partner didn't agree. Still, as he sprinted out the back door, Sean realized what he was about to do could be the end of his career.
Gia had thought he'd be okay with a beta cab driver for the short ride from the clinic back to his dump of an apartment on the south side, but he'd been horribly wrong. Two blocks before his apartment building, the driver had suddenly taken a left turn into a parking lot. Gia had been out of the car before it had even come to a complete stop, knowing the cab driver could only have one reason to deviate from the expected route.
But an omega had no chance of outrunning a beta, not even an omega who was as fast as he was. Still, he fought. He fought like crazy, hitting the cabbie wherever he could. His shirt got ripped to shreds, but he still wouldn't give up, not even when the man clamped a strong hand over his mouth to muffle his screams.
He kicked backward into his shins, hearing a satisfying groan of pain. The man reflexively loosened his grip, and a rush of adrenaline fueled Gia's body. This was his chance. He could get away.
"Oh my god, what is that smell?" an alpha’s voice spoke, and Gia's heart dropped.
He managed to wrestle himself free from the cabbie by elbowing him in the solar plexus, but when he spun around, he faced another man. An alpha, and judging by the look in his eyes, he wasn't about to let Gia go either.
Desperation filled him. How the hell could he fight off two men? He couldn't, the voice in his head told him. He didn't stand a chance, and yet he couldn't give up.
"He's mine," the cabdriver growled at the alpha. "I saw him first."
Despite the precarious situation he was in, that simple statement angered Gia. What the hell did they think he was? Some piece of meat to haggle over?
“I’m an alpha," the other guy said. “I have first dibs. You can have him when I'm done with him."
The alpha took two threatening steps toward Gia, and he opened his mouth and screamed. The chances of anyone coming to his aid in this neighborhood were zero to none, but it was all he could do, all his brain could come up with. God, he should've brought a weapon. A knife—he was deadly with knives. But he had nothing, nothing but his own body that was so much weaker than that of an alpha.
"Stay the hell away from me," he said, his voice surprisingly steady considering the fear thundering through his veins. "You do not have my consent. Do you hear me? If you touch me, that sexual assault. That's rape."
The alpha's mouth broke open in a grin that made the blood in Gia's veins freeze. "I'm an alpha," he said. “In case you missed it, that means I’m above the law."
Before Gia realized what was happening, the cabbie had a strong arm wrapped around him from the back, pinning him against his body. "Let's get this party started," the driver breathed into Gia’s ear. "You get him first, but I want first rights on the leftovers."
Things became a blur after that, Gia's mind locking down in anticipation of the inevitable. Hands groped him, ripping his clothes from his body. He fought, kicked, screamed until a hand closed over his mouth again. Bruising hands forced his legs apart, and he still kept fighting, refusing to surrender.
Just when he thought all hope was lost, a strong voice called out. "Police! Let him go or I will shoot!"
He couldn't see him, the owner of the alpha voice that rang with a power that would've dropped Gia to his knees had he not been held up by his attackers. But they reacted to his voice instantly.
"He's ours," the alpha who held him growled. "Back the fuck off, cop."
Cop. The newcomer was a cop, Gia realized. And if the men recognized him, he was armed. Still, what could one alpha cop do against two men? And even more, if the cop got a whiff of his scent, he would just join in.
"This is your last warning. Let the omega go, or I will shoot."
The cop’s voice sounded remarkably calm, Gia thought, surprised by how clear his head suddenly was. He was standing there naked, his body hurting from the rough hands that had groped him, but his mind was crystal clear, homing in on the cop.
No, Gia told himself, you can't allow yourself to think he will rescue you. He's an alpha. He’ll smell you and be overcome by lust just like the others.
"Have you fucking smelled him?" the alpha assailant said. "He's irresistible, man. I have to have him. We’ll share him with you, won't we?"
The latter was spoken to the cabbie, Gia assumed. See, this is why he shouldn't have allowed himself to hope, because surely the cop wouldn't turn down that offer. Not after he smelled him.
Then a loud bang rang out, making his ears ring, and Gia's body froze even as the alpha who held him howled out in pain. He let go of Gia, and then the other hands released him as well, and suddenly, he had to support his own weight. His muscles refused, and he sagged to the dirty pavement.
"You shot me, you motherfucker!" the alpha who had attacked him cried out.
Gia blinked, pushing himself up into a sitting position. He needed to get away while the other three were engaged with each other. Once the cop smelled him, that was it.
"I fucking warned you, didn't I? Both of you, drop on your stomach to the ground, hands behind your back."
Gia stood up, his legs shaking with the effort.
"Are you okay?"
The question was directed at him, Gia realized, and that meant his chance of escape was gone. He looked up to find the cop studying him with compassionate eyes, not the sex-crazed look he'd been expect
ing. He frowned. Why wasn't the cop affected by his smell?
The doctor at the clinic had been clear as day when he'd diagnosed Gia with that mutative gene, the Melloni gene. Close to his heat—which he apparently was, though he hadn’t recognized the symptoms since he hadn't experienced his first heat yet—he was apparently irresistible to alpha's especially, but betas could be affected as well, as the cabdriver had demonstrated. The cop was an alpha, though, so why wasn't he overcome?
Gia felt like his mind and his body detached from each other as he watched his two assailants lie down on the ground, the alpha bleeding from a gunshot to his leg. They were furious, but the cop’s gun was steadily trained on them, which apparently was a strong deterrent to giving in to their sexual urges.
The cop's com crackled and bleeped, and while Gia couldn't make out the exact message, a male voice was yelling at him. The cop's eyes met his, and Gia was waiting for it, waiting for the moment he, too, would jump on him. Instead, the cop broke off eye contact, then crouched down. With two swift moves, he shackled the assailants’ hands, connecting them to each other.
"Let's go," the cop said to Gia.
Gia had to swallow before he could talk. "Go?"
The cop took a few steps in his direction, and Gia held up his hands in defense, an automatic gesture that was completely useless.
"My partner will be here any second, and he's an alpha. He won't be able to resist you, and I really don't want to have to shoot him. You need to go."
"Go where?" Gia asked.
"I don't care. Anywhere but here. Can you walk?"
Gia took a step to test it. "Yes. But you expect me to go with you?"
