by Esme Beal
Bastard… He’s going back into the city…
More cars filled the streets. I ignored all of the red lights as I sped through traffic. All of the horns honking and people shouting were just white noise. I had to get to Hudson. I couldn’t let him get away.
I turned the corner and suddenly saw him riding away in the distance. There was no escape for him now.
My wheels squealed against the pavement as I headed right toward him. Hudson turned around to see that I was gaining on him. It was only a matter of seconds before I caught up to him.
But just when I was near him, he suddenly made a hard right turn into the alley.
“Shit!”
I turned just in time and managed to avoid slamming into the wall. Hudson raced through the alleyways. I did my best to avoid all of the dumpsters and garbage lining the path. He kept weaving in and out until he finally headed back out onto the streets.
It felt like we’d been on every street in the Southern Block before he eventually started heading back out of the city. The traffic disappeared and I had a clear straightaway toward him. Nothing was gonna stop me now.
But Hudson was doing everything he could to try and surprise me.
He suddenly slammed on his brakes and came to a halt.
“What the hell?”
He got off his bike in the middle of the road. I rolled up toward him, making sure that I didn’t get too close. There was no telling what the punk was up to.
“You miserable motherfucker,” he said. “That’s what I get for coming to Snow Falls. Some punk from another club rats me out and now I’ve got some merc coming for me.”
“It’s over,” I said. “You know it is. The police have the girl. They’ve got the rest of your club.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do. Because if they were still alive, they’d be here with you. You’re not collecting a ransom.”
“Maybe not tonight. But I’ll get what’s coming to me. For now, it looks like I’m just gonna have to settle for taking you out.”
He roared as he charged at me. This time I was ready for him though. I moved out of the way and slammed a fist into his stomach. He crumpled over and fell down to his knees. Hudson was breathing so hard that I knew he wasn’t faking it. Getting the wind knocked out of you would take down even the biggest Alphas.
“I told you it was over,” I said as I stood over him.
“It’s not over.”
“You’re gonna pay for everything you did. You’re gonna pay—”
“Never!”
He reached up and shoved a knife into my leg. The same wound was already hurting bad enough. Now the pain was so bad that I couldn’t even stand up straight.
“Always keep a spare,” he said as he got back up to his feet.
I put both of my hands on my legs and felt the blood spilling out over my fingertips.
Hudson polished off his knife and stuck it back into his waistband.
“It’s been fun,” he said. “But I think I’ve had enough fun in Snow Falls. It’s time for this Heart to see what else is out there.”
I couldn’t stop him. The pain was too much for me to stand up straight. I watched helplessly as he moved over to his bike. He gave me one last look, a sinister smirk on his lips before he turned around and headed down the road.
His bike moved down the dark highway out of Snow Falls and disappeared into the distance.
I slowly got back up to my feet just as police sirens filled my ears. The blue and red lights flashing were blinding. I looked up and saw Ashton get out of one car.
“Marshall!”
He rushed up to me and caught me before I fell over again.
“Sorry,” I said. “Hudson got away.”
“It’s all right. We got Amy. And we got the other Hearts.”
“Spencer?”
“Spencer is in the hospital right now—”
“Hospital? What happened?”
“He’s fine. He just got himself into a bit of trouble. Nothing you need to worry about. From the looks of things, it looks like you need some help yourself.”
“Maybe you should send someone after Hudson.”
“He can’t do anything now. Our only priority was Amy, remember? I don’t even know why you had to come out here in the first place.”
“Had to make sure that the people responsible paid the price.”
“They’ve paid their price. Hudson isn’t getting his ransom. There’s nothing left for him in Snow Falls.
I looked down the empty road one last time.
“You did it, Marshall. You saved her.”
Seeing the millionaire who hired me smile was enough to get my mind off of things.
It’d been a long night but it was finally over. We’d gotten to Amy. Spencer was safe. Now all I wanted was to see him again. I couldn’t wait another moment.
Chapter 14
SPENCER
“How is she?”
Amy rested peacefully in her bed, a weak smile on her lips. Even though she didn’t look well, her brown eyes had never been so full of life.
“She’s dehydrated,” the doctor said. “Malnourished. Fatigued. That’s to be expected.”
“Will she be all right?”
“She doesn’t appear to have any injuries. But after the trauma she’s been through, I’d say this is a best-case scenario. Plenty of rest. Plenty of fluids. Plenty of food and she’ll be just right.”
“You hear that?” I whispered to Amy. “Plenty of food. Once you’re all better, we’ll go back to the shelter and get you some pizza. Your favorite, right?”
“Yeah,” she said with a nod.
Just seeing her smile was enough to make me forget about everything else. I brushed her hair away from her face and leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I won’t let anybody ever get near you like that again, you hear me? It’ll be nothing but pizza and ice cream from now on.”
“I want extra pepperoni.”
“You got it,” I said with a laugh.
The doctor put a hand on my shoulder.
“I think you should let Amy get some rest,” he said. “I’d like to keep her here for a few days to make sure that everything is all right though I don’t expect anything. Just to be on the safe side.”
“Right. Of course.”
“You look like you could use some rest yourself. Do you want me to—”
“I’m fine,” I said as I put my hand up. “Just a few bumps and bruises. It’s nothing a bandage won’t fix.”
“Hmm…”
The doctor gave me a look a parent would give you when they thought you were lying but he didn’t do anything more.
“Come along now,” he said. “There’s someone outside who wants to talk to you.”
“Get some rest, sweetie.”
I put my hand on Amy’s. Her eyes closed and she drifted off quickly. I stared at her for a moment, just watching her breathe softly in her sleep.
When I left her room, Ashton and Noah were standing there. Ashton had his hands in his pockets, cool and calm as always. Noah’s eyes widened with concern.
“Are you all right?” he said.
“Me? I’m just fine. Amy—”
“We talked to the doctor. He said Amy will be all right.”
“Then you know there’s nothing else for you to worry about.”
“Yeah…”
I shifted my gaze toward Ashton. He looked down at me with a seriousness that confused me.
“What?” I said. “What’s wrong?”
“I told you that was stupid.”
“Not again…”
“There was no telling what that biker would’ve done to you.”
“The cops were still busy in the building. If I hadn’t done anything, he would’ve gotten away. I couldn’t just let him run away with Amy. Not when I knew there was something I could do about it.”
I understood where Ashton was com
ing from but he knew his breath was wasted on me. Noah looked at me like he felt the same way.
“If you were in the same situation,” I said to Noah. “What would you have done? What if Felix was the one they’d taken?”
Noah turned toward his Alpha. Ashton’s face softened.
“I’m just glad it’s finally over,” he said. “We don’t have to worry about Hudson or the Hearts anymore.”
“Hudson got away,” I sighed.
“Two of the Hearts are dead. The other two are in jail. There’s nothing a man can do without his club. I’ve also decided to increase the amount of security around the shelter.”
“Security around the shelter,” Noah said. “I don’t know how comfortable that would make the people there feel, especially the young ones. A bunch of guards walking around.”
“They wouldn’t be guards in the sense you’re thinking. The shelter isn’t a prison. Just an increased presence to make sure that the children aren’t out there playing on the streets with a risk of that happening.”
“Trust me,” I said. “As long as I’m there, I won’t let anything like that happen again. I’m going to keep my eyes on Amy every second I’m with her.”
It was a relief knowing that Amy was safe. I sighed a deep breath and felt the weight of the world rise from my shoulders. But I knew that Amy wasn’t the only one I cared about that was stuck in a hospital room right now.
“Marshall,” I said. “Is he—”
“He’s fine,” Ashton said. “It was a nasty injury but it looked worse than it is.”
“Marshall is a strong man,” Noah said. “I’m sure it’s nothing to him, especially in his line of work.”
“I should go see him now.”
“The doctor said that he needs to rest,” Ashton said. “But… I know that won’t stop you.”
He gave me a smirk and patted me on the shoulder.
“There’ll be a celebration at the shelter,” he said. “In honor of Amy and her return.”
“She wants lots of pizza,” I said. “Pepperoni is her favorite. Lots of ice cream, too.”
“That sounds like quite the celebration,” Noah said. “I’ll be looking forward to it.”
Ashton smiled at me and squeezed my shoulder.
“You’ve had a long night,” he said. “Make sure you don’t stay up all night.”
“I think I can stay up just a little bit longer to say hello,” I said.
“His room is down that way.”
“Thanks.”
I headed down the hallway as quickly as I could until I got to his room. I didn’t know what state I’d find him in but I didn’t care. I was just glad he was waiting for me.
I pushed the door open and my heart skipped a beat. Marshall laid peacefully on his bed, his eyes closed and his chest rising and falling with every soft breath he took.
I did my best not to make too much noise but when I grabbed the chair, the metal screeched against the floor. Marshall’s eyes opened slowly.
“Sorry,” I said. “Didn’t mean to wake you up.”
“Wasn’t sleeping.”
I took a seat on the edge of the bed next to him.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
“Like I’ve been stabbed in the leg twice.”
“What did the doctors say?”
“They say I’m lucky. Didn’t hit any veins or arteries. Didn’t slice any muscles. Hurt like hell but it’ll heal clean. I’ll have a limp for a bit but I should make a full recovery.”
“I’m glad.”
I reached a hand up and put it on his arm. I just wanted to make sure that he was still there with me. I wanted to make sure that we’d all actually made it out of this together.
Marshall put his hand on top of me and squeezed it softly.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“You’re sorry? What could you possibly be sorry about?”
“Hudson… He got away.”
“Yeah…”
I looked away and sighed a deep breath through my nose. It wasn’t enough to take the smile away from my face.
“…Hudson got away but it doesn’t matter,” I said. “What matters is that you’re okay. I’m okay. And Amy… You saved her.”
“We saved her. I couldn’t have done this without you, Spencer.”
Hearing him say it made my cheeks blush with embarrassment.
“I… I, uh…”
I chuckled softly as I struggled to find the words to say.
“…I didn’t do anything,” I said. “It’s nothing special.”
“It’s something special. You’re special.”
“Please. I’ve had a long night and it’s too late to flatter me.”
“Okay, okay,” he said with a laugh. “I just want you to know that it was nice having you around. I haven’t worked on an assignment like this since… since I was out in the field.”
“I guess we make a pretty good team, huh?”
“The best…”
Looking into Marshall’s eyes now, I couldn’t help the emotions starting to swirl around in my gut and twist my stomach into knots. Even though I couldn’t have asked for anything more, there was a part of me that was sad this was all coming to an end.
“You solved the case,” I said. “Ashton’s got a nice big payday waiting for you. Have you decided what you’re gonna do with all that money?”
“Honestly, the thought hasn’t crossed my mind.”
“You seem like the type. I bet you’re mad that you’re gonna be bedridden for a few days because it’ll stop you from working on your next assignment. Probably already planning another trip to some other city to go be a hero…”
I didn’t look at him when I said it. I knew that this was one of the few times I would probably talk to him before he left.
Marshall didn’t say anything. He just held my hand in his, running his thumb gently over mine.
The peaceful, quiet moment with him was more than I could’ve asked for. But it was so quiet that my thoughts were starting to get the best of me. I didn’t want to think about it any longer.
Stop it, Spencer…
“Hey,” I said. “Ashton is hosting a celebration at the shelter. A big party to welcome Amy back.”
“That sounds like a good time.”
“I know that you’ve got other things to do. Other assignments out there. But it’d be nice if you stopped by and paid a visit. I mean, none of this would be possible without you.”
“Yeah… Of course… That sounds like a good time.”
“There’ll be plenty of pizza and ice cream there.”
“After everything that happened, nothing sounds better than stuffing my face.”
“Great! What do you like on your pizza?”
“Pineapple and anchovies.”
“Pineapple and… Wait. Are you serious?”
I raised an eyebrow at him. At this point, I thought I knew him well but not enough to know whether or not he was joking. But the way he licked his lips looked like his mouth was actually watering.
“What?” he said. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I said with a laugh. “It’s just a bit of a strange combination…”
“I was overseas once. Sometimes you do whatever you can to get some food in you. I was staying with a friend who took me in. Made some pizza for me. Some fresh anchovies and juicy pineapple. I was skeptical at first but when I took the first bite… I took a lot more bites after that.”
“All right then. Pineapple and anchovies. I’m sure you’ll have every slice to yourself.”
“Perfect. More for me.”
Marshall smiled in a way that I was able to look past his rugged exterior. It was strange to think that a man as big and brawny as him had a softer side. But now I knew that he was only an Alpha when he needed to be.
I leaned forward across the bed and moved my face closer to his. He didn’t object when I kissed him softly on the lips. The feeling of his mouth against mine p
ulled a sigh out of me.
“What was that?” he said.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I guess it was just my way of saying thanks… Thank you, Marshall. For everything.”
He sank deeper into his mattress and exhaled a deep breath.
“I’m glad I decided to come to Snow Falls,” he said. “This city isn’t like any place I’ve ever been to.”
“Yeah… I’m glad you decided to come here, too…”
It was finally over. Amy was safe. Marshall had made it out without any serious injuries. The stress of wondering what I’d have to do next had left me.
Now there was nothing for us to do but celebrate. I couldn’t wait to get back to the shelter.
Chapter 15
SPENCER
Four days later…
Anybody who spent time in a shelter knew how hectic it could get. The job of making sure that all of the homeless there were clothed and fed was more work than any one person could handle. And that wasn’t even mentioning the groups of young orphaned and runaway Omegas who ran around with so much energy you wondered where they got it from.
But today, it was more chaotic than anybody had ever seen. The music was loud but drowned out by the laughter and friendly conversation. The celebration was so loud that it could be heard all the way down the block. And at the center of it all was Amy.
“How are you doing?” I said. “You want more pizza?”
“Yes, please.”
The little girl smiled up at me as put another slice onto her plate. She was surrounded by groups of other young ones, each one of them stuffing their faces just the same as her. Amy ate her slice of pizza so ravenously that I had to quickly get her another piece.
“Don’t eat too much,” I said. “You do that, you won’t have any room for the ice cream.”
“I’ll have room,” she said. “There’s always room for ice cream.”
“I believe you.”
I let out a laugh and she gave me another one of her gorgeous smiles.
“I’ll tell you what…”
I set the pizza box down in front of her.
“…There’s a whole pizza for you. That should be more than enough for today.”
“But what if it isn’t?”
