by Aria Grace
We finish off the song and I give him a quick hug before thanking him and heading back to the table. Gunnar isn’t there when I slip onto a stool with a fresh beer. With a quick glance at the crowded dance floor, I find him between two blond omegas who might be twins.
Okay, that’s the kind of slutty I could make an exception for. Those boys are hot. As I scan the faces of the men surrounding me, my eyes lock onto a face I’ve never seen before. He’s young too, but not as young as Seth. He has light brown hair that’s glowing blue under the LED lights in the club and he’s swaying to a slow beat with his back pressed to an alpha behind him. The kid is beautiful with a sleepy grin on his face. Like he’s content and in a daze.
Part of me feels envious of this alpha who has an omega in his arms who seems so happy to be there. And when the alpha’s wide hand slides down the boy’s chest and cups his dick, that spike of envy just grows. Until I look back at the omega and see a glimmer of fear cut through his glassy stare. The content look is gone from his face, replaced by discomfort. Based on the way other alpha’s surrounding them are glancing in their direction, I know the boy is shooting off waves of pheromones from being touched so intimately.
But from my distance, I don’t know if those pheromones are from lust or terror. As the song comes to an end, the alpha turns to a group of alphas behind him and nods at them before he drags the omega off the dance floor. As if that’s some kind of cue, the other guys all stand up and follow their friend toward the back of the club.
I take another swig off my bottle, wondering what’s about to happen. Although, I don’t need to wonder. Obviously, those guys are planning to put that omega’s ass to use. But what’s bother me is that I’m not sure if he’s okay with it. He definitely looked happy to be on the dance floor when he was just dancing. But once that meathead grabbed his junk, the kid visibly tensed up. Maybe he was just nervous or shy. Not everyone likes to be groped in public. But that didn’t look like nerves getting the best of him. It looked like actual fear.
Fuck.
I slam my bottle onto the table and make a path through the crowd, following in the direction those guys took off in.
The bathrooms are on the other side of the club, so when I get to the dark hallway, a rock starts to grow in the pit of my stomach. This isn’t good.
The first door is unlocked and opens to a breakroom. An empty breakroom. The second door is also unlocked and when I peek inside, I find shelves of cleaning supplies and broken chairs lined up along the back. No people inside. At the end of the hall is a third door that’s locked when I turn the knob.
“We’ll be out in a minute,” someone calls from the other side of the door.
I knock harder. “Security. Open up. No one is supposed to be in here.”
“The manager gave us permission.”
A high-pitched scream turns my blood cold. “No, please stop. I don’t want—”
Several voices speak at once and the crying stops. “We’ll be out in ten minutes.”
Like hell you will. I line up my shoulder with the edge of the door then take a step back and lunge forward with all my strength. The door cracks but doesn’t open. I can hear glass shattering on the other side of the door but it takes three more lunges with all my two hundred and thirty pounds to finally buckle the wooden door enough that the locking mechanism pulls free and releases.
When I get inside, my heart breaks at the sight in front of me.
4
Andy
Where am I? Oh, god. “Stop!” I claw at the hands tugging on my jeans, wishing I wasn’t so obsessive about keeping my nails short so I’d have something a little more painful to strike out with.
“Shh, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you.” The hands at my knees back away as I try to focus my vision. The five men that were just here are gone and the man in front of me is…different. Someone new.
“What happened?” My mind feels cloudy and I can’t quite focus on anything. It takes a second for me to realize my shirt is torn down the middle and hanging from my arms like a vest, and my jeans are wrapped around my ankles. “Oh god. What did you do?”
The guy in front of me takes a step back. “Whoa, now. I didn’t do shit. I just heard a scream and came in to check on things. The guys who did this were gone when I got in.”
With my eyes clenched to try to dull the throbbing in my head, I lean back on the floor and lift my hips high enough to slide my jeans back up. When I clench my ass, pain like I’ve never felt before shoots through me, causing my breath to hitch.
“Are you okay?” The man takes a step forward but isn’t close enough to touch me.
Thankfully. Just because a pride of lions has gone doesn’t mean their king didn’t stay behind to finish the hunt.
I nod and hold my breath as I finish sliding my too-tight jeans up and over my ass. “Fine.”
He glances down as I tuck myself into my jeans and zip up. “You got friends to take you home?”
“No.” I take a few deep breaths before attempting to roll over so I can stand up. “I’ll be fine.”
After two unsuccessful tries to get to my feet, I feel gentle but strong hands close around my waist and lift me up to a standing positon. “You should go to the hospital for a rape kit.”
Oh god. It really did happen. Tears flood my eyes as that word sinks in. I really was raped by one or more strangers. God, I’m so stupid. I totally deserve this. A strangled sob escapes my throat as I realize I got what I came here for. “It’s my fault.”
“What?” The man moves in front of me, holding me in place when I start to sway. “That was all consensual? Because I heard you saying no and asking them to stop.”
Humiliation weighs heavily on me as my knees buckle, dropping me to the ground. “I should have been more careful. I should have…” I can’t even verbalize all the things I should and shouldn’t have done tonight. Namely, coming here in the first place. “I need to go.”
With the help of the stranger, I toss my torn shirt in the trash and walk back out into the crowded club. My senses are heightened and the smells of alpha and sex and alcohol all mingle together, making my stomach roll. I want to be sick, to puke out whatever shit is in my system, but I just need to go. As people brush against my skin, I become more and more tense, completely freaking out at the proximity of so many people.
“Here, I’ll call a ride for you.” The stranger from the back room tucks me against his chest and carves a path in the crowd until we’re standing outside in the cool air.
It’s a nice night, but there’s a slight breeze and with the adrenaline waning from my system, my whole body is shivering as if I’m sitting in an ice bath.
“I’m Jude, by the way.” The man leans me against the building so I stay upright while he pulls his shirt off and slides it over my head. My arms are still wrapped tightly around my torso and I don’t bother pushing them through the arm holes, grateful to be cocooned in his warm shirt while he pulls up a rideshare app.
“What’s your address?” My eyes are closed and my mind is foggy again so it’s not easy to concentrate on what he’s asking.
“On campus. Or…my brother’s…” I stop myself, not sure what is easier. My apartment is a half-mile walk from where the car will drop me off outside the permit-only lot. I’m not sure I’m up for the walk in my current state. I could go to Ethan’s but… No, that’s out of the question. Not only would I die of embarrassment if I had to explain to him or Freddie what I did tonight, but he’d probably want to go after that Brett guy and his friends… I can’t disrupt his family in that way. There’s a twenty-four-hour diner around the block. I can hang out there and have some coffee before I make the trek home. “Actually, I’ll just walk from here. Thanks anyway.”
The man gives me a hard stare before tapping into his phone. “No way. If you won’t go home, I’ll take you to the hospital so they can make sure you’re fine to be alone.”
“No.” I step away and stumble, almost falling
on my face since my arms are still locked inside this man’s shirt. “Shit. What’s wrong with me?”
“You’re probably going into shock.” He steadies me again, this time not letting go as he checks his phone and looks out in the street. “I think that’s our car.”
“Our car?” After everything that happened tonight, I know I should be more concerned by his statement, but I don’t have the energy. In some ways, I almost hope he’ll finish me off. Everything hurts and I’m just so tired. And cold. Why can’t I warm up? “Just let me sit here for a few minutes.”
“Nope.” A car pulls up and the back door opens. Before I can protest, Jules…Jude…whatever his name is, scoops me up and slides me inside. “You’re coming with me tonight.”
Am I dead? I feel dead? Actually, I feel alive but I wish I were dead because everything hurts. My brain is pulsing as if my skull has shrunken and my heart beat has moved about a foot and a half north. I try to pry open my eyes but the sunlight filling the room is too bright. Why didn’t Ryker close the blinds last night. He’s obsessive about that. In the year that we’ve been living together, he’s never forgotten... The delicious aroma of eggs and bacon fills my nostrils and I’m suddenly awake.
And I have no idea where I am.
5
Jude
According to his license, Andrew Carson is only twenty years old and lives on campus at the university. He mentioned being in a dorm last night but he was so out of it that I wasn’t sure what to believe. I wish he would have let me take him to the hospital but he was so cold that I just wanted to get him warm. And the only place I could think to bring him was here. So, after wrapping him up in a down comforter, I got him settled on my couch and watched him sleep. All night long.
I dozed off a few times, but as soon as I woke up, I checked his pulse and temperature to make sure he was fine. The first few hours were tense, but by three in the morning, he was sleeping comfortably, curled up like a baby and I finally stretched out on my recliner and got a few hours of shuteye myself.
Now, it’s almost seven am and he might have classes or work to get to. But instead of deliberately waking him up, I’m cooking a breakfast that no man can sleep through. The sizzling of the bacon alone could wake the dead but the scents coming out of my kitchen should have him up in no time.
And as if he’s reading my mind, Andrew starts to make some noises in the other room. I pour a glass of orange juice and grab a few aspirin before heading in to check on him. “Good morning.”
“Stay away from me.” He’s holding my fireplace poker out as a weapon while slipping into his shoes. “Just let me leave and I won’t tell anybody what happened.”
“Andrew, just relax. I think you’re misrememb—”
He thrusts the poker toward me then winces at the pain it causes. “I swear, I won’t tell the police anything. I don’t remember anything. Just let me leave, please.”
I hold up my hands and take a step back. “Yeah, of course. You can go at any time. I only bright you here because you didn’t want to go home.”
He looks down at the oversized hoodie I put him in last night. “Where’s my shirt?”
“It was torn. You really don’t remember what happened?” Shit. If I’m the only face he can associate with the night, that’s not good. “I didn’t hurt you. I swear.”
“Whatever.” He inches toward the front door with the poker aimed in my direction. “I won’t say anything. Just let me go.”
I heave out a heavy breath and watch as he shuffles out the front door. As soon as he hits the street, he tosses the fireplace poker onto my lawn and tries to run away. I want to chase after him to make sure he’s okay, but that will just make things worse. If he actually believes I’m the one who hurt him—he one who raped him—chasing after him will do more harm than good.
I turn off the stove and leave the unfinished food to cool while I jump in the shower, trying to wash away the nightmare of the past twelve hours.
Over the next two weeks, I try to focus on work, but it’s not easy. Dueling for prominence in the back of my mind are thoughts of the police coming to arrest me on assault charges and Andrew.
Sweet, innocent, bruised up Andrew.
Watching him sleep reminded me of the few moments of peace and contentment I saw in his eyes when he first got out on the dance floor. He was relaxed and happy as he moved with the music. Until that asshole grabbed his dick and scared him. And then he… Fuck, I hate thinking about it.
When I walked into that room and saw Andrew unconscious on the floor with steaks of blood across his ass, I hated myself for not getting in there sooner. His arms and chest were covered in bruises and his hair was matted on his head as if it had been curled up in someone’s fist. And that’s probably exactly what had happened.
At the time, I didn’t press him for details because he was going into shock and I didn’t want to make things worse. But when he woke up and didn’t remember anything, I realized how stupid I’d been. Now he’ll live the rest of his life thinking the abuse and trauma he suffered was at my hands. And I’ll never get to tell him how sorry I am for not helping him sooner. I knew something bad was about to happen when I saw the fear in his eyes, but I just finished my beer like I didn’t have a care in the world. Like a complete and total jack ass.
Murdoch is already ten minutes late for our meeting, so I pull up my email and start deleting spam until he finally drags his ass in. “Oh, good. You’re here.”
I slowly pull up my sleeve and look at my watch. “Yeah, I’ve been here since ten when our meeting was supposed to start.”
“Good.” He doesn’t seem apologetic at all as he arranges his coffee and a bowl of oatmeal on the table in front of him like he’s settling in for breakfast with his grandma. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
It only takes me twenty minutes to go through my updated design and the reasoning behind my decisions and the next forty minutes are spent listening to him piss and moan about why he thinks everything should be different.
Just before he pushes back from the table, he gives me the best news I could hope for. “Well, Jude, I guess you’ve got a handle on things. I’ve got a sales conference to prepare for and some analyst meetings coming up so I’m going to be handing this project over to a new intern. He’s a design student at the university who is hoping to get some hands-on experience with a huge commerce site launch like this. He can do the grunt work of hunting down content and approvals for you, and you can just call me in when major milestones are met.” He stands up and brushes some brown sugar off the front of shirt. “We good here?”
“Yeah, sure.” I’m absolutely thrilled that I won’t have to work with this idiot anymore. Maybe Matt realized how useless he was and made the recommendation after my last few complaints. “When can I meet this intern?”
“He knows you’re here today so I told him to find you after lunch. You’re eating with Matt today, right?”
I usually have lunch with Matt in the mezzanine café on the days I come into the office. It’s the only chance we get to catch up since he started dating an omega from some matchmaking site. I’ve only met the guy a few times but I don’t see it lasting much longer. The guy is insecure and needy, never allowing Matt to hang out with friends unless he’s there too. And since he works at night, Matt is pretty much relegated to sit at home every night. Sadly, I am too but I have no real reason to be…other than a lack of interest in socializing with strangers. “Yeah, we should be done by one.”
“Great.” Murdoch head to the door with his coffee cup, leaving the rest of his shit on the table for someone else to deal with. Prick. “I’ll tell him to wait for you in here.”
“Thanks, Murdoch.” Awesome. Apparently, I’m the asshole who has to deal with his shit later. “I’ll see you later.” Preferably never.
6
Andy
Come on, Karma, don’t screw with me today. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve this punishment, but today is stacki
ng up to be completely craptastic. First, I spill coffee in my lap on the drive in to work, so I’ve got a dark stain in my crotch that looks like I pissed myself. With my shirt tucked out, it’s not really noticeable. But the extremely wrinkled shirttails that I’m now sporting aren’t much better to look at than the stain. And then, I realize the tracking file I spent four hours updating yesterday didn’t upload properly, and all the work I put into it was totally lost. So I’m already half a day behind on my new job at it’s only the second day of my internship. Talk about pathetic.
But I’m excited for my meeting with the UX consultant. Chris said the guy knows his stuff and has a great concept for the new website. Chris also warned that this guy is a friend of the big boss, so I should just listen to what he says and try to learn something from him. And that’s fine by me because that’s exactly what I came here to do. I’ve always liked to draw, and the theories behind digital design are really interesting, but designing for the user experience is fascinating to me. I can’t wait to absorb as much as I can from this guy.
Jude Taylor is having lunch with the boss, so I set up my laptop in the conference room right at one o’clock and get back to my spreadsheet while I wait for Mr. Taylor to come in. I’m facing the door so I don’t miss the guy, but I’m trying not to look up every time someone walks by because that comes across as too eager. Although I am eager, I don’t want everyone to know it.
When I the elevators open at a quarter after one, a strange stirring in my belly stops me short and I sniff the air around me. Nothing seems out of the ordinary, but something definitely is. Something is wrong…or right. I’m not sure which. Not until the man I’m supposed to be working with fills the doorway with his massive frame and looks straight down at me.
