by Jayce Carter
He caught her hand to pull her to a stop. “You can tell me what it was, love. I want to help.”
Claire squeezed his hand, but the hard lines of her face said she’d tell him nothing. Secrets, like always. Each time they moved forward, they’d stumble back. “Thanks, but it’s okay. I’ll be right out. A nice quiet night sounds really good right about now.” She silenced any objection with a quick kiss, then went into the bathroom.
Kaidan took a breath and reminded himself it would take time. She was going to unwind with him, with the others, and that was progress. That said they mattered. She reached out to him when she didn’t have to, she’d decided to return to them when she could have just gone home.
He stood in her bedroom, waiting, until a familiar engine roar had him patting his jacket.
His keys were gone.
He rushed to the front door in time to see the brake lights of his sedan disappear.
Claire had not only run again, but she’d stolen his car to do it.
If the men hadn’t been ready to write Claire off before, she suspected stealing Kaidan’s car would do it. Still, she didn’t let up on the gas.
The text message had burned into her eyes.
He found me.
One of her omegas who was in hiding from her mate had sent it. Tracy was twenty-five, but she’d lived since fifteen with her mate, an alpha who had convinced her to put up with his brutality.
At least, until Claire had stepped in. She’d seen Tracy shop at a local grocery store for weeks, the same shoulders-hunched stance and flinching Claire knew well. Eventually, she’d struck up a conversation, and that had turned into Claire talking Tracy into running.
She’d rather have had Tracy run a hell of a lot farther, but if there was one thing Claire had learned, no one could save people from themselves. Tracy had a child, a daughter, and she’d been afraid to take her from the city, afraid to leave the only place she’d ever known, to leave her family. She’d been so sure she could avoid her mate, that she could manage to still have her family, her life, but not her mate.
Claire had done all she could, setting up a fake trail of travel arrangements to lead Tracy’s mate to thinking she’d left.
Four months was longer than Claire had thought to get. She’d expected to either hear Tracy had been killed, or to get a message in another year asking for her help again, asking to help her really run.
Sometimes it took more than once to break free, and Claire knew she’d be there every damned time.
Except that hadn’t happened. Instead, it seemed that Tracy’s mate had found her.
It wasn’t Bryce’s SUV, wasn’t Joshua’s sports car, was instead a more practical sedan. Safe, with room in the back seat and probably plenty of trunk space. Leave it to Kaidan to be practical.
As Claire closed in on the house she’d set Tracy up in, she let Kaidan’s scent calm her. She let it ground her, let it be the line in which she held.
She’d done scarier things in the past, had faced down plenty of things. She remembered chases with the headlights of pursuing cars in her rear-view mirror, taking a dirt road with no headlights to lose them. Remembered having hidden in the attic space when a mate had come home before they’d been able to leave.
None of it mattered except the omega who had found the strength to ask for help. Worse? Claire had talked her into this. It was all on her shoulders.
She could have called any of the men, could have brought Kaidan, only, she didn’t trust them that far. They might help, or they might stop her from helping. Maybe they’d decide it was too dangerous, or take too long before going. They’d claimed to help omegas, but she wasn’t sure she believed it. She knew she damned well didn’t believe it enough to gamble Tracy’s life on it.
Down the street from the address, Claire stopped the car. She picked up her phone to find so many text messages she couldn’t count them. Kaidan, Joshua, Bryce. It seemed they’d talked, because each had sent messages. They reeked of barely contained frustration, as if they were furious but knew that would send her running faster.
Where are you?
Just tell me where you’ve gone.
Are you hurt?
Is someone after you?
Let me help.
Claire tucked the phone into her back pocket, then opened the glove compartment. She needed a tire iron, a stun gun—something in case things went badly.
They always went badly when involving an alpha.
A pistol caught her attention. Claire refused to unpack her feelings about Kaidan having it. She knew they carried weapons, but chose to ignore the fact. She could ignore it a little longer. While she could use the gun, knew the basics about loading and shooting, she was far from comfortable. She went for the pocket knife beside it, because a blade was easier to conceal, easier to move with.
Besides, Tracy might have only meant he’d found her and was on his way. While she hadn’t texted back, hadn’t said anything else, Claire had no idea what she’d walk in on. Maybe this would be as easy and grabbing Tracy and Karen and running. Maybe Tracy had just gotten spooked.
Right, like my luck is ever that good.
She slid from the car, crouching as she went toward the house, remembering the way Tracy’s daughter, Karen, had looked so happy when she’d seen it, when they’d painted her room an awful neon purple.
A tightening in her chest forced her feet quicker, light and rushed steps as she went toward the backyard. The wood of the fence dug into her hands as she levered herself over, landing in the muddy garden bed on the other side.
The back slider showed the interior of the house, lit up and easy to spot. Tracy sat at the table, a red mark on her cheek that would no doubt bruise. Across from her, Claire got her first look at the mate.
Male, early fifties, maybe? Seemed he’d picked a young omega. Dark hair slicked back, the sort of style that would have looked good when he’d been eighteen, but hadn’t carried forward through the decades. He stood in the kitchen, talking, pointing his finger toward Tracy then back toward the bedrooms.
Was Karen in the bedroom?
It changed things. She needed to get Karen out of the house first. The girl didn’t need to see her mother killed if things took a turn for the worst, if Claire failed.
Claire moved toward the back of the house, staying in the shadows of the yard, to the window of Karen’s room. The room was dark save for the dim shine of the moon night-light Claire had given her. A slow press and the window opened. Not locked. The only good news she’d had.
A quick climb and Claire found Karen in her bed, awake and huddled beneath a pile blankets. The girl’s eyes widened, then she broke into tears.
Claire raised her finger to her lips.
Only a crash from the kitchen and heavy footsteps said the mate had heard.
Claire rushed over and hid behind the door. It opened, nearly hitting her.
“Shut up!” The booming voice of the alpha and the command in his tone had no effect on Claire. Why? Why don’t I feel anything? “Go to sleep, Karen. We’ll leave in the morning and take you home.”
Karen stared back, blankets clutched around her. Would she tell her father? Would she tell him about Claire?
Claire wouldn’t have blamed her.
Still, Karen showed the same spark her mother had. They might have been beaten down, but neither was weak. She shook her head. “Sorry, Daddy.”
He released a quick snarl, as though he grappled with his temper, before shaking his head and softening his voice. “It’s fine. Just go to sleep, okay? This is almost over.”
The door shut, and Claire pulled in a breath. She moved back to Karen’s side when she was sure the mate had gone. She leaned in close to whisper into the girl’s ear. “Come on. We’re going to go out the window and through the backyard, okay?”
“What about Mom?”
“I’ll come right back for her.”
The girl nodded and didn’t make a sound as Claire helped her out of the window
. She didn’t complain when Claire hoisted her over the fence or when she lowered her down by a tight grip around her wrist.
“There’s a black sedan just down the street. Here are the keys. Get in the back seat and lie down. Don’t come out no matter what, okay?”
“You’re leaving me? What am I supposed to do?”
The question haunted Claire. What if things went badly? What if she and Tracy were killed? Who would help Karen?
Claire might not trust the men to protect her, but she didn’t have many options. “I’m going to send my friends a message. They’re going to come get you in just a few minutes. Just get into the back seat of the car and stay down, okay?”
Karen nodded, keys clutched in her hands before she ran off.
Claire pulled the phone from her pocket, then sent a message to Bryce. Why she sent it to him, she wasn’t sure. She put the address and a short note.
There’s a little girl in the back seat of Kaidan’s car, please come and get her.
She held the phone, fingers sliding along the side of the phone with all the things she wanted to send. She settled on, I’m sorry.
As she crossed the backyard again, Tracy’s gaze found hers. Some of the tension eased from the other woman. Did she know Karen had been gotten out, or was she just thankful for not being alone? Even if someone was in hell, knowing they weren’t the only one there helped.
Tracy turned back to her mate and said something.
Her mate threw a vase against the wall just to Tracy’s left, then shook his head. He snarled, lip lifting, but pointed toward the bathroom.
Smart girl.
Claire hurried toward that bathroom, and the window slid open a moment later.
“Where’s Karen?”
“Already out. She’s in a car down the street. Come on.”
“I can’t get out of the window,” she whispered. “My leg…”
Claire got on her toes to see Tracy’s leg wrapped, her ankle twisted. She refused to let her temper get the better of her as she thought about what that alpha must have done to her. She could rage later. Claire refused to admit defeat. She pulled herself into the window, then helped Tracy up, taking most of her weight herself.
It took more time than she’d have liked, and they probably hurt her leg worse, but she got Tracy out of the window.
Something banged against the door. “Open this fucking door, Tracy!”
Claire threw herself against the door, her weight holding it closed, and mouthed, “Go,” to Tracy.
The other omega hesitated, but Claire planted a foot against the sink as his body hit the door. She waved Tracy off again, then mouthed her daughter’s name. A reminder. She had someone else to think about, someone other than Claire, someone more important.
Tracy nodded and turned, leaving Claire alone to face a furious alpha all on her own.
* * * *
Bryce was going to kill her. Okay, maybe not kill her, but damn it, he was going to fuck her until the girl learned some sense. The idea of her out there alone, facing who knew what, had his temper slipping.
He had no idea what could have happened to her. She could be hurt, terrified, alone, and instead of having him there, instead of having them to help her, she faced whatever it was by herself.
Kaidan remained at her house, waiting in case she showed back up. Joshua sat beside Bryce in the SUV as he headed toward the address she’d given them, his lips pressed together in an unusually grim look.
“She’s impossible,” Joshua muttered. “Can’t you drive any faster?”
“I’m going seventy. And yeah, she’s pretty fucking stubborn.”
“Why didn’t she just tell us? Any one of us would have gone with her on whatever the hell she’s doing. Instead, she rushes in without us? What the hell was she thinking?”
Bryce’s fingers tightened around the wheel, his knuckles aching. “She doesn’t trust us, not yet. I think she still wants to prove she can do shit on her own, that she doesn’t need us. She’s been on her own a long time and it seems she’s not quite ready to let that go.”
Joshua turned a glare on him, the hard look uncommon on his most cheerful friend. “You’re going to sit there and try to tell me you’re just fine with this? That you don’t care she’s put herself in danger, that she’s run off again?”
Bryce released a growl that should have answered the question all on its own. Still, he followed it up. “No, not even close. The moment I find her, I’m putting her over my knee and spanking her ass until she understands not to do something this stupid again. That girl needs to learn that she isn’t alone, and if it takes a sore ass for her to get it? Fine by me.”
“Oh, that’s something I’d like to see.” He pointed toward a dark car parked on the side of the street. “But that’ll have to wait. There’s Kaidan’s car.”
Bryce nodded and pulled up behind the car, ready to deal with an omega who had tested his last nerve.
Chapter Thirteen
Holding the door shut didn’t last long before a crack appeared up the center. Seemed the alpha wouldn’t let some wood keep him from his mate.
Claire went for the window when the crack splintered further. Her hands grasped the frame, ready to throw herself out of it. The window was small, a tight fit for Tracy or her. She doubted a male that size could get through it.
Except, when she got her chest through, when she perched half out with the window track digging into her, a grip on her waist yanked her back. Pain exploded through her side when she struck something. The toilet, she realized, but didn’t have time to do anything other than struggle to breathe.
His hand wrapped in her hair and yanked her from the room. “Where’s Tracy?”
Claire’s feet slid on the floor while he pulled her by her hair, her eyes tearing from the pain and the fact she still couldn’t breathe. Her knees struck the ground as she trailed behind him, trying to keep up.
“You’re the one who helped her, ain’t you? She wouldn’t tell me the name, but you’re the bitch who helped her.” He didn’t just release her, but threw her down. A few strands of hair came out, stuck in the ring on his finger.
He walked away, but with Claire’s head swimming, she couldn’t get her feet under her to run. She still couldn’t pull a full breath, ribs screaming, arm pinned there as if she could protect them. The slamming of a door and his curses preceded his footsteps. “Where the hell is my daughter?”
“Gone,” Claire wheezed out.
“Gone? Gone where?”
“Where you can’t get them.” Claire pulled herself to her knees, but couldn’t straighten, not with the pain in her side.
He crouched on the balls of his feet, wrapped his fingers in her hair and tilted her face up to look at him. “I’ll find them. I’ll always find them. They’re mine.”
Claire’s fingers slipped into her jeans pocket as she met his gaze, not backing down, not giving an inch. She’d run from alphas for so much of her life, and if this was it?
Well fuck him, because she wasn’t running again.
Fuck him and his belief he owned Tracy. Fuck him and his arrogance and his cruelty. Fuck him for stealing everything from Tracy and Karen.
“They’ll run so far and so fast you’ll never find them. I hid them once, and now? Now that she’s seen you for the coward you are, she’ll go where you can never find her.”
Fury washed across his face, and the backhand came so fast she couldn’t brace for it. It had been a long time since she’d been hit by a man, by an alpha. The momentum from the blow threw her to the ground, her cheek awash in pain.
He got on top of her, his weight pinning her down. His hands wrapped around her throat, tightening down so she couldn’t draw in air. Still, she closed her fingers around the pocket knife and flicked it open near her thigh. Her hand shook, but she lifted her arm in the small space between their bodies just as her ears thundered and her eyes watered from the choking.
The knife sunk in. Into what, she didn’t k
now, had no idea if she’d hit anything important. Wetness ran over her fingers, a howl tore from his throat, but he jerked away. Cold oxygen rushed into her lungs as she gasped, the knife still clutched in her fingers.
A crash, shouting, a gunshot as she rolled over, coughing and struggling to catch her breath. Her throat burned, her vision blurry. Her thoughts tumbled around in no order, and she couldn’t piece any of it together. She still held the knife in her hand, red wetness covering it.
Something touched her arm and Claire swung the knife. She made contact and a snarl responded, but she didn’t wait. She held the knife between them, her vision dark and cloudy and her heart pounding so loudly she couldn’t think.
She wouldn’t let that alpha touch her, not again, never again. She’d dealt with James for years, but that was over. She wasn’t that woman anymore.
“Omega,” a familiar voice snarled out. “Put the knife down. It’s me.”
The knife clattered to the floor. It wasn’t any command in his voice, nothing forced. Instead, she let go of the weapon out of relief, from the immediate sense of safety that washed over her.
The only thing better than his voice was when his arms wrapped around her, and when she buried her face into the warm throat of the man who was her life raft.
Nothing felt better than drawing Bryce’s scent into her lungs. Dominant, grumpy, stubborn Bryce who right then held her tight enough that she didn’t shatter.
* * * *
Claire hadn’t come to, yet. She lay in the hospital bed, the entire room setting Joshua off. He hated hospitals and had always snuck out the moment he could during the few times he’d been injured enough to require a stay He’d get an earful from a nurse later, when they called him after he slipped free, but he never cared.
Hospitals took him back to his mate, back to losing her, back to the ultrasounds for the child who never even got to draw a breath.
Still, when Claire had been shaking, marks on her throat, arm pinned to her side, blood on her hands, there’d been no question. She’d needed to be seen, needed someone to check on her.
