Page 69 of Omega's Triplets

“No—”

“Look, son,” the alpha said in a grandfatherly tone that made Harley’s hackles raise. “I already know who you are. I already know why you’re here, and who you’re with. This will go better for you if you just tell me what you know. If that’s not our omega, then where is she?”

“I don’t know anything about an omega.” Reese spoke through gritted teeth. Harley felt a surge of pride in his young protege.

The alpha obviously felt something different. “Rocco, break his arm.”

Harley’s fragile control snapped. Snarling and snapping, he hurled himself into the clearing and landed squarely on Rocco’s chest, driving him away from Reese and into the dirt.

Rocco screamed as Harley tore into the meat of his arm. In periphery, he could see that Piper and Reese—who must have shifted as soon as the fight had started—had jumped on the big alpha. Someone had sunk their teeth into his neck. The man was roaring and beating whoever it was on the head with his fists, but he hadn’t shifted, probablycouldn’tshift, as long as Harley’s packmates had a grip on him.

Rocco shoved Harley away. Harley felt blood on his muzzle, tasted the acidic tang of it, didn’t care. Fuck this man. Fuck his whole pack. How dare they think they could buy and sell women? How dare they do what they had done to Maddy?

Where is Maddy?

He couldn’t think too hard about it. As long as the Death Fangs were focused on him—and on Piper and Reese, which he couldn’t allow to continue for long—it meant they didn’t have Maddy. She must have managed to hide.

Rocco pulled out a gun and cocked it. Harley, who had been about to jump on him again, froze. He drew back on his haunches, a growl rippling out from his throat, hackles high, ears back.

“Shouldn’t have brought fangs to a gun fight,” Rocco said, grinning maliciously. “Give us the omega now and no one gets hurt.”

Harley looked pointedly over at the other fight. Piper and Reese still had the Death Fangs’ alpha tangled up. The man was bleeding copiously from the neck, although it looked like he had broken the grip of whoever had bitten him there. One of the kids—it was Piper, Harley could see now that he was standing down—had gotten her jaws around the man’s ankle and was holding him still. The alpha made as if to whack her in the head, but Reese snapped his teeth shut on the palm of the man’s hand.

The implication was clear.Unless you stand down, my pack will keep hurting your alpha. And he’s losing.

Then, another voice spoke up. “Okay, let’s all just calm down.”

Mark’s heart sank. He knew immediately who the speaker was, knew immediately what had happened to them and how. He’d allowed himself to be one-upped. He’d been stupid not to anticipate this.

The man with the ratlike face—Max—appeared from behind a tree. He also had a gun in his hand, and his face bore a wide smile that would have made Harley want to punch his teeth in even if his blood wasn’t already up. It was a loathsome face, a loathsome expression. Max gave a tug behind him, pulled Maddy into the clearing, and pressed his gun to her temple.

Tears streamed down Maddy’s face. Her hand was on her belly. Harley knew she was thinking of her children. If Max pulled the trigger, they would be killed.

“Everyone stand down,” Max said, “or the omega gets it in the head.”

***

SOMETIME IN HIS SLEEP, Jamie must have rolled away from Maddy, because when he woke, she was gone.

He heard the screams from a little way off, heard the snarls and the yells, the sounds of fighting. Silently, he stripped off his clothes—what little he still wore after his frolic with Maddy—and shifted, hunkering low to the ground, creeping behind bushes and through patches of tall grass, working his way closer to the sounds of the fight.

Along his way, he was vigilant, trying to pick up any trace of Maddy. She wasn’t where he’d left her last night, which made him think she must be involved in the fight. He picked up speed. He couldn’t move too quickly—he had to get the lay of the land before thrusting himself into the fray, so he very badly wanted to see what was going on before anyone saw him. But if he waited too long, he might be too late.

Finally, he found them. Two small wolves—Piper and Reese—harrying the alpha who had passed this way last night.He must have come back. And another man, the red haired one, had a gun on Harley. Jamie could have killed him where he stood for that. You don’t pull a gun on a Driscoll brother. It took everything in him to hold still and wait. Maddy was still out of sight. He couldn’t move until he knew where she was and whether she was all right.

And then, the third Death Fang stepped into the clearing with Maddy and held a gun to her face. His voice rang out. “Everyone stand down or the omega gets it in the head.”

Harley froze. Piper and Reese abandoned their attack and scampered to flank him, and the burly alpha Death Fang got to his feet. He was bleeding badly from several wounds and cursing loudly, and through his fear and horror, Jamie felt a fierce stab of pride. The kids had done remarkably well.

The man with Maddy—Jamie thought he remembered this one being called Max—lowered his gun. Jamie breathed again.

“All right,” the alpha said. “Rocco, you take her. I can’t deal with a passenger right now, fucking kids.”

“What about these?” Max gestured at Piper, Reese, and Harley with his gun.

The alpha glanced at them. “Shoot them,” he said carelessly. “I want to get home.”

Jamie charged.

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