Page 7 of Dodging Bullets

I nodded vigorously, and she smiled widely at me, moving to a bedside table and pulling out a pad of paper and a pen, which she handed to me.

She let out a hopeful breath. “Firstly, do you have a name?”

I wrote my answer on the paper.Paloma.

“Paloma. That’s a real pretty name. Other than the wound on your throat, do you have any other injuries? Is there something I can do to help you speak, perhaps?”

I hesitated. I knew one of the Alphas could command me to speak, but I didn’t want that oily feeling over my body again, didn’t want someone else to be in control of me. But I didn’t want to be mute forever either. I wanted my voice back.

So I wrote it all down. The commands. What had happened. OJ didn’t ask questions, didn’t interrupt.

At the end, I wroteIs there an Alpha I can trust?

Nodding, OJ’s big, watery eyes met mine. “Okay, Paloma. How about you shower first, and we’ll work out everything else later, okay?”

Putting off my problems until they caught up to me later was definitely something I could do.

Four

Max

This was a giant clusterfuck. I’d sent off Joseph’s audio confession from an anonymous email address to every reporter, social media influencer, and animal activist I could Google, and then to the cops. There was no way that this would be buried.

I had, however, gone over the audio once more, just to ensure there were no references to the Omega in there. I didn’t want her to be dragged into this, especially considering how traumatized she already was. I wasn’t an Alpha, but even I could scent the bruised smell of an Omega in distress. I’d been extensively trained in body language, but I could have been blind and still know that she had shut down from the trauma.

It didn’t help that her appearance was causing the other two Omegas in the house distress also. Their soured scents were riling the Alphas, and this whole thing was now a powder keg of hormones.

I was going to blame that for what happened next. When the topic of the Omega and what should happen with her came up, I felt the words leaving my mouth, despite my better judgement. Despite the problems that might arise from it.

Despite Llew.

“She can come home with us. We have the space.” My voice sounded more sure than I actually felt, and I could feel Rio’s eyes on the side of my face. He probably thought I’d lost my mind.

Lance grunted. “I’m not sending her home with two unknown Alphas. She stays here.”

I was a little pissed he didn’t think I was as much of a threat as the two Alphas in our house, but he was probably right. Rio was shrouded in darkness and a healthy dose of PTSD. And Llew…

I’d forgotten that we’d told Lance about our other Alpha, Llewellyn, after a particularly hard group session at the VA. Llew had been our Packmate since we were kids. Three best friends who’d been through so much together. Our Packbond had been the kind that most people could only dream of, until the dream became a nightmare.

Rio growled. “What are you insinuating?”

Lance had the good grace to look a little guilty. Honestly, if we were talking about strangers and not my Pack, I’d probably have agreed with him. But something deep in my chest felt compelled to care for the Omega. Even now, I was fighting the urge to get up and leave the room, to make sure she was okay.

Rio was arguing softly with Lance about how there was no one better to protect her than our Pack—which I agreed with—when the girl reappeared, and my heart stopped. She was dressed in an oversized sweatshirt that hung to her thighs, and a pair of loose sweats that hugged her hips, but billowed down her legs.

Her face stole my words. Her features had mostly been obscured behind the veil, so all I’d seen was a small button nose, with eyes that were big and dark. Now, she’d lost the veil, though I could see it clutched tightly in her hands. On her head was a small knitted cap, but it didn’t hide the fact she had no hair.

Was she sick? Did she have alopecia? Her lack of hair did nothing to detract from her beauty, though; or the urge that burned in my limbs to stand up and scoop her into my arms. To hold her in my lap and tell her everything would be okay.

I noticed Truett, Lance’s Alpha Packmate, appear in the hall behind them, but he was already quickly moving back to his other Omega, Strat.

Clearing her throat, Otillie-James speared us all with a disapproving expression. “How about we let Paloma decide for herself? I think she’s probably had enough of Alphas telling her what to do to last her a lifetime.”

Paloma. Her name was Paloma. She met my eyes, and I tried to convey promises I had every intention of keeping, without looking like an overwhelming stalker.

Paloma and Otillie-James whispered to each other, and I couldn’t quite pick up their words. Otillie-James kept a careful amount of space between them, though, and she was doing a lot of validating nods. Finally, she gave the Omega a quick squeeze on her forearm and turned back to us.

“She insinuated that her Omega doesn’t like being around two other Omegas, and she wishes to go home with Max and Rio.” Paloma leaned close to whisper to her once more, while I tried to get my heart to restart in my chest. “Also, she’d like it if Doodles could come too,” Otillie-James added.

---