Page 4 of Your Wild Omega

“Hello, Mr Wren. This is Sheriff Peter McCullis from the Etelis Police Station. We’re holding someone here who claims to be your client.”

My heart double beats in my chest. I snap my fingers at Ricky, and he comes running, skidding to the island bench on his white socks. “Name?” I ask huskily.

“Red Jones.”

My breath catches and I flash Rickon a thumbs-up. Thank God, she’s alive and at a police station. “Yes, she’s my client,” I say. “What charge is she being held on?”

The sheriff hums. “Well, it’s a little hard to explain really, but the official charges are impersonating an OCB agent and—” He hesitates, and I tense, waiting for the blow.

“And what?” I coax when the pause gets too long.

“Um. Stealing an inmate from a federal facility.”

“She stole . . . someone out of a prison?” I repeat numbly.

Rickon’s mouth forms a huge O. “What happened?” he hisses in a whisper.

Shaking my head, I walk a few steps so I can look at the message Red left on the wall.See a man about an alpha.I press my hand to my thumping chest. “An alpha?” I mutter to myself,forgetting the phone call. She left here to break an alpha out of prison?

“Yes,” the sheriff says, sounding worn out.

I shove one hand through my hair, a chill tickling down my arms. What the hell was Red thinking, waltzing into a prison, of all places? They could have torn her to pieces. From what I hear, she can’t even stomach the scent of alphas in closed spaces. I grip the phone tighter. I need to know Red’s okay.

“Put her on the phone,” I demand.

“Well—” McCullis clears his throat. “I’m afraid I can’t do that. She’s still in the company of the stolen alpha, and we couldn’t separate them.”

I turn to face Rickon, blinking at him while I process. My brain doesn’t want to compute the officer’s words. Separate? Surely he doesn’t mean what I think he means. But it wouldn’t be the first crazy thing Red’s done.

“What do you mean, you can’t separate them?” I ask cautiously.

The man clicks his tongue. “He’s still got his teeth in her for a mating bond. And a knot.” His voice cracks, and I can picture him sweating on the other end of the line.

The phone slides from my frozen fingers and clatters to the floor. Rickon leaps forward and scoops it up as ghostly tremors slide up and down my spine. Maybe I’m sweating too.

“Callisto? What is it?” Rickon begs as he passes me the phone.

I shake my head. A mating bond? Rickon’s contract with the Omega Center has a condition that doesn’t permit a bite. For twelve months. Did Red sidestep the legalities? But more importantly, who the fuck is this alpha? It can’t be good news if she found him in prison.

“She’s bonded to an alpha,” I whisper numbly. An alpha who isn’t us.

Rickon staggers back a step, catching himself on the breakfast bar. “She what?”

I slump onto the bar stool and switch the phone to speaker mode, clearing my voice. “Sorry about that, Sheriff. Can you confirm that despite being in your jail, Red has an alpha bonded to her?”

“Yes, sir, that’s what I’m saying. We can’t separate them.”

I rest my forehead on my hand, the skin hot to touch. I’m Red’s lawyer, so right now I need to act like one. “Okay. What’s the bail price?”

“Well, that’s the problem,” McCullis says. Noise scratches in the background and a door closes before the line quiets down. “Hers is a-hundred-thous, but the alpha is a ward of the state, so we don’t even have a precedent. I’ve got agents coming from Alpha Lodgings as we speak to sort this out.”

Well, that can't be good news. I slap my hand down on the bench. “Where did you say you’re calling from?”

“Etelis. A town in Darinian State, near the border.”

I jump to my feet and clap my hand on Ricky’s shoulder, pushing him toward the stairs. “Okay. Do not, for any reason, move Red or that alpha until I get there. She’s considered an at-risk omega by the Laversham Omega Center, so do not move them or separate them, no matter what the agents say. We’ll be there on the next available flight.”

An ache clamps around my chest. Red might not survive losing another alpha, so I have to do everything in my power to protect her decision. Fuck, I hope this was allherdecision. Otherwise, if he’s force-bonded her, I’ll be the one sending this damn alpha back to prison.

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