Page 51 of Party Girl: How a Naughty Omega Finds Love
ChapterFifteen
HAYDEN
Around four, Whitney finally falls into a deep sleep. The bruise on her face pisses me off more than I care to admit. I don’t like that she’s hurt. Trev is lying back in his recliner, staring at the muted television in his room. I promised to keep her safe and that meant staying in his room too. She allowed me to sit on the other side of the bed but gave me her back. I pretended not to hear the soft sniffles as she settled in.
Some of her hair has fallen across her face, and it takes all of my self-control to keep my hands in my lap, rather than reach over and brush it away.
“She can’t stay,” Trev whispers.
I slide my gaze toward him. “Why not?”
Trev glares at me. “She can’t stay with us.”
“We can give her a place to stay until she figures out what to do.” It’s insane, hiding her from the Omega Council. But we could make it work.
“Hayden.” Trev levels me with a hard look. “You’re a beta.”
“You think I don’t know that?” I whisper yell, hoping we won’t wake her up. I glance at her. Her breathing is even and she hasn’t moved. “Come on, Trev. Even you’re not this big of a dick. She obviously needs help. We can offer to help.”
His face darkens. “Do you know what they would do if they found her here?”
Of course I do. We’d be stripped of everything. Home, jobs, money. We’d probably be shunned. The probability of them finding out, or even giving enough of a damn about Whitney to search for her, is low. No one cares about low packs.
“It’s the right thing to do.” I bump my fist against where my badge would usually lie. “What type of people are we if we don’t help? That’s what we swore to do. To protect.”
“The protocol—”
“Don’t talk to me about the protocol.”
Whitney rolls over, and we both hold our breaths. Her eyes are closed, brow furrowed. Is she dreaming about whatever terrified her earlier? I can’t slay those demons… and that really fucking sucks. I never want to see that much pure terror again. No one should ever be that scared. Whatever happened to her, it must have been awful.
Trev drops it and turns off the TV, leaning back and closing his eyes.
The discussion is over.
But the fight is far from won.
* * *
My phone chirps at seven in the morning, waking me and Trev. We both slip out of the room and head to the kitchen for coffee. Avi and Asher are sitting at the breakfast bar, sipping out of worn mugs. Avi flicks his gaze between us, noticing the tension.
“What happened?”
“I already told him about Whitney,” Asher says. “Why do you guys look like you hate each other?”
“I don’t hate him.” I bristle, grabbing a mug and waiting for Trev to finish filling his up. “We can’t send her to the Omega Council.”
Trev releases a long, tired sigh. “It’s protocol.”
I look at Asher and Avi. “Come on, you can’t tell me either of you is comfortable with sending her back to be auctioned off again, not after what happened with Curtis.” Taking the coffee pot from Trev, I fill my cup.
“I don’t like it,” Asher says. “Curtis isn’t even the worst of the alphas that go to those auctions.”
“We can offer her a safe place for a while.” I glance at each of them.
Avi leans his forearms on the counter. “What’s the harm?”
“You know what the harm is,” Trev says with a shake of his head. “She’s going to go into heat. She can’t be here for that.”
