Barnes’s throat bobs, but he says nothing.
“Go cool your head,” I tell Derek, letting the steel bleed through. “And if you care about your Omega as much as you claim, start by not bringing her around other Alphas when she’s going into Heat. Scent blockers and suppressants exist for a reason.”
Derek’s mouth opens and closes as he backs down a step, then another, the fight draining from him.
I ease off the pressure, reeling my pheromones back in. The officers sag in relief, exchanging wary looks, and Barnes pretends to be busy with his clipboard.
“Let’s go,” I repeat.
This time, no one stops us.
Jared trails at my side. “Why did they all… drop like that?”
Angry at the situation, I pull the door open into the salt-stung air. “Because they were reflecting on their actions.”
The late afternoon sun hits us as we step outside. The crowd has thinned but not disappeared, and every head turns as the doorswings shut behind us. Jared ducks his head, shoulders hunching as if to make himself smaller.
A man spits on the ground as we pass. “Predator.”
Jared flinches but keeps walking, eyes fixed on the pavement.
Another voice rises from the edge of the parking lot. “They’re letting him go? What about the poor girl?”
I move in front of Jared, blocking him from their view. “Keep walking. Don’t engage.”
His breathing comes quick and shallow beside me, the scent of humiliation sharp in the air. When an Alpha steps into our path, mouth opening to deliver what can only be another insult, I’ve had enough.
I fix the man with a cold stare, my pheromones spiking again with warning. “Move.”
He blinks, startled, and steps aside. The others watch in silence as we pass.
My hand finds its way to Jared’s back, a steadying pressure between his shoulder blades. “Almost there.”
My truck sits alone at the far end of the lot, the afternoon sun turning its windshield into a shimmering wall of heat.
Jared walks beside me, his steps growing moreunsteady the farther we get from the building, adrenaline ebbing to leave exhaustion in its wake. “What about the water taxi? It’s scraped to shit, and I need to get it back to the island.”
“Don’t worry about that right now. I can call Kyle once we get you to a doctor,” I tell him. “He can come pick it up and get it to the repair shop once all the guests are off the island.”
Jared moans and leans toward me for comfort. “He’s going to be so mad.”
“Yeah, he will.” Without conscious thought, I pull him closer. “But not at you. He’s going to be furious at the ones who caused this mess.”
We reach the truck, and I unlock the passenger door. For a long second, I stare at the cat carrier before I grab it and toss it into the back. Jared hesitates before he places his bag on the floor and climbs in.
I circle around to the driver’s side, giving him a moment alone while I compose myself.
What am I doing? This was supposed to be a simple rescue mission to get him out of custody, hand him off to Kyle, and return to my quiet Saturday.
But one look at his battered face and the defeat in his posture made it impossible for me to walk away.
The sun beats down on my neck as I open my door and slide behind the wheel.
Jared sits with his hands clasped between his knees, head bowed. The silence stretches between us, heavy with unasked questions.
“I don’t know how to thank you,” he says.
“You don’t need to.” I turn the key, and the engine rumbles to life. “Anyone would have done the same.”