Page 36 of Rut Bar

You can’t force someone to get help, no matter how desperately they need it. That’s why we run the play like this. We could walk through that curtain and pretend we were fixing her dress and he would never know. Everyone knows girls take forever in the bathroom, especially at a crowded bar where there’s a line.

She’s quiet for a moment that seems to stretch for eternity, and then she shakes her head. “No.” The omega shivers and her eyes get glassy with unshed tears.

“How dangerous?” I ask so I know what to expect.

“Extremely. I’m sorry.”

“Connected or a cop?”

“He’s in a gang. I hear him talk to them in Russian sometimes.”

“How high up? What does he do for them?”

“He sells drugs. I found a bag of pills in his closet. That’s when he gave me this.” She points to her black eye hiding under the concealer.

“Oh.” I breathe a sigh of relief. “That’s good.” If he’s distributing pills like molly or oxy, then he’s not that high in the organization. If he’s even a fully pledged member at all. He might just be some well-connected asshole. Important gang members don’t deal with low-level shit like small bags of pills.

She gives me a confused, worried face.

“How do you feel about hiking?” I ask her while I ignore the distressed stink to her cinnamon scent. On a good day, she probably smells like Christmas, but right now it’s more like burnt snickerdoodles.

“Hiking?” Her brow furrows. “It’s okay. I like taking walks, I guess. Or I used to.”

Before this alphahole ruined her life.

Headlights light up the dark alley as a white wedding cake delivery van pulls up and idles. A woman with gray hair braided away from her face hops out. Her pajama pants are tucked into black combat boots, and she’s thrown an old bomber jacket over her hoodie.

“This is Moriah,” I say, sweeping a hand out to the beta. “And her husband Rob. They’re going to take you and get you where you need to go. We only have two rules. You don’t tell anyone about our process and you wear your blindfold for the entire car ride until Moriah tells you that you can take it off.”

“What about my parents?” she asks. The omega takes the blindfold from Moriah and stares at it with wide eyes.

“Your family will be in a lot more danger if they know where you are, and so would our whole organization. We can’t helpanyoneif our safehouse locations get leaked. We’ll get a message to them saying you’re safe once you’re settled. Think of this as a chance to start over. Wipe the slate clean. Are you ready to start your new life?”

She hesitates again, and then her face hardens with resolve and she nods. We help her get into the van and tie her blindfold, then throw a pillowcase over her head to be certain. Her breathing picks up and her chest heaves, but it’s out of fear more than a need for oxygen. She clutches the envelope to her chest like it’s a lifeline. She’ll be fine.

“Thank you,” she says, her words muffled, and then we slide the door closed.

Once she’s secured, I turn to Moriah. “Take her to the mountain house. He’ll forget about her in three months.”

The beta nods and hugs me, then gets in the van and they drive away.

I watch them leave, then wait another five minutes to be certain they’re gone. I never got the omega’s name, which is for the best. The less one hand knows what the other is doing, the better. After her five-minute head start is up, I pull out my phone and call Dan. He answers on the fourth ring.

“What’s up, Vee? Everything okay?” he asks.

“I need you to be Tiny right now. Meet me at the bar.”

Dan hangs up without answering. He doesn’t need to. We both know what happens next. I walk back through the curtain and find Nate on stage. He has three dancers competing in some sort of fake contest that involves a half-empty pitcher of beer, a chair, and a wiffle ball. The rest of my alphas are spread out throughout the club, ready in case there’s trouble.

My bouncer cuts through the people like the mountain that he is. His normally sweet smile is replaced with a scowl that would make my knees knock together if I didn’t know he was a marshmallow underneath that gruff ex-biker aesthetic. I use my chin to point toward the alpha, who’s still at the bar with Anthony.

Dan lays a hand on the alpha’s shoulder and the unsuspecting man meets my bouncer’s alter ego, Tiny. “Your welcome has been revoked. Get the fuck out.”

“What the fuck, man? Get your hand off me or I’ll—” The alpha never gets to finish his sentence.

Dan closes a hand around his throat and cuts his tirade off as he lifts the alpha onto his tiptoes. The alpha swings and grapples, but it’s like trying to wrestle a grizzly. You’re gonna lose and all you’ll do is piss off the grizzly. But the alpha doesn’t seem to recognize that he’s no longer the biggest threat in the room.

The people who notice the commotion make a hole and then Dan kicks the front door open and tosses the man out onto the street. The alpha lands on the sidewalk hard and people gasp, backing away from the scene.

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