Page 144 of Slick Handling

“You’re give her the fuck up.” Vaughn speaks up for the first time. He holds out zip ties, “This should hold them for now. We need to find Clover.”

I don’t know why he has them or where he got them from, but I’m thankful he thought of bringing them.

We make quick work of binding the three people up. Zip tying their ankles together, hands behind their back and then zip tying all of them together so they’re stuck as one moving body.

It makes it impossible for them to really go anywhere from the angle they’re tied in. Plus, Orion seems to be dead weight thanks to Griffin using his head to test out the hardness of the floor. He probably has a concussion and seems dazed.

“Let’s look downstairs.” I’m already moving as I speak, rushing down the stairs.

Clover’s scent is strong down here. All of us can sense her close by.

Turning into the main living room, I catch sight of blonde hair hanging over a couch.

Rushing over, I freeze when I see her.

She’s sprawled unnaturally over the couch, as if someone picked her up and dumped her on it. Her eye is swollen shut, a cut on her cheek that has dried blood on it right under it. Her mouth is half red, blood dried in the corner as several scratches are around it.

Her neck has fingerprints and bruising, showing signs of her having been choked. On her arm I can see more fingerprints from where they must have been grabbing at her and pulling around.

Our poor sweet Omega.

A choked sound makes me turn, Griffin has tears in his eyes as he drops to his knees beside the couch. Sobbing as he picks up her hand and holds it to his face as he lets out all his emotions.

The storm rages outside, mixed with the sound of the sobbing Alpha.

We’re all frozen, staring at our Omega as a pounding comes from the main door.

“Police! Open up!” Vaughn takes a shaky breath before tugging the door open and getting greeted with a gun.

Of course they think we’re the bad guys. Maybe they’re right. If we couldn’t take care of our Omega maybe we do deserve to be taken away too.

CHAPTER 47

CLOVER

Everything hurts.

It’s a different kind of ache and only gets worse when I manage to tear open my eyes. They feel like they have been glued together and sand bags placed on them to weigh them down.

I blink several times, the whiteness of the room so brilliant around me that I need to squint, as I adjust to the light. A few moments later I’m finally able to make sense of where I am.

A hospital.

I’ve been rescued.

How?

“You’re awake,” a raspy voice has me turning to see Vaughn. His eyes are red and bloodshot. He’s speaking quietly because surrounding me in the room is the rest of the pack.

Apollo is on my right side, his arm bent on the bed by my waist with his head resting on it as he sleeps. The angle must be killing his back. His other hand is slung over McKinley, who has his head in the Alpha’s lap as he gets some sleep.

They must have dragged the love seat closer so that they could rest on it together.

They look terrible. Terrible because of me and what I’ve put them through by going missing.

Something moves at my feet and I see Griffin, wrapped up in his hoodie as he lays at my feet. He always likes to be close to me so him being on the bed isn’t a surprise. The fact he was so careful about not putting too much weight on me and keeping some space for when I woke up is appreciated.

“Let me call a nurse. They need-”

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