Page 74 of One Wild Omega

“It would be my gift to you,” Tanner strangled out.“Please.”

Bellamy shook his head. “You’ve already given me too much. I can’t ask for more. I’ll figure out another way.”

Tanner was thoughtful a moment, searching for another solution. When he came up empty, his mind settled on another. “Until you figure it out… you need Fitz.”

Bellamy’s head whipped up, his eyes wide. “What?”

“Do you have another alpha you trust?”

Bellamy shook his head. “No.”

“I’ll keep thinking of a way you can cycle off safely. Until then… Fitz is your only solution.”

“Use him?”

“No. Let him help you as he’ssoeager to do,” Tanner murmured, his heart beating painfully in his chest. “He says he’s your friend. Let him be your friend.”

Bellamy looked down at the clenched hands in his lap a moment before lifting his head. “I know he’s not your favorite person.”

“That’s neither here nor there. You’re in a difficult situation and need his help. So be it.”

Bellamy eyed Tanner. “Thanks for the advice. Hopefully I can figure out some way to cycle off. And soon. I don’t want this to continue too long. It’s not fair to either of us. He already gets that look in his eyes every so often.”

Tanner eyed his friend, so oblivious to what he was going through. He was too entangled in his own secret to ever breathe it aloud. He could never tell anyone now. Not ever.

Their fate was sealed.

Fitz belonged to Bellamy now.

Chapter Seventeen

Back to the present…

Long strands of yellow caution tape fluttered in the afternoon breeze. Fitz parked his pickup a block or so away from the scene and grabbed some of his old work gear from the toolbox in the bed. Out of habit, he kept an old pair of rubber boots and a heavy duty raincoat in the back of his cab. As he walked closer, he saw his brother, Harrison, exiting the bakery across the street. A frown marred Harrison’s face as he approached.

“Hey,” he called out as he neared. Harrison paused and turned in his direction. “What’re you still doing here? I figured you’d be long gone.”

“Just finishing up,” Harrison said, looking exhausted.

“What’s taking so long?” Fitz asked, a heaviness washing over him. There was only one reason why his brother might still be there investigating. Harrison had found something that interested him.

“Just making sure I’ve got everything covered,” Harrison murmured evasively.

Fitz knew his brother liked to keep quiet about his work, but he wanted answers—if it was arson and his omega had been a target, then he needed to know. He needed to be able to protect Tanner. “You believe it was arson.”

Harrison eyed him. “I haven’t completed my investigation yet.”

“We both know you wouldn’t still be here unless you’d found something.”

Harrison sighed. “Even if I found something, I can’t rule anything.”

“Where did it start? I know Quinn said the building next door was being remodeled.”

Harrison shook his head. “No. The fire didn’t start there.” He eyed Bellamy’s office below Tanner’s second floor studio. “It started here.”

“First or second floor?” Fitz asked.

“You’re not going to let go until I tell you everything, are you?”

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