Page 17 of Crave

We hadn’t told anyone that we’d left Wilkie’s Pack. We’d been holed up in my dad’s house, but very few people knew that either. Everyone thought that Wilkie had stashed me there while he figured things out after the “betrayal” of his Beta, Green. Apparently, Wilkie had been telling everyone how happy he was that the Goddess had granted him an Omega, like he’d been found particularly worthy when none of the other mated Beta females had been turned. That had swayed more than a few people to Wilkie’s side, because they didn’t know he’d never actually bonded either of us. Who would stay in a Pack unbonded for nearly a decade?

No one, that’s who.

“Wilkie told me he wanted to have his new Omega pregnant and the next generation running around his Packhouse by the end of the year. A new, pure generation—unlike the rest of the cubs that have been born in the last few years. Someone has to keep the Manix purity alive.”

My good mood disappeared through my fingers like water, I moved up to the counter and ordered my coffee. I wanted to be out of herenow. Taylor, the kid behind the counter, took our orders and gave the stink eye to the gossiping old bastards.

Eventually, the old guard would die off, and then kids like Taylor—who lived up at the Sanctum—would finally be able to breathe without being judged as a half-blood.

Quinn looked around the room. “We’ll take the coffees to go.”

Taylor nodded, and I could tell that to him, we were guilty by association. I couldn’t blame him. I wanted to scream that I’d rather cut out my uterus than have a child with the sociopathic fuck, but instead I just clenched my jaw so tight my teeth threatened to crack.

Finally, coffees in hand, we got out of that cesspool. Maybe I wasn’t ready to come outside yet, wasn’t ready to face the world and its judgment. The sooner we could distance ourselves from Wilkie and his shitty ideologies, the better.

I swallowed down my anger. “We should go talk to the Alpha General and Radic. See if we can’t get out of here for a little while.”

“Drop the bombshell and run?” Quinn asked, raising an eyebrow.

I smiled at him. “Exactly.”

We were walking past the alleyway behind the bakery, when Quinn was yanked hard to the side. His coffee went flying, splattering hot liquid over my bare legs and feet, burning me. It felt like I was moving in quicksand as I looked down the alley beside me.

Wilkie, in Beast form, had Quinn by the throat, pressing him against the wall as he drove his fist into Quinn’s gut.

“NO!” I screamed. I rushed Wilkie, but the guy was fucking huge and he wasn’t budging. I freed my Beast, giving myself claws and fangs, and tried again, but he hardly moved an inch. I screeched helplessly as Quinn’s face turned purple. I hammered Wilkie uselessly with my claws, but they just bounced off. Reaching up, I tried to dig them into his eyeballs, but he grabbed me and flung me further down the alley.

“You stole my Omega from me, you worthless little fuck. And because of you, I lost my fucking ear. You think I was just going to let that pass?” Another hard blow against Quinn’s stomach made him retch and moan. I was up, grabbing at Wilkie’s hand, trying to pry it from Quinn’s throat as his face went a sickly blue shade and his eyes began to roll back.

“Stop it! You’rekillinghim!” I screeched at Wilkie. “Help!”

But no one came. I knew the people inside the bakery must have heard, but no one came to help. I kicked at his knee, at his balls, I scratched and clawed and bit, but nothing worked.

The next thing I know Wilkie was yanked away, and Quinn slid lifelessly to the ground.

“No, no, no… Quinn?” I whispered, shifting back, feeling for his pulse. “Baby. Wake up.”

“He still has a pulse. He’s just unconscious.”

I whipped around, my teeth bared. Tanner stood behind us, his foot on Wilkie’s throat. The Alpha’s arms were at odd angles, and he was breathing hard, either in anger or pain. Or maybe both. Beneath the effortless strength of Tanner, he struggled uselessly.

“You’re a dead man!” Wilkie howled. “Fucking bloodsucker. Your time in Maxton is done.”

Tanner actually laughed in his face. “Ya think so?” He pulled out a phone, swiping the screen and lifting it to his ear. “Hey, mate, it’s Tanner. I just found your favorite Alpha beating the shit out of his former Beta. Yeah. Nah, don’t worry about it. Wasn’t hard to overpower him. Like putting down a kitten.”

Wilkie thrashed even harder at that. Clearly he didn’t like it when someone used their brute strength against him.Boohoo!

“Quinn’s unconscious, so I’d like to get him back to the surgery as quickly as I can. Yeah, with pleasure. I’ll just put the Alpha in the garbage bin where he belongs, and you guys can come and get him. Alley by the bakery. Okay. No worries, I’ll keep you updated.” He hung up,and stuck his phone in the back pocket of his jeans. He looked down at Wilkie, and there was a flash of the predator on his face. “Lights out, mate.”

He kicked Wilkie in the temple so hard, the Alpha slid across the alley and into the side of a dumpster. Lifting the lid, Tanner threw Wilkie in like a bag of trash.

“What a waste of good oxygen,” he muttered, before shutting the lid and locking it. Then he was in front of me, carefully picking up Quinn. “Let’s go and get him checked out, hey?” His voice was gentle, and I realized I was shaking. I nodded, following behind him, and I knew he was moderating his steps so I could keep up.

I avoided the eyes of the other people in Maxton, none of whom had come to help when I’d needed it. No, it was a vampire, an outsider, who had come to our aid. These fuckers and their backwards views hadn’t really changed, despite the change in leadership. They still believed a Pack should deal with its own issues. No, not everyone, but so, so, many.

Plus, not many people wanted to get on the bad side of Wilkie, that vindictive asshole. Very few would ever challenge him and get away with it. I was just unfortunate that none of those people were within hearing distance today.

We stepped into the doctor's office, and thankfully, the waiting room was empty. Tanner laid Quinn down on the table and got to work. As soon as his body touched the cool metal, Quinn’s eyes opened, and he groaned. Then he whimpered.

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