Page 59 of Ryder

I’d just fucked up an agency alpha with a baseball bat in front of her.

Mine.

I heaved a breath, trying to rein in my beast.Seeing that asshole over her, trying to fucking touch my sweet omega, ripped what little rationality I’d retained from me.I checked around.Jace, Dane, and the crew had taken out the rest.

“We need to get off the fucking street,” Dane said through the comms.His hand was on the back of Jude’s neck.The little beta was nursing a bloody nose and his face was as white as a sheet.

I crouched down before Emma.“Baby, it’s me.Can I touch you?”I didn’t know what the fuck I’d do if she said no.I had to get her to safety, but I’d seen enough shit on the other side of the chain-link fence to know the fear center of her brain was in overdrive mode.Likely, I represented an equal threat to her overstimulated mind.I wanted to take my mask off, but she’d gone through her first heat calling, and I wouldn’t be thinking any straighter than the asshole who’d been on her if I took the damn thing off.

“Ryder, we don’t have fucking time,” Dane said through our comms.

Impatient bastard.

I was about to tell him to fuck off when Emma launched herself at me.Arms and legs wrapped around me.I swear a piece of my earthly soul shattered with her first sob.“I’ve got you, Emma.I’ve got you.”

“You got insurance on this car?”Jace asked Jude.

“It… It’s my boyfriend’s.Please don’t damage it…any worse than it already is.”

The car was a mess.The back window had gotten shattered somewhere during the fray, and there were numerous dents to the hood and sides.

A distant siren stirred us into action.

“It’s a write-off.Better we report it stolen than you be recorded in this area,” Jace said coolly.

“Fuck!Fine!”Jude muttered.“Yeah, you’re right.I’m going to be blowing Derick nonstop for a month!”

“I’ll get the BMW,” Dane said.“Let’s get the fuck off the street.”

* * *

We loaded up and peeled out of the area as the sirens closed in.Emma and Jude had only been two blocks from their destination when the alpahole agency blocked their path.

As we rounded the corner, the underground garage roller door was open, and Dane’s contacts were waiting.We drove straight down the ramp into a workshop used predominantly for stripping cars, although they would strip anything they got their hands on for parts.The BMW would offer decent compensation.They could wipe the serials, have new ones imprinted, and knock it back into shape for sale in no time, taking a cut before handing it over to dealers in the nicer parts of town.Fancy buyers there wouldn’t have a fucking clue that they were buying a stolen car.

As the roller doors rattled shut, the sirens blazed past.

No one would venture in here.They would clean their shit off the streets and get the hell out again.

Emma was trembling in my arms, and her breathing was erratic as I stepped out of the vehicle.An omega in heat without either heavy sedation or an alpha could fall into a kind of toxic shock.Her body was flooding with chemicals that wouldn’t dissipate on their own.We were way past the stage where drugs would work, even if we had some.I needed to tend to her now before she sank any deeper.

“Nice compo,” a beta man said, stepping forward to bump fists with Dane.

“Thanks, Reever.”Dane jerked his head toward me.“We need a secure room for the omega and her alpha.We’ll need to hold up here for a few days until her heat is done.”

Omega and her alpha.The words settled like a balm over my aggression.

Mine.

My beast prowled, lording over his prize.Her scent was muted by the gas mask, but I knew the moment I removed it, all bets were off.

“No problem, man,” Reever said.“Anything for you, Dane.Got a bunker below.Hey, Mike, clear out the bunker and get a mattress in there.See if Jimmie next door will offer up some of his container loot.Pete, get some of that neutralizer spray for the shop.”

“No problem, boss.”The beta men moved to do his bidding.

As if on cue, Emma let out a high, needy moan.

“I’ve got you, baby.”As I tightened my arms around her, she burrowed her face into the crook of my neck, nipping at my skin.I cupped the back of her head, barely suppressing a growl.I didn’t fucking like the other alphas being here.They were closer than blood to me, but my beast was having none of it.They all wore masks, and the neutralizer spray would sort out the scent once we were out of the way, but I needed to get her somewhere safe.

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