Page 5 of Follow Your Instincts

“What the fuck is going on?” Captain Harcourt said from the door. “Who brought an Omega to the fucking precinct? And why is he growling on the floor?” she asked, looking down at where Todd was still struggling to rise.

“Captain,” Murray said. “Phillips was assaulting Officer Carter in here. I subdued him. He’s feral.”

“Well, I can’t say I’m surprised, since someone brought an unbonded Omega into my precinct!” Harcourt said and glared around the room, but her gaze softened a bit as she looked at me. “Ah, I see.”

Unbonded Omega. Harcourt’s words reverberated in my head like a bell ringing. At that same workshop on subduing feral Alphas, we’d learned how to deal with Omega victims. Unbonded ones, those without a pack, were the most vulnerable to violence, usually at the hands of an Alpha.My heart was kicking against my ribs and I thought my knees might give out. I clutched the flimsy towel to my chest like a lifeline.

“I’ll get Phillips out of here and into Holding,” Murray said. He looked back at me. “You’ll be okay, Carter. The Captain will make sure you’re taken care of.” He picked Todd up off the floor and walked him, struggling, through the door.

“Bitch,” Todd said as he left the room. “I’m not finished with you.”

“Out,” Harcourt said.

The awkwardness of the situation hit me fully. I was naked, except for a towel, in front of my boss. I had the sudden urge to laugh, but instead I swallowed and winced. “I’m fine,” I said. “Todd is a fucking idiot and we’ve always had some… issues, but he didn’t touch me.”

Harcourt cleared her throat. “I can see his fingerprints on your neck, Carter. You’ll want to get dressed.” She turned to face the door to give me some privacy.

“Thanks,” I said and pulled on my clothes as quickly as I could. My heart was pounding, not just from the fight with Todd but from a new fear that I didn’t want to examine. “I just want to go home, though. I can give a statement in the morning.” I went to join her at the door and hoped that maybe I was wrong. Maybe this was still just a really shitty day that had gone wrong, or maybe I’d wake up tomorrow and find none of it had ever happened.

“It’s Margaret, right?” Harcourt’s sharp blue gaze fixed on me.

“Maggie,” I said. “Look, it’s been a really weird day. I want to just go home and get some sleep. Please.” I tried to keep the wobble out of my voice, but a tear trickled down my cheek.

“I’m very sorry, Maggie, but you’ll need to go to an Omega Center,” Harcourt said. “I’ll give you a lift myself.”

The tears were falling fast now, and I dropped my duffle bag to the floor in defeat. I wanted to fight her, to scream some more, but as fast as the anger came, it fled, and I was suddenly so tired. At twenty-six, I had just presented as an Omega and my life was officially fucked.

Chapter 2

Maggie

The Captain’s car was parked in the garage beneath the precinct building along with the squad cars, so we didn’t have to walk through the bullpen.

“Here we are,” she said, and unlocked a sleek black Mustang. I didn’t know much about cars in general, but this one looked very fast and completely at odds with Harcourt’s buttoned-up demeanor. I hesitated outside the passenger door for a moment before sliding into the cool, leather interior. It was permeated by the Captain’s scent of sandalwood and something herbaceous. Thyme, maybe? I’d never noticed it before.

“Nice car,” I said. The tears had stopped, but my voice still sounded rough and hoarse. I was sure it would for a few days.

“It’s more fun to drive outside the city,” she said. “Good thing that’s where we’re heading.”

The engine purred to life. “Isn’t there a Center here downtown?” I wanted to be as close to home as possible, as close to the station as possible.

“No offense to the Centers here in the city, but the one just across the bay is much nicer. They have pretty extensive grounds and a lot more space for the Omegas staying there,” she said, and we pulled onto the street that was clogged withevening traffic. “I met my Omega in that Center, and she said it was a great place.”

I’d seen Harcourt’s Omega, Roslyn, in the station before. She was tiny and curvy, like most Omegas, with a sweet scent of vanilla and strawberries. She was bonded, though, meaning she was safe to exist in the world without worrying too much about feral Alphas assaulting her in public.

“What does she do for work?” I asked. Harcourt was still fighting through traffic, and I could hear horns ahead, blaring pointlessly in the gridlock.

“She’s a tutor. She helps kids struggling with Spanish here in the city, and does online sessions with adults,” Harcourt smiled. “She’s built quite a successful business.”

I nodded. I had almost zero experience with Omegas. I’d met a few, of course, but beyond the basics of their biology we’d learned during sex-ed in school, they were a mystery.

My biology, I corrected myself. Hopefully the Center had some fucking pamphlets I could read.

“So she still has a life?” I said.

Harcourt laughed. “I’d like to see someone try and stop Rosie from having a life. And who would stop her?”

I shrugged. In my very limited experience, admittedly mostly from movies and TV shows, Omegas’ packs were incredibly protective of their mates, and I figured a police Captain might make for an even more overbearing presence.

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