Page 43 of All That We Keep
"I'm going to stay on the phone," Maceo continues, his voice slightly breathless. "We're on route, maybe ten minutes out. Luther is driving like a madman."
The reality of the situation crashes over me like a wave. "He's really trying to take me and my babies?"
"We're not going to let that happen," Maceo says fiercely. "You just stay put and keep that door locked. We're going to make sure everything is okay."
Another contraction hits me, stronger than the previous ones, and I double over with a sharp intake of breath. "I think the babies are coming. I think I'm really having contractions now." A tear runs down my cheek as I grab my stomach, willing my baby boys to hold on a little longer.
"You need to breathe with me, baby," Grayson purrs as he kneels in front of my chair. "We cannot have them here. I'm not letting you give birth in a police station and definitely not anywhere near that monster."
"I don't know if I can hold them back any longer," I gasp as the contraction peaks and then slowly fades. "The stress, everything that's happened today - I think it triggered something." I grit my teeth together as my fingers dig into my skin to stave off the sharp pain. It helps a little, Grayson gently rubbing his hands up and down my thighs before a bang on the door ruins my concentration.
"Let me in," he demands, his tone completely different from the concerned officer who left us just minutes ago. "That's my Omega in there."
I can hear everything through Maceo's phone, and I know my pack is listening to this nightmare unfold in real time. Tears start streaming down my face as the full horror of the situation becomes clear. "You don't get to touch me," I call out, my voice shaking but determined. "You don't get to have me. I have my pack, and I choose them."
Ward's cold laugh rings through the glass pane of the door. "No, I paid for you in full. You and that little bastard pack of yours thought you could just take what belongs to me? You've ruined everything. Your pack has ruined everything I've worked years to build."
The sound of a gunshot tears a scream from my already sore throat as Ward shoots the lock off the door. The metal chair Grayson wedged under the handle holds for a moment, but Ward kicks the door hard enough to send it flying across the room. Grayson gathers me up in his arms and moves toward the corner, shielding me with his body, much the same way he did with Hudson. However, my Alpha is no match for a fucking gun.
"You're not touching him," my Alpha growls.
Ward cackles as he storms toward us before grabbing Grayson by the back of the throat and slamming him against the wall. "You're such a lame excuse for an Alpha," he sneers. "You can't protectshit."
"I can protect my family," Grayson gasps out as he twists around, clawing out of Ward's grip. "And that's all that matters." He manages to free himself and throw a punch at Ward’s shoulder before Ward pulls out his gun again and presses it directly against my Alpha's temple. My scream cuts off abruptly as terror freezes my vocal cords.
"What about now?" Ward asks mockingly, his finger on the trigger.
"Please don't kill my Alpha," I beg, my voice barely above a whisper.
"Will you come with me?" Ward demands, his eyes never leaving my Alpha’s face. "You were promised to me. I paid good money for you, more than you're worth probably."
"Why does it matter?" I ask desperately, trying to buy time and understand his twisted logic. "Why can't you just find another Omega? Why can't you do this the right way through legitimate channels?"
Ward's expression grows even more bitter. "Because no regular Omega would choose me over someone else. They can sense what I am, what I want from them. My desires and my needs beg absolute submission. Hudson’s job was to break you so that you’d be too broken to believe I wasn’t your guardian angel. So, I'm choosing you instead, and you're coming home with me, because that's exactly what I paid for."
What Ward didn’t bank on was that—Hudson never broke me. He tried and he almost succeeded but I survived and now I’m thriving, as much as I can, in a pack that loves me. I can see Ward as the devil he is.
Ward turns to sneer at me, Grayson using the distraction to kick out Ward’s knee. The gun goes off as Ward falls backward, blood blooming across Grayson's arm where the bullet grazed him. But before Ward can recover and fire again, a roar reverberates through the room that makes the walls seem to shake.
"I know you did not just shoot my Alpha.”
I’ve never been so fucking happy to hear Luther’s voice.
25
Luther
Rage consumes me as I burst through the destroyed interrogation room door, taking in the scene before me with crystal clarity despite the red haze clouding my vision. Even with the gun on the floor, I saw the moment it was pressed against Grayson's temple while my Alpha bleeds from a bullet graze on his arm, my Omega pressed back against the wall, his face streaked with tears and his hands protectively cradled over his swollen belly.
I don't think. I don't strategize. I just move.
My body crashes into Ward's with the full force of my fury, sending him flying away from Grayson and into the concrete wall with a sickening crack. The gun skitters farther away across the floor as I follow through with my momentum, my hands finding Ward's throat before he can recover.
"You piece of shit," I snarl, my fingers tightening around his windpipe. "You thought you could take what's mine?"
Ward struggles beneath me, his hands clawing at my wrists as his face starts to turn red. But I'm past rational thought, consumed by the need to eliminate this threat to my pack permanently. He tried to buy my Omega like property, tried to steal my children before they were even born, tried to destroy everything I've built.
Worse, he tried to gain my trust so that I would lower my walls around him.
