Page 101 of Verses and Blooms
I peeled off my gloves, tucking them into my pocket and pulling out my phone. “Sanchez, we checked, but there’s not much left of the doctor.”
“Noted. I’m sure his enemies got to him first. They’d hate for him to talk,” Sanchez sighed.
“Yeah, we’ve got only bloodstains here. No body and no sign of anyone for hours. Just old tire tracks and a forgotten camp,” I explained.
Malik’s eyes rolled back as Ledger kept a hand over his mouth. He had minutes now.
“Alright, we’re tied up but we’ll send someone out tomorrow,” Sanchez said. “Now get home to your pack. You’ve done enough.”
I hung up and walked up to Malik, looking deep into his eyes.
“Maybe in your next life, make better choices.”
We both walked away from him. He was too weak to cry out now and with one last phone call, cleanup would be taken care of.
You don’t spend years in a field like mine without having a few connections.
Ledger and I didn’t speak as we stopped at the river, quickly diving in and washing away any remnants of our task tonight. We tossed the clothes and changed into spares before heading back to ARC.
After a shower and a thorough scrub of my body, I grabbed my courting present and hurried to our wing. I’d told Ledger I needed her tonight and Cooke and Vance were doing me a huge favor clearing out the house we’d left behind.
Dessert was waiting and the bedroom was set up for us to spend the night if all went well.
That depended on if she could forgive me for going in full alpha mode on her during the rescue.
Audrey was waiting on a couch when I left my room. She was wearing her usual ARC outfit, hair falling around her shoulders in waves. Her eyes were distant as she stared off and I moved slowly so I wouldn’t startle her.
“Audrey,” I said gently. She startled anyway, her eyes lifting to mine. There was a smile on her face, but it was forced. “Oh, omega. I’m so sorry.”
I moved closer, pulled her to her feet so we were facing each other.
“Before we do anything, I need to say that I’m so sorry,” I started. She tried to speak but I stopped her. “No, let me say this. I’ve never had to look out for someone I loved like this. Having you there, hearing your story firsthand and seeing you so close to that monster had me acting like a fool. I should have trusted you more. All I wanted to do was to keep you safe and end this.”
“And we did,” she said, not letting me stop her. “You’ve never made me feel like I was less than you. Like I was all those things they said about me. Until tonight.”
My chest ached at the idea of causing her pain. I never wanted to do that, to be anything less than my best for her.
“Omega,” I breathed out. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
“You can never do that again,” she said firmly. “I won’t allow anyone to ever talk to me that way. Never again.”
“Understood, omega. I never wanted to be that kind of alpha and I’ll spend every day proving to you that I can be who you need me to be,” I pleaded.
“I love you, Ares. I know you’re not that man,” she said, her voice wavering as she fought tears. “It was just such an emotional day.”
“I know, my sweet girl,” I said as I pulled her in. “And this nightmare is so close to over.”
“Does that mean?” She didn’t finish her sentence, knowing she shouldn’t say it out loud.
“Gone. Yes.”
Instead of looking horrified, or startled, she grinned. All hints of exhaustion faded away and she let out a relieved breath.
“Good. Now, why did I have to wait for you out here? I napped and then woke up to them telling me you’re coming back just for me.”
“I am,” I said, stepping back and reaching into my pocket. “My frist courting gift.”
I opened the small box to show her the delicate necklace. She smiled softly as she ran her fingers gently over the leaves climbing up the chain.
