“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just here enjoying the quiet.”
“You’re employed by Pack Estrada, are you not? Anya Hughes? Beta? Your credit card has a rather large Nest & Knot purchase on it.”
“A friend is celebrating her bonding and I got her some things. Hey! I didn’t give you permission to go in the house!” Anya’s voice had raised enough that if I were inside, I would have heard her. “This is illegal! Where’s your search warrant?”
I was pretty sure she knew that OPS did not need a search warrant if they suspected an omega was being abused.
My stomach rolled with nausea, and I peeked out around the side of the house to see an OPS SUV, a Pack Health Organization vehicle, and two sheriff’s cars.
I was fucked.
Anya stood helplessly in the front walkway, Gizmo by her side. He spotted me, nudged Anya’s hand, and started to walk toward me.
“Gizmo, come here.” Anya grabbed his collar, and our eyes met.
She was scared shitless, just like me, her eyes wider than usual and brimming with tears. “Hide,” she mouthed.
Hide where? I looked at the trees and decided that was my best bet. I was not dressed for running and hiding but didn’t have much choice. They were going to know I had been at the cabin and that I was in heat. The whole place was covered in our scents.
I moved as fast as possible in my flip-flops, trying not to make too much noise. The trees weren’t that close together, but some of their trunks were wide enough that I could hide behind them.
Feet and then loud panting came from behind me, and I darted behind a tree just as Gizmo bounded up to me. Shit.
“Go back,” I whisper-yelled at him, pushing his head in the direction of the cabin. “Go to Anya.”
He nudged at my hand without budging and I patted his head before taking off again, needing to get farther away or find somewhere to hide. The forest was a horrible hiding spot, or at least this one was.
Gizmo was following me but then growled, causing me to hide behind another tree.
“Omega! We can smell you! We don’t want to hurt you!” The same woman who had been talking to Anya was headed right for me.
I looked around, my hope fading away when I realized I had nowhere to go. Even if I could have climbed one of the trees, they’d be able to smell me. I was perfuming like crazy, and my scent was strong anyway from being in heat.
“Is this really necessary? She’s safe with me.” I could barely hear Anya. “She’s in heat! You can’t just take her!”
Gizmo growled again, standing right next to the tree. He was baring his teeth, his hair bristling as footsteps moved closer and closer.
“We know you’re scared. We want to talk and make sure you’re safe.” The woman was way closer now, but I think she stopped. I’d have stopped too if a dog was growling at me. “What’s your name, hun?”
So, they didn’t know who I was. It was a little bit of a relief that it hadn’t been someone I knew that had called it in. Had someone seen or smelled me? It couldn’t have been Anya with the way she was acting, but could it have been Jonathan?
No. He wouldn’t do that to the pack.
“Don’t do this,” Anya pleaded with someone. “It will break them. They love her and she loves them!”
I bit back a sob as tears spilled down my cheeks. We hadn’t even gotten to say the words to each other yet. I wished I could now. I wished I could scream it into the forest and it would travel to them.
“If they loved her, they would have followed proper protocol,” a man bit out with a growl. “They really had us fooled.”
A branch snapped off to my right and my head turned in that direction just as a female officer lunged for me.
I screamed, my feet slow to get moving. The woman wrapped a hand around my wrist a little too tightly, causing me to whimper.
Gizmo was there in an instant, grabbing onto the woman’s arm and yanking her off me.
“Gizmo! No!” Anya yelled.
The woman grabbed her baton, and I grabbed onto it before she could swing it at Gizmo. Another officer appeared, shoving me out of the way.