Page 19 of OutFoxed

Giovanni whirled and ran for the stairs. He didn’t know why the sense of urgency was burning through him, but his beast was freaking out that they were going to lose her.

He made it outside and saw the woman sitting on a bench, her hand over her eyes.

Giovanni sat next to her. “Apologies for getting grabby, but the beasts got excited.”

She looked at him, and there was a crimson mark on her cheekbone. Her gaze was wary.

“What the fuck?”

“The birds are beating the two guys into the pavement around the corner, out of range of the cameras.” She chuckled. “Apparently, I have quite the mouth on me.”

He touched her cheek and then realized her other hand was holding her dress up. There were claw marks at the top of her breast. His beast was pissed.

She lifted her phone. “Good. My ride is here.”

“Let us take you home.” He sighed. “Please.”

“Fine, but...” She trailed off as he wrapped his jacket around her. It swamped her, and she relaxed a little. She was a tall, well-built lady, but she looked all soft and delicate in the jacket. She also looked like her face hurt.

“If you come back to mine, I can get you a compress for your cheek.”

“I will head to the urgent care in the morning and get a head x-ray.”

Thomas came back around the corner with Rick. They were both spattered with blood and looking grim.

A police car pulled up while Thomas was checking her cheekbone. The officers called an ambulance for her attackers, and then they came over to their little grouping.

Giovanni was astonished when the officer asked what had happened, and their mate burst into heart-rending tears and fully took control of the disposition.

* * * *

Merry looked at the officer and pushed out some of her influence to make the officer more pliable. “I was supposed to wait inside for my mates, and there were too many people, so I went out to wait for them, and two guys came at me, groped me, and then I told them to fuck off.” She pressed her hand to her cheek. “One hit me; the other grabbed at me.”

She let Giovanni’s jacket slide off her shoulders, and the nail marks had risen on her skin, and when she wasn’t holding it, the shredded top exposed her breast to just above the nipple.

The officer blinked. “Right. Miss, can I take a picture?”

“Sure. Go nuts.”

She sat while he took images of her cheek, breast, and the hands of the birds. Giovanni put the coat around her.

The officer asked her, “You are their omega?”

“I guess so. We are really new. Our links aren’t set yet, but we are a match.” She chuckled. “I even jumped the gun and got a tattoo. Omegas like me are hard to match.”

The officer grinned. “Aw, sweetie, I would get in line in a second.”

“Inappropriate, but...” She stood up, and in her heels, she was over six feet tall. “I would probably kick your ass and break parts of you you want to keep. I might be desperate, but I am also fussy. It’s a difficult situation for folks who think I am hot.”

“But... these are your mates?”

“I am pretty sure.” She cocked her head. “I won’t be absolutely sure until we fuck.”

The officer recoiled with a start. “Right.”

Giovanni reached into his coat and provided his card to the officer as did Thomas and Richard. She reached into her purse and provided her card.

The officer looked at the icons on her card and then said, “Wait a minute, Miss.”

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