Chapter 10

Everything goes from fine to me sitting on the shower floor, crying into my hands, in two seconds flat.

My head shakes as I recall the men's taunting comments of how beautiful I am and how good I smell.

I'm happy they're dead.

It's that simple.

I don't care if it makes me a terrible person, but I'm not even sure about that.

I truly believe there are some forms of evil that deserve to be wiped off the face of the planet.

Those guys are a perfect example. It's hard to say why I'm losing my shit when I didn't cry once while I was with them. No matter how terrified I was, my system stayed pretty numb. I couldn't even force fake tears while I was begging them to listen to me.

I think part of the overwhelming feelings I'm currently experiencing are due to relief, but I'm such a mess that I don't know what to do with myself. I got so lucky being saved. Honestly, I have no idea who my original kidnappers planned to give me to, but I can only imagine an unbonded female omega would fetch a high price.

"Hey," Tanner says from the other side of the shower curtain. "You can tell me to fuck off, but I got worried. You've been in here for close to an hour. I did knock—a few times, actually—but you didn't answer, and I got concerned."

My head tilts up, and I stare at his shadow on the other side of the curtain.

I'm not sure what to say, and it makes me cry even harder as I bury my face in my knees once more.

The crinkling sound of the curtain being moved draws my attention. A tanned hand slides around the edge of the shower curtain and moves through the stream of water.

"It's freezing cold. I didn't think this place had the water heater capacity to keep it hot for that long. Why don't you come out? The food is here." He keeps his face on the other side of the curtain, but his hand stretches toward me.

It feels a lot like a lifeline.

I push the lever to turn the water off and take his hand. He helps pull me up, and the shower curtain sticks to my skin as he brings his other hand through the opening.

He shakes the towel, and I grab it before wrapping it around my body.

My hair feels stringy as it brushes my shoulders. I did a full scrub of my entire body and hair when I first got in, but somehow, I still feel gross.

"All set?" he asks. I yank the curtain back, and his eyes widen. "I was going to wait outside, so you can get dressed."

"No." I grab his forearm for support as I step out of the slippery tub. "I don't think I can wear the sweats," I admit, holding the towel in place as I lift my foot to the toilet to show him the angry marks from the zip ties.

"Holy fuck," he growls, bending to look closer at the slice marks. "Yeah, no, definitely not. That would be right where the band would rub. Okay, you get the shirt on. I'm going to grab the first aid kit and doctor those up."

"Just don't shut the door," I say, swallowing thickly. I sound pathetic, but I feel safe with Tanner, and even the idea of him being out of my sight makes me nervous.

"I'm not leaving," he says. "If you need me, just call." He lifts my leg, places my foot on the floor, and stands.

He stripped off his tactical gear while I was in the shower, but he's still in the same cargo pants and black shirt.

My head tilts as I stare up into his blue eyes. Fifty different things file through my head, the most prominent being that I should say thank you.

He raises a huge hand, running his thumb over the bruise on my jaw. It's such a light caress that it's hard to believe it comes from the giant alpha.

He moves my hair behind my ear and grimaces as he stares at the discoloration. "Come out when you're done. I got a bunch of different foods."

"I will." My heart races in my chest as he spins around, heading out of the small bathroom. He leaves the door open, and I grab the shirt sitting on the edge of the counter.

Catching sight of myself in the slightly foggy mirror is kind of terrifying.

I barely recognize the face looking back at me. The scratch on my cheek is red, but it's the bruise that looks disgusting. It doesn't feel great, but it definitely looks worse than it is.

And all I can think is how lucky I am nothing worse happened to me.

I don't bother taking off the towel, because Tanner is a big guy. I'm pretty sure I can put his shirt on over it, then drop the towel without having to get completely naked.

Only, as I shake it out, I get a strong hit of Tanner's scent. The shirt ends up plastered to my nose as I huff deep hits of his woodsy scent. It's like cedar and fresh rain—or some clean smell I don't know how to describe.

My pupils are huge as I see myself in the mirror once more.

They teach omegas that we're safer with a pack at our side.

And I lived that lesson firsthand.

My instincts scream that I have a compatible alpha within reach.

Now, I just have to make him want me enough that he claims me.

I saw how dangerous life can be for an omega on her own and got a front-row view of how ruthless these guys are when they have to be. They seem like the kind of people I want watching my back.

Tugging the shirt down over my head, I try to shake those thoughts away.

Bonding isn't something that should be done out of terror. At the same time, I don't ever want to feel that helpless again.

Tanner wasn't joking when he said he ordered a crap load of food. There's everything from sandwiches and burgers and fries to soup that smells like ramen. I don't know exactly what it ends up being, because I go for the turkey club and fries.

Although, he only gives me a tiny portion.

"If you eat that and feel okay in like thirty minutes, then you have some more." He grimaces, seeing the look on my face. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you're a little intimidating when you glare like that, firecracker."

I pause with the fry halfway to my mouth.

It's kind of crazy he would call me that.

Most everyone thinks I'm mild and a little mousy. Probably because I always have been, but I don't mind him seeing me as braver than I really am.

"All right." He nods to my feet as I lie stretched out on the hotel bed. "This is going to suck, but I need to clean up those wounds."

"I'll do my best not to fight you, but if you plan to use antiseptic, you might need to hold my legs down. Even the soapy water running over them hurt really bad."

Tanner frowns, making his forehead wrinkle. "Are you sure you don't want me to grab Ramirez? That's the medic. He actually came along, just in case…"

"No." I shove the fry into my mouth, bringing a hand up to cover my face as I chew. "I can handle it. I'm good."

He sighs heavily but stands and walks over to grab the medical kit.

Tanner takes his time bandaging both ankles before moving to my wrists. The cuts aren't as bad on those. Maybe because my arms were behind my back, so I couldn't move them as much. By the time he's done, I'm finished with the food he allotted for my first attempt at sustenance in days.

I'm still hungry, but my stomach doesn't feel great, and I think he was right to put a limit on how much I could eat. I'd rather not get violently sick from overdoing it.

"Okay, well, I'm going to jump in the shower if you're okay with that," Tanner says, shoving the rest of the supplies back into the first aid kit.

My eyes widen as my chest gets tight, but I nod my agreement. "Okay."

"You can watch TV or get some rest. Just don't open the door for anyone, and if you need me, pop in." He gives a dazzling smile filled with perfect, straight, white teeth, and it's plain to see he's a charmer.

I watch as he gathers clothing from his bag and steps into the bathroom. The door swings toward the frame, but it doesn't click closed.

I wait for the water to turn on and scramble over to the telephone.

There's a little card on the front with instructions on how to dial out of the hotel system, and it even has the address and phone number of the hotel.

Yanking up the receiver, I try Lyra first.

It doesn't even ring, and my panic rises. That's not a good sign.

I leave her a frantic message, telling her I'm okay but that I don't have the first clue what's going on.

I hang up and try again, but it immediately goes to voicemail.

My thoughts race through who else I can call. I could reach out to my dads, but I'm also a little worried they'd be way out of their depth with this situation.

Locke.

I have no idea why he feels like my best choice, except that he asked me out and he's in charge of Will's security.

I'm pretty sure I know the area code and first three digits of Locke's phone number because they are the same as Will's.

The last four are kind of a jumbled mess in my mind.

Pulling the receiver back to my ear, my hand shakes as I try the number I think it might be.

I'm wrong four times in a row.

I try a fifth and get another voicemail that doesn't belong to Locke.

The water in the shower cuts off, and I carefully place the phone back in the receiver.

Oh, shit.

What if one of those phone numbers sees a missed call and calls back? What if I actually got Locke's number right, but he missed the call?

I gently tug the cord out of the back of the phone and scramble over to the bed I was on when Tanner went into the bathroom.

I stretch out on my side with my back to the hotel door and wait.

Tanner comes out a few minutes later, drying his blondish-brown hair with a towel. He's in a white T-shirt and dark gray sweats.

Okay, so it wasn't the tactical gear that made him seem so buff. He's extremely muscular, with big bubbly tattoos covering the parts of his arms and chest that I can see. They're made up of bright colors, like orange, blue, green, and purple. The style seems to match his outgoing personality, but he could be good at putting on an act.

He tosses the towel over the chair at the small table and strides over. His head twists between the exit and the bed I'm on.

"I'm going to feel more comfortable if I'm between you and the door." He climbs onto the bed behind me, and I roll to face him. "You can move over to the empty bed if you want."

I shake my head as he stretches back against the headboard.

"Are you cold? You can get under the covers."

"Yeah." I wiggle backwards on my elbows until they're no longer on the blanket and pull the comforter down while holding my weight off of it.

"You make me feel downright chatty." He laughs, tugging the blanket up to my shoulders. Because of the way he's sitting, it only covers his waist and legs. "My mom always says I've never met a stranger."

"I've heard that before, but I really don't understand the phrase."

"It means I treat everyone like a long-lost friend and talk their ear off."

"That's okay." I smile. "It's comforting, especially because I'm feeling seriously isolated at the moment."

"Yeah, shit." He sighs, rolling onto his side to face me. "I can see that."

"Can you tell me what happened to get me kidnapped?" My teeth dig into my lower lip as I study his face, giving him a hopeful look.

"I feel like you really need to wait for Ranger."

"Because he's the boss? Will he be deciding my fate or something?"

"You're not in danger," Tanner says, giving me a duh, we just rescued you kind of look. "I think there are still some moving pieces, and he just needs to make sure we really got them all. That kinda thing."

"So, someone will help me get back to Chicago?" I ask. "I have nothing. They kidnapped me with my purse. I had my phone, too, but when I woke up, it was gone."

"Okay, let me send a text and warn them about that." He hops up, grabs his phone from the table, and types away as he walks back. His phone lands on the end table, and he climbs back into the bed at my side. "I know you're probably like, What the hell just happened to me? But you're not a prisoner here."

"Okay," I reply. "I genuinely appreciate the save. I don't want to sound ungrateful, but no one is telling me anything, and it's making me paranoid."

"I get it." He runs his thumb over my cheek without the scratch and pushes my hair behind my ear. "If I for sure knew I wouldn't give you wrong information, then I'd tell you. But like I said, I was a late addition to this party. Up until three days ago, I was living in Vegas, working for Cas. That's one of Annika's alphas."

My heart lights up at the word. "My sister lives in Vegas. She showed up in Chicago because some stuff went down with her roommate." I shake my head. "I think. I don't know, but do you know Lyra?"

"I don't," he says earnestly.

My stomach drops because I believe him.

"Okay, so Annika was my sister's roommate, but her real name is Sparrow?" I ask, trying to put the information I learned from my kidnappers together.

"Yeah," he agrees. "Lucien Andretti was after Annika. He thought your sister knew more than she did. They were trying to grab her, but they got you. There's been a war going on between the Andrettis and the Cavanaughs, but don't ask, because I don't have all the details on that."

I stare at him, staying quiet and willing him to say more.

"Listen, I would tell you if I knew." He teases his thumb over my cheek. "I think you have a right to know after everything, but like I said, I'm only here because I need to find a new job. Cas doesn't need me anymore, and my mom and sister rely on me to help out. That means I can't fuck up. I need Ranger to hire me to work at Assurance Security. I've also got a side deal going on with Annika to annoy the fuck out of her brother, but that's just a bonus."

My eyes narrow.

I'm so tired of hearing about Annika or Sparrow or whatever her name is. She royally screwed up my life and put my sister in danger from that Andretti guy.

None of this is my mess, but it's having long-lasting consequences on my future. I spent days being taunted by terrible men with all the things they would do to me if I didn't talk.

"Oh, damn, the mean-mugging look is back." He chuckles. "I get it. Your world twisted upside down."

"Tell me about your family," I say to change the subject. If I think too much about what went on the last few days, I'm afraid I'll end up in a full-blown panic attack.

I've been told before that I have resting bitch face, but in reality, I'm bad at masking. Most of the time when someone thinks I'm angry, I'm actually battling with my anxiety.

"My little sister is about your age. She's in college, going for a degree in psychology. My mom worked two jobs raising us, so I chip in where I can. She's getting older, you know?"

"You didn't grow up in a pack?" The longer I lie here, the more exhausted I realize I am.

"No, not even close," he says a little bitterly. "It's all good, though. The three of us are tight…" He goes on, telling me all about his family and what it was like growing up with a beta single mom.

I'm not sure exactly when it happens, but he lulls me to sleep before I even realize my eyelids are heavy.