Chapter 6

"I'm pretty sure her instincts are malfunctioning or something," Annika says, watching her brother interact with the obviously terrified woman. "Am I intimidating, Tanner? Why doesn't she like me?"

I bite my lip to keep from saying something that would get me punched by one of her alphas.

Shrugging, I chuckle. "You're not intimidating to me."

"We forgot to take off our masks," Gunner says, scratching Haze's ear. The massive mutt shoves his entire body against Gunner's leg. "He's the first person she saw without one."

"If that's what you want to go with, then sure." Grady, one of Annika's alphas, wraps his arm around her lower back. "You know, baby, you're never sexier than when you have brain matter in your hair."

"Oh. My. God." She shivers. "Someone find me a water hose."

I snort.

Been there, done that.

Ranger moves to stand but squats back down as the omega pouts, looking a little like she might burst into tears.

"She saw him straight-up execute three of Andretti's men, and she's scared of us?" Maverick mutters incredulously.

"You know how weird trauma can be." Gunner shrugs. "At least she's letting Nova close. That's a step in the right direction."

I turn back, and sure enough, Nova has her massive head in Laken's lap.

Hmm.

Maybe that is a good sign.

Ranger finally disengages from Laken, heading our way.

"Do you think we should go over and apologize?" Maverick asks, scratching his beard.

"Nah," Gunner says. "She's still looking a little like she wants to claw someone's eyes out. It's probably best we wait until she simmers down."

"Good point," he acknowledges, catching the glare Laken shoots at Annika.

Annika misses the look because she's focused on Grady as he picks chunks out of her hair.

Ranger finally makes it to us, with his brown curls bouncing in the wind.

He turns to Maverick and Gunner first. "Your victim etiquette training needs to be revisited." His light aqua-blue eyes roll. "Needless to say, the two of you failed to comfort your target. You're coming with me to do a final sweep." His gaze moves to me. "Apparently, she's the least afraid of you, so you'll accompany Laken inside to use the restroom."

"Me?" I ask, frowning.

"Yes, you. Go now." Ranger points at my chest, giving me a slightly intimidating look. "It seemed to be an emergency. Also, see if you can get her to drink a few sips of water. No more than that with how dehydrated she is, or it could overload her system. The last thing she needs is to start vomiting because she overdid it."

"Yeah," I grunt. "Got it."

"You two come with me to dismiss Sparrow and her pack back to the hotel," I hear Ranger say before I jog off toward the obviously miserable woman. He's already tried to send them away twice, but Annika has been stubborn about not wanting to leave without Laken. "I don't want them anywhere near this mess when we light the fire. It's going to be quite the blaze."

Nova raises her head, lazily perusing me, but Maverick and Gunner clearly canceled whatever commands they issued during the siege, because she doesn't do more than watch me approach.

"So, I know we already did this, but I'm Tanner"—I hold out a hand—"your bathroom tour guide."

"Thank goodness." Laken grabs my fingers, allowing me to pull her up.

She holds the crinkly emergency blanket tight around her shoulders as her eyes meet mine.

They're striking.

The outer rim of her iris is dark blue, but the interior is gray or an extremely pale blue. It's difficult to tell in the low light. She has a scratch on her soft cheekbone and some bruising on her jaw.

Fury pounds through my system.

It takes a certain kind of piece of shit to put their hands on a woman.

I'm used to getting my hands dirty, but orders or not, I would never hit a woman.

I curl my fingers into a fist to keep from running them over the dark purple bruise.

She's been through hell.

What she doesn't need is another alpha invading her personal space.

"I take it you guys aren't the police?" she asks, staring up at me like she's wondering why we haven't moved toward the house.

I hold out an arm to gesture for her to head for the back door. "Private security."

I'm not even part of the team, but I did time in the military, just like most of the guys who work for Ranger.

The more I learn about what they do, the more intrigued I am.

I worked for Canton out of necessity, but I would enjoy working for Assurance Security. It would give me a job I'm genuinely proud to be able to tell my mom and sister about.

"Do you happen to have a phone I can use?" the little omega asks as I grab the door and scan inside.

"No, we use comms." It's a safety precaution to avoid having thirty cell phones all ping at the location of a crime.

"This is so embarrassing, but I'm really having a bathroom emergency," she says, grabbing my arm.

"Uh." I stick my head back out the door, glancing around the yard. "Everyone's gone. I can help hold you up?—"

"I am not peeing outside," she grumbles, pushing past me and into Andretti's house.

"I need to do a sweep. There could be stragglers." I move to grab her arm, but she bolts down the hallway.

"Then, I guess you better make sure you successfully take them out before they get us." She makes it to the first door and pulls it open. "Dammit."

My heart drops, but it's just an empty laundry room. She turns, smacking into my arm that's extended to hold the door open.

"Oops." She ducks under and bolts. The next door is a home gym, but the one after that gains a squeal from her. "Oh, thank God!" She slides inside, trying to pull the door closed, but I pop my head in to look around. It's safe enough, with only a toilet and sink. So, I tug the door shut and lean up against the wall.

She doesn't seem especially traumatized, but I guess that could be a delayed response.

Or she could be masking.

Laken takes so long, I briefly debate knocking to see if she's okay. Eventually, the toilet flushes and the sink turns on. It takes another minute or two before the door opens, and she looks much more vulnerable without the silver emergency blanket wrapped around her. I spot it on the floor, like she got tired of dealing with the crinkly thing.

Her face is cleaner than the last time I saw her, and her hair is tied up.

I squint, trying to figure out where she found a hair tie, but it's clear she tied up her long locks using the length or something.

Her chin tilts in the air, showing off the wicked bruise on her jaw.

She blows her lips together and finally says, "I smell really bad."

"Ehh, you don't smell any worse than me," I joke, lifting my arm. "I'm not sure if I forgot to double stroke the deodorant this morning, or what, but I'm ripe too."

She smiles, shaking her head. "At least I'm not alone."

No, she definitely is not.