41. Jack

Chapter 41

Jack

A s Sam steps through the front door, there is a sudden commotion, and I frown, rushing to the entrance hall.

"Who the fuck are you?" Sam snaps as three burly alphas crowd in the doorway, trying to intimidate him.

Max is close behind me, furious as a pit bull in a dog fight. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he growls, going massively prime alpha on everyone's arse. The three alphas glance warily at him, but they don't step back. If they think Sam is the weakest link, they're sorely mistaken.

"We believe that you are harbouring an omega by the name of Lily Bloom," one of them says. The leader, I presume, if he could be called such a thing.

"Excuse me?" I bark, moving in closer to Sam. I'm not a small guy, and these guys definitely do not scare me.

He turns his cold, dead eyes to me, and it chills me to my soul. "Lily Bloom. An omega who is on the run from the Omega Trials."

"You are shit out of luck," Sam states, provoked enough to give the leader a rough shove back so that he stumbles outside.

"And you're trespassing," Max adds. "Move yourselves off my property before I call the police."

The leader sneers at his two lackeys. "Police. You're in the middle of nowhere, mate. How long do you think it'll take the police to rock up here, even if they do."

Max sneers back, and it's a chilling thing. He pulls out his phone and starts scrolling. He has an ace up his sleeve. But then again, he always does.

"Well, let's have a bet, I can get them here. I have the Police Commissioner for Cumbria on speed dial," he says casually and holds up his phone. "He's one of my stepdads. Lives, oh, about five minutes away without sirens."

The alpha pales and steps back, hands up, but he doesn't leave. "We want Lily Bloom. We have a contract that she broke. She is ours, and we just want our property back."

My blood boils at the word ‘property.' I step forward, my fists clenched at my sides. "She's not fucking property, you wanker. She's a person, and she's under our protection."

The leader's face twists into an ugly snarl. "She's an omega who signed a contract. She belongs with us."

Max steps forward, his body radiating alpha dominance. "Lily doesn't belong to you. That is a contract signed under extreme duress, and if you think for one second we'll let you take her, you're more delusional than you look."

One of the lackeys makes a move like he's going to reach for something in his jacket, but Sam grabs his arm and twists it behind his back in one swift motion. "I wouldn't," Sam warns, voice low and dangerous.

"She belongs to the Omega Trials, and we want her back. This doesn't have to get so ugly," the leader says. "Just hand her over."

"Not a fucking chance," I snarl. It's too late for the pretence that Lily isn't here. They know it for a fact, or they wouldn't have come here in the first place. These guys don't mess about with theory. They deal in facts. And the fact here is that Nigel West has been watching, waiting and ratted her out. Although how he knew she was an escapee from the Trials is a problem for another time.

"Those contracts are not legally binding," Max says. "I have another stepdad who would be happy to confirm that, if you hang on, what was it again? Oh, yeah, five minutes."

Max's steely gaze and quiet calm in the middle of this storm is admirable. I'm about to blow a gasket, and I'm normally the calm one.

The leader's eyes flicker with uncertainty, but he's not backing down just yet. He seems to be weighing his options, sizing us up again. His lackeys look less sure of themselves now, especially the one with his arm twisted behind his back by Sam.

"We'll see about that," the leader finally says, voice hard but faltering slightly. He steps back and motions for his idiots to do the same. "This isn't over."

"Yeah, well, it is for tonight," Max says coldly. "Now, get off my property before I decide to speed up that police response time."

The alphas begin to retreat begrudgingly, muttering under their breaths. Sam releases the alpha's arm and gives him a rough shove towards his friend. They collide and stumble, making it hard not to laugh, but this situation is no laughing matter.

As soon as they're gone, I close the door with a thud and turn to Max and Sam. "Nigel West needs his arse kicked," I growl.

"No shit," Max states and pockets his phone. "But that dickhead is right. This isn't over. Lily isn't safe until she is mated."

"But that's the plan, right?" I snap. "Let's go and do it now."

Without waiting for an answer, I march through the house. "Lily?" I call out. "It's safe."

I know she knows they were here. They weren't exactly being subtle about it, and neither were we.

"Lily?" I call out again, more gently this time. I can smell her fear. Her scent has sharpened and it's clawing at my insides to know how scared she is.

Following her scent trails, I walk into my bedroom, but I don't see her. Opening the wardrobe, she isn't in there, so I close it again. "Lily," I murmur. "They're gone, and you're safe."

The soft whimper coming from under the bed rips my heart out, and I take a minute to compose myself before I get to my knees and crawl forward, not wanting to scare her.