Chapter Four

Walking into the station, she felt like a whipped dog. Haravin quietly spoke while she talked to the desk sargent, asking for the man from earlier.

The man stepped out and smiled. "Miss Dillard? I am Sargent Agerton. Oh, god. Your neck. Was that... was that done last night?"

She handed him the medical report and croaked. "It was confirmed that the bruising is less than twelve hours old. I also have images from just after the attack and when I woke up this morning."

He nodded. "Come with me, and I will get your statement."

Kekoa and Alohi stepped forward. Agerton looked at them.

"Who are they?"

"This is Kekoa. He was the alpha who took Mark down and got him to let me go. That is his omega, Alohi."

He frowned. "He didn't mention there were witnesses. Please, come to the boardroom."

Haravin focused on slumping and looking weak. She also broadcast injury and innocence.

They were seated, and Agerton and another detective began to take notes as they asked for her story and questioned her.

She told them when she had checked in and when the knocking began. Everything right up until she knocked on Kekoa's door.

"Miss Dillard, why did you go to Kekoa?"

"Um, nothing is certain yet, but I am being considered for the position as their beta. I went to the hotel in general because Mark called me and wanted me to meet him at my house tomorrow, which is today. He's a weaselly bastard from my past who gave his own omega chlamydia and sterilized him. Now he wants me to carry their child because Timmins doesn't trust anyone else, but I don't want any part of those two inside me." She shuddered and started crying. She squeaked, "Why won't they just leave me alone?"

The other investigator said, "He informed us you were an ex-lover."

"Never. Check that medical report. I haven't had sex with anyone. It's never been something that I went in for."

Alohi nodded. "We have time to ease her into our way of life, but her ex-dance partner has suddenly decided to take her back, and she doesn't want to go. So, we are not going to let him have her. If he wants a fight, he will take his life into his own hands."

Agerton smiled. "Omega is proud of his alpha. Cute."

Haravin pinched the bridge of her nose and croaked. "Kekoa grabbed a rut-crazed alpha with one hand and held him on the floor then convinced him to let me go. I was being strangled the whole time." She stretched her neck. "His nails cut in here and here."

They took photos, and she looked at them and said, "Have you guys run into alphas who are pushers?"

The men paused, and Agerton asked, "What do you know about that?"

"Mark is one. He pushed anyone who got in his way. I am resistant to it, but I see it everywhere he has been. The security guards forgot that he had even been there when I was on the next elevator down at ten after three." She sighed. "The lobby was going about things as if police and an alpha out of control hadn't just been there." She shrugged. "You may want to access the cloud backups before someone overwrites them."

The detective nodded, and he tapped something into his phone. "I am just making notes for the warrant."

"Great."

Agerton smiled. "Miss, where can we reach you today?"

"My phone? Mark had a tracker that he attached to my shirt, but I left that in the garbage."

Kekoa pulled her blouse out and handed it to the officer. "I retrieved it."

They looked at the shirt in the plastic bag and stared. There was a smear of blood down the side of the neck and a clear handprint on the breast of the blouse.

Agerton looked at him and cleared his throat. "Sir, can you hold your hand next to the print?"

Kekoa smiled and held his hand next to the print. His hand was still considerably larger than the print Mark had left behind.

The guy nodded, and the detective took another picture.

Agerton sighed. "Well, in light of this, we will advise the hotel that they don't have grounds to sue for damages."

Kekoa scowled. "They wouldn't dare. She called for help. Twice."

"Once. The second time, they called me with a noise complaint when he was beating his way through the door."

Agerton nodded. "Right. How did you keep such a precise timeline?"

"I have dealt with Mark before. Facts that can be backed up with phone records and security footage are all that works, and he knows it." She put her hands on the table. "Are we done? I am really not feeling well."

"Uh, yes. Can we call with any additional questions?"

"Sure. Maybe eventually you can answer why you let a man who was trying to strangle me to death wander free while blaming me for the wreck he made of the door." She pushed herself up and muttered, "So, attempted murder, attempted kidnapping, disturbing the peace, and vandalism. One of those has to stick."

She clutched her purse and walked slowly out of the room. She projected what she felt. Pain, dejection, sorrow, loneliness, she let it all sweep through the police station in waves. Heads were turning toward her, and she showed the discomfort in her body as she moved. Doors were opened for her, and her elbow was supported whenever she passed someone.

When she got out the door, she shuddered, and Alohi walked next to her. Kekoa was at her back. "So, since I am done now, and I only got the hotel for one night, I guess I will hear back from you when the test results are in."

Alohi touched her hand, and she looked down at his hand against hers.

Her phone rang, and she moved slowly, answering it. "Mark. Fuck off and die." She pushed speaker and listened to the roaring and screaming on the line.

When he calmed slightly, she said, "I would never be your surrogate. Pregnant betas with alpha partners need support from those partners. We all know that that isn't what would happen. Hi, Tim."

A more moderate tone said, "Hey, Harvey. Why won't you help?"

"I am not dying for you, Tim. Your child isn't worth my life. Also, no way in hell would I let anything that belonged to Mark inside me."

"It was so long ago, can't you just forgive? We were best friends."

"Uh-huh. What have I been up to since then?"

"Oh, um."

"Yes. That's it. A friend would be mildly interested in my life after both my best buddies fuck off on me."

"I am sorry about that."

"Huh. First I have heard that. Better late than never. Well, bye."

"Wait! Mark says it has to be you. He doesn't trust anyone else. He thinks they will sleep around while pregnant."

"Right. Because surrogates are generally betas with alphas and families. In that case, the alpha takes care of their beta, no matter whose child she is carrying."

Tim paused. "Really?"

"Really. Now, imagine what it would do to me to be pregnant without a touch, a kind word, or someone to rub my shoulders or swollen feet because you know fucking well he would never take care of anyone but you. I wouldn't make it through the pregnancy."

Tim started crying with a hiccup in his voice. "We just want a baby."

"Then go through a fertility clinic to get one. Leave me alone."

"Yes, Harvey. I am sorry that we bothered you."

"I am very sorry, too. Let this be the last time I hear from you." She hung up.

She shuddered. "And that caps it. The only thing left on my bingo card is getting hit by a car or having a plumbing leak in my apartment."

Haravin put her phone in her purse. She wiped her tears and exhaled slowly. Her groin felt hot and bruised, and she was hungry. "I am heading home to sit in a tub full of ice. Oh, maybe I could wake up without a kidney."

She turned to the alpha looming behind her. "Well, I will hear from you later, or I won't." She was at a loss and said, "Thanks for the ride and the witnessing and the escort, I guess."

"You are parting ways with us?" He raised his brows.

"I sort of have to. Out of clothing. I just wanted to get safe for a night, and today, I really need to rest, and I can do that best off my feet. Plus, I need painkillers, stat."

She pulled her phone out again, went for her rideshare app, stepped away from the quiet Kekoa, and wobbled to the nearby bench.

She didn't sit. She held onto the back of the bench. Alohi came over to her, and she saw their limo was waiting for them. "We can take you home."

"No. I am sure you had a schedule today. I am Shroedinger's beta right now. Not myself. Not yours. Definitely not Kekoa's. If he scowls any harder, my skin is going to fall off. I am sorry that my mark matches his. I don't want to be an inconvenience, and I have already given him PTSD."

Kekoa scowled harder.

"Oh. Here's my ride. If I don't hear from you by the end of the week, I know that something went weird at the lab."

She moved carefully to the rideshare, who got out to open her door. She slid in carefully. The door was closed, the address confirmed, and they were away.

* * * *

Alohi looked at his mate. "Why did we let her go?"

"I have her address. If she needs to be home to rest, she needs to be home to rest."

They walked to their car and got in. Alohi looked at Kekoa. "What's really wrong?"

Kekoa's eyes were watery. "I ordered them to hurt her and then stood there and let them do it."

Alohi held him as Kekoa struggled with regret. "She told us, but she's a stranger. There is no reason for us to trust her."

Kekoa swallowed. "Except there is no reason not to trust her. Well, there is one. She's gorgeous, graceful, and has a sense of humour."

Alohi leaned back and looked Kekoa in the eye. "Those are reasons not to trust her?"

"You know how I feel about pretty women." He exhaled and shuddered.

"Yes, yes, all vipers. How many of them turn into gorgeous gold statues?" He held Kekoa's head between his hands.

"None. Do you think she will come with us?"

Alohi nodded. "I think she will. She has been taught about the marks and the matches they make. What we can do today is get her some things that she will find helpful."

"Like what?"

Alohi leaned out and called to the driver. "Can we stop at the nearest sex shop?"

The driver said, "Nearest or best?"

Alohi nodded. "Best."

"It's an extra twenty minutes."

"Fine. Let's go."

Alohi went back to Kekoa and grinned.

"Alo, where are we going?"

"To get her some presents for when she arrives on the island and maybe for the flight."

Alohi looked at his mate and said, "Trust me. I have both your interests and hers firmly in mind, and I want to see if I can make your credit card cry. It's a goal of mine."

Kekoa cracked a slight smile. "Are you planning on buying her her own aircraft?"

"We might save that for her first anniversary."

Kekoa sighed. "How do I make this right?"

"Well, you just deflowered a virgin from ten feet away, so you have weird alpha bragging rights."

"Alo." The warning in his voice was familiar to his omega.

"It will be fine. She's a smart woman and very practical. There is only one thing that startled me about her."

"What?"

"Well, she's tough, right? Practical?"

"Yes."

"Then why did she cry like a wounded child when the doctor held her? It's very out of character."

Kekoa paused as things began to click for him. "When she was crying, what did you see and hear?"

"An alpha comforting an upset, oh... omega. Holy shit. You don't think..."

Kekoa sent a text to the only other person he knew who had a beta that acted like an omega.

A call started a moment later, and he answered. "Yes, Syar?"

"To be blunt, yes. Absolutely. Taller, stronger, and generally more emotionally stable, the beta-omegas are just the same as an omega. They are just infinitely more fun. Just ask Reynaldo."

"He has no problem with her?"

"No, they regularly play hunting tag up into the hills and come back the next morning." Syar chuckled. "Of course, I can feel everything they do through the links, so I can assure you they are both having a good time."

"Did you have any trouble having sex with her?"

"A little. Ven had been assaulted, so she needed a lot of reassurance and lots of cuddles while she slept. We got her used to us one cuddle at a time. Getting her used to us was the hardest part. She didn't want to intrude on our partnership. Betas have a pathological respect for couples. Don't be surprised if she jumps out of bed to get away from you two. Just order her back to bed and pull her in."

"I don't think she would take kindly to that."

"You will have to figure out what is right for her. And, it is unlikely that she will have a fast gestation like Ven does."

"I am not counting on that, but your children are very cute."

"Aw, thanks, Uncle Kekoa. Oh, what is your lady's name? Ven might know her."

"Her name is Haravin Dillard."

"Ven is feeding the babies, so I will ask her in a few minutes."

"Thank you. Any information I can get would be beneficial."

He sighed off politely and looked to his omega. "I am trying."

Alohi patted his leg. "It's a start."

His omega curled up against him, and he inhaled. Hmm. Neither of them had a trace of Haravin on them. They had been around her at close quarters, but neither of them had touched her. She had needed comfort, and neither of them had given it to her. She had lifted her little chin and walked out, apparently knowing that she had no source of comfort.

Alohi knew what his mate was thinking. "I can't fathom being that alone."

Kekoa wrapped his arm around his omega and soothed the agitation. Hopefully, the shopping therapy would help Alohi.

* * * *

Haravin hadn't been kidding about the ice bath. She needed to reduce the swelling, and her cool pads were already in the freezer. When she finished panting through the pain, and it subsided, she waited for her over-the-counter medication to kick in.

It took half an hour, but she felt less like she had gone on a slide made of cheese graters.

When she got out of the cold bath, she pulled on a sun dress without anything under it and went to lie down. The active bleeding was over. Now, it was just heat, swelling, and pain. Fantastic.

She sent Ford a text that she would be sick the following day, with her apologies. With the important things done, she crawled into bed and pulled the puffy duvet over her. Memories of Alohi curling up behind her in the morning flickered through her, and then she pushed them away. She would sleep better alone.

* * * *

Ford grinned and called Olivia. "Well, things must have gone well. Haravin took tomorrow off."

"Well, that's good. Was she excited?" Olivia was grinning; he could tell.

"She said she was sick and apologized."

The bubbly joy in their link fizzled. "What?"

"She said she was sick and that she was sorry. Wait. Now that I listen to it out loud, it isn't good."

"Can you watch the babies? I will head over to her place and check on her."

Ford frowned. "I can do it. The video is rendering."

"I think she would be more likely to talk to me, Ford. Omega or not, you are still a man."

"Fine, but take Ambrose."

"Fine. See you for dinner. Looks like you are cooking."

Ford blinked. "Shit. Gotta go."