Chapter 31

Thirty-One

LACY

T he next morning, I was awake, but I kept my eyes closed. I allowed myself to remember everything from last night, unlike the night before with Jordan, which I blocked out. Ethan was still sleeping beside me, and I was excited to wake up between them.

Opening my eyes, I looked over at Ryder since Ethan was snoring. He was already awake and watching me with a quiet smile. The clock behind him on the wall said eight a.m.

"You were smiling when you were sleeping," he muttered, kissing me on the forehead. The kiss was tender and full of care, making my heart swell.

"I was remembering last night," I said, blushing. "How long were you watching me?"

"Long enough, kitten," he said, kissing me. It was a sleepy, good morning kiss that reminded me of our intimate night together. I wondered how it would feel to wake up to this every day.

The kiss was full of love, and I suddenly remembered his admission of love. My face was burning as I slowly broke the kiss.

"I need to wash up," I whispered, and Ethan let out a particularly louder snore that made us smile. When I got out of bed, rolling over Ryder's hairy muscular thighs, I felt slightly light-headed and grabbed the dresser for balance.

Ryder grasped my hip and looked at me in concern.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yes," I said, rubbing my forehead. "Just a little light-headed. I must have moved too fast, and we did so much last night."

"You're right," he said, spanking me on my bare ass. I looked at him disapprovingly, and he grinned devilishly at me. But as I walked to the bathroom, I felt a sharp pain shooting down my belly to my pussy so I hurried into the bathroom and closed the door.

What was this pain?

I took deep breaths, waiting for it to pass. Maybe a warm shower would help. As the water washed over me, I held onto the shower door handle and flinched through the pain in my belly. I'd never felt this kind of pain before, and I started to wonder.

No, it couldn't be. I refused to dwell on it.

I straightened up, trying to ignore the pain as I rubbed the loofah around my body. A sharp tightening around my abdomen caused me to cry out and drop the loofah. I heard the bathroom door open and saw Ryder's blurry outline standing in front of the glass door. I held onto the handle, out of breath from the pain, my forehead pressed against the glass, fogging up from the steam of the shower.

"Are you okay in there?" asked Ryder.

"Yes," I moaned, not wanting him to know I was in heat.

"You don't sound well," he said. "I'm going to open the door, Lacy."

I lifted my head and shuffled backward, clutching my middle. Waves of fresh pain coursed through me, getting worse by the minute. When the band around my stomach tightened, my pussy would clench harder each time.

"Fuck," I cried out, holding his strong arm for balance as I hunched over.

"We'll take care of you, honey," Ryder said, quickly shutting off the water with his other hand while he let me use his arm for balance. He wrapped a towel around my shoulders and walked me to the bedroom. Upon seeing me, Ethan got up from the bed in alarm and rushed over to help, bringing me a dress.

"Is she in heat already?" asked Ethan.

"She is," said Ryder. "We need to get the hell out of here before anyone finds out. They'll take her instantly. She's in prime condition to be mated and bred."

Every step made the pain in my belly worse.

The feeling in my pussy wasn't painful like my belly, but the clenching showed me how important a knot was right now. In my gut, I knew a knot would help stop the pain. I cried out in agony, trying to sit on the bed.

"How the hell am I going to walk?" I said as Ethan helped pull the dress over me. Ryder was wrapping the black bathrobe around his body, tying up the rope, and Ethan followed suit.

"We need to take you out for a walk, and you have to pretend everything is fine," said Ryder. "I know it's a hard ask because I have no idea what kind of pain you're going through and…"

He stopped mid-sentence when the bedroom door burst open.

Startled by the crash of the door, I looked up, seeing Jordan and the alpha security barge right in. My heart raced as Ethan quickly scooped me up in his arms, inching towards the high window.

"We know who you are," Jordan hissed evilly with a white bandage over his nose. "I knew who the fuck you guys were, and I finally decided to tell them today."

"Oh really?" said Ryder. "We're here to breed omegas, just like you."

"Lies, lies," said Jordan as the security caved around us. "They know already. Hand us the omega, and we'll deal with you separately. Unless you want her hurt?"

I didn't notice Ryder standing at the window, and I started worrying. Were they planning to freaking jump? We were so high up that it would be dangerous. Before I knew it, Ethan and Ryder looked at each other, silently communicating.

At the same time, they smashed the window with their elbows. Glass shattered everywhere as Jordan charged at us.

"Hold onto my neck," ordered Ethan, flipping me onto his back, and I quickly grasped his neck as he jumped out the window. Time seemed to go by slowly as the air rushed around my face. I screamed as he shifted into his werewolf form in midair, landing on the sand seamlessly on his paws. I held onto his neck for dear life as he raced across the sand.

Shouts and gunshots rang through the air.

Ethan collapsed mid-run, and I was suddenly thrown into the air onto the sand. We were several feet apart while he and Ryder tried to fight off the guards. Shouts, grunts, and gunshots were all I heard.

Jordan approached me with glowing eyes as he climbed over my body. I held my belly as waves of pain held me captive.

I couldn't move, and he knew it.

"You're in heat, Pinkie," he said. Using the pet name I hated. "It's finally time, and you're in heat. You know I've been waiting for this a long time. It's going to turn me on so much to knot you while you try to fight me off."

"Get the fuck off her," shouted a deep voice.

My neck twisted so fast to look that it almost broke. Lucas arrived, carrying a huge gun between his hands. Cooper also rushed to help Ryder and Ethan.

"She's mine," snarled Jordan. Before he could pull out his own gun, Lucas had pressed the point of his gun to Jordan's forehead.

"Don't even try," said Lucas.

"Kill me then since you so badly want to," said Jordan, sneering.

When I looked at Lucas, all I saw was stone-cold rage in his eyes, and he shot Jordan without hesitation. I clapped a hand to my mouth in shock as I watched Jordan's body flop to the ground.

He lay next to me, eyes glassy and open. He was dead. An ex-boyfriend of mine, who I actually dated, was gone.

And I was relieved.

"Come on, beautiful," said Lucas, lifting me off the sand and into his arms.

I quickly looked around for Ethan and Ryder, but they were trying to hold back the guards from us, snapping at their legs and throwing them in the air. A few guards had shifted into their werewolf forms, biting Ryder. Lucas ran with me in his arms towards their armored van, and Adrian was waiting in front of it with a rifle.

I watched Cooper carefully take aim, shooting the werewolves who were biting into the bleeding Ryder.

"We can't leave them!" I shouted.

"They'll join us, don't you worry," said Lucas, plopping me into the van with Adrian's help. "Get her inside, now."

Adrian lifted me into the van, and Lucas went around the driver's side, revving up the engine. The back part of the van was a huge empty space where the men just sat on the floor with no seats. It was one enormous cavern that smelled like chips and alpha pheromones.

My pussy clenched painfully at their scents, reminding me that I needed a knot.

Ethan came into the van first, his werewolf form covered in red fur, which was matted and bloodied. He crawled up into the van with Adrian's help. Ethan grunted in pain as he shifted back into alpha form. His fur began to retract, revealing his skin. His right shoulder was completely bloodied, and I realized he had been shot.

"Oh my god, you're hurt," I groaned out from my pain. I was curled in pain in the corner, watching as Cooper and Ryder flew into the van next.

"Drive!" shouted Adrian. "Go, go, go!"

Lucas pumped the gas, driving a hundred miles per hour through the sand. Adrian slid the huge door shut to the sound of gunshots pinging off the metal of the door. I was shocked at how much it could withstand as gunshots continually rained down on it until we were finally out of the compound.

Everyone was breathing hard, looking at each other in wonder. We did it.

We finally escaped.

"We got to get you guys into a hospital right away," said Adrian, wrapping up Ryder's wounds. Ryder's leg had a huge gash that I could see through to the bone. Cooper pressed Ethan's shoulder with a rag, staunching the bleeding as he winced in pain. Ryder and Ethan were completely naked when they shifted back—broken and bloodied.

"Fuck," said Ryder when Adrian accidentally cut into his wound with the cloth.

"Sorry, man," said Adrian.

"Olivia," I said, shutting my eyes tight. "We completely left her behind."

I couldn't believe we fucking left her there.

"There's nothing we can do about it right now," grunted Ryder through his pain.

"We can't just leave her there!" I shouted. "She's going to suffer."

"Lacy, calm down," said Adrian, trying to pat my arm once he helped wrap up his wound. "We'll tell the proper authorities about this place to get it shut down. Lacy, what's wrong?"

"I'm in heat," I said, still upset that Olivia was stuck at the camp while I was able to escape.

I rested my head against one of the four walls of the van, hating this feeling. I vowed I would try everything in my power to help her. I would use my celebrity platform to help, and no one would stop me.

"You're in heat?" asked Adrian in shock, placing his hand on my shoulder.

"I'm taking you guys to the hospital," said Lucas. "Adrian, take care of Lacy. She needs a knot immediately."

"What? No," I said, crawling away from him. The pain was intense, but if I breathed through it, I could handle it. "I'm going to wait until you can take me to my house so I can take the heat suppressant pills."

"That's not how it works, honey," said Adrian, coming closer to me. "It would take weeks for it to take effect."