Chapter 23

"Enough," I snap. "We can keep bitching about this, but at the end of the day, Jade is going to do what she wants. And by the looks of it, she wants all of us, whether I like it or not," I sneer at him.

We've been arguing for God knows how long about Jade and how Calvin thinks he can just come into our lives and tell us how we can be with our omega.

I don't give a fuck if he's her scent match, we knew her longer. We know her better. Calvin's known her for six months, fucked her a few times, and now he thinks he's a Jade expert. It still makes me want to stab the fucker, knowing he's had his hands on her and been inside of her, while I still have yet to taste my sweet Trouble girl.

"Maybe for now, but what is she going to think when she finds out you've been keeping something huge from her?" he asks.

I shoot him a glare. "We were going to fucking tell her once she's settled in, would have told her by fucking now if it wasn't for you."

"What the hell does that mean?" he asks, narrowing his eyes as we continue to trail behind the ghost tour, keeping our distance so we don't bother them.

"It means that you told her about you being her scent match before we got the fucking chance to," I growl. "She was already dealing with a lot, then you added to that like a cherry on top. What do you want us to do, tell her the universe took more choices from her by adding three more scent matches and pray she doesn't crumble from all the stress and changes?"

I huff in annoyance, shaking my head. "We still plan on fucking telling her, we just want to make sure it's not too much for her to take in. She seems to be adapting quickly, so hopefully it'll happen soon."

"Scent matches are a big deal, Zane. The longer you wait, the worse the risk is."

"Would you just shut up," I hiss, looking toward Jade to make sure she's not close enough to hear us.

Only when my eyes search for her, I find nothing. What the hell? "Jade?" I look around, not spotting her. I dart over to the people on the tour, rushing toward Everett and Griffin. "Is Jade with you?" I ask, panic starting to set in as I search everyone's faces, hoping one of them is hers.

"No." Everett looks at me with wide eyes. We all stop talking and the guys stare at me with wide eyes. "She was with you two."

"Fuck!" I shout, panic creeping in. My heart pounds as my body breaks into a sweat. She was right in front of us the whole fucking time. God, I'm a fucking idiot. I was too busy arguing with my brother rather than watching over my omega. What kind of alpha am I?

Calvin and I were so fucking distracted, we must have missed her drifting off the path. I need to find her. I need to make sure she's safe. It's dark, and she's unmarked. God, the thought makes my stomach roll.

"Jade!" I shout, spinning around, trying to figure out when we got separated and what alley she would be in. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

"Okay, let's not panic. We each take an alley. She can't be too far, this tour doesn't move fast," Calvin suggests, trying to keep calm, but I can hear the worry in his tone.

"I swear to God, Calvin." My growl is almost feral. "If she's hurt, I will fucking kill whoever did it, do you understand me?"

His face hardens. "And I'd help you. I wouldn't expect anything less."

We break apart from the tour group and take off running down different alleys. It's fucking dark, and this place is like a maze. She could be anywhere. If she got separated and tried to find her way out, she could have gotten herself even more lost.

"Jade!" I shout, dread filling me with each passing second. I just got her back, I can't lose her again. I wouldn't survive it. She's not only my omega, she's my best friend, my everything. My fucking soul. "Jade!"

Blood racing, lungs screaming, I keep running, my mind is a mess, too frantic to pay attention to where I am going. Fuck, I think I'm going in circles. Rounding another corner, I skid to a stop. Looking down the alley, I see a group of people. It's dark, but I can make out their silhouettes. My eyes flick over them, seeing three men.

A muffled scream has my body going stiff, eyes and ears on high alert. That's when I realize they're not alone. They have someone pressed up against the wall. Someone smaller. A woman, with a hand over her mouth.

"Keep screaming, sweetheart. I love it when they fight." The guy who has the girl pressed against the wall chuckles.

Damn it. Fuck! I have to find Jade, but I can't just let these assholes hurt this girl.

But as the guy shifts and the last bit of moonlight streams down, I catch a flash of red hair. My stomach drops, dread filling my veins as I realize who that girl is.

Jade.

She turns her head, eyes wild with pure terror, locking with mine.

Everything inside me shifts, and then I fucking snap. I lose any sense of reality, the only thing on my mind is making these bastards pay for laying a hand on my fucking omega.

Shoving my hand in my pocket, I wrap it around my switchblade and pull it free as I charge toward them. I do my best to keep my rage to myself, not saying a word as I barrel toward them.

My body collides with the guy pressed against Jade, sending us both crashing to the ground. The guy grunts and curses, clearly taken by surprise. Before he can do anything else, I ram the blade into his stomach.

Over and over again, I let red take over my vision. I know what he was going to do to her, and he deserves to die for it.

Jaw tight, nostrils flaring, I just keep blindly stabbing him. He screams in pain, thrashing, trying to get me off him.

His buddies snap into action, grabbing for me, trying to pull me off. But I'm swinging wildly now, letting out a cry of pure murderous rage. I ram my elbow back, catching one of them in the face. He cries out, stumbling to the ground.

"You crazy fucker!" the last of them screams. "Get the fuck off him!" He pulls at me and takes a swing, but I duck, rolling away before jumping to my feet.

"Crazy?" I ask him, chest heaving as I cock my head to the side, feeling something wet against my skin. "You haven't seen anything yet."

The guy looks to his friend that I stabbed, and the one who staggers to his feet, eyes wide with fear. Maybe it's the crazed look on my face that promises he's next.

"If you want the whore, just take her. We don't want any trouble," he growls out.

Did he just call my omega a whore?

"Oh, but you see, I do. I want all the fucking trouble. You signed your death certificates when you felt the need to touch my omega," I growl, low and deep.

"I didn't do shit!" he spits. "I didn't touch her."

"No, but you were going to take your turn when your buddy was done with her, weren"t you?"

The guy who I elbowed in the face looks at me, fear in his eyes, rightfully so. His nose is broken, which I can tell by the way it"s bent. Blood streams down his face and onto the stone path below. He looks at his friend on the ground who's groaning and likely bleeding out, then back to me, with the bloody blade still clutched in my hand and pointed to the guy in front of me—then he turns, taking off down the path.

"Please," he begs, realizing he has no chance against me as I step forward. "We were just messing around."

"You think raping a woman is just messing around?" I ask deadly calm. "That would mean me killing both of you is just messing around too, right?"

The sky above us flashes and a few seconds later, there's this loud boom that vibrates everything around us as the sky opens up and the rain begins beating down on us.

For years, this darkness has been festering inside, growing into something far more sinister. Back when we were kids, Jade was the light that snuffed out my dark.

But without her, it got harder and harder not to let it swallow me whole. The guys helped, slowing down the process, but with each passing day Jade wasn't with me, in my arms, safe, I lost a piece of myself.

And now she's here, in my life, in my arms, and in my fucking bed. There is nothing in this world that I'd ever allow to take that away from me again. I would kill to keep her, kill for her, just... kill.

"Zane." Jade's voice has me whipping my head around. Her eyes are wide, tears streaming down her face making my gut twist. Maybe it's the rain? Or both?

Looking away was a mistake because the guy lets out a battle cry, giving me enough time to turn back just in time for him to tackle me to the ground. We go down hard, my head bashing against the path. Jade screams my name, but my head pounds, the ringing in my ears so damn loud.

The guy above me screams in pain, and when I go to move my hand with the blade, I realize it"s stuck in something. Him.

Quickly, I roll us so that he's on his back. Ripping the blade free, I toss it to the side and start using my fists. With each hit, my fist meets his flesh, and I grow more and more numb.

"You fucking touched my omega!" I roar. "I'm going to fucking kill you!"

Again and again, I take out my rage until he stops fighting, but I keep going and going.

"Zane, please, stop!" Jade sobs from behind me, her voice finally breaking through the sound of the ringing. "Zane, you"re going to kill him." Good, I want him to die. I want both of them to die. They touched her, they hurt her. They were going to fucking rape her.

"Zane, baby, please. Don't do this. If you kill them, you'll go to jail. I can't lose you again. Please, don't make me live without you again."

I stop swinging, my chest rising and falling rapidly. Slowly, the rage clears as I look up into my Trouble's green eyes.

"Your eyes shine so pretty in the streetlight," I murmur, unable to look away.

"What?" she sounds frantic and confused as her brows pinch.

"Your eyes. They're so hypnotizing. I could get lost in them for days."

I know I'm not myself right now. Maybe it's the adrenaline, the shock of everything that just happened, or maybe I really am just insane.

"Zane, baby, get up," she urges, rain dripping off her long lashes.

"What the fuck?" Everett's voice sounds from the edge of the alley. Griffin comes skidding to a stop behind them. They both look at the scene before them with wide eyes before rushing over.

"They were going to hurt me," Jade offers quickly, as if she feels the need to defend my actions. "If he didn't fight them off, they would have." She sounds so fierce, so protective. My cold heart fucking swells, and I could almost laugh with relief. I thought for sure she would see me as a monster.

I just stabbed two men—maybe to death—right before her eyes, and she didn't scream. She didn't run away. She's standing strong, by my side, no less. I fucking love this woman more than words could ever explain.

"Fucking hell," Griffin curses, rushing over to me. I stagger a bit as he pulls me to my feet, my heart still racing wildly in my chest. "Are you okay?" he asks me, taking my face in his hands.

"They were gonna rape her," I state, my voice dull and maybe a little in shock.

Griffin's eyes turn pained before he puts his forehead against mine. "You did the right thing. You stopped them, baby. You saved her. She's here, she's safe." He moves my head so that I can see Jade in Everett's arms as she clings to him, shivering as the rain continues to beat down on us.

"What the fuck happened?" Calvin demands as he races over to us. "Jade, Darling, are you okay?" he asks Jade, about to pull her out of Everett's grasp but Everett growls, clinging to Jade.

"I'm okay." She takes in a shuddering breath. "But my head hurts. They smashed it against the wall."

"What?!" I roar, a fresh wave of murderous fury washing over me as I lunge toward the first bastard I tackled, ready to finish the job, but Calvin grabs me, yanking me back.

"Enough!" he barks, getting in my face. I don't have time for this self-righteous bullshit right now.

"Fuck you. Nothing will ever be enough for putting their fucking hands on Jade!" I yell in his face.

"Zane." He gives me a hard look. "Thank you."

"What?" I blink, brows furrowing.

"Thank you for protecting her. I'll deal with this. You guys go, get Jade back to the hotel, and take care of our omega."

What the hell? That"s it? No yelling at me, calling me stupid and reckless for almost killing these guys?

"What are you going to do about them?" Jade asks, looking down at the groaning men.

"Make sure they can never touch another person again," Calvin answers, taking Jade's face in his hands, and kissing her softly. "I'm so fucking glad you"re okay. And I'm so fucking sorry we weren"t there to prevent this."

She smiles and nods. "I'm okay." She looks over at me. "Thanks to Zane."

"Go on, go. Get out of the rain," Calvin orders Griffin and Everett.

They tuck Jade under their arms and guide her away. I start to feel this tightness in my chest, a pull to go with her taking over my whole body. I can't let her out of my sight again.

I move to take a step toward her, but Calvin stops me. I'm about to bite off his fucking head when he says, "I would have done the same thing." He searches my eyes. "No one fucks with Jade and gets away with it. No one."

For the first time, I hate my brother a little less. For once, I'm not seeing him as the up-tight businessman.

He lets me go, and I take off after the guys, leaving him to clean up my mess. He should save everyone the trouble and just finish them off and leave their bodies to rot.