Chapter 32

CHAPTER 32

1 Month Later

ADIRA

M orris texted me an hour before my shift ended that he couldn’t walk me home after work, but I told him I could handle it. He sent me a photo of his soulful eyes looking serious and texted me to let him know when I got home to the shelter.

I have enough money saved that I could potentially move out of the shelter, but I want to talk about it with Aisling first tomorrow. I feel guilty filling up a spot when someone else could use it.

My tips are in my bag, and my coat is buttoned up over it, so it’s more difficult to steal from me. I want to say that by now I’ve gotten the hang of walking home alone, but I kind of miss Morris.

You can’t be dependent on other people, Adira.

The inner, bitchy voice in my head is right, though I don’t have to like it.

A lot has happened over the past month, mostly good. Cian started discussions with different mafia family leaders in favor of Jed taking over his father’s business, which has led to a lot of meetings I’ve needed to attend with Pack Dresmond.

It’s a start, but they’re suspicious of Jed and why I feel the sudden need to throw my support in with him. I have this sinking feeling I may have to open a few veins at one time to tell my story. It’ll either help the cause or obliterate Jed’s chances.

There’s a party the Whalen Society is throwing for the mafia community in a few weeks, and I’m invited. It’s just outside of Minneapolis, with the majority of people attending being women.

I’m unsure of the purpose, but I have a feeling the alphas in the community may be attempting to get their partners involved to figure me out.

I respect the sentiment, I’m young and an unknown in the community. It’s a big stance to back Pack Dresmond against Pack Rock even simply in name. Minnesota is used to living in peace, and ignoring Rock’s antics like the plague they are.

It’s been two and a half months since I’ve been sold to the Kelly’s without a peep from Rock. I have this odd feeling that the quiet is going to be disrupted pretty soon.

“Ah!” I yell when my hair is pulled and my hand slammed hard several times against the brick wall I’m walking along.

It’s the hand I typically hold my stun gun, which I now drop as my fingers open due to the numbness spreading through them from the blows.

I started out strong, paying attention to my surroundings before getting sucked into my head.

Rough hands drag me toward an alley, and I begin to scream for help. It’s two in the morning, but fuck it. Struggling, I shake my hand out, though my arm is now pinned behind my back.

Duncan, Callum, and Damon have been working on my ability to fight with a knife with both hands for this exact reason.

If someone breaks my right hand, I can’t afford to be incapable of fighting. It’s sad this is my life, well that this could happen to any omega or woman at any time. It pisses me off.

I don’t know if anything is broken, which means I need to work quickly. I don’t know if there’s more people in the alley, and killing someone in the street is dicey. Remembering the way I’ve been told to stab first and feel remorse later, I shove my left hand into my pocket and flick open my knife.

“Why are you doing this?” I snap, trying to borrow time.

Dammit, I clearly need more practice at opening my knife with my left hand. Duncan and Callum are going to have a field day with this.

After I get myself out of this damn mess.

“Shut up, I was told this would be easy and I’d get to fuck you too,” snarls the man.

By who?

Getting my feet underneath myself first, I kick at him and struggle, so he’ll let me go.

“Don’t be a bitch about this,” he grunts, twisting my arm so hard, I scream in terror. I may be prepared for the possibility of having my arm broken, but I’d like to avoid it if at all possible.

The alpha shoves me into the alley, and I keep my back against the wall, away from the three men cruelly smiling at me. Thankfully, I can’t smell them, because of the alpha pheromone blocker gel, but that’s also why I’m in this damn mess.

I’ve become complacent, and need to make sure I wash my face before I leave work from now on. Walking home scent blind is stupid.

“I will absolutely be a bitch about this,” I grunt, testing my hand as I make a fist. My entire right arm hurts, and won’t be strong enough for this fight.

Assholes.

These men are slimy, clearly people who are bought for their services. I wonder if this is Rock deciding that kidnapping is a better option than waiting for the Kellys to send me back, or if this is someone else. God, in this world they could have their own little omega sex trafficking network.

“Who said this would be easy?” I ask, the knife finally coming open. Fuck me, I’ll be practicing this until my fingers go numb if the boys have anything to say about it, and I’ll be a good little omega and do it. “I should know before I kill you, don’t you think?”

The men get even cockier, laughing, which is what I want. Swallowing hard, I whisper through the bond I have with Damon, “ Help. I may have bitten off more than I can chew.”

“All little whores who are walking home at three in the morning are easy. It’s a known fact. All the good little omegas are home in their beds,” the alpha who grabbed me says. He has blond hair that’s covered by a black cap, and he looks like Lurch from the Addams’ family.

“It’s a snatch, fuck, and deliver job. We change cities after each job, you’re simply our lucky choice. Helps that you’re pretty too.”

Oh, it’s random. Perfect.

“Hmm,” I mutter, my feet hitting the pavement hard as I run in my boots. My knife is at my side as I jump the man in front of me, sinking it into his chest as I use it for leverage.

The thin jacket the man is wearing tears like paper, my right hand grabbing a handful of his hair as I pull the knife from his chest as I gain leverage to push it deeply into his neck.

“Easy jobs are sometimes the worst, don’t you think?” I ask blandly. I block as much of the bond with Damon as possible, so I can concentrate, his panic drowning anything I might feel from Morris.

The man with the knife in his neck tries to grab me, but I’m already yanking the blade out and dropping back to the ground. Quickly getting out of the way as he falls, I keep the other two men in my sight. The last thing I need is to be pinned by a dying sack of flesh.

I feel nothing for the body in front of me, my heart pounding in the face of the other two men as one of them pulls out a knife. My stun gun is close to my foot, and I’m able to pull it toward me.

“Typically, girls who are alone are also unprotected, but I’m not,” I drawl, smirking as I point at the dead man in front of me. “My alphas have a tracker on my body, which makes this a much harder job, friends.”

“You killed him, you stupid bitch,” the man who originally grabbed me snarls, stomping over to me.

He must be really dumb, because he grabs my head and slams me face first into the wall, ignoring that my hands are free. I think his plan is to use the wall as his weapon until I pass out.

Screaming, I grab his sweatshirt, pulling him closer to me, so I can sink the knife into his exposed side.

Grunting, Lurch stumbles, letting me go. My legs fail me as my vision begins to darken, and I reach around on the ground for the stun gun. As soon as I have it, I slam it between the alpha’s legs and push the trigger. This upgraded model doesn’t have a switch to turn it on, so it is always engaged, and is much more powerful.

The strangled scream brings me endless satisfaction, and I can vaguely hear someone cursing before the stomping of feet move away from me. Glancing over my shoulder, I see the other scum bag is already running away.

They just don’t build kidnappers like the Dresmond brothers. Snickering to myself, I shake my head as I pull the stun gun away and take stock of the alpha that collapses to my feet, already losing consciousness. I believe the blood loss and the electrical shock is definitely to thank for that.

I, on the other hand, am feeling loopy right now. My head is killing me, it’s cold, and I can barely see. Looking around, I struggle to ground myself.

The bump on the front of my head is bleeding, the blood flowing into my eyes and side of my face. Breathing hard, I open my coat with trembling fingers to get to my phone in my purse.

I can’t pass out.

I’m unsure if the man who ran away is coming back with friends, but I’m surrounded by a dead body and an unconscious one. This is one hell of a way to get off work.

It takes two tries to open my bag, and my phone is already buzzing like crazy.

“Hello,” I rasp, pushing myself back to lean against the wall. It allows me to watch the alley while I try to stay awake. Ugh, my head hurts so much.

“ Where are you,” Damon growls. “ All I can feel is pain.”

“If it helps, one of them is dead, and the other one is getting there,” I groan. “I was dragged into an alley leaving the bar between twelfth and eighteen street. I spaced a little while I was walking home.”

“ I’m on my ? —”

“ Adira?” Jed asks, grabbing the phone from Damon. “ You’re on speaker. Is it too much to ask that you kill the other guy? We’re twenty minutes away from you. Morris was driving us home from a late meeting, which is why he didn’t walk you home. I don’t want the guy who is unconscious to wake up and hurt you.”

My eyes move in the direction of the man who is starting to stir, sighing.

“You’re a pain in the ass, Lurch,” I whisper.

Putting the phone on the ground, I crawl over to the slimy alpha asshole and find the knife buried in his side. Pulling it out means I can hear the wet slide of flesh as it releases and I make a face of disgust.

Swiping my arm over my eyes to clear the red film from the blood steadily dripping over them, I crawl over Lurch’s body until I can yank down the neckline of his sweatshirt.

He blinks blearily at me, eyes beginning to widen as he realizes I’m crouched over him.

“I’m not for sale,” I whisper, stabbing him sideways in the neck. I’m finding it’s an easy, vulnerable place, even with corded muscle there.

Neither one of the men I killed were for pleasure, but I feel peace in knowing they won’t be able to pull this shit with anyone else. Lurch’s body bends back in pain, and I pull the blade forward until it slices through all of the important arteries. It’s messy, the blood exploding as I quickly turn my face away. It's in my hair, but that’s better than getting it in my mouth.

Gagging at the thought, I move back to the phone, where I can hear yelling.

“He’s dead,” I mutter when the phone is semi up to my ear to protect my hearing. “I don’t feel great…”

“ Adira,” Jed growls. “ Are you hurt, baby? Or are you queasy because you killed someone?”

“Two people, and I don’t care about those assholes,” I say, wincing as I let my eyes shut. “My head hurts, and Lurch tried to break my arm. The jerk bled all over me.”

“ You sound like you’re pouting?” Jed asks, confused.

“Yes, and I’m really pissed, because it was completely random. They would have grabbed any woman walking home in the middle of the night,” I say tiredly. My words are beginning to slur, and the blood in my ears is beginning to roar.

“I’m not the only one, Jed. They were going to move to another city after taking me to sell at auction.”

“ Did you get them all, baby?” Jed asks. He moves his head to say something I can’t hear, and I have a feeling he’s trying to keep me awake.

“Nuh-uh,” I mumble. “One of them ran away when I attacked Lurch. He reminds me of him. Big, stocky, and ugly.”

“ We’re almost there,” Jed says, but I’m already sliding to the side, my head hitting the ground as everything goes black.

I hope they find me before someone else does.