30. Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty

Arrow

M y heart stops when Jack collapses in front of us. I call out his name in shock before I rush over to where he's lying on the floor. Crashing to my knees at his side, I check his pulse and hold my breath as I watch his chest until I see it rise and fall.

His heart is beating, and he's breathing.

I try to calm down, but I can see that he's hurt.

There are bruises on his face, and one of his shirt sleeves are torn.

It looks like he was in a fight. That doesn't make sense, but it must be true.

Emotionally, he feels angry. That response is fading fast now that he's unconscious, but it tells me he was in a triggered state when this happened.

I force myself to take a few deep breaths. I need to calm down if I want to use my Omega touch to calm his emotions to help him to relax and recover.

"Stay with him," Enzo tells me, catching my attention with his hand on my shoulder.

I look up at him and nod. Nothing could drag me away from Jack right now.

It takes me a moment to realize what my Alpha's really asking.

My heart sinks into my stomach as he goes on.

"I need to check outside. No matter what, you need to stay in here."

He's deadly serious, stopping just short of making it a command.

His dark eyes soften slightly, and he lets out a sigh. "Tell me you won't come outside, Arrow."

I can't agree to that. Neither of us know what happened to Jack, exactly.

If something happens to Enzo …

"You don't know who's out there," I start, dread growing. "We should just call the cops."

"This is a pack matter. You can call the cops if I'm not back in five."

He leaves me with the briefest of kisses.

Then, he's outside and the sound of the door being locked behind him makes my stomach churn. I try to focus on Jack, but it's no use. I'm too emotionally shaky to be calm for him.

I hope whoever did this is gone, and I hope they don't come back.

Counting down the minutes in my head, I get ready to jump to my feet and call the police.

If Enzo's out there for a second longer than five minutes …

No, don't think like that, Arrow.

I can't help it. The thought of losing either of them would destroy me, and sitting here holding Jack's hand while he's unconscious on the floor is making me think all kinds of awful thoughts about who might have hurt him, and whether they might still be outside.

The city has a much higher crime rate than the small town we came here from.

Hate crimes are especially prevalent, probably because most of the cops don't seem to take them seriously.

Packs have been on the rise for years, but they're not the norm and they might never be as accepted as monogamous couples are.

The stone-cold truth is a lot of people hate that packs exist.

And if one or more of those people have been watching us, it wouldn't take much investigating to find out that we're a pack.

It's not something we try to hide.

We shouldn't have to.

But maybe we need to be more careful.

I'm shaking as I decide five minutes have passed, and I start to get to my feet.

My heart leaps into my throat as I hear the key in the door.

I freeze in place, until Enzo steps back inside.

Seeing he's unharmed, I can finally let go of my worries.

"Well?" I ask, as I sit back down at Jack's side, ready to give him calm, healing energy.

He sighs as he locks the door, checking it twice before he puts the keys in his pocket and turns around. He's frowning, and I realize he's annoyed so I can guess what he's about to say before he says it.

"Whoever was out there is gone now," he grumbles, running a hand through his hair to push it back from his face.

I hide my relief that Jack's attacker didn't stick around. As much as our Alpha would have liked to deal with him, or them, I'm just glad I don't have two injured mates right now.

Enzo lets out an agitated growl before he sits down opposite me, at Jack's right side.

"We need to know who hurt our mate," he mutters.

"He'll tell us what happened when he wakes up," I remind him.

I've calmed the residual anger inside our Beta and his energy feels much less chaotic.

"How long?" Enzo asks, as if he thinks I can predict that.

"Soon, I think," I tell him, not able to be more specific.

He's not happy with that answer.

His gaze falls on mine and I can see the pain in his eyes.

"Where did she go, Arrow? Jack took her outside before this happened."

I can feel the color draining from my face as I stare back at Enzo.

The blonde. Our new mate. I forgot all about her.

How could I forget? She was literally just here.

My worry for Jack took over, I guess.

Well, now I'm worried about them both.

"Oh no," I murmur, realizing what he's telling me.

"I doubt it's a coincidence," Enzo says, as he moves his gaze to Jack's bruised face.

He thinks whoever hurt our Delta took her.

The thought makes me queasy.

I watch as Enzo brushes his hand over Jack's cheek. "Jack, it's time to wake up."

It's not his Alpha command voice. It's a soft growl, full of emotion.

Too quiet to get through. He takes a deep breath, and I can tell he's fighting the urge to use a command. It's not something he's ever done to either of us.

At least, not without explicit consent beforehand.

Enzo clears his throat, and tries again, louder this time, "Jack! Jack, wake up!"

Still not a command, but a lot clearer and more demanding.

I hold my breath, and our mate groans softly.

He's waking up. I can't believe that worked!

"Jack?" I ask, squeezing his hand in mine.

He grumbles something under his breath as his eyelids flutter open.

"Ugh. Turn off the lights!" he utters as he starts to wake up, lifting an arm and covering his eyes.

I get up quickly and rush over to the desk to switch off the overhead light, leaving the dining room lights on to keep us from stumbling around in the dark.

"How are you feeling?" Enzo asks, putting an arm around Jack as he starts to sit up.

"Like a creepy asshole headbutted me," Jack answers with a groan.

I walk back over to where they are as Enzo helps Jack get to his feet.

"Slowly," Enzo instructs him. "Don't force anything."

"I'm okay," Jack protests. "I'm just … We have to go find Beth. That asshole … He was going after her."

Apparently, our new mate's name is Beth, and we had good reason to be worried about her.

I glance at Enzo, waiting for him to make a decision.

He sighs. "We were worried about that. I couldn't see her outside, and no one else was hanging around out there, either. Any idea where they might be?"

"I don't know," Jack admits. "She said she didn't want him following her, and she rushed away in the direction of the mall."

"And he chased her?" Enzo asks.

"He started a fight with me," Jack says, smiling wryly. "I'm guessing he probably went looking for her after that, but I passed out, so I have no idea."

"That doesn't mean he found her though, right?" I ask, trying to find the sunny side.

"It means we don't know where she is," Enzo mutters. "Or if she's okay."

"Who was the guy who did this?" I ask, not fully understanding.

"I don't know, but he was calling Beth his mate."

"His mate?" Enzo asks, frowning harder.

This is sounding worse and worse. Some delusional guy is out in the city looking for her, and we don't know where she might have gone.

"Weird, right?" Jack asks.

"Did it seem like he could be someone she knew?" Enzo asks. "Like an ex-boyfriend, or someone who wanted to be?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure. She wanted nothing to do with him. I'm not sure if that means she knew him, or not. He was being a total creep."

"What do we do?" I look at Enzo.

He's conflicted, and I can guess why.

Alphas live to protect their mates.

Without Gio, he can't go off into the night looking for Beth.

It would leave Jack and I on our own, and considering Jack should see a doctor, I know beyond a doubt Enzo won't be able to bring himself to do that.

"Did you get her number?" Enzo asks.

"Uh, no." Jack shakes his head and then winces.

Enzo presses his lips together. He nods before he announces the plan.

"Okay. We're getting you checked out at the hospital, for starters."

"What?" Jack asks. "No. No way. That emergency room is a nightmare. I'm not missing my gig to wait three hours to be told to take some ibuprofen and get some sleep, or whatever."

He backs away from us and brings his phone out of his pocket.

"I need to be at The Terrace in twenty minutes to get set up and check the set list."

And he thinks he's not a Delta. Most Betas wouldn't think twice about following along with whatever their Alpha decides. Jack has his own instincts, and he lets them lead him instead, much to our Alphas' bemusement at times like these.

Enzo frowns at him. "You have a head injury, Jack. We need to get you to the ER."

"After," he says, heading for the door that leads to the apartment above the restaurant. "I promise. I'll drink nothing but water, and I'll let you guys take my equipment home, and I'll spend as long as it takes in the ER then. Okay?"

Enzo lets out a growl, and Jack pauses at the apartment door.

"I'm fine." He looks at me. "Tell Enzo I'm all good, Arrow. You did that thing with your hands, I can tell."

I wouldn't say he's fine, exactly. He's in pain, but it's been dulled by my Omegas touch.

"I'll know if he starts to feel bad," I admit, knowing Jack's already made up his mind and there's nothing about how he's feeling that makes me think he'll be pushing himself too hard.

He's hyped about the gig. Despite what just happened, he still wants to do this.

"I gave Beth a ticket to The Terrace," Jack adds, while Enzo is still frowning over his ignored insistence to take him to the hospital. "Maybe we don't know where she went, but there's a decent chance she'll show up there. That's better than nothing."

It is, especially considering how Enzo feels about fate and coincidences.

Any mate of ours is meant to be around us, all of us, as much as possible.

She'll be drawn to The Terrace tonight, even if she isn't sure why.

I have no doubt about that.

I catch a hint of relief from Enzo before his shoulders relax.

"Fine," he grumbles. "We're going to The Terrace, but don't even think about carrying anything. I'll take care of your equipment, and your guitar."

Those last three words make Jack wince, but he doesn't attempt to protest.

He can tell Enzo isn't kidding around.

"I'll carry the guitar," I tell them both.

Enzo frowns at me as Jack smiles.

"What?" I ask. "It's not like it's heavy, and the case makes it easy."

"You need to keep your punching hand free," Jack adds. "In case we run into that asshole."

Our overprotective Alpha lets out a weary sigh. "Arrow can carry the guitar."

"Good," Jack says. "We should get moving."

He opens the door to the apartment and flips on the staircase light switch.

The lights flicker a little, making some vaguely concerning noises before they come on.

Jack heads up the stairs, and Enzo holds the door open for me to follow our Delta up the stairs.

"What do we do about Gio?" I ask, knowing we can't contact him.

Regret fills me when I look at my Alpha and I see the hurt and anger in his eyes before I even feel those emotions rising up inside him. Gio went too far this time. Whatever he's out there doing, it's keeping him separate from us as a pack.

"Whenever Gio decides to show up, I'll leave him with you and Jack at The Terrace, and I'll go out looking for Beth," Enzo answers.

"What if he doesn't?" The words slip past my lips without a second thought, and Enzo's silence tells me everything I need to know.

Things can't go on the way they have been.

Tonight, Gio wasn't around when we needed him.

Enzo's beyond ready to have a serious conversation with our lead Alpha.

Jack turns on the stairs, leaning against the rail as he looks back at us.

"Gio's coming. Don't worry about that. He never misses one of my gigs."

He's vaguely irritated, and I feel bad for causing that reaction.

"Sorry," I murmur. "I was just wondering what we would do about Beth. That's all."

He nods slowly. "She'll be there, too. So, you don't have to worry about it."

And he doesn't think he has an Alpha side.

His certainty makes me feel better.

I give him a smile. "Okay."

It's easier to push back Enzo's negative emotions when I focus on Jack's clear, positive feelings.

Following Jack upstairs, I can tell he's the one who's trusting his instincts tonight.

Enzo's too worried about everything to do the same.

As soon as I get a chance, I'll help him to see that.

But, right now, we have a gig to get to.