Page 51 of Brave New Omega, Part 2

Chapter 51

CALLUM

I swirl around my second tumbler of whiskey. I don’t care for this particular brand of fiery rye –I like mine thick with smoke and sin. But, it’s not my toasting so I don’t get to choose.

It’s not my toasting yet.

I flick my gaze up to the window just to see if Katie and her sisters have come by again. No luck, but I do see Celeste at one of the corners, talking animatedly. That’s good; she deserves a nice day.

Hugo looks upward again too, his eyes darting across the glass. I wonder which Omega caught his attention. Maybe none. For as long as I’ve been acquainted with the Duke, I wouldn’t say I know him all that well. I guess most people don’t know him all that well.

Something sour hits my nose. It’s familiar, but not enough for me to place. It wreaks of fear, panic coating everything in a vinegar aftertaste, like spoiled wine. I wrinkle my nose.

“Something's wrong,” Max says, and he shuffles a little closer to my right. Loren stiffens, leaning away from an old Army colleague to scan the ballroom above. Of course we’re watching for them, though since that one sighting I haven't seen Katie anywhere.

Beside me, Hugo tenses. He grips his cane a little tighter and his deeply earthy scent thickens. The hairs on my neck stand at attention. If something has Hugo rattled….

No, don’t catastrophize. That's what the therapist told me over and over after Genevieve tried to burn my life to the ground. After all the nightmares of the Battle of Vainamoinen , and the long nights drinking myself into oblivion. Don’t catastrophize, things rarely are as bad as you think they are.

Unless they’re worse.

Raphael Messina, Alpha of Pack Messina stands as a round of drinks are passed out. He’s a tall black man with broad shoulders, a shaved head, and a taste for fast cars. He’s also a damn good marksman. Too bad he’s a gun for hire.

No, personal security .

Right.

Raphael raises a glass as a group of tough looking bikers in the back right corner lift their drinks to him, and several of the other Alphas laugh at a joke I’ve missed. But my unease has me distracted, glancing round all the exits, and up to the window. No Katie.

The thick perfume of an Omega – a distressed Omega–bursts through the security. Growls ripple through the crowd as a blur of rose and peach streaks across the ballroom.

Layla .

What is Katie’s sister doing down here? How did she get through security?

Fuck. There are dozens, if not more than a hundred unbonded Alphas in here. She’s going to be ripped to shreds.

Fuck .

“Callum Murphy!” she shrieks, and the room full of Alphas all immediately start growling. Two Beta guards are racing after her, while another three fan out, ready to stave off the hungry Alphas in the room.

“Holy Mother of Wolves,” Loren breathes, before striding forward, toward the Omega.

“Pack Murphy!” Layla screams again, jogging past the dais, and zig-zagging away from the chasing Betas. Her dress is torn, but even disheveled, she moves with a kind of ethereal grace. Not my cup of tea, but if Hugo’s scent flooding the surrounding area is any indication, I’ve found his preferred flavor.

“Someone took Katie!”

A Beta guard reaches her, grabbing her roughly. Loren launches himself forward, extending to his full body length midair to collide with the him. He snarls in the Beta’s face, shaking him roughly by the collar. Max darts forward, grabbing Layla into his arms. She’s trembling, and several men are shouting.

This is about to go from bad to a fucking fur fight, and I need details about Katie now .

“BE STILL.”

Beside me, Hugo Monrhutton bellows a deep guttural growl that is full of the power of a true Alpha Bark. Not that mine isn’t fucking powerful, but that bastard can still shift. The youngest remaining shifter alive. The howling resonance seeps into every vibration of his Bark.

The Ballroom silences immediately, leaving only the ringing of Hugo’s growl. Several of the younger Alphas and a few Betas are physically frozen. Good.

I roll my shoulders, shaking off the command. I need to get to my Omega. But first, I need to hear what her sister has to say.

“Layla.” I reach her, opening my arms for her trembling frame. Her blond hair spills in limp waves around her shoulders.

“We were in the crowd, upstairs in the balcony. We’d just waved to you,” she pants, her perfume wrapping around me, Loren, and Max–and Hugo. “The crowd was so thick by the windows, and all of a sudden Katie and Maddie were yanked away. I tried to chase them, but they disappeared. I looked everywhere, like maybe it was just the crowd. But I retraced our steps, and when I did, I saw this big Beta security guard open one of the locked doors –and I heard her scream.”

“Inspector Murphy?” Raphael and his Packmate Giovani step off their toasting dais and approach our circle. Several of the Alphas have begun talking again, but it’s all a low murmur behind me.

My heart is pounding too loud in my ears to hear more than what the people right in front of my face are saying. And even now, it’s like they’re whispering.

“Is there a missing Omega?” Raphael asks.

“I’m going up there to look.” Loren turns, but two Beta guards block his path.

“Can’t let unbonded Alphas up there, Sir.” The first guard says, then lowers his gaze. “I’m Sorry Colonel Bellrose.”

“It’s my Omega that’s been kidnapped on your watch !” Loren shouts, turning his glare from the ex-soldier, to Pack Messina.

“Some private security,” Max mutters, arms crossed.

“We have taken every precaution,” Giovanni says, shaking one finger.

“My sisters! Both of them are missing!” Layla shrieks, panic reflected in her features. She gasps, on the edge of hyperventilating. Hugo inches slowly closer to me, softly murmuring to the distraught Omega still in my arms.

Great. This is a fucking tangle and Katie is at the center. Everyone starts to chatter at once, but it’s only wasting time.

“I’m an Inspector for the Halvassa police,” I snap to the growing throng of Alphas. “Consider this a crime scene. We need to move swiftly. Hugo’s bark might have alerted them that we know what’s going on. We need to keep Layla safe–if they took Katie and Maddie, it’s likely they’ll want Layla as well.”

I shove all of my terror and all of my white hot anger at whoever took Katie into a side room in my mind. We have to act fast, and if we want this to go smoothly, Katie needs me to be Inspector Murphy, not her heartsick Alpha.

Layla stills in my embrace, and I loosen my hold. She’s looking past me to Hugo, who has just brushed a loose curl from her shoulder. Her perfume softens, the edge receding.

Gods Above and Below, not now .

I shove her at Raphael. “This is Layla, my Omega’s sister. She’ll be your sister-in-law soon enough, and I swear on my life if anything happens to her while I’m hunting for my Omega, I will dismember you personally.”

Raphael smirks. “I always liked you, Callum. A man who says what he means.” He nods toward the Beta security. “Guards, he’s cleared to go anywhere in the house or grounds.” Turning back to me, his features harden. “Go get your Omega. We’ll make sure no one so much as speaks to the girl.”

Damnit. I’m going to fucking owe him for this.

Hugo steps forward, nodding slightly. “Whatever aid you need in finding your Omega and her sister, I shall lend it. I have long feared there is an infiltration amongst the peers. If these Omegas are at risk, then all the women upstairs are as well. Allow me to call in my personal reinforcements?”

“First, call the damn city squadron. Give Captain Zhao the rundown, then you can bring in your goons. Have the exits patrolled to see if anyone is being smuggled out. No one –and I mean no one, even if they were cleared beforehand, leaves this building.”

Hugo nods and begins dictating into his wristlet. I was supposed to be off duty today; shows me how much I can really get away from my work.

“I just got a text from Aurelia–she said she got a worrying call from Katie.” Max waves his phone at me.

Why the fuck did Katie call her and not us?

“Tell her to send all the extra Conservatory security now. Then, we move up –are the maintenance stairs open?”

Raphael nods. “For the cooks.”

“Good, we go up that way. Hugo–grab your Beta and go up the front, make it dramatic and distracting. Everyone move out .”

I look at Loren and Max, all of us communicating in silent agreement. We move out together. If they want our Pack, then fuck it, they’ll get all of Pack Murphy.