Page 22 of Claiming the Pack’s Omega (Riverwell Omegaverse #2)

Theo

S he threw herself out of the window.

She threw herself out of the fucking window.

And I was the closest to her. I should’ve stopped her, somehow. What if this weren’t the first floor? What if she’d fallen and gotten seriously hurt?

It would’ve been my fault.

God, she’s been so pissed at me. That would’ve been yet another thing to add to my list of fuckups.

She ran, too. She ran like she was running for her life. Like she couldn’t wait to get away.

My body remains frozen, rooted to the floor. I can’t help but feel like part of that is my fault. She’s the most upset with me, about this whole situation. For good reason, too.

I was the one who pretended to be a John soliciting her time.

This happens all the time. Men think that women who are paid to spend time with them are far more interested in them than they actually are. Is that what happened here?

Was I too blinded by her wit, her spark, her beauty, to see that she was just spending time with me because that was what she was paid to do?

I grit my teeth at the thought.

No. I refuse to believe that. If she was faking it the entire time, she wouldn’t have cared to know whether or not I was pretending.

“Oh my god! Reyna, wait!” Luna, the Ward Pack’s omega says, running toward the window.

“What the fuck!” Killian roars, rushing toward the window, too.

“Hey, calm the hell down,” Archer, the Ward Pack’s leader snaps, wrapping his arms around Killian and stopping him from following Reyna out the window.

“Let go of me,” Killian grits out, his voice dangerously low.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Archer responds in kind. “Trust me on this. The last thing a scared Southside omega needs is an angry alpha chasing after her.”

Killian deflates in Archer’s arms and gives him a jerky nod.

“God, she made this look a lot easier,” Luna huffs, climbing out of the window.

“Where are you going?” I ask her, my brows drawn down.

“After her! Just because an angry alpha shouldn’t go after her doesn’t mean I can’t. She needs someone there.”

“Let me come with you,” Madden says.

Part of me wants to protest, to insist that I go instead, but I know Madden isn’t going for Reyna. If I were bonded, I wouldn’t let my mate out of my sight either, if I could help it. Especially if she’d just been kidnapped a few months before.

As the two of them leave the same way Reyna did, the silence in the room starts to become deafening.

“How do you know Reyna?” Stone grits out.

He’s sitting up in the bed, his good arm braced against the railing of the hospital bed, helping him stay upright. There’s a layer of sweat forming on his forehead at the effort it’s taking.

“Fuck, lay back down, man! You’re hurting yourself,” I say, walking over to him and gently pushing him back down to the bed.

“Answer the question,” Stone growls again, his dominance swirling out into the air around us, despite his injured state.

“To be completely honest, I have no clue,” Chase says, throwing himself onto one of the hospital armchairs and lacing his hands behind his head.

“That’s because you’re not connecting the dots,” Kane huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. He glances over at Stone. “Don’t you remember how Luna mentioned there was a Southside omega who helped patch up her arm? The one who called Madden?”

“Holy shit,” I breathe out. “You guys did mention that, it’s part of the case. Wait, this is perfect!”

If Reyna played a part in rescuing Luna, then presenting her as a star witness in the case we have will be easy! The Ward Pack and their omega’s story has already made waves in the upper-crust circles of Northside society.

Killian paces back and forth, his gaze repeatedly darting to the open window. The sound of his footsteps are the only thing keeping the growing silence at bay.

“She must have some sort of medical skill,” Milo adds, his voice soft. “If she patched up both Stone and the Ward Pack’s omega.”

“She definitely seemed like she knew what she was doing. Especially when she fixed my dislocated arm,” Stone adds.

He’s regained a little bit of his color since lying back down, but he still looks like shit.

“I want to get the hell out of here,” he mutters under his breath.

“No.” Killian doesn’t even bother giving Stone a single glance, he just continues pacing.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, man,” I add. “You tried sitting up and you looked like you were going to pass out.”

“Then I won’t try to sit up again,” he grunts. “I’ll just do that from home.”

I’m surprised, but Milo cuts into the conversation.

“I think if he wants to recover at home, then he should,” Milo says, picking at his hands.

“I said no,” Killian snaps.

“Okayyy then,” Chase says, glancing at the four of us, his brows raised. “How about we change the subject. What does your little omega from the Southside have to do with the case? Other than the fact that she knows Luna?”

“Stone went in on his undercover mission to try and figure out the landscape of Northside involvement in the omega trafficking that’s going on in the Southside,” Killian says.

He finally stops pacing, though he substitutes that for tapping his foot on the floor.

“He disguised himself as a fighter for an underground fighting ring.”

“How did that go?” Chase asks, leaning his elbows onto his knees.

“Well, enough,” Stone shrugs. “That’s where I met Reyna, though. She worked as a ring girl there.”

“We sent Theo in next to pose as a John to try and get more information out of her.” Killian adds.

The three Ward Pack members raise their eyebrows as they turn towards me.

I lift my hands up in surrender.

“Hey, it sounds bad, but it was the best way to get close to her,” I say. “Plus, we never did anything.”

Not that I wasn’t tempted.

God, was I tempted.

Especially when her gaze would dart down to my lips and her perfume would sweeten like she wanted me to lean in and close the distance between us. But I didn’t.

I couldn’t.

Not knowing I had this huge secret I was hiding from her.

Well, now the cat’s out of the bag.

“She was one of the strongest leads we’ve had so far. She seemed knowledgeable about the club and brothel network,” Killian says.

“And the drug trade, too,” Stone says. “I actually got caught by one of the big players in the drug scene.” He lifts up his good arm to grip the back of his neck, letting out a huff of self-deprecating laughter. “Turns out they mean business.”

“I told you they meant business when you asked me about them,” Reyna says from the doorway.

I push myself off the wall I’m leaning against, a breath of relief whooshing out of my lungs at the sight of her.

“You—you did,” Stone says, a relieved smile appearing on his lips. “Should’ve listened to you.”

Luna peeks her head from around her and waves to the rest of us. “Hi! Sorry it took us so long to get back, we just needed some time for girl talk, you know?”

Reyna stares at the floor, her hands shoved in her pockets. She glances up at us and winces, her cheeks tinted with a little flush of something that looks shockingly like embarrassment.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Killian growls, stalking forward until he’s staring down at her.

She doesn’t back down.

Seriously impressive, if you ask me. I’ve seen alphas back down when they find themselves in Killian’s line of fire.

Reyna just glares back up at him, her shoulders stiff and her piercing gray eyes narrowed.

Luna lets out a little cough as she shifts closer to her bond mates, who all move defensively around her.

“Tone it down, asshole,” Reyna hisses.

“Why the hell did you throw yourself out of a window ?” Killian growls. His dominance is so thick in the air even I can feel it from across the room.

He reaches up to grip Reyna’s shoulders, but she jerks herself backwards until her back hits the wall.

“Don’t touch me!” Her face instantly transforms into a look of genuine fear and she flinches, her hands coming up like she’s bracing for a hit.

The room erupts with movement. I find myself instantly rushing towards her, but surprisingly, Milo makes it there first.

He stands in front of her, hiding her behind his lanky frame as he looks at Killian silently.

“Calm down, man,” I say, gripping Killian’s shoulder and pulling him a couple steps back. “Seriously, take a breath. You’re not helping the situation.”

Killian drags a hand down his face and takes a shuddering inhale.

“Are you alright?” I ask Reyna, leaning to look around the still-silent Milo.

My eyes dart down to where one of her hands is gripping the back of Milo’s t-shirt. It’s trembling, a little bit. There’s also a bandage there, on the palm of her hand.

“Wait, what happened to your hand?”

“Turns out throwing yourself out of a window, even if it’s on the first floor, has its consequences,” she says, lifting one of her hands to show the bandage along her palm. “Nothing serious, though, just a couple scrapes.”

“You’re not allowed to do something that stupid again,” Killian growls.

I shoot him a glare, because seriously, why does every other word out of his mouth sound like something—as Reyna put it—an asshole would say?

“Oh, I’m not allowed to do something stupid?” Reyna says, stepping out from behind Milo, her hands braced on her hips.

Something inside of me relaxes, seeing her normal fiery self. Seeing her terrified scared the shit out of me.

It also reminded me where she’s come from. What she’s been through. Even if she presents this strong front for the rest of the world, she’s still had to drag herself through hell.

“You have no right to tell me what to fucking do,” she continues, pointing her finger at Killian. “You just don’t want me hurt because that’ll ruin your precious case.”

Killian shoves me off of him, pushing past me and getting back into Reyna’s face. Though, for what it’s worth, he keeps his hands by his sides and makes it a point to not reach out to touch her again.

“I don’t want you hurt because I don’t want you hurt. Do I have to spell it out for you, princess?” He growls.

Reyna’s jaw ticks, but I notice the tiny almost imperceptible wobble in her bottom lip that she tries to hide.

“I don’t believe you,” she whispers, turning away from Killian.

“I think it’s best if we go,” Archer, the Ward Pack alpha says, guiding Luna past us and towards the door. “Call us for the main debrief whenever you have time.”

“It was nice seeing you again, Reyna,” Luna says, offering her a tight smile and a little wave. “I’ll have one of my guys figure out a way to get you my phone number, okay? Reach out anytime.”

“Thanks,” Reyna says, nodding, her movements jerky.

The room is dead silent after they leave. I can hear the heating system pumping air into the room.

“Why don’t you believe me?” Killian asks, softening his voice to the best of his ability.

Reyna jerks her head back and lets out a small huff of laughter.

“Why? Because there’re literally only two reasons why you guys would be interested in me.”

“Oh really? And what do you think those reasons are?”

“One, the case you all are involved in. Two,” her gaze darts to me. “Because your pack wants a little Southside omega plaything. Trust me, it’s not the first time an alpha’s wanted that from me and it probably won’t be the last, so?—”

“What?” Stone interrupts. “Little Southside omega plaything? What the hell are you talking about?”

“Theo said you guys were ‘interested’ in me, whatever the fuck that means,” she says, her brows drawing down in confusion.

“Actually, I said we wanted to see where things go between us,” I jump in.

“Yeah, exactly, same thing,” she huffs. “What the fuck else am I supposed to think? Especially when you guys said I wasn’t allowed to stay with my family?—”

Her voice breaks and she covers her mouth with her hand to cover the sound as she turns away.

“You guys know exactly what I am,” she whispers.

“Why the hell else would a rich Northside pack like you be interested in a girl like me? One of you guys literally spent thousands of dollars to buy my time.” She swallows hard.

“Considering the debt I owe you, for saving my family, it only makes sense you’d want to collect. ”

She looks so small right now.

I want nothing more than to close the distance between us and wrap her in my arms. And if she won’t let me close right now, I want nothing more than to hunt down all the fuckers who have put that idea in her head, that her only worth is in her body.

“That’s not what we want, not at all,” Stone says, his knuckles white as he fists the railings of his hospital bed.

“Do you really find it hard to believe that we’re genuinely interested in you?” I ask, softly.

“Yes,” she snorts. “You’re all alphas. Alphas only want one thing from an omega like me, and it’s not a future with 2.5 kids and a white picket fence, that’s for sure.”

“For what it’s worth, we’re interested in you for more than your body,” I insist. “I know you don’t believe what we’re saying now, and given the alphas you’ve probably dealt with in the past, I totally understand why you don’t, but please, at least give us a chance to prove it to you.”

Her gaze darts between the four of us warily, before finally landing on Killian.

“Only if you promise not to fucking yell at me like that again, not cool.” She bites her lower lip. “I can admit that throwing myself out the window was stupid, okay? But don’t come at me like that, it sends me into panic mode.”

“You’re right, I shouldn’t have reacted like that,” Killian says, his gaze intent. “I’m sorry.”

Her eyes go wide and her expression softens a bit.

“Huh,” she breathes out.

“Huh, what?” Killian asks, his brows drawing down in confusion.

“I guess I didn’t expect you to actually apologize,” she shrugs. “Most alphas I know wouldn’t.”

“Most alphas you’ve spent time with are idiots. Unfortunately, I know the type. I work with those kinds of alphas every day.”

Her expression sours at the mention of Killian’s other council members. Fair reaction, considering there’s a very high chance more than ex-Councilman Leclair, who was arrested a few months ago, is involved in unsavory activities.

“So, will you give us a chance?” Stone asks, leaning forward eagerly, despite the fact it’s probably causing him pain.

“Fine, we’ll see,” she huffs.