Page 44 of Follow Your Instincts (Fairview City Omegaverse)

Maggie

I t took longer to find parking downtown than the guys expected, but we finally made it to the precinct with a few minutes to spare. I was wearing my best court suit and a full bottle of descenter spray.

Looking up at the building, dread pooled in my stomach. I hadn’t been here since the night of Todd’s attack, which felt like a lifetime ago, even if the calendar said it’d only been about a month and a half.

Would this help me feel like I could come back to work? What if they didn’t fire Phillips? Could I work in a place that couldn’t even protect its officers?

Before I could spiral too much, Lachlan led the way into the building.

The lobby was the same as always, and Officer Gunnison was behind the desk. She gave me a friendly wave and waggled her eyebrows at the Alphas around me. I blushed, smiling. I missed my coworkers. Well, most of them.

Soren met us in the lobby, his face tight.

He was dressed more professionally than normal, but his wavy hair was a bit wild.

“Learned more about what the hearing is,” he said.

“It’s in front of a panel, not a judge. It’ll be Captain Harcourt, that Sergeant Broad dick from Internal Affairs for the district, and a representative from human resources. ”

“Okay,” I said. “That doesn’t sound so bad.” I’d been imagining a full courtroom.

“No. But he’s gonna be in the room. Phillips,” Soren said. “You gonna be okay?”

“She’s got this,” Ben said confidently, threading his arm around my waist.

Lachlan was barely containing his growl. “How big of a room?”

“Conference room,” Soren answered. “Tight quarters.”

“Right,” Lachlan said. He turned and pulled me over to the side of the room near the benches where they made walk-ins wait to talk to an officer. “Can we scent mark you? I want to show this animal that you’re protected now.”

I flushed. My mind immediately flashed to Ben and Lachlan scent marking me the day before in a way that would definitely get us all arrested. “Right here?”

Ben laughed loudly then stifled it by biting his knuckle, understanding brightening his eyes. “No, you pervert. Like this,” he said, brushing his cheek against mine. Watermelon and basil lingered against my skin. “You have such a dirty mind.”

Lachlan followed suit on my other cheek, his whiskey and tobacco mingling with Ben’s scent. Lucas spun me to face him and brushed his cheek against the base of my throat so molasses and spice floated up and calmed me down.

“My scent won’t hold, but fuck it,” Soren said and pressed a kiss to the nape of my neck.

Some of the dread in my stomach slipped away, like water washing down a drain. Their scents were grounding me. My Alphas were showing the world I was theirs .

And they were my Alphas, I realized. This was my pack. I felt tears welling, not from fear but gratitude that I’d found this amazing group of men. I just hoped they’d want to keep me, too. I took a deep breath, and their scents swirled around me.

“Ready?” Soren asked .

“No. Let’s go,” I said and led the way to the conference room.

We used descenters in the precinct, but I could still detect Todd’s noxious sweet orange scent. I tried to breathe through my mouth.

The hearing was in one of the smaller conference rooms. It had just one battered oval table, and a line of chairs against the blinds blocking the beautiful view of an impound lot.

Todd was sitting by himself at the far end of the table from the door.

He smirked at me as I entered, but it faltered slightly at the sight of my pack behind me.

“Officer Carter,” said Captain Harcourt, looking as genuinely happy to see me as I suspected she ever was. She nodded at Soren, but frowned at the three other men. “Detective Murray.”

Sergeant Broad was standing next to her, the smarmy fuck, along with an older man who looked like someone’s grandpa.

“I didn’t realize Officer Carter would be bringing backup,” Sergeant Broad said ironically.

“How is this not intimidation?” Todd said.

“They’ll wait outside,” I said. Lachlan made an indignant noise behind me, but didn’t argue.

“Detective Murray will need to stay, though, since he was a witness in the investigation,” the old man said.

Ben and Lucas both squeezed my hands as they left. Ben winked and I almost smiled. Almost.

Soren and I sat as far from Todd as the table would allow, facing the three committee members. Captain Harcourt set up an ancient video camera on a tripod and pressed record.

“This is a disciplinary hearing about case 04746, a complaint lodged by Officer Margaret Carter against Officer Todd Phillips alleging sexual and physical assault. The purpose of this hearing is to determine an appropriate course of action in regards to Officer Phillips’ employment with the Fairview Police Department.

This is not a hearing to determine criminal or civil wrongdoing, which falls outside the purview of this committee,” the old man said in his reedy voice.

“This committee is composed of me, Gregory Marshall, Director of Human Resources for Fairview Police Department, Sergeant Frederick Broad of Internal Affairs, and Captain Alice Harcourt of the precinct where the alleged attack occurred. "

I zoned out a little, trying to calm my breath. I kept my eyes down on my lap where my hands were twisting together. Soren gently tapped his foot against mine since he couldn’t do anything else.

“I’m not going to require testimony from the parties here today,” Marshall said, and I looked up in surprise. I wasn’t even going to get a chance to tell my side of the story?

“I have listened to the taped interviews provided by Officer Carter, Detective Murray, Officer Phillips, and Captain Harcourt. I have also watched the video pulled from the cameras outside the women’s locker room in this precinct, and spoke to several character witnesses for both parties,” he continued.

“It is clear to me that Officer Phillips did, in fact, attack Officer Carter that night. Whether or not he was feral, or why that might have happened, I don’t know.

But the injuries Officer Carter sustained are consistent with an attack like the one she described. ”

“That is bullshit!” Phillips yelled, his face growing red. “You know those two are fucking, right? They set me up!” He flung a finger in Soren's and my direction.

“Detective Murray was not in a romantic relationship with Officer Carter at the time of the assault,” Captain Harcourt said. “Their current relationship is not relevant.”

Sergeant Broad gave Todd a quelling look when he opened his mouth again, and weirdly, he complied.

“In light of this misconduct, it is the decision of this committee to revoke Officer Phillips’ employment with the Fairview Police Department, with prejudice. Officer Phillips, you will not be entitled to re-employment at this police department, or any other in the state.”

Phillips was seething. “You fucking bitch,” he said to me through gritted teeth. “You’re going to fucking pay for this.”

“Officer Carter, you may leave,” Marshall said. “There’s no reason to keep you any longer, as it’s clear Mr. Phillips can’t control himself.”

My ears were ringing, and not just with the sound of Todd’s yells.

It was done. The anticlimax of it all made me feel dizzy.

He was fired and could never come back, while my future was now open.

And he knew I was protected, surrounded by Alphas who had my back.

I followed Soren from the room, blocking out the disgusting things Phillips was saying. It didn’t matter anymore.

Ben spotted me first as we re-entered the lobby. He jumped up and rushed to me. “Please tell me that a five-minute hearing is a good thing?”

“He’s fired,” I said, finally letting myself smile. “They believed me.”

“YES!” Ben shouted, punching his fist in the air.

“We should probably celebrate somewhere else,” Lachlan said, looking back towards the conference room. Todd’s voice was audible through the door, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying.

I held Lucas and Ben’s hands as we exited the building. I felt lighter than I had since the night I presented, but it still didn’t quite seem real.

As we made our way to the parking garage, Phillips caught up to us. He was out of breath from running and his face was red with exertion and anger.

“You fucking miserable cunt. You just had to ruin someone’s life,” he said, staying just out of reach of the guys.

“Back up,” Soren said, stepping forward.

“Oh, Mr. Big-Dick Beta,” Todd sneered. “You won’t do shit.”

I put a hand on Soren’s back. “He’s not worth you getting fired over. We’re also about fifty feet from a police precinct, he’s not going to do anything,” I said, sneering right back. People were watching, and someone had already started recording on their phone.

“Listen to the Omega. Bitch already has you pussywhipped,” Todd said .

“Get Maggie to the car,” Soren said. He didn’t move.

“Once these shitheads are done using you, your pussy is gonna be good for nothing but a fucking meatgrinder. You’ll be begging for me to stuff your holes, then,” he said with a venomous smile, then spit at me.

Lucas lunged forward and I thought he was going to hit Todd, but he pulled his punch at the last moment. Todd flinched.

“ Down ,” Lucas barked at him, and Todd’s knees buckled, obeying the innate dominance in his voice. “You’re weak. You’re a weak, pathetic man.”

Todd tried to scramble up.

“Did I say you could get up? Down ,” Lucas barked again. “Stay there.”

He turned back to me, his eyes blazing. He lifted me effortlessly and carried me towards the parking garage.

“You fucked up,” Todd screamed at us, still cowering, but Lucas didn’t stop. He was taking long, fast strides, and I could feel the tension coursing through his body.

“Lucas?” I asked tentatively. I’d never seen him like this.