Page 15 of The Brooding Alpha’s Mate (Omegas of the Shifter Mafia #9)
Colson
I should’ve known things were going too well to be true. One minute, I was happy with my alpha, spending time with Chad after he escaped, or after we rescued him, and the next, I was tied up in the back of Dean’s fucking car.
He’d clocked me in the chin to knock me out. I’d flowed in and out of consciousness while he dragged my body at first and then decided to throw me over his shoulder. At least, I thought that was what happened. It was all a blur.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked after making sure my jaw still worked. The taste of blood was on my tongue, but a quick assessment told me I still had all my teeth. My cheek had been cut by them.
“None of your fucking business, wolf. You and your new friends ruined everything. Everything!” He roared so loudly that I would’ve clapped my hands over my ears had they not been zip-tied in front of me.
“That’s an interesting way of seeing things.” I was no longer afraid of this asshole. Sure, he was a lion and could eat me whole, but my mate was probably already on the way to get me, along with his crew. Dean was in the process of taking his last breaths. That’s what I had to believe.
“You’ve got a mouth on you now. Think you’re so high and mighty being with those people now, huh? One of them has taken you in, fucked you until you smell like him now.”
“Alex’s my mate. I’m bonded and marked.”
His eyes met mine in the rearview mirror. His held fear. I knew mine did not. “Is that right? It won’t matter if you’re dead.”
If. He said if. That meant he hadn’t decided what to do with me yet. Just like Dean not to have a plan. To fly by the seat of his worn-out and tore-up pants. It never worked out for him and this was no exception.
I scanned my surroundings, wondering how I could get out of this. We were traveling on a flat highway. Not a lot of trees or other obstacles around. If he lost control, we could probably flip, but I was sure I would survive it.
What I wouldn’t survive was going to another location with him and waiting for him to kill me, on the off chance Alex was unable to find me.
I looked down at my bound hands. I could try to snap the zip tie apart but out of nowhere, I had an idea. Stupid Dean. He made this so easy.
As fast as I could, I threw my tied-up hands in front of his face and jerked them back against his windpipe.
He reached up, trying to make me stop, screaming at me to, but he had to man the steering wheel at the same time.
I lifted my feet and pushed against the back of the driver’s seat as hard as I could to give me more leverage to choke him.
He swerved and began to ride the curb, but his face got redder until it phased to blue.
Then he stopped struggling.
As he convulsed, giving up the fight, he made a swift left turn, and we exited the road and moved out to the grassy field then back to the road. Then we hit the ditch.
The car began to barrel roll into the grass. I flopped and flipped upside down and side to side until the car stopped right-side up.
I could see blood splattered over the dashboard.
My ribs were broken or severely bruised.
That was when I heard two things at once. One, the ear-piercing roar of my bear in the distance.
And the moaning of Dean. Fuck. He was still alive.
Didn’t matter. My bear was on the way. The lion choking and whining was a dead man.
So I waited only a few seconds until the door was ripped away by my bear. He sniffed me and nudged my body with his muzzle until I walked away to safety.
Then Alex, the man, emerged and the look on his face, well, I never wanted to see it again. It was pure rage. His jaw clenched. His skin red. His eyes bulged in a way I could only describe as murderous.
He pulled Dean out of the car and I turned away from the scene. There was some grunting and yells from Dean, but soon those sounds died off.
“Are you okay? Colson, omega, talk to me.” Alex didn’t have to beg.
“I’m okay. Well, not really. I think I bruised some ribs or something. Is he dead?” I had to ask.
Alex stood in front of me, reaching out to take my hands in his. “Come here. Yes. He’s gone. I’m sorry I took so long to get to you.”
“I know you came as fast as you could.”
He tucked my head under his chin. “I did. I almost lost my mind thinking I might lose you.” He peppered kisses across my face and then down to my neck when he stopped dead.
“What?” I asked, feeling the change in the air.
“Why didn’t you tell me? Now I feel awful. I should’ve never let you out of my sight.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked. “Tell you what?”
“That you’re carrying our cub?”
I looked down at my belly as though it would answer for me. “I didn’t know. How…Alex, how do you know? Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.” He pulled me closer. “Your scent has sweetened. My bear can feel another life inside you, omega mine. Goddess, I love you. When I thought I might lose you, well, the feeling was all-consuming.”
“You have me,” I said, laughing. “You have us, I suppose now.”
He chuckled. “You’ve made me the happiest alpha ever, you know that, right?”
“I do now. And by the way, I love you too.”
Seconds later, Hammer and King arrived in a vehicle. They got out and assessed me, Alex, and a very dead Dean.
“Should we do something about the body?” I asked.
“Nah,” King said. “Let the fucker get eaten by the scavengers when they find him. Fought back, did you?” he said, getting close to Dean’s body.
“I tried to strangle him but it didn’t work. He crashed the car before he died.”
Alex kissed me. “Good omega, fighting back. That’s the way we do it.”