Page 76 of The Omega Exchange: Omnibus (The Exchange)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Rafe

Murphy and Luke drag Dimitri's body off the porch and into the backyard.

I help Wolfe take a seat on the steps. "I'm pretty sure that's going to need at least a couple of stitches."

Wolfe shrugs. "Can you see bone?"

"No," I sputter. "But he tried to bash your skull into your brain matter…"

"I'll be fine. They've got to have some super glue around here somewhere." He slaps my hand away and takes over holding the towel.

"We've got some at the house," Murphy says, like this entire situation isn't a visit to crazy town.

"This fuckwad is still alive." Luke frowns, holding two fingers to Dimitri's neck. "It's faint, but it's still there. Was that purposeful?"

"Asshole. Was it purposeful?" Wolfe scoffs.

"Technically it's extremely hard to kill someone from a broken neck. At least instant death. In most cases it causes paralysis that in turn causes organ collapse and then death," I tell them helpfully. All three of them look at me like I'm an idiot. Of course they already know that.

"Give it a few minutes, and I'll have finished the job just fine," Wolfe grumbles, still holding the towel to the back of his skull.

"I would have twisted his head right off his shoulders," Vik grumbles, stepping around Wolfe and coming to stand by the rest of us. The veins on his neck and arms are poking out and he still looks half feral. I believe it would have been a lot bloodier if he got his hands on Dimitri.

Vik's holding Ana so close to his chest that I vaguely wonder if she can breathe properly.

"Of course you would have," Wolfe says, sighing heavily. "In case anyone cares, I'm about ninety-nine percent sure I've also got a concussion. I'm still seeing double."

"Hey, asshole," Luke says, chuckling. "How many fingers am I holding up?”

"Two," Wolfe says without a lick of hesitation. "Why do you have two middle fingers on that hand?"

"That's not a good sign," Ana says, carefully untangling herself from Vik's hold and heading over to Wolfe once she's back on her feet. "We should get you to a hospital."

She's extremely numb in the bond. Which is concerning as hell. I'd imagine most civilians would be freaking out right about now.

Hell, I don't think I'll be able to forget the disgusting crunch of his bones breaking… Not for a long time. It was gruesome from where I was. I can't imagine what it sounded like up close and personal.

"What are we doing about that?" Luke asks, scratching at his jaw and frowning at Dimitri's body. He's no longer checking for a pulse, which hopefully means this shit show is over.

"I'd just like to officially say I told you so," Murphy says, crossing his arms over his chest. He kicks Dimitri in the thigh. "If we'd bought that large animal sanctuary, we'd be set right now. Free food for the animals."

"God." Luke laughs. "You're never letting that shit go. Okay, get it all out before we get back to the others."

"I mean…" I sigh when all their heads swivel my direction. "We've done nothing wrong. He came here with bad intentions. Add in the fact we're in a stand-your-ground state…"

"You want to call in Ned?" Murphy asks, scratching at his beard. Ned is the town's chief of police. "That seems like a lot of unnecessary headache." He looks at Wolfe. "No pun intended."

Anastasia snorts. Wolfe frowns. We're firmly in crazy town territory. Why is this even a question?

"There's definitely grounds to call it in," Luke says, leaning down again. "I figure if we give him about another two or three minutes he'll be nice and dead by the time they get here."

"Does Evie know there's a fifty percent chance the person she's having a baby with is a psychopath?" Ana asks, blinking and looking between Luke and Murphy.

"Hey," Luke says, frowning. "I thought that was the group game plan. I'm just being a good team player."

"Anastasia," Murphy growls. "That wasn't very nice. Evie will never know anything other than we came to help fix the broken water heater." He gestures toward the body. "Water heater repaired."

Anastasia scoffs. "With an assault rifle and a shotgun. Totally believable, but by all means. I'll never say a word."

"Good," Murphy says, holding out a fist to Anastasia. She blinks for several long seconds as her head tilts. Eventually she raises a fist. They bump and my jaw falls open.

"Evie likes you. I like to keep my future wife happy." Murphy shrugs. "I'm not losing any sleep tonight."

"Right, back to the Russian with mafia ties?" I ask, gesturing toward Dimitri with both hands. I find it more than a little disturbing we're all standing around talking like this is no big thing. Even Anastasia. What am I thinking? Especially Ana.

Vik and Luke start discussing options, but I take a step and pull her into my arms.

"Are you okay?" I ask, nuzzling my cheek to hers. "No one expects you to be totally fine right now. Don't feel like you need—"

"I'm good," Ana says, staring straight into my eyes. "I'm more than good. I'm fucking ecstatic. That asshole…" She frowns. "He tormented me over the years."

I bite my lip to keep from saying I think maybe she should speak to a counselor. I'm definitely going to bring it up somewhere down the road, but I'm not sure that now is the right moment.

"We can dispose of him easily enough," Murphy says, nodding to the body. "Or you can call it in. If you go that route we're not sticking around. We'll be stuck here all damn night, and that'll give me a headache."

"What do you want to do?" I ask Ana. I know her father kept her out of all the police reports having to do with her mom's murder and her attack. I honestly think it could give her some solace to finally speak her truth.

I carefully pull her a few feet away. "We can say Wolfe slipped on some ice.

That'll be enough of an excuse to get him checked out.

If we go with that choice it means we handle this ourselves.

" I nod to the body so I don't have to explicitly mention the disposing of his corpse.

"Or we can call in Ned. He's a friend and the chief of police. "

He's also former military and on the verge of retirement. I don't see him pushing this too hard. It's clearly a case of self-defense. Wolfe's injury only helps our case, as bad as that sounds.

"This is your choice," Vik says, coming over and pulling Ana into his chest. "We're all good with you making the call."

"Have I told you that I love you, dollface?" Wolfe asks, pushing himself off the step. He wobbles a bit. Once he's stable he comes over, kissing her cheek. "Because I really motherfucking do."

"I love you, too," she agrees, wrapping her arm around his back.

"Y'all should probably call before he starts getting cold," Luke says with a laugh. He waves over his shoulder. "We're out. Call us if you need us."

"Thank you," Ana yells as they head off toward the woods. They got here within five minutes of my call. They're good friends. It's not a long walk back to their place, but I imagine they parked somewhere in the woods. Otherwise, I have no clue how they got here so fast.

"Dealing with his car would be a pain in the ass," Wolfe concedes like he was following my train of thought.

"I've got this," Vik says, pulling his phone from his pocket. He steps away, making the call.

"Fuck," Wolfe says, leaning over. "Make sure they bring an ambulance. I think I’m about to puke."

I shake my head. I wonder if that was purposeful or if he's worse off than he led on?

It seems like the entire police force for our tiny town shows up. They immediately separate us to get our accounts of the events. The medics give Ana a field blanket when she starts shaking and eventually the officers take her inside to finish their questions.

Luckily, we have nothing to lie about so I'm sure our stories match up.

It's easy enough to see they believe us.

That or the fact we're in a sleepy mountain town that hasn't had a murder in five years means they're hesitant to break the record.

Self-defense is so much more palatable to the tourists than murder.

Wolfe answers a few questions, but they determine he needs to go to the hospital. Anastasia demands she be allowed to go with him.

Everything in the house is part of the crime scene. Luckily, Ned lets us grab Vik and Wolfe's truck keys. They have spares at the lodge, but that would take extra time.

The officers are still working, but Ned lets us leave as soon as we get the call that Wolfe is being discharged. It's a half-hour drive to the hospital.

Wolfe does indeed have a concussion, but we know what to look for and Lydia lives minutes away from the lodge. Anastasia sits curled up in the back next to Wolfe for the entire drive back. Their hands are linked together. Ana runs her thumb over the back of Wolfe's hand.

If I didn't know everything that happened tonight, I'd think they look peaceful.

Our suite in the lodge feels like heaven when we finally pile in after five a.m. It's been the world's longest night and we're all dead on our feet.

Vik's on edge even after we get back. Anastasia demands he sleep with us in the nest as a pack.

I know he reached out to Soren, Steele, and Merrick repeatedly and got no response.

He's desperate to warn them that Keeley is being tracked somehow.

It's concerning to me, too, but that's tomorrow's problem.

We've all got to get some rest.

I know Vik needs to be close to Ana tonight.

I grab a bowl in case Wolfe gets sick, and we all cuddle in close.

I'm stuck on the edge close to Wolfe. But as he petulantly points out, he almost got his brains bashed in.

I guess he earned it, but that only counts until the five stitches he got dissolve.

I roll my eyes, but take the spot furthest away from Ana.

I wake up with an ache in my neck because I'm using my arm as a pillow.