Page 76 of The Runaway
“You are rioting in the streets,” Garnier growled, his grip on his gun tightening. “Inciting public disorder. I have every right to arrest you.”
Gabriel shrugged. “Then you never saw me. You go your way, we’ll go ours.” Garnier didn’t reply, though Gabriel could tell he was uneasy with the situation. “Do you honestly believe that the army shooting the omegas is the right thing to do?” If he said yes, then it was entirely likely that someone was going to die here today. And a ruthless part of Gabriel was willing to make sure it was Garnier.
But Garnier sighed, lowering his weapon a fraction. “No.”
Gabriel was already backing away, herding Lucas and Connor along behind him. “Then we were never here.” Once they’d created a bit of distance between themselves and Garnier, Gabriel turned and led the others down yet another side street, moving at a fast jog.
At the next corner, Gabriel paused, glancing out into the street cautiously. This one was emptier, though there were still a few people running about. “Okay, time to regroup,” he said, ducking back into the alley. “Is anyone hurt?”
“No,” Lucas said, sounding like he was about to pass out.
“A few scrapes and bruises,” Connor said. “Nothing serious.”
Gabriel nodded, but searched Connor’s face for any sign that he was lying. “You sure? How are you holding up?”
Connor was breathing fast, but that could be from exertion just as much as fear. “I’m okay. Really.” A steely look crossed his face, along with the shadow of a smile. “This is why we came here,” he said, sounding almost pleased about it. “Raise a bit of hell and make them see we’re not going to lie down and be trodden all over.”
Gabriel grinned, recognising the thrill of his own adrenaline rush. “Raising hell is all well and good, but don’t let them take you down with them,” he cautioned sternly. “What about you, Lucas?”
“I think I’m bleeding,” Lucas said, rubbing at the back of his head. His hand came away red.
“Turn around. Let me have a look,” Gabriel ordered. He parted Lucas’s hair, peering at the cut. It was shallow, though the blood was making a thick, wet patch in Lucas’s hair. “Are you dizzy at all? Headache? Blurry vision?”
“Nah. It stings a bit, but I don’t think it’s bad. I think I just scraped myself on a brick wall.” That was likely Gabriel’s fault, having been dragging them in and out of doorways.
“Hmm. You’ll live. If you start feeling off, though, tell me straight away.”
Lucas nodded obediently.
“What about the rest of this? You holding up okay?”
“Can we just take a breather for a second? That was intense…” Lucas glanced back down the alley, which was fortunately empty for the moment.
“Sure. We’ve got some time to-”
“Stand still, you impertinent little shits!” a voice bellowed from beyond the end of the alley. A scream followed, then a woman’s voice.
“Fuck you, you fat, lazy fuck! You get away from him!”
“Stay here,” Gabriel said, already on his feet and heading towards the street. He wasn’t sure at the moment whether he was intending to help whoever was being threatened or to simply assess the situation and get his own group away from it, but his heart dropped to his feet as he rounded the corner and saw a soldier, armed with a rifle and bayonet, threatening a group of four omegas. There were two men and two women, and one of the men was lying on the ground, bleeding from a head wound. One of the women was bravely standing between him and the soldier, holding a long metal pipe to defend herself.
“Fucking runaways,” the soldier snarled at the group, not at all threatened by one small omega woman. “I’m gonna take you back to the barracks, and then a hundred fucking soldiers can have their way with your sweet little asses before you’re publically flogged as an example to the rest of them.”
A plan formed in Gabriel’s mind, and he acted on it before he had a chance to think twice. “Thank you, sir,” he said loudly, stepping out into the street. He drew himself up, almost swaggering over to the man, making the point that he was an alpha, and that he was the lord of his own domain. “I believe you’ve just done my job for me. I was looking for this lot. You just saved me the trouble of chasing them all over Paris again.”
The omegas were watching him warily. The woman at the front, in particular, seemed grateful for the interruption, but also uncertain about Gabriel’s intentions. He needed them to trust him, but how the hell was he going to make that happen without the opportunity to explain himself? Another idea occurred to him – a daring and reckless one, but he had no time to think of a better option.
“Connor?” Gabriel shouted, feeling a thousand different emotions as he called his omega’s name. Dragging Connor into this mess could very well get him killed, and that was something Gabriel would never forgive himself for. But letting these omegas be dragged off to be raped and beaten would also haunt him forever. But as he turned and looked back the way he’d come, Connor was right behind him. Gabriel’s first instinct was to curse the man for his stupidity. He’d told Connor to stay in hiding! But a split second before he spoke, he realised that Connor was playing right into his plan – and all the better for it, since he’d have heard the soldier’s threat and could hopefully figure out what Gabriel was planning.
“Oh, well done,” Gabriel said, adding a heavy dose of sarcasm into his voice. “You’re actually managing to follow instructions for once. Get over there with the others.” He pointed to the terrified group, and without even a moment’s hesitation, Connor darted over to them. Gabriel turned his attention back to the soldier, but he knew without a shadow of a doubt that Connor would be quietly insisting to the other omegas that his alpha was trustworthy and they should obey his orders if they wanted to get out of this mess alive.
“You let your omegas wander the streets alone?” the soldier sneered at him.
“Of course fucking not,” Gabriel snapped at him. “The lot of them ran away, little assholes. I had to come all the way to Paris to fetch them home again. I’d just caught up with them when the shooting started, and we got separated. And now I’ve bloody well found them again, so we’re all going back home.” He glared at the omegas, for the benefit of the soldier, and a few of them looked contrite, playing their part perfectly.
The solider nodded… and then a knowing smirk landed on his face. “Oh, I see what’s going on here,” he drawled. “They’re not yours, are they? You’re just here to have a bit of fun, aren’t you? Stealing what’s roaming about unguarded? Getting your dick wet while no one’s looking? These omegas are under arrest, so you can get out of my way and let me do my job.”
Unlike Garnier, there would be no convincing his man to just walk away. And with no weapon of his own, Gabriel knew he needed to talk his way out of this, rather than fight.