Page 56 of Their Knotty Pack (Starbrook City Omegaverse #3)

Bethany

M y lips are still tingling from Hunter's kiss as he walks me into the station, the night shift officers greeting him with respect and deference.

I'm met with nods and smiles as he leads me upstairs to his office, and when he motions me in, I sit in one of the plush chairs opposite of his desk. "I'll be back in a few minutes, bluebell."

I nod, and he shuts the door behind him. The room is silent, the only sound the kick of the air conditioning as it turns on. My curiosity gets the better of me, and I find myself on the other side of his desk, looking at the three framed pictures he has.

In one frame is a teenage Hunter, with a navy blue cap and gown, diploma in hand.

On either side of his huge body is an older Korean couple who look so much like him, it's obvious these are his parents.

They only come up to his shoulders, but he has his dad's nose and chin, and his mom's eyes.

I stare at the photo entirely too long, lost in the way his young eyes sparkle.

My eyes catch on the year, embossed on the corner of the photo.

Assuming he was eighteen when he graduated, that would make him… thirty-four now.

Five years older than me. It's not a big difference, but it's interesting, especially considering that makes him seven years older than Miles.

My eyes drift to the photo next to it, which melts my heart.

Two little boys, who are obviously Damien and Hunter, with their arms slung around each other's necks, all toothy grins and messy hair.

They can't be older than eight in the picture, and it's amazing to me just how differently the two of them turned out.

Hunter, with his calm and careful control, and Damien, all smooth grins and nonchalance.

The third and final picture, a selfie, taken by Damien, with Hunter, Brody, and Kieran all sitting at a bar.

My brow furrows as I peer closer. That's…

that's Bernie's. Which means this photo was probably taken on Christmas Eve.

Brody is giving a bright smile, Kieran is flipping off the camera, Hunter is giving his best friend this long-suffering look, and Damien…

well, Damien is Damien, signature playboy smirk in place as he takes the picture.

The night they all met for the first time.

My heart clenches. If I hadn't been so bitter, so resentful…maybe I would have met all my scent matches that night.

No. Not all of them. I wouldn't have had Miles.

We need to take some pictures of the six of us together, then I can frame it and have Hunter put us in his office. But for now…I reach into my purse, taking out my wallet. I find the small photo from when Miles took me to the pier before my heat and we did the photo booth together.

I'm smiling at the camera, while Miles is kissing one cheek, his opposite hand coming up to squish the other.

Pursing my lips, I try to find somewhere to put the photo.

On the frame with the picture of all the guys, there's a slight gap between the backing and the frame, and I slide it in so the picture peaks out from behind the frame.

I take a step back and admire my handiwork. There. That will have to do until I get a picture of the six of us.

My phone dings with a text and I pull it out, grinning at my omega's antics.

Miles

Alpha's first handjob! Put it in the scrapbook!

The picture that comes through is of him and Brody, both shirtless against the pillows of the nest, Brody passed the hell out while Miles snuggles against his chest. My heart warms at the sight, so happy we have a pack to take care of us in ways we're not quite equipped to care for each other.

Me

We have a scrapbook?

Love you. Glad he took care of you. ?? *red heart emoji*

Miles

Don't worry, nymph. I took care of him too ?? *winky face emoji*

Oh, btw, he calls me "sprite" now. It's adorable.

Me

Like the soda?

Miles

No, like the mythical creature. He went online and looked up mischievous creatures. YOU apparently are a pixie.

Smiling to myself, I shake my head, putting my phone back into my purse.

I turn, eager to see the rest of this office, and my eyes catch on something I have no idea how I missed before.

A rolling whiteboard, against the side wall and it's…covered. Maps, files, newspaper clippings…photos. Dozens and dozens of photos, all with women's faces—no, not just wom en.

Omegas.

All the missing omegas, some connected by red string, some with nothing surrounding them, but they all have one thing in common.

I recognize every single one.

My brain can't pinpoint why I recognize all of them, but it's unmistakable, I know that I've spoken with each and every woman on this board.

Names and timeframes are scrawled onto the corners.

Olivia Benson. Missing two years.

Heather Ortega. Missing six months.

Rhiannon Ford. Missing one year, three months.

Victoria Carter. Missing one year, eight months.

The names go on and on as my eyes fly across the board. Did I help these girls at the OMS?

The sound of the door opening has me jumping, and Hunter winces in apology. "Shoot. Sorry. I had just remembered this was in here. I was hoping you were snooping through my desk instead." He gives me a weak smile.

"I…" I can't get the words out. What are the odds I would recognize every single one of these girls?

Hunter misinterprets the reason for my horror. "I know, bluebell," he comes up next to me, wrapping a comforting arm around my shoulder, "I've been chasing this case for the last couple of years, and seeing their faces never gets any easier."

"I…" I close my eyes, willing the words to come out. I don't know what it means, but maybe Hunter will. "I recognize them."

Hunter stills, his arms dropping from my shoulders as he turns me, gripping my arms and looking into my eyes. "Them?" he asks carefully, not betraying any emotion. "Which ones, Bethany?"

"All of them." I choke out, glancing to the side, and finally it clicks into place. These are all omegas that Pack Hansen would take me to dinner to meet with.

"You're s ure it's not from the OMS?" Hunter's partner, Georgia, asks me gently from across the table. Damien grips my hand. He had gotten to the station a mere five minutes after my revelation, and decided to stay with me while I talked to Hunter and Georgia.

According to them, the missing omegas all have three things in common. They moved here from out of town, they are packless, and have no extended family in the area.

And now, they all met with Pack Hansen at some point before they went missing.

"I'm sure," my voice wavers slightly as I eye the board again. "We can even go back and look at their files. I won't be on any of them."

"How did we miss this?" Hunter is pacing, running a hand through his hair. "How could we have missed that every single missing omega met with Pack fucking Hansen at some point?"

I shake my head. "Some of these girls…Heather Ortega for instance, she went missing six months ago, but Pack Hansen met with her over a year ago."

"Do you remember…" Georgia trails off, looking worriedly at Hunter. "Do you remember what the meetings were about, exactly?"

"I don't, I'm sorry. A lot of it was just…talking. Getting to know them. They told me they were trying to build trust with the client so they would be hired." My hands run over my face. "I can't believe I was so stupid."

"You were not stupid ," Damien squeezes my hand. "Those assholes did a number on you."

"Bluebell, can you tell me exactly what kind of questions they asked?" Hunter kneels down in front of me, taking my hands in his. "Close your eyes, envision the meeting."

I do as h e asks, filling my mind with the mindless chatter of the restaurant.

"They would…" my nose scrunches my eyes still closed, "they would bring me to show they already had an omega, so they weren't trying to hit on them.

It was just…questions like their living situation, if they had any pets, what they do for work…

now that I'm saying it out loud, it seems so obvious, but they just had this… this way of making it seem normal."

Hunter's hands squeeze mine "None of this is your fault, Bethany. What else?"

"They'd work it into natural conversation, like 'oh, Bethany has always wanted a dog but I'm allergic.

What about you, do you have any pets?' or 'Bethany's hair always gets caught in the shower drain, isn't that the worst?

Oh? You live alone so you don't have to deal with that?

'" My hands tighten in his. They used me so much and I never even realized.

Am I partially to blame for these women going missing?

"Anything else?" Georgia hedges, and my eyes pop open as a memory hits me. Always the same last words.

"They…when we would leave dinner, they'd always say something about appreciating their discretion because 'not all clients get an hour of free time with Pack Hansen'.

" I had always brushed it off, but now I realize…

were they trying to keep the meetings a secret?

Not from me, but from any other prying eyes? Like the police?

"So they sold it as a privilege," Hunter murmurs, his eyes scanning the board. He stands, suddenly. "Bethany, were you and Lanie the only two at the OMS who helped omegas with scent cards?"

"At the Starbrook City OMS," I confirm with a nod. "But if they all moved here from out of town, they could have gone to the OMS local to where they came from."

"We'll have to go back and look at the victims' phone records again," Georgia mutters, pulling out her phone.

"Unless we can get proof that Pack Hansen met with all these omegas before they disappe ared, we won't have any reason to hold them beyond questioning. And then they'll know we're onto them."

"Do you think…" My mouth goes dry, and Damien hands me my bottle of water. I feel like I'm going to be sick. "Do you think Chris, Tucker, Grayson, and Preston…do you think they're the ones kidnapping them?"