Page 33 of Whole in His Arms

“Just go get him and everyone in the room with him. I’ll explain later.” Nix didn’t have time to get into it.

Sam nodded and headed off to get Nix’s brothers. The sound of gunfire rang through the warehouse, and Nix jerked and looked back in the direction he’d come from. Fuck! Who the hell had been shot? He prayed to the Goddess it wasn’t one of his team members.

Nix tapped his earpiece. “Check in,” he whispered, knowing they could hear him. Before he got a response, he heard footsteps coming his way, and he squeezed his hand around the butt of his pistol and turned. Nix relaxed when he saw Sam with Cal and Jacobi. A few of the other omegas accompanied them, seemingly oblivious to what was going on. It hit Nix that these men were so accustomed to doing as they were told they’d followed Sam without question. Hell, even Sam had only had one conversation with him, and there he was, doing as Nix had asked.

Nix swore then and there these men would always know they had a choice.

But first, he needed to get them out of there.

“Come on!” Nix said.

“Where are we going?” Sam asked again. “What about Tre?”

“Where is he?” Nix asked.

“Oh, he’s out,” Sam frowned again. “Wait, does he know you’re here? We can’t leave.”

Nix waited for the other omegas to chime in, but they all said nothing. Some of them clutched the children they carried tighter.

“I’ll explain everything later.” Nix made sure to keep his voice soft. “But we have to go now.”

“But we can’t leave him. He’s family.” Sam was insistent.

For some reason hearing him call Tre family had Nix snapping. “He’s not your family.” he hissed. “We have to go now.” His brother nodded in understanding and hurried out of the room, four of the other omegas and three kids following him but Sam stayed where he was. Nix wanted to take his time and soothe the man, but instead, he wrapped his free hand around his arm and pulled him, although he made sure not to hurt him. They were so close to safety that he could taste it, now was not the time to … like he’d conjured the man, the door flung open, and Tre blocked their path.

He smirked. “Now, now, what do we have here?”

Sam pulled himself free from Nix’s grasp, but surprisingly stayed by his side. “I think we both know what this is. I don’t want no trouble.” Nix kept his voice calm.

“Fuck you,” Tre spat. “I knew something was off the moment we met. You think you can come in here and take my property?”

Goddess, he was tempted to put one in this man’s brain and get it over with, but Tre didn’t seem to have a weapon and shooting an unarmed suspect wasn’t on his to-do list—ever. No matter how much they deserved it.

Another gunshot tore through the silence and Tre’s body jerked, and he turned towards the sound, making a move to go outside. Nix grabbed hold of Sam and pulled him along. All the while praying the other omegas and children were safely out with his men—especially Cal and Jacobi. Nix immediately felt like an ass at that thought. He wanted everyone safe.

The moment he stepped out, Tre called out, “Stop right there!”

Nix was stunned as he saw Tre held a gun against the head of an omega he didn’t recognize. His body jerked forward, but he saw Tre’s finger twitch and froze.

“Don’t!” Sam gasped, pulling away from Nix. “Joshua,” he whispered in a tear-filled voice.

Nix tried to push Sam behind him, not wanting him to get hurt.

That relieved feeling of Cal, Jacobi, and the others being far away returned. Although he could tell his brothers were near, he didn’t dare take his eyes off Tre and the gun he pointed at the omega. The man might not be his blood, but he’d been through enough. He didn’t deserve this. Just the terror-filled, resigned look on Joshua’s face made Nix want to bash Tre’s face in. A bullet was too good for this asshole.

“If you don’t want to see him dead, then you’ll return my property, get the fuck out of here and never come back.”

Nix stared at Tre and then at Joshua. That would happen over his dead body. He lunged toward Tre, just as gunshots rang out all around them.

Chapter Eleven

River

River stretched out on the couch. He hadn’t expected to fall asleep, but that was exactly what had happened. He last saw five p.m. on his phone before he dozed off. Rick and Roman hadn’t left his side all day. Even Devon had stopped by earlier in the day with little Maddie.

River sat up and looked over to where Rick and Rome seemed to be having a heated conversation. He didn’t care that they were arguing, but he hated that they left him out. Especially since it likely concerned his mate.

“Hey,” he said. “What’s going on? What time is it?”