by Shea Balik
“What are you talking about?” he snapped at Gal even as he grabbed his keys and headed out of his office. If the man was right, Soren needed to be at the hospital.
“Your Alpha instructors,” Gal growled the term as if it were offensive. “Decided it was time to teach Omegas they would never become officers and beat the hell out of them, as well as stabbed them.”
Soren’s feet stalled at hearing that. Rage filled him that he had, once again, failed the Omegas of this town. No. Not just the town, Omegas that were under his care as officer candidates. It was too much.
Without thinking, he slammed his fist into the wall. He heard several crunches of bones as he realized he’d stupidly picked the concrete wall to hit. That was just perfect. Then again, he probably deserved it.
Ignoring the pain, he raced out to his car and headed out of the parking lot. “What hospital?” he asked Gal.
“Hart’s.”
Turning left, he headed at breakneck speed toward the hospital. “I’ll be there in five.” Then he tossed the phone onto the passenger seat and wondered where he’d gone wrong.
Well, that wasn’t entirely true. He already knew where he’d gone wrong. What he didn’t understand was why he’d thought firing a few people would make it change when he continued to remain in his office all day instead of getting out and talking to those who worked for him.
It was just all that damn paperwork. It was a constant battle to keep on top of, especially when the previous chief hadn’t given a damn about any of it and left the place in shambles. Soren had inherited a mess. What he hadn’t realized until recently was that he’d also inherited a group of officers who didn’t give a shit about serving the community.
Sure, they helped Alphas, especially those with money. But the Omegas?
Soren shook his head in disbelief. It had been months since he’d found out about the stalker, yet, despite the fact that he’d ordered his Captain of Detectives, Robert Russell, to find the son of a bitch, nothing had really changed.
That fact had become crystal clear when the stalker’s accomplice, Mika Alston, had kidnapped Dr. Doss Callaway and nearly killed him. But the stalker had been one step ahead of them and ended up killing Mika instead.
In response to the captain not even attempting to do his job, Soren had fired him. But that hadn’t gotten them any closer to finding the stalker. Since the accomplice had taken Dr. Callaway onto Judy Mitchell’s estate and they’d ended up finding a few greenhouses they hadn’t known were there with the same flowers that had been sent to the Omegas at Hart’s, Gal and his team, which were far too few since they didn’t have too many detectives who had been willing to work on the Omega case, had been searching for her.
It had been as if Judy had vanished into thin air and they were no closer to finding out if she was the stalker or not. The only good thing was there had been no more flowers or cards with threatening notes left for any Omega at Hart’s.
Even though Soren would rather lock Judy up, hopefully her disappearing would keep the Omegas safe.
Pulling up to the emergency room, Soren parked and raced inside. Flashing his badge at the receptionist, she pushed the button to open the doors that would lead him into the treatment area.
Seeing the chaos going on around him, Soren’s gut clenched as bile rose in his throat. He’d seen a lot of carnage as a cop, but these men… they should have been safe. They’d been a part of the police department. Recruits. His recruits. If anyone should have protected them, it was Soren.
Anger boiled inside of him, mostly aimed at himself. He stalked over to where Gal and Jamal, another Omega in the force Soren hadn’t protected, stood talking. “What the fuck happened?” he bit out, although his gaze continued to take in the bruised, bloody, and broken bodies of the cadets who had trusted him to keep them safe.
Gal’s rage was palpable as he got right into Soren’s face. “You ignored my warnings about needing to keep them protected,” Gal snarled. “I told you the trainers were assholes, but you thought you knew better.” Gal’s arm went over to where a team of people were working on a patient in a nearby cubicle. “Now Levan may die because of you.”
Soren still wasn’t clear how Levan had even been involved. He was part of the forensic unit. He shouldn’t have been anywhere near the recruiting center. “Again,” he growled out, still pissed that he had let everyone down. “What the hell happened?”
Just when he was sure Gal was going to punch him, Jamal grabbed his ex-partner’s arm and shoved him back several feet. “As satisfying as it might feel at the moment, hitting Chief Larsen isn’t going to help. He’s on our side, remember? It’s not exactly his fault that most of the department are bigoted assholes.”
Except it was.
It was that fact that had Soren taking a deep breath and calming down. When he turned to stare at Gal, there wasn’t just rage in the man’s eyes, there was a healthy dose of pain and fear. He wasn’t sure if Gal and Levan were dating, but Soren knew Gal cared for the Omega.
Gal may have tried to hide it from Levan, and most likely the everyone around them, but Soren had seen the way the Alpha stared after Levan when he left the room. Or the way he had to force himself not to smile whenever the Omega entered a room.
“Look,” Soren told Gal. “You’re right, I fucked up. But it wasn’t as if I had much choice.” When Gal opened his mouth to argue, Soren stopped him. “Like you said, most of the station feels that Omegas aren’t worth saving. Who was I going to assign to protect them?”
Gal scowled, clearly not happy with the question. “I would have done it.”
Soren wasn’t at all surprised the man volunteered, but that wouldn’t have worked, either. “And since I’ve fired half of your department, who is going to help the rest of Hartland? Let’s face it. Right now, there aren’t many good options. If I fire everyone, crime will skyrocket and there will be no one to stop it.”
“You can’t possibly allow the scumbags who did this to continue training,” Gal challenged him.
Soren shook his head. “No. In fact, I plan to have them arrested and charged with assault, but at the same time, how do I train new recruits?”
Gal didn’t have an answer.
“Can you bring in outside help?” Jamal suggested. “Officers from other counties.”
Soren hated the idea of asking other police chiefs for help, nor did he think it would do much good. “There’s no way to know how those cops will treat Omegas.” It wasn’t one of his better excuses, but still valid.
But it did give him an idea. “What about you Jamal? Any chance you’d be willing to train officers?”
“I can’t,” Jamal instantly said. “With the stalker still out there, I won’t leave Hart’s vulnerable.”
“We don’t even know if the stalker is still in Hartland after shooting Mika.” Soren’s gut told him the stalker had just been lying low and would strike again, but there was no way to know when that would be. “What if you started their training here at the hospital?”
It was definitely an out of the box kind of idea, but Soren was also desperate. “The first couple of weeks is mostly in the classroom anyway, plus you’d be able to use them to help you find the stalker.”
Jamal seemed startled at the idea.
Fortunately, before he really had any time to think about it, Ronan Hart, who ran the hospital, walked up with his husband, Shale, who not only was the patient coordinator at Hart’s, but tended to appreciate crazy ideas. “That might be the best idea you’ve ever had, Chief Larsen,” Shale said with a grin that could only be called wicked.
“It was?” Jamal turned to Shale. He must have seen the glint in Shale’s eyes, for he said, “What do you have up your sleeve?”
Suddenly, Shale’s face morphed into the perfect picture of innocence. “Me? Nothing. It’s just a good idea is all.” Even Shale’s voice sounded completely guileless. “If it means training new cops to treat Omegas like people, as well as give you and Gal help to find and
stop the stalker, I just think it’s a good idea.”
Ronan gave something between a snort and a laugh. Then he kissed Shale’s temple and said, “You need more acting lessons, sweetness. I’m going to go check on Levan and see if there’s anything we can to do to help.”
Soren had noticed that at least three more doctors had come into the cubicle Levan was in. One of the original doctors that had been there when Soren had come into the ER was now near Levan’s head, leaning down close to his ear.
He would swear the doctor was whispering to Levan fervently. Soren couldn’t hear the words, but he was sure the man was encouraging Levan to fight. That a doctor would take the time to do that when there was still so much chaos around them, gave Soren a lot of respect for the man.
From what he could hear, Levan wasn’t doing well, and he could use all the support he could get. Knowing it was time to face the music and find out exactly what happened, he turned to Gal. “I get this was my fault for not protecting them, but what happened?”
Gal shook his head. “I don’t know how it went down, but I got a text from Levan that they were being attacked by the Alpha instructors.”
“Why was Levan even there?” Soren still wasn’t sure why Levan had been in that room.
“He was giving the recruits a lesson on cordoning off a scene and how not to contaminate it.” Gal’s hands curled into fists. “When I got there, it appeared that Levan had managed to pull four of the Omegas behind the front desk and was doing his best to stop the Alphas from getting to them.”
Closing his eyes, Soren wished he’d done more to clean out the station. He’d only stopped firing people when he knew they would run out of cops to take shifts. As it was, he was having to hand out overtime way too often.
“Where are the Alphas now?” Soren planned on arresting them himself if he had to.
Gal grinned. “They are hogtied in the training room. I can’t promise they won’t be able to free themselves since I didn’t take time to remove all sharp objects, but I did take the time to also tie them to each other, making it a challenge to move in any direction.”
For the first time since he’d gotten the call, Soren smiled. Then, because he knew Gal would never leave with Levan still on that gurney, he turned to Jamal. “I don’t suppose you’d like to go with me and help me get them put into a cell, would you?”
Jamal grinned back at him. “I would love to.”
At least Soren could do this for these men. It wasn’t much and it was way too late, but he’d be damned if the Alphas who had done this wouldn’t pay.
CHAPTER 3
Exhausted and sore after a long night, all Cillian wanted was to go to bed. It had taken calling two surgeons down to the ER as well as five more units of blood before they had gotten Levan stable enough to be taken up to the surgical suite.
In his career, Cillian couldn’t remember anyone coming into the ER as close to death as Levan had been and still surviving. He was sure there wasn’t a bone in the Omega’s body that hadn’t been broken, including at least six ribs, two of which had punctured his lung. He had tried to talk to Levan, ordering him to fight, but he wasn’t even sure the man could have heard him.
Whoever had beaten him hadn’t intended for Levan to live. It wasn’t until later that Cillian had discovered Gal had been the one to save Levan and the other Omegas.
Dropping down onto a chair in front of the main desk, Cillian turned on his laptop and started working on charting. He’d had a long night, but it wasn’t nearly over. Paperwork was one of those things that he hated yet had to be done.
Calling up the screen for the first case he’d worked on, Cillian started to work on filling everything out. All the medications were already listed as that was done by scanning the patient’s ID bracelet as well as the medication bottle being used. It was the same for each bag of saline and blood that had been given. But the details of what happened with each patient was up to Cillian to input.
Engrossed in what he was doing as he switched over to Levan’s file, Cillian ignored all that was going on around him. He wasn’t on duty, so there was no need to pay attention to incoming emergencies unless someone asked for him to assist, which he sure as hell hoped wouldn’t happen since he was too damn numb after dealing with Levan to be much help to anyone.
Ten fucking stab wounds. Ten. How Levan had stayed alive was a miracle, but according to two of the patients who had remained conscious, it had been Levan who had saved them.
The attack had come without any warning. Levan had been in front of the cadets going over how to tape off a scene when four Alpha instructors had come barging in. The first one punched Levan in the face, knocking him to the ground. Then all four had turned their attention to the class and started punching and stabbing them.
Levan had managed to pull three wounded men in front of the desk and push the desk, so they were mostly blocked from the Alphas. But instead of cowering with them to remain safe, Levan attacked the Alphas, trying his best to save the others.
In the end, two of the Omegas had died. There was no way to know if Levan would survive or not, but if he did, his life would be forever changed. And didn’t that just suck?
Not that Cillian was surprised. As an Omega, he had suffered many attacks from Alphas in his lifetime. But Cillian wasn’t one to just sit back and take it. No. Like Levan, Cillian would have done whatever it took to fight back.
He’d even learned martial arts to be able to defend himself. Although, he’d learned all it took was a knee or kick to the groin and most men, even Alphas, would drop like a rock. The thing was that Cillian didn’t stop there. If an Alpha thought he was going to get away with hurting an Omega, Cillian was more than happy to teach him how wrong he was.
“Where’d you get the flowers?” Rosalind asked as she dropped down on the seat next to him and put her head on the back as if she were ready to pass out.
Cillian frowned at her, then glanced up at the raised part of the large desk all the staff used to fill out their paperwork for the day. Sitting there was a vase with a yellow and orange flower that Cillian had never seen before.
His breathing stopped in his throat as his heart first skipped a terrifying beat before it took off like a racehorse. The sounds of the ER had become distant, almost as if he were in another world while his eyes stayed glued to the bouquet as if it were a snake about to bite him.
In a way, it was exactly that. There was no doubt in his mind who they were from. Why him? That wasn’t something Cillian was sure he wanted to find out. For the first time since he’d learned to defend himself, Cillian wanted to run and hide.
If only that were possible. He’d been warned about the stalker by several of his friends. Well, not warned exactly, more like being told about their own horrifying encounters and knew there was no such thing as hiding. Sooner or later, the stalker would come for him.
A rush of excitement rising around him had Cillian starting to become aware of his surroundings again. He still refused to look away from the flowers for he feared they would somehow come after him, which was stupid, but not something Cillian could ignore at the moment, either.
“It’s not much,” a deep soothing voice called out. “Just some food, both dinner for those who are ending their shifts and breakfast for those who are starting out in appreciation for the care and dedication you showed to my men.”
Like a magnet, Cillian found his gaze moving to the left where the voice came from. The big man who had fascinated him earlier stood there with a smile while putting several boxes down on the far side of the counter. But then, as if he sensed Cillian watching him, those soft grey eyes locked with his.
It was only a moment, but it gave Cillian control back over his body as he found the ability to breathe once again.
However, then the stranger saw the flowers and the rage that poured from him was strong enough to force Cillian to scoot his chair back several inches. He knew that anger wasn’t directed at him, but he could still feel it.<
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“Tell me those aren’t what I think they are,” the way too handsome man demanded as those grey eyes, now clouded with darkness, pinned him with nothing more than a look.
Unable to speak, Cillian willed himself to calm down. He was not some weak Omega. Despite this man who seemed to dominate the entire room or the fact that there apparently was a stalker after him, Cillian could take care of himself.
Forcing himself to stand, he reached out to pluck the white envelope from the odd-looking flowers. A hand wrapped around his wrist, stopping him. “Wait,” the man ordered. “I need to get forensics to clear the scene first. There might be evidence of who these came from.”
Cillian understood that, but the flowers were for him. The stalker intended to terrify him. Up to now, that had been accomplished, but Cillian was damned if he would let it continue. He yanked his arm away from the unknown man and grabbed a pair of gloves from one of the boxes on the desk. Shoving his hands into them he took the envelope out of the bouquet despite the thunderous look he was receiving.
Pulling out the card, Cillian forced the bile that was trying to rise back down. He was not about to let anyone think he was weak.
“What does it say?” It was formed as a question, but the man’s voice demanded an answer.
Swallowing, Cillian forced his own voice to be steady as he spoke. “You shouldn’t have saved them for they were nothing but scum. The time for warnings is done and soon you will meet my gun.”
It wasn’t as gruesome as some of the other victims had claimed theirs had been, but the stalker had made the point quite clear.
“Who gave these to you?” the stranger demanded.
Cillian glared at him. “Who the fuck are you to ask? I don’t know you. Hell, you might have been the one who sent them.”
Jamal, who had recently come into the room, walked up to them. “Cillian Driscoll meet Soren Larsen, the Police Chief.” Even as he introduced them, Jamal’s gaze was glued to the card in Cillian’s hand. “Please tell me that’s not from the stalker.”