"No," Dustin sputtered. "I didn't do anything to her. She ran away from me."
"Ty, you don't want to do this," Agent Christie's calm voice called out behind him.
But he did. He really did.
Ty tightened his grasp again. Even a dozen guns being pulled from their leather holsters didn't change his mind. He didn't have to look around to know they were either pointed straight at his head or his chest.
Still, he wasn't about to let the worm go.
"She didn't run away from anyone," Ty snarled. "She could barely walk when I found her. Her knees were bleeding. Her face was bruised."
The last bit of color drained from Dustin's face.
"Oh God," he choked. "What did I do?"
Ty's lip curled up. "That's what you're going to tell me. Now."
"Ty," Agent Christie's reasonable voice again. "He won't be able to tell us anything if you don't put him down."
True.
Ty pondered the fact that the kid hadn't told the FBI the truth either. But Ty wasn't restricted by the beta agent's rules and regulations. He didn't have to play nice. All that mattered to him were answers.
Ty lowered the worthless beta down just far enough for the tips of his toes to scrape against the gravel.
"Now, talk," he demanded.
"I don't remember much," Dustin sniveled. "I was so wasted."
Ty dug his fingernails into soft flesh. "Try harder."
"I remember being at the concert," Dustin gasped. "I remember being pissed that Mia kissed some other guy. Then the next thing I knew, we were in Josh's car."
"Dustin!" the other beta—the one Ty had almost forgotten about in his rage—shouted from behind the safety of the RV door. "Shut the fuck up, man."
Ty scowled down at the beta in his grip. "Keep going."
"That's right," Dustin said as though the memory of the night was starting to come back to him. "Josh said we should bring Mia out here to teach her a lesson. That a night in the Boundarylands would scare the slut out of her."
"Dude. Shut up!"
But Ty was focused on the memory of Mia's words that first night.
I'm not a whore. I'm not a slut.
New fury flowed through Ty's veins as he considered that these two worthless sacks of flesh had dared to speak of his omega in that way.
"That's not what you told us in your sworn statement," Agent Christie said, coming down from the porch. "You told us that the senator's daughter ran away after an argument."
"He's lying," the one named Josh shouted.
Ty's gaze snapped to the coward. "He's not. I can smell the truth pouring out of him. Just like I can smell your cowardice. Soon the only thing in the air will be the stench of your blood."
"Oh, God." Tears started to pour down Dustin's face. "I h-handed Mia over to a m-monster."
A deep growl rumbled through Ty's chest. With a flick of his wrist, he sent Dustin flying through the air. Mia's ex-boyfriend might have been the one who did the dirty work of hurting her, but it was obvious he wasn't the one calling the shots that night. The idiot pup didn't have the guts…or the brains.
The clutch of agents finally came to life and rushed toward Dustin, who had landed against one of their SUVs with a heavy thud. By the sound of his screams, he'd be needing a cast for at least one of his legs.
With the agents' attention focused on him, Ty had plenty of room to go after the one who most deserved the harshest justice.
The one named Josh.
The spineless bastard saw him coming. With a terrified shriek, Josh ducked back inside the RV, slamming the door behind him.
A grim smile spread across Ty's face. As if a flimsy door could ever stop him.
With one sharp pull, he wrenched the thin metal loose, tearing it free from the hinges. Hunching down to clear the door's frame, Ty climbed inside. He found the coward who had hurt his omega cowering in the back of the vehicle.
"Please don't kill me," Josh begged.
Pure disgust roiled in Ty's belly. Had Mia begged for mercy from this sniveling beta before he tossed her out in to the unforgiving night? Ty could only imagine how scared she'd been. How alone.
She'd never feel those things again. Now Mia had him to protect her.
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't rip you limb from limb," he snarled.
"Because I wasn't the one that hit her," Josh cried. "I wasn't the one who dragged her out of the car and threw her into a ditch."
Ty didn't give a single shit. Beneath the stench of fear and piss, Ty could sniff out the beta's conniving nature.
"Maybe not," he said. "But your friend out there didn't come up with the plan on his own. You're the one who told him what to do. And now you're going to face the consequences."
"I don't want to die," the beta wept.
Too bad.
Ty gritted his teeth as he pulled his fist back. He was just about to bring it down as hard as he could against the side of the coward's skull, turning bone to dust, when he heard the unmistakable sound of a gun hammer cocking into place.
"Killing him would be a mistake, Ty," Agent Christie said softly at his ear.
Ty grimaced. "Let me guess—because then you'd have to shoot me?"
"That's one reason," the agent said calmly. "But think of what would happen after. If you die, Mia would be left alone, and I would have no choice but to go onto your land, bring her out and give her back to her father. Is that really what you want?"
Fuck.
Christie was right. The goddamn reasonable agent was right. There was something more important than Ty's lust for revenge.
Mia.
He couldn't keep her safe if he was in a cold grave in the ground.
"You don't have any idea how lucky you are, do you, shitbag?" he snarled at Josh.
"You're not going to kill me?" Relief—and a hint of smugness—showed in the kid's eyes.
"No."
"Oh, thank God." The smugness took over his expression, driving out any remorse.
"I'm just going to break every bone in your jaw," Ty said, before hammering his fist into the side of Josh's face.
The coward collapsed instantly, clutching his bleeding mouth and wailing to high heaven.
Feeling somewhat satisfied, Ty turned on his heel and started toward his truck.
"He's not dead," he called over his shoulder.
Agent Christie gave him a nod of approval. "That's all I asked."
Chapter Seven
He'd been gone far too long.
Mia rubbed her hands together as she sat cross-legged on the couch. She wasn't cold or stiff anymore. The bath had warmed her skin and soothed her muscles. Now she was just nervous.
The anxious feeling had started the second Ty had left the cabin and grown stronger with every passing minute.
At first, Mia thought she was just worried about him finding Dustin or Josh or—God forbid—her father. But if that was the case, why wasn't she taking the opportunity to run away?
After all, with Ty gone, Mia had the perfect chance to leave. The moment her strength returned, she could have bolted out the door and never looked back.
But she hadn't.
Instead, she'd soaked in the bath, washed her hair and her body, and let the steam soothe her mind.
Even when she was out of the tub, dried off, dressed, and feeling fully recovered, she'd still stayed inside the house. There was a part of her that just couldn't leave. She didn't just want to stay…though she couldn't explain it, she had to.
At one point, Mia had even opened the door and gone out onto the patio for a while. The farthest she'd made it was to the bottom of the steps before feeling the overwhelming need to rush back inside.
Somehow, over the last few days of her life, something had changed. Something essential and irreversible.
Now Ty's two-room cabin was the only place where she felt safe. The only place she wanted to be.
But the house didn't feel complete. It was missing something.
Him.
This new reality confused the hell out of Mia. She couldn't deny that her body needed his. That much had become shamefully clear when she'd lost days in a lust-filled haze.
But no. There was more to it than that.
Mia sat, waiting to hear the sound of Ty's truck driving up the dirt road, but it wasn't because she simply wanted his cock. She needed something deeper. His steadying presence. The sense of security that surrounded her when he was close. The knowledge that in his eyes, she was special…Worthy….Sacred.
She didn't know where these needs came from. All she knew was that something so sudden and profound had to come from a force outside herself.
After all, she barely knew Ty. She'd only learned his name a few hours ago. She knew hardly anything about his life, or his values, or his—
The sound of tires on gravel snapped Mia out of her thoughts. She jumped up from the couch and ran to the door, opening it just as the familiar worn brown truck came to a stop under the large tree out front. A cluster of birds flew from the branches as Ty threw open the door and stepped down.
Even from her perch on the porch, Mia could spot the storm clouds darkening his brow.
But far more frightening were the splashes of dried blood on his knuckles and shirt. Mia covered her mouth as she took in the horrific sight.
A thousand questions swirled in her head. Whose blood was it? What had they done to rile his anger? Had they lived to walk away?
Mia couldn't bring herself to ask any of her questions out loud. She wasn't sure she could deal with the answers. So instead, she asked the safest question she could think of.
"What happened?"
"I told you." Ty didn't bother to look her in the eye as he reached the top of the stairs. He just kept walking right into the house. "I had business down at the bar."
Mia should have let it go at that. If there was one thing she'd learned over the years, it was how to hold her tongue. But something inside her had changed. And even though she feared what might happen if she pushed Ty too far, she couldn't stop herself.
She'd been left alone too long. The worry inside her had built to unbearable levels. She needed answers.
"What business?" Mia angled herself half in and half out of the open door. He still didn't answer, so she stomped her foot. "I want to know."
Ty stopped halfway through the room. The line of his shoulders pulled back, tightened.
Mia tensed reflexively. She knew what usually followed when a man flexed like that.
Ty swiveled around. The look in eyes had hardened to polished steel.
Mia swallowed down a new shock of fear. It was too late now to take back her question. She knew from experience she couldn't run away. If she was destined to take her punishment, she might as well stand her ground.
"You want answers?" Ty's tone dripped with mockery. "You haven't said a truthful word since I carried you through that door."
"You can't blame me for that." Mia lifted her chin. "I never asked to be brought here. I' m—I'm a prisoner here."
"A prisoner with an unlocked door, and hours alone," he shot back. "A prisoner who begs me not to stop until she's filled with my knot and exhausted from hours of pleasure."
Mia tried not to flinch under the force of his words. She tried to be strong.
She lifted her shaking chin. "I have a right to know the truth."
Ty's nostrils flared, and Mia felt her newfound courage slip.
"And I don't?" His voice dipped dangerously low. The air between them crackled with tension. "Why didn't you tell me your lover left you bloody and broken by the side of the road for kissing a stranger?"
Mia's jaw dropped. "How do you know that?"
"Because that was my business down at the bar," Ty muttered. "I went to talk to the men who are looking for you."
Her blood turned to ice. "You told me Dustin wasn't here."
"I was wrong. Both your beta friends are—Dustin and Josh." He snarled their names. "They're helping the FBI track you down. At least they were."
Were.
Oh, God.
"What did you do to them?"
Ty curled his fingers into a fist and lifted his blood-covered knuckles up to the light. "Made it so they'll never hurt anyone else."
Her stomach clenched. Waves of nausea churned in her gut as she felt the blood drain from her face.
"You killed them?"
His glower deepened. "Unfortunately, no."
Mia wrapped her arms around her middle. Leaning over, she let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God."
"Thank God?" Ty's roar echoed against the walls, making Mia bolt upright again. "For what? For saving the lives of the beta cowards who beat and ridiculed a defenseless woman before abandoning her in a ditch?"
Mia shook her head. Not because Ty wasn't telling the truth, but because she didn't believe that they'd committed a crime worthy of the death penalty.
"They were drunk," she said. "High as hell. I doubt they even knew what they were doing."
Ty's lip curled in disgust.
"Oh, they knew," he said with absolute certainty. "They knew enough to make up some bullshit story about how this was all your fault. How you ran away to the Boundarylands after getting your feelings hurt."
What?
Mia pressed her lips together. Their lie felt like another slap across the face, but she wasn't surprised. It certainly sounded like the kind of story Josh would come up with, one that painted her as the villain and took all responsibility off him. Mia drew in a shaky breath.
"I'm not saying they aren't assholes and cowards, but—"
"But what?" Ty strode toward her, stopping so close that she had to crane her head back to keep her eyes on his. Still, she didn't shuffle back. Not even a single step.
Mia had no idea where her courage was coming from. Ty was so much bigger than she was, so much stronger. He could crush her like an insect if he wanted to.
But he didn't …and somehow she knew he wouldn't. She'd never felt that sense of certainty around any other man before.
"But no one is a monster," Mia said, raising her hand and placing it against his chest. "Not them. Not you."
Even through the material of his shirt, she could feel the pull of his body. Like a primal urge, all she wanted was to be closer.
Ty narrowed his gaze. "You don't think I'm a monster?"
She shook her head. "Of course not. A monster wouldn't have tried to help a stranger on the road, the way you helped me."
Nostrils flaring, Ty drew in a deep breath. Her hand rose and fell with the swelling of his chest. "You didn't think so then. You hurt yourself trying to get away."
"That's because I was scared," she tried to explain. It only took Mia a heartbeat to realize he didn't understand.
Ty was an alpha. He didn't know fear, at least not the way she did. He'd never been hurt by someone bigger, never been afraid he was going to die.
"And what about now?" he asked. "After spending days locked up like a prisoner? Knowing that I can rip the heart out of your ex-lover's chest?"
Mia bit into her lip. She didn't know how to answer. Her thoughts were a messy jumble, her emotions clashing and conflicting with each other.
Yes, she wanted to run. But at the same time, she wanted to stay.
She answered the only honest way she knew how. "I still don't think you're a monster."
His mouth stayed flat, but the corners of his eyes barely twitched with unnamed emotion.
It seemed that she wasn't the only one having trouble putting a finger on what exactly was going on between them.
"You sure about that?" he growled.
Mia couldn't help the smile that flickered across her lips. Yes, she was sure. She didn't know why. All she knew was that she felt something powerful toward Ty. Something that she would never feel toward some thoughtless beast.
"A monster wouldn't care what I think," she said. "He wouldn't have drawn me a bath, or given me food. He sure as hell wouldn't have stopped hi
mself from killing the people who angered him."
"Then tell me what I am." Ty moved closer. It wasn't much, just inches, but the pressure of his hard chest increased against her palm. The steady beat of his heart pounded beneath his breast bone, strong and rhythmic, like a drum calling out to her. "Tell me what you feel."
Mia's mouth fell open. She didn't know what to say. No idea how to put all her new and conflicting emotions into words. How could she?
The feelings roiling inside her now were so different than the uncontrollable lust she'd experienced before. She still reacted to the feel of his body. Her attraction was just as strong, but now everything just felt…different.
"I…don't know," she admitted. "I've never known anyone like you."
"No, you haven't." His lips lifted, just slightly. "And you never will again."
"Because you're an alpha?"
He leaned in even closer, forcing her hand to slide up his chest, up to his shoulder. Still, she didn't pull away. Not because she couldn't— she was in complete control of herself, of her emotions, of her reactions, everything—but because she simply didn't want to.
"Because I'm your alpha, and you are my omega."
His words caused her core to tighten. Her heart hammered. Slick pooled between her legs. Even so, there was still a part of her that fought against his words.
Mia couldn't deny her sexual attraction to him, but she bristled at the thought of being anyone's anything. She'd spent her whole life being defined by her relationship to someone else.
She was Senator Baird's daughter. Dustin's girlfriend. Josh's victim.
Now she was Ty's omega.
As if to emphasize the point, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against him. The outline of his swollen cock pressed against her belly. More slick flowed, even as the conflict inside her grew.
Ty must have sensed her hesitation because he lifted her chin with his finger, forcing her to meet his gaze.
"Don't fight it," he said. "I know you can feel it. The scent of your slick is filling up the room. Your heart is pounding. Your body's heating up."
Every word was true, but that still didn't mean that she was his. Just that she wanted him. Needed him.
Ty (The Boundarylands Omegaverse Book 2) Page 6