Page 7 of The Packaged Deal
I peer at the door as the female voice calls out, stealing my attention. After a second, three more people enter the room. One’s an omega that I recognise instantly and wish I didn’t.
Hazel Waters. Younger sister of Grayson Waters and the omega of Pack Montford, or so I hear. She still is as beautiful and delicate as ever, and the man at her back is as handsome as she is beautiful. He has dark hair and a scary gaze. Hazel glances around, and just that movement looks effortless and full of grace. Her brown hair catches the light and turns it into a golden halo around her.
I start to sweat. Why did I tell them I knew her? She’s freaking insanely beautiful, and I'm just me, except pulverized. Worst day ever. I feel myself starting to crumble.
Are these men part of her pack? My hand trembles at the icy feeling inside me. The doctor reaches out and takes hold of my fingers, drawing my gaze back to his face. My panic eases, and I focus completely on him.
He is the one steady constant in this wobbly world.
“You’ll be fine,” he whispers. He turns slightly. “You remember Hazel. The man beside her is Detective Angel Montford. He’s going to ask you some questions.”
I blanch. “No, I don’t think so. I don’t know…” I trial off because I’ve just remembered that if Hazel knows who I am, she can contact my family. I panic and tug hard on his fingers.
“Hey, hey, now. You’re going to be fine, Jade.” Even his voice is soothing. Wait!
I stiffen, turning towards him with a trembling lip. “You know my name?”
“You’re an omega, too, aren’t you? You were at the Omega Meet?” His voice is low and kind. Too kind.
He turns and touches his thumb to the inside of my wrist and strokes. And it’s like a caress straight to my soul. I finally catch his scent. Rivers, forests, and rain. He smells like all the times I would run away from home and hide up in the hills, dreaming and exploring. I reach out with my free hand, grabbing hold of his shirt, refusing to let him move away.
“The woman who is standing against the wall is Kandi. She’s a security expert that I’ve asked to help you out for a while. And that man there with the scary upside down smile is Sven. He’s her boss. Everyone in this room is here to keep you safe.”
I gasp, and it sends lightning through my ribs, but when I tremble, he shifts closer to me. I can’t tell him the man doesn’t scare me, that his scowl is comforting, or that the licorice scent that’s invading the space makes my mouth water.
“Addy,” Sven murmurs in warning.
The doctor stiffens and glances back towards the big, muscled man. “What, Sven?” His tone is professional, not cold, exactly, but distant and with a tension that makes me clutch his shirt tighter.
“Jade, my name’s Angel.” The man in front of me crouches and draws my attention away from Sven and his strange nickname for my doctor. He’s scary, and I don’t like his scent. I lean back in the wheelchair as far as I can without letting go of Adrian, is that his name? I feel like he told me in a dream.
My head is still reeling, and I'm confused, scared, and I don’t know who, other than the doctor, to trust.
“Do you know who did this to you?” The bland way he delivers the question makes me think he’s going to call my mom.
I tighten my fingers in the doctor’s shirt. My tongue feels thick. I remember his violent hiss. If you tell anyone… “Don't know.”
Angel glances back at Hazel.
“What happened?”
“I don't remember,” I whisper and curl my fingers tighter, casting a hopeful, desperate look at the doctor.
“Do you remember your name?”
I shake my head quickly. “Just Jade.”
“Just Jade.” Angel rubs his hand across his mouth, obviously irritated. “We won’t call your family, Jade.”
My mother laughs in my memory as she pushes me towards the alpha. I blink, and I'm breathing hard, too hard, my lungs are getting stabbed with lightning bolts of pain. Sweat runs down my temple. He grips my throat and squeezes. I'm going to die. I scratch at his hands, but I can’t stop him. He’s so big. A whimper escapes.
“I don't think-”
“We can arrest him and put him away,” Angel says.
His boots slam into my stomach once, twice. He kicks my ribs, and I choke on a scream. The sickening crunch is a sound I'll never forget. I see a man in the alley, but he stops and, at the alpha’s growl, he turns and walks away. No! No!
“NO!” I throw myself out of the chair and find myself swung up into my doctor’s arms. He’s gentle but firm when he moves me into the corner of the room, whispering softly. I look up and find the other one there, too.