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Trent whips his head toward me and takes two steps into my space. I hold my ground, looking up but refusing to back away.
“Ben was never a problem before, and now he’s assaulting kids at school, having to defend your honor because you can’t keep your fucking legs shut,” he snaps.
“What?” The word escapes before I can stop it. I swallow around the rocks that appear in my throat.
“Officer Daniels didn’t mention that part, huh? He was trying to save you from knowing that you’re the reason for this.” Trent shakes his head in censure, his jaw ticking as he grinds his teeth and turns back to Trent. “What was it that group of boys said?”
Officer Cliff’s lips turn up in a foul grin. “A Crawley chaser.”
Spots dance in my vision. Shame and resignation blast through me. No matter how hard I try, I always end up in some kind of fucked up situation. And my kids are paying the price. The zip code of Crawley feels as if it’s tattooed into my skin, a brand that marks me as beta trash.
Officer Slick takes another piece of paper from the file and passes it to Trent. “I gotta admit though, your boy went a little overboard for kids only speaking the truth. He put a poor kid’s arm in a cast and bit another. He may as well be already feral.”
Trent scans the paper then crumples it into a ball in an angry burst. His eyes narrow on me. Trent looks as he always did. Black jeans, white dress shirt, black boots, hair in a bun. And while it’s obvious now that he never loved me, he wasn’t cruel. Not until the end. But looking at him now, he’s cold and detached, nothing of the man I lived with for years in his face.
“I don’t have time for this fucked up shit, Cam. What the fuck? Feral? We’re going on a trip with Veronica’s family. We’ve got a baby on the way, and we thought?—”
Trent keeps talking. It’s a whomp-whomp of buzzing, and I can’t make out the sounds. His lips move, but all I know is that he’s about to do to my kids what he did to me.
Fuck him for breaking our hearts. Fuck him for not thinking I’m worth something, even if I am from Crawley. This is his loss. And I hate him for it.
Officer Slick’s oily voice cuts into my spiral. “That’s the right call, man. If you take him, I’ll need you to sign the forms saying you’ll guarantee he won’t be a safety risk. You’ll need to get him to the assigned social worker for pack cases in your area and ensure he completes the classes. I wouldn’t be saddled with that kind of responsibility when you have an omega and a baby to protect. Think of how dangerous he could be.”
Every word out of both of their mouths is another round of blows. I turn on them, fucking fed up. “Ben isn’t dangerous, and he doesn’t need you. He’s coming home with me to our pack.”
The officer chuckles, his whole chest vibrating. “Not happening, beta. They may have taken that pussy for now, but they didn’t claim your neck.”
Trent growls, a disgusted sound full of pity. His gaze finds mine, and I plead with him to do the right thing. His eyes shutter, and I know before he speaks, he won’t. “And if I give away my rights? The state takes care of that?”
I knew it was coming, but fuck if those words don’t hit right down to my soul.
Officer Cliff looks like a man who just called a checkmate. “I’ve got the form right here, and then I’ll take care of the rest.”
Trent gives a lift of his chin before turning to glare at me. “I won’t be taking Emmaline either. If this is how it’s going to be, I’d rather cut ties now.”
Trent gives me his back and leans over the table, taking the offered pen from Cliff’s hand. They talk amongst themselves as if Trent isn’t blowing apart my whole world again, as if he isn’t abandoning my son to this cruel officer and his scheme for payback. As if he didn’t just throw away Emmaline too. Back and forth they chat about vacation and the upcoming baby Veronica must be having until a scream bubbles in my throat.
I don’t give one flying fuck about his stupid fucking vacation or his new baby. I’m about to lose Ben. I want to show them fucking feral. I want to pound my fists into their flesh and dig my nails in until they both bleed, but I force myself not to launch at them. If I make one wrong move, Officer Cliff will arrest me. That might even be his plan. Then I’ll be in his custody. I don’t even want to imagine what he would do to me if he got me handcuffed in the back of his car.
The officer claps Trent on the back after he signs. “You’re doing the responsible thing.”
He’s doing the cowardly thing. He’s pathetic. I don’t know why I ever thought otherwise.
The door bursts open, and Finn runs in, frantically searching until his eyes land on me. He says my name in a way that lets me know that whatever happened, he’ll ensure I’m okay.
Finn rushes to me, taking me into a hug that’s so needed I almost break, tears welling in my eyes. I hear Reid’s steady, smooth voice introducing himself and asking questions, but I can’t focus on the words. They’re here. We can fix this. Ben’s father is a piece of shit, but my mates will claim Ben. They will. I know it.
Finn pulls back enough to look at me, his thumb catching a tear under my eye. “What happened, baby? Where is Ben? Did these guys give you trouble? I’m sorry you had to face them alone, but I swear if they said one thing, I’ll kill them.”
“They’re taking him,” I say, my voice cracking around the wordhim. Too fast and too frantic, I try to explain.
Finn’s eyes widen, then he turns to the group of alphas.“He’s ours. Ben isn’t going anywhere.”
Officer Slick lifts his brow and looks over Finn with the same disdain he has for me. “You don’t get to decide, little omega. This is a decision between the alphas.”
Finn tenses and Reid puts an arm out, standing protectively in front of us and forming a wall between the others in the room.
“There is no need for the state to get involved.” Reid looks at Office Slick. “And no need for mind games. These are my mates. This is our pack, which you know, and Ben is ours. We’ve got pack law on our side.” Reid’s growl is a warning as he turns on Trent. “If you’ve signed Ben away, then get the fuck out of here. This isn’t your family anymore, and you aren’t worthy of being an alpha.”
