“I was invited. Had a ticket and everything.” Although it was hard to maintain my calm, there was nothing to be gained by being the first to lose my shit.
“Look, you little bitch, you don’t get to disrespect me like this. I thought I made myself clear the last time I saw you,” the mayor ground out. The man was barely keeping it together. His jaw was clenched tightly enough that the veins were popping out in his neck.
“Last time? You’ll have to refresh my memory.” He lunged for me again, but they were an unshakable block.
“Don’t play cute. You know what happened.” He laughed humorlessly. “And if you’re here, then clearly, you’ve rethought my offer.”
“To come live with you and put on a show for the public?” I asked, matching his fake laugh. “I think not. You don’t get to use us and toss us as you see fit.”
“I’ll fight you for that baby, make you out to be some vapid omega who threw herself at me,” he said with a confidence he shouldn’t have. “The courts would grant me custody. I’m the fucking mayor of this city, and I have friends in all sorts of high places, including in the government.”
“Nice try, but when an omega is claimed, the law stands by the alpha who claimed her, not the one who got her pregnant,” Graham said.
“Too bad no pack would claim her. You may call her your mate, but she’s unclaimed,” he fired back.
“Oh really?” Ellis asked, turning to me. There was a question in his eyes, asking me if he could do this, and I couldn’t think of a better fucking time.”
“Claim me,” I whispered, and that was all he needed to close the distance between us and bite into the juncture of my neck. It was one of two locations on an omega’s body that produced pheromones, and from now on, his would permanently mix with mine. This was a forever kind of move that he’d just made in front of our pack and the assholes who were trying to use anything they could against me. This was Ellis’ checkmate, and it was fucking brilliant.
His teeth pierced my skin, and I cried out, but it was more from the pressure than pain. The intense sensation was gone just as fast as it had happened. My fingers brushed over the bite mark when he pulled away, and it was tender, but already healed.
This was also Ellis formally declaring that he was the alpha of our pack, a role that Graham had graciously let him take. I’d never given much thought to claimings, but my soul was soaring with the promise of forever he’d just given me.
“How dare you touch my omega!” the mayor screamed, all pretenses of calm now gone.
“I’m not your omega, and I never was,” I yelled back. “You don’t get to touch me ever again.”
“I wouldn’t touch you anyway,” he bit out.
“It seems you’re not so good at keeping your hands to yourself or hearing the word no,” Wells added. “That’s a real problem, Aaron.”
“You have no proof,” he said flippantly. “Vivian ensured that it was never an issue. It’s funny how when you dangle a check in front of people, all their morals fall away.”
“Oh, by exiling the omegas you raped from the city? How is that not an issue?” I asked. “Some example you set for the city, Mayor Townsen. And funny. Your almighty word sure didn’t keep me out.”
“That bullet I ordered them to put in your stomach should have accomplished that,” he said. The asshole tried to shove past Wells, who cocked his fist back and slammed it into the mayor’s face. The man folded like a deck of cards, hitting the floor, unconscious. Vivian screamed and started to make a scene, but Ellis turned to her, his voice icy cold.
“Stop with the theatrics. You’ve been an accomplice in all this. I hope you enjoy jail, Mother,” Ellis said, stepping over his prone body. Graham and Wells led me out, with Tallon, Beckham, and Miles following behind us.
“Oh, and I always wanted to tell you,” Miles said, pausing long enough to look Vivian in the eye. “You’re a terrible fucking human, and I hope you have to live your life miserable and alone for all the hell you put Ellis and Graham through.”
With that, we walked out, though Tallon practically dragged Miles away.
We didn’t talk much as we jumped in the car and left that place like our asses were on fire. We had the evidence we needed, and I wasn’t about to let them get arrested for assaulting that asshole.
We were about ten minutes from Grove City when I saw a gas station. My bladder had protested for the last twenty minutes, but there had been nothing in sight.
“Graham, stop here! I have to pee,” I begged. The last thing I wanted was to pee in a gas station, but I was desperate.
Thankfully, Graham immediately obliged, smoothly getting us to the parking lot. As Tallon helped me from the car, a cramp hit me. I groaned through it and waited, ignoring their questions until it passed.
“Sorry, fake contraction. We’ve hit that point, apparently.” I sighed. They all looked freaked out, so I waved them off. “The doctors warned me about this. If it hits randomly, it’s fine. It’s when you’re a minute apart that we worry about labor. I’ve still got four weeks to go.”
“Take it easy either way,” Tallon said as he helped me walk in. I was waddling when I walked now, especially since the baby had shifted lower. Here I thought I’d avoided the penguin stage of pregnancy.
Ten minutes later, refreshed and clutching a bag of snacks, I let them escort me back to the car. They all stuck by my side, too worried after the night’s events to let me out of sight for long. I considered it a blessing that I’d gotten to pee by myself.
As the cool air hit me, I felt something shift in my stomach before a trickle of water ran down my legs. For a brief moment, I thought I’d peed myself, but then it turned into a fucking river.
“Uh, guys?” I gasped out.