Chapter Twenty-Two

The gunshots woke Claire up. Her body hung heavy, her mind slow, but the gunshots got her moving. Her mates were in danger.

That sunk past the pain, past the exhaustion that had taken over. The truth slipped beneath any defense or thought, forcing her body to respond.

Rage like she’d never felt filled her. She’d heard about omega rages, the hushed stories of what an omega could do when someone threatened her mate or children. Some liked to call it insanity or dismiss it, but Claire knew differently.

It was instinct. It was exactly what she was born to be. It was the power alphas like this one were afraid of, why they beat them down, what they tried to beat out of them.

Claire’s lips peeled off her teeth, and she threw herself toward the tools in a clumsy motion, more anger and power than finesse or agility. Her fingers wrapped around the heavy hammer as she turned, rising but not to a full stand, body crouched forward, eyes locked on the man who endangered her mates.

Randy must have noticed at the same time, because the sound of gunshots paused, and he turned. His eyes widened, the first real fear on his face.

Fear of her. Good. She wanted him to die afraid of an omega. She wanted this egotistic coward to die with his last thoughts being of fear. Fear of her, fear of omegas, fear of what he’d tried to say was so weak. After what he’d done to Jackie, what he’d done to others, she wanted him to take that image with him to hell.

He turned the gun toward her as she rushed forward. She knocked backward, and on the outskirts of her mind, she noted pain in her arm. It didn’t matter. She noticed it as she might notice an itch so insignificant it didn’t take more than a moment of thought.

She swung the hammer as she charged, striking him in the knee. A howl left his lips, and he went down beneath her. He cursed, he threw insults, but it all washed past her.

His insults didn’t matter, just noise from prey like a death rattle.

Another gunshot, and this time, the hammer slipped from her hand.

Didn’t matter. She used her nails, her teeth, sinking into the fury that filled her body, into the mindless anger that left no room for anything else. She brought her closed fists down on his face, his chest. Her teeth pulled chunks from his throat as everything went red.

The gunshots stopped, and a howl had them rushing. Had Kieran shot him? Where was Claire? They ran faster into the building, up the flights of stairs, taking two at a time.

A snarl through the closed door at the top of the stairs had Joshua’s steps faltering. Judging sounds was a skill everyone learned, most of them so ingrained in instinct they were a language all their own. That sound? Mindless. Feral. The hair on the back of his neck stood at the fury in it.

They burst into the room, and the sight pulled all three to a stop.

Joshua had only witnessed omega rage once in his life, and it had haunted him ever since. When he’d still been in the military, when they’d stopped in a town to drive out a terrorist stronghold, one man had refused to run like the rest. He’d put a gun to a child’s head demanding safe passage.

The child’s mother, an omega who couldn’t have been more than ninety pounds, had torn the man apart in defense of her child. She’d also injured another three soldiers before they could restrain her, her own injuries ignored as she’d fought to protect her child. It had only been her mate who had drawn her back, who had spoken sweetly to her until she’d calmed.

They’d have run in to face Randy, to face damn near anything without hesitation. A raging Claire had them stilling, though.

Blood covered her hands and ran down her face from her mouth. Bloody bites had been taken from Randy, his body still, red bubbling up from the wounds. Nail marks were raked down his face, along with a nose clearly broken. His knee sat at a wrong angle, his body unrecognizable. Even though he didn’t move, Claire hadn’t stopped her attack, hadn’t stopped the growls and snarls that spilled from her lips.

Kaidan spoke first. “Love.”

Her head twisted, her eyes blank, no recognition in them. Blood smeared her teeth which she flashed as if she had six-inch fangs instead of the blunt little teeth which sat in a perfect line.

Kaidan crouched, waving the others to follow suit. “Hey, love. It’s us.”

Her gaze moved to the bed where another woman whimpered and rolled, arm cuffed and shoulder at an angle that made him guess she’d dislocated it.

“She’s safe, now.”

A tired huff, then Claire returned her gaze to Randy’s body, the tension returning, the growl strengthening.

“No, no, love. Look at me, won’t you? That’s over. He’s gone.”

Joshua tried next. “You did good, sweetheart. You did really good. Why don’t you take a breath and relax? It’s all over.”

She came forward a few slow steps, still crouched, her gait more of a lope, nothing human in it.

She pulled in a breath through her nose as she neared, some of the woman they knew returning with that. At least it did until her gaze dropped to Bryce’s thigh, the blood having leaked through the towel. The growling happened again, and her head turned as if to take another shot at the body.

Instead, Bryce, always the idiot, reached out and caught her hand. He pulled her closer, burying her face against his throat. Hell, even Joshua wouldn’t want her near his throat, not like she was. “Easy, omega,” he whispered into her ear. “I’m fine.”

Her body went stiff, and Joshua prepared to pull her off Bryce, to hopefully keep her from taking his throat out like she had Randy’s. Omegas in a rage could do damage, weren’t thinking. She might think Bryce was someone else, hell, maybe she was still pissed enough about them that she’d see him as an enemy. A tense heartbeat later, she sagged in his grasp.

The moment she did, Joshua and Kaidan scooted closer, hands moving over her, checking for injuries, reassuring themselves she was alive. New bruises sat on her, a bullet wound in her left shoulder and a graze on her right arm, but nothing life-threatening.

Joshua buried his face in her hair, breathed her in and let her ease him.

His mate was alive. Everything else would be fine.

* * * *

“I don’t think I like waking up in hospitals,” Claire muttered, trying to shift in the bed despite the IV in her hand, eye still closed.

“Well, stop getting hurt then.” Joshua’s voice had her smiling despite the aches in her body.

Better yet, when she opened her eyes, she found Bryce and Kaidan there, too. Joshua sat in a chair to her left, Kaidan to her right and Bryce was already standing as if he couldn’t keep still. All three had looked better, she supposed, all showing signs of weariness. Dark circles and years of aging had come up in however long she’d been out. Knowing them, they’d hardly slept.

A glass with water was brought to her, the straw placed between her lips by Kaidan, of course. After the small drink, enough so her throat wasn’t dry, she asked, “Where’s Tiffany? Is she okay?”

“She’s fine, just a few rooms down. They sedated her for the rest of her heat and set her arm. It looks like Randy didn’t touch her. She should be able to leave by tomorrow.” Joshua set a hand on hers, below where the IV was. “You can go see her in a while.”

“They’ll let me leave this bed?”

“No, but I’ll carry you in there myself. I bet you they don’t say a word to me about it.” Joshua kept that grin, the playfulness.

Claire laughed, but it caused her to groan at a pain in her back. When had she even hurt her back? Right, when he’d thrown her on the ground. That also accounted for her throbbing headache.

“Don’t make her laugh,” Kaidan chided, then ran his fingers through her hair. “We washed you up the best we could. I figured you didn’t want to wake up covered in blood.”

“And to think I slept through my sponge bath.” Claire sat up, hands on either side of her helping to take the weight and strain. “I’m waiting.”

“For?” Joshua frowned.

“For you to yell at me. To tell me off for taking off again.”

Bryce answered, shaking his head. “I’ve yelled at you before, but since this keeps happening, I’m going to assume it doesn’t work. If you keep getting yourself in trouble, we’ll just work on your self-defense so you don’t get knocked around so much. Well, that and try to keep you busy enough so you have no time for trouble. Besides, you’re in no condition to fight with us, and what fun is that?”

“What am I? An invalid because I lost another fight with an alpha?”

“You killed him, sweetheart. I don’t think anyone would consider that losing.” Kaidan stroked his hand over her arm.

Bryce leaned on the edge of her bed, a wince so quick, she almost missed it. It was then she realized he wore a pair of sweats, bagged out from what had to be a wrap. He was on his feet, which meant he was okay, even if hurting. “You saved us. We were so sure you needed us, but you ended up saving us. If you hadn’t gotten to him when you had, if you’d just waited for us to save the day, he’d have hit at least one of us, maybe more. We might all be dead.” He cupped her cheek, thumb brushing over her skin. “I’m sorry I didn’t trust you before, that I didn’t trust you to understand, to listen.”

Claire set her hand over his. “It’s okay. I get it, I do. I realized how easy it would have been to lose this, to lose you all, and suddenly it seemed totally insignificant to be angry over that, especially to keep holding on to it. I’m not going to let anything stop me from being happy, from having what I want, what I finally have.” Uncertainty crept into her voice, forcing her to shift in the seat. “I mean, if you still want me, that is. If this is still what you—”

Bryce shut her up with a kiss, one rougher than she knew she’d get from the others. His forehead rested against hers when he broke the kiss. “We ran out there with the possibility of getting shot. There’s no way we’re letting you go, omega. I suggest you get used to it.”