Chapter 30

Chapter 30
Noah

I try to fight back the fear I feel creeping up when the detectives walk into the room. If they pick up my distress, it might make things worse. That’s when I feel a small wave of calm flow through me. It takes me a second to pick it up, but soon it pushes away my fear until there is only warmth. I look at Aria, but she is completely focused on the detectives. She even moves closer so that Ezra and the rest of us are all behind her. 

“Hello, officers, how can I help you?” She says politely.

“It’s detective.” One of them says.

“Oh, I'm sorry. Detective, how can I help you?” This time, she sounds overly polite to the point of sounding sarcastic. 

Probably not the best approach, but none of us interrupts her. 

“We need to speak to you about an event at the bar on Seventh and Carpenter. There was an assault of three Alphas and you. Care to tell us what happened?” The detective says.

“Detective, I believe we said we would call you to schedule a meeting regarding this matter. So why have you come here? Are you here to discuss what happened last night? Because that seems to be a far more important matter.” Daniel says moving to stand next to Aria. 

“We are investigating the incident, which is why we are here.” The detective says, not bothering to look at Daniel at all. 

“Really? So you’re here to speak to Xander? The victim of the shootout conducted by the Ragging Machines. Right?” Daniel asks. 

The detective glances at him for a second before looking back down at Aria. “Yes. We are here to interview Alexander McCain about the incident.”

“Well, you can talk to me. I was there as well.” Daniel says, crossing his arms. 

“We’d prefer to speak to him.” The detective insists. 

“Unfortunately, due to the injuries he sustained during the incident, he needed a breathing tube. It has been removed, but the doctor said he can’t speak at the moment. So once again, we will have to arrange a meeting for an interview. Why don’t you two go do your jobs and actually investigate what happened and stop harassing us.” Daniel says.

“I assure you we are doing our job-“ The other cop starts, but the one staring Aria down holds up his hand to stop him. 

“We’ll be going, but contact us soon about that meeting. I don’t want to bring any of you in for hindering our investigation.” He says, glancing at each one of us.

When his eyes meet mine, he stops, though. He looks me up and down, and I freeze. Not even breathing. The way he’s looking at me…it makes my blood go cold. There is something off about him, more than his clear dislike of Betas. 

“I’d like you to leave now,” Aria says as Roman steps in front of me to block me from the detective’s view.

There is a low exchange of words; I don’t catch it before I hear the door open and close. As soon as it’s closed, I watch everyone relax. 

“He’s determined I’ll give him that,” Daniel says as everyone moves to sit. 

“He’s a pain in the ass. We have to figure out a way to get him off our backs. We can’t let the cops find the compound.” Aria says.

“I’ll have Buck send some of the guys here to make sure the cops don’t trail us, but I think we should leave sooner rather than later,” Daniel suggests. 

She’s standing in front of us with arms crossed and nods. “That’s a good idea. Let’s do that. I’ll ask the doctor if we can have Xander discharged today. Beth was a nurse, so she could keep an eye on him to make sure he’s doing ok.” 

“I’ll go get the doctor,” Daniel says before leaving the room. 

“We should take Noah home and pack some stuff,” Roman says. 

Aria looks at him, and I feel her emotion shift. She’s…curious about him. I can’t help but smile to myself at that. Roman is stoic; he keeps things very locked down. Even the guys and I know that you won’t get anything out of him unless he wants you to know. We’ve known him basically all our lives and I know for certain there is a lot we don’t know about him. After all these years, he still hasn’t told us everything about his life before we met. 

“Sure, but be careful. Make sure you aren’t being followed.” She says with a nod.

“Maybe I should stay here,” I say when the others stand. “The doctor said we shouldn’t be apart.” 

Aria’s brows furrow. “That’s right.”

“Go with them.” A scratchy voice says. 

All of us look at her friend in the bed, Xander. She walks over and takes his hand. 

“I don’t want to leave you alone.” She says.

He smiles at her. “Daniel will be back, and we won’t leave until you guys get back.”

“Are you sure?” She asks. 

He nods. “Yes. Go.”

She gives him an uncertain look but agrees. “I’ll be back soon.” She leans in and gently kisses him. 

Something hits me low in my stomach. Almost like a zap of electricity and then a warm feeling. I can’t tell if it’s Aria’s reaction to kissing him or mine from watching them. You’d think that I’d be jealous seeing her kiss another guy (or two), but it doesn’t. Honestly…it’s affecting me in a way I’m a little embarrassed to admit. I can’t tell if it’s turning me on from just watching them or from the feeling she’s passing on to me. Is it weird for me to be turned on by seeing her with another guy?

I know biologically Omegas are very sexual creatures, but I have been doing my best to keep that side of myself pushed down as far as possible. With all my issues when it came to intimacy, I tried so hard to avoid feeling that sexual need. It wasn’t always possible, but now the floodgates have been opened. What if I’m horny all the time now? Aria is going to have other pack mates that she’s no doubt going to have a sexual relationship with, so how am I going to be able to handle all of her…feelings on top of my own? I’m going to be hard all the time if I don’t figure out a way to block her out. 

I’m getting hard right now! 

This isn’t good. I clear my throat, and I glance over to see my friends looking over at me. It only takes a second for them to realize what’s happening, and I see Jaxon smirk. When I glare at him, he looks away, but I know what he’s thinking. He’s going to take every opportunity to remind me of this. 

“Alright, let’s go,” Aria says, walking past us all toward the door. 

We follow behind her, and I end up walking next to Jaxon. 

“You doing okay there?” He whispers to me. 

“Don’t start,” I say back, and he chuckles. 

“This is going to be fun.”