Hired to Protect Page 13

  “Come on, back to the bars, wrists crossed.”

  Standing, he did as he was told, wondering if he was already going to be taken to a judge. Once he was cuffed again, the Controller opened the door and let him out, leading him farther into the cellblock instead of back the way he had come in.

  He was confused until the Controller pulled open a door set into a large rectangular cell. Shower heads hung down from the ceiling along one wall of the cell with drains in the floor beneath them. The opposite wall had a shelf running down the length of it covered in towels and some other folded grey fabric.

  Since the side walls of the cell were bars like all the others, Ethan could see there were a couple other Alphas showering already with Controllers standing outside where the spray didn’t reach.

  Releasing his cuffs, the Controller that had brought him gestured to the showerheads.

  “Wash yourself. You can take a set of clothes from the shelves when you are done. You will exit on the other side.”

  Walking around the side of the cell where the shelf was, he left Ethan to do as he was told. Shrugging, Ethan walked over to the first showerhead and looked around for knobs. He found a lever on the side of the pipe above his head when he saw one of the other Alphas reach up and turn his off.

  Finding a soap dispenser on the bars in front of him, he kicked off his pants and turned on the water, shivering under the cold spray as he filled his hand with soap. He was sad about washing Penelope’s scent away, but Ethan knew he couldn’t refuse. He didn’t want to cause any issues while he was in custody on the chance that she did manage to get him freed.

  Washing as quick as he could under the freezing spray, it didn’t take long before he was shutting off the water and moving to the shelf for a towel. It was little more than a thin square of fabric, but it did a good enough job.

  Grabbing one of the grey pieces of fabric from the first pile next to the towels, he realized they were sweatpants and pulled them on. The second pile was t-shirts, and he pulled one over his head as he made his way to the opposite side of the cell where the Controller was waiting for him.

  Ethan was cuffed and led back to his cell, the Controller locking him inside and freeing his wrists without another word. Settling back onto the cot, he closed his eyes and let himself drift off. There was nothing else he could do until he was brought before a judge.

  34. Penelope

  “I need to file charges.”

  “What charges will you be filing?” the receptionist at the front desk asked. The woman barely glanced away from her computer to look at Penelope before her eyes went back to her screen.

  “Kidnapping. Assault. Illegal administration of a drug causing a forced heat. Attempting to force a bond. Filing false charges.”

  The woman looked back at Penny, her eyes widening with each additional thing she listed.

  Giving her a false smile, Penny added, “There may be a few more I’m missing, but that should be enough to get started on.”

  “L-Let me call an officer up for you. Wait right there,” the woman stuttered, bolting out of her chair towards the desks Penny could see behind her.

  The small window in the ugly tan-colored wall didn’t give her much of a view into the back of the headquarters, and Penny quickly lost sight of the receptionist. Moving to stand next to the door beside the window, she waited with her hands crossed before her. It wasn’t long before the door opened, and an officer stepped out.

  “I’m Sergeant Mimar. If you would follow me to the back Ms., I can help you file the charges,” he said, holding the door open wider and waving her through.

  Waiting for him to close the door behind them, she followed behind the sergeant quietly as he weaved through the rows of desks to an office along the back wall. Leaving the door open, he helped her into a chair before moving behind the cheap wooden desk and taking his own.

  “Can I get your name?”

  “Penelope Praine. I have a restraining order against my ex, Adrian Darga that he has broken.”

  Typing her name into his computer, the sergeant scrolled down the screen before turning back to her.

  “Tell me what happened.”

  Beginning with the report of seeing Adrian’s car on the street, she told the sergeant of being kidnapped from the street, taken to a house where she was given a heat stimulant, and the subsequent fight between Ethan, Adrian, and the second beta she had found in the room. Finishing with Ethan being taken by Alpha Control due to charges Adrian filed against him, Penny held her breath as she watched the sergeant typing on the computer.

  He had remained silent until she finished before asking questions about when all this had happened, how Ethan had killed the second beta, and what she remembered of the trip to and from the house. Answering as honestly as she could, the only thing she changed was to make sure it was clear that she had consented to Ethan bonding her.

  “Do you have an address for the house you were kept at?”

  Penny’s heart sank.

  “No. I was too out of it by the time we got free to think of checking it. Ethan may know, but I think he was a bit distracted at the time. I know Adrian’s grandfather had a house outside the city before he died that he left to Adrian, but I don’t know if that’s where we were.”

  “And the name of the other man that was there? You never heard it?”

  “No.”

  Sergeant Mimar was quiet for a while, pecking away at his keyboard. Penny began to fidget the longer he went without speaking, and she twisted her fingers in her lap. She wanted to bring Ethan’s coat to her nose to breath in his scent again, but she resisted the urge.

  Finally, Mimar turned to look at her.

  “These are serious accusations. I’m going to have to send a team out to check the house that’s registered to your ex to collect evidence if that was where you were kept. We will bring Adrian in for questioning, and I’ll coordinate with Alpha Control to be sure they are up to speed on everything that has happened. This is going to take time to figure out, especially if Adrian has gone into hiding.”

  Nodding, Penny said, “I understand.”

  “Since he knows where you live, I would suggest going to a friend’s or a hotel. I can have an officer escort you home to pick up whatever you need, but you shouldn’t stay there.”

  “I know, I hadn’t planned on it. If an officer could go with me that would be great.”

  More tapping on the computer before he finally stood and walked around the desk.

  “You should also be checked out by your doctor. I won’t have an officer free for about two hours, so why don’t you go do that, and by the time you’re done there I can have someone meet you outside your building.”

  Stunned, Penny looked up at the sergeant as she took the hand he offered to help her up.

  “Meet me? I thought you meant an officer would take me there, so I have someone with me the whole time. What happens if Adrian is waiting outside for me?”

  Mimar gave a soft snort as he walked her towards the door to the lobby.

  “None of my officers have the time to drive you across town right now, and you’ll be perfectly safe outside the building. I highly doubt he will try anything where he could be seen. The local officer will be close to your building around six, and he can go up with you then before continuing his rounds.”

  “But Adrian kidnapped me off the street!”

  “Not in front of your building. You live in a nice area, he attacked you in an empty side street.”

  “Not the first time! I was downtown in a fairly busy area.”

  “But you ran into an alley where you were alone. If you stay out in the open where people are driving by and can see you, you’ll be fine.”

  Feeling a sick pit open up in her stomach, Penny hung her head. She wasn’t sure it was worth the stress just to pick up some clothes. Sighing, she realized she may be overreacting because of what had happened, but she still didn’t feel good about it.

  “Okay. I’ll see
my doctor and meet him there,” she finally said.

  Leaving her at the lobby door, Mimar said he would be in touch when he had more information. Penny made her way outside and flagged down a cab, climbing inside and putting in her doctor’s address. If she was lucky, she would be cleared to start taking the boot off for short periods, so at least something good would come of the visit.

  Smiling at the thought of being able to sit around without the heavy thing on her leg, Penny relaxed back into the seat. It didn’t take too long to reach the office, though she did have to wait a bit longer to be called back to a room.

  Sitting on the exam table, she worked the boot off as she waited for the doctor to enter. Penny had just dropped it to the floor when she came in. Taking one look at her neck, her doctor raised her eyebrows.

  “You’ve had a very exciting couple of weeks apparently. Weren’t you taking suppressants?”

  Covering her claiming mark with a sheepish smile, Penny nodded her head.

  “I was. A lot has happened, though I wouldn’t call it all exciting.”

  Telling the doctor the main points of what had happened to her since she had been in last, Penny watched as the doctor’s eyebrows climbed even higher.

  “I’m glad you’re okay. I’ll need to do some bloodwork to make sure there are no lingering effects, and I can give you a certificate proving the bond in case you need it.”

  Nodding her head as the doctor prodded her ankle and foot, Penny let out a relieved sigh when the doctor stepped back and began making notes on her tablet.

  “You can start going without the boot when you are home relaxing but take it easy. If you’re going to be walking or standing for an extended time, you’ll still need it. Listen to your body. Wait here for the nurse to draw some blood for the tests, then you’re free to go. I’ll call you with the results.”

  Penny thanked the doctor as she left the room, glad for even that little bit of good news.

  35. Ethan

  They finally brought Ethan some food shortly after he was returned to his cell. He had arrived after the lunch meal, but they made an exception due to his circumstances and let him have a cold sandwich. It wasn’t much, but it did help keep his stomach from trying to gnaw through him.

  Tired, he tried to sleep to pass the time, but he couldn’t get comfortable on the cot. Tossing and turning, he kept worrying about Penelope. He knew how stubborn she was. She was going to bury herself in trying to free him and not take care of herself. She just came out of a long heat and needed to take it easy, but he could easily picture her walking all over the city trying to get the charges taken care of and making sure Adrian would face some of his own.

  Sighing, Ethan flopped onto his back, throwing an arm over his eyes to try and block out the light flooding through the bars of his cell. The noise level in the cellblock had been building over the past hour, but Ethan had no idea what it meant.

  There were no clocks or windows as far as he could see, so he had no way of knowing what time it was, but he figured it had to be late afternoon by now, maybe early evening. His hopes of being seen today were dwindling quickly and he figured he had to resign himself to spending a night in the cell. Hopefully the only night, but he wasn’t going to hold his breath.

  Ethan perked up when the dinner cart came around the corner and stopped in front of his cell. Pushing himself up to a sitting position as a tray was slid under the cell door, his stomach dropped when he got a good look at it.

  Runny mashed potatoes, most likely made from a box of dried flakes, a scoop of corn, and some questionable chunk of meat smothered in a thin brown gravy. Curling his lip, he snagged the tray and sat back on the cot with it. It didn’t smell any better than it looked, but he wasn’t about to refuse to eat with no chance of getting anything better.

  Resigning himself to choking down the food, Ethan lifted his plastic fork and began to shovel it in. Eating quickly so he wouldn’t have to taste it, he finished the tray of food, chugging the water to wash the taste from his mouth.

  With a sigh, he slid the tray back outside the door and lay down on the cot again, staring up at the grey ceiling above him, wondering what Penelope was doing. Rubbing a hand over his chest where the bond was anchored, he tried to examine the feeling he was getting from it.

  Ethan knew that bonded pairs could read each other’s feelings, and sometimes be able to tell where their mate was in relation to them, but with it being so new, it was hard to tell what was coming from him and what may be coming from Penelope. Mostly, he felt a lot of worry and trepidation.

  Closing his eyes, he focused on trying to calm his mind. He knew she would be worried, and he didn’t want her to pick up any negative feelings from him that might make it worse. Not sure if she would be able to feel anything on her end, Ethan tried to push a feeling of peace through him.

  He had almost dozed off when he began to feel restless. An undercurrent of anxiety pulsed through him, and he searched the area around him before he realized it was coming from the bond. Getting up to pace the small space in front of the cot, he tried to figure out what was going on. He knew Penelope would be anxious about the whole situation, but this felt different.

  When a sharp jab of panic stabbed through him, he slammed into the door of his cell, wrapping his hands around the bars and yanking, yelling to get someone’s attention.

  36. Penelope

  Penny had stopped at a coffee shop near her apartment building, knowing she was still a bit too early for the officer to meet her and not wanting to stand out on the sidewalk to wait for him. It would be weird to lurk outside her own building, and she was still scared that Adrian may be watching for her. He seemed crazy enough to not care if he was seen.

  Devouring a sandwich and two pieces of cake at the coffee shop, she sipped on her latte until a quarter till six. Not wanting to miss the officer if he came early, she made her way down the block to the opposite side of the street where the entrance of her apartment building was.

  Stopping and leaning against the wall of the building behind her, she quickly grew bored with watching the front doors and began to pace up and down the block. When Penny realized it was already a quarter after six, she began to grow more anxious. She felt exposed on the street and wanted to get her things and leave.

  After waiting another ten minutes she decided to call Sergeant Mimar. She let the phone ring for a few minutes before giving up. He wasn’t answering and she didn’t know if he was even still in his office.

  Taking a deep breath, Penny stopped right across from the doors. Straightening her spine, she decided just to go up herself. She was tired and it wouldn’t take her long to get what she needed. She wanted to get some clothes and find a place to go to sleep.

  Entering the lobby, Penny hesitated for a moment. She could almost hear Ethan yelling at her to wait for the officer, but she shook her head and walked over to the elevator. It seemed to take forever for the doors to slide open, her skin crawling with the feeling of being watched.

  Shooting glances out the windows, she entered and pushed the button for the fourth floor. The short ride up was the first time Penny was happy to be in the elevator, in a space where she knew no one could see her or get to her, at least for the length of the trip.

  As the doors slid open, she dug in her purse for her keycard, walking towards her door. Sliding her card and entering her code, she wasn’t ready for the body that slammed into her back as she turned the knob.

  Her scream cut off as she hit the floor, the larger body landing on her back squeezing all of the air out of her in a grunt. Struggling, she tried to push the body off of her, but a hand wrapped around the back of her neck, pinning her to the floor.

  “I bet you thought you got away, didn’t you, slut? I don’t see that Alpha now, did the Controllers finally pick him up?”

  The hissed voice in her ear sent shivers down Penny’s spine. She would have sobbed if she could have gotten enough air into her lungs to make it possible. Bucking and try
ing to dislodge Adrian from her back, she was finally able to draw in a breath as he got to his knees above her.

  Keeping his hand around the back of her neck, he stood, pulling her body up with him. Tears running down her cheeks, Penny cursed herself as she tried to think of how to get away or get someone’s attention.

  Pulling her face to face with him, Adrian leaned down, about to say something when he noticed the healing bite on her neck. Taking the opportunity as his jaw dropped open, Penny brought her knee up to his groin as hard as she could before twisting away from his hand.

  Her heart leapt as she felt his hand slip from her neck, Adrian doubling over with his hands on his crotch. Darting past him, she ran for the elevator, swinging the boot forward and ignoring the pain every time it slapped the floor with a jolt. Pressing the button and desperately hoping it was still on her floor, Penny gasped for air.

  Seeing the doors start to slide open, Penny put her arm through the gap, pushing the door to try to make it open faster. Slipping between the doors, she tapped the door close button repeatedly, eyes darting to her doorway as she saw Adrian stagger out.

  Suppressing the scream that wanted to rip free from her chest, Penny gave up on the elevator and tried to run for the stairwell door, but Adrian caught her, slamming her back into the elevator, pinning her to the wall opposite the doors.

  Finally sliding shut, the doors cut her off from escaping the elevator, and she was trapped inside with him until someone called for it. By then, it may be too late.

  Holding her neck to the wall with one hand, his fingers dug into the healing bite. Penny’s eyes looked over Adrian’s shoulder and she kicked her legs, trying to hit the first-floor button. Her only hope now was that someone was in the lobby.

  Missing, she kicked out again and managed to hit the slightly raised button. Hands wrapped around his wrist, Penny’s vision was beginning to darken as he continued to choke her. She hadn’t heard a word he said as he snarled in her face until he backhanded her, rocking her head to the side.