Chapter 2 The Storage Lock

Rosa's POV

The loud click of forty guns being cocked at the same time rings through the roadhouse, cutting straight through the heavy air.

Garrett stumbles back two steps from Ryder's shove, his heavy boots dragging across the floorboards. His usual calm face cracks open, showing the dark anger underneath his mask. His hand rests on the grip of the gun at his hip, but he does not pull it out.

An Alpha does not draw a weapon on another Alpha in neutral territory unless he wants to start an all-out war.

"Step away from my staff, Kane," Garrett demands, his voice dropping into a rough rasp. "You are trespassing on Steel Venom's side."

Ryder ignores him completely.

He stands like a wall between me and forty armed men, his broad back blocking out the lights of the room. His scent washes over me in thick, heavy waves. Pine, rain, and dark earth fill my nose, burning away the last bits of the bitter drug Garrett forced down my throat thirty minutes ago.

My knees give out under the sudden rush of heat. I hit the floorboards, my silver tray crashing beside me as water spills across the rough wood. Hot fire runs down my spine, pooling heavy between my thighs. I gasp for air, my fingers digging into the floor as my skin turns burning hot beneath my clothes.

Vesper's voice roars inside my head, no longer a quiet whisper but a real force rattling my bones. MATE. She is pacing, clawing at my ribs, desperate to reach the Alpha standing over us.

Then, a sudden wave of sharp pain slams into the back of my head. The fog from the drug is cracking wider, and through those cracks, a dozen voices scream directly into my mind.

Shoot him! Shoot the Iron Phantom bastard!

What is wrong with the girl? Why does she smell so sweet?

If a fight starts, I am grabbing the Omega.

I press the heel of my hand against my head as the unfiltered thoughts flood my mind. I press my thumbnail into my left palm, driving it deep into my skin until I feel warm blood surface, using the pain to keep from screaming out loud.

"Rosa!" Dani cries out, reaching for me. Vic grabs her arm and slams her back into the corner, but Ryder does not even look at him. His lethal gaze is locked onto Garrett, who is taking a step toward my shaking body on the floor.

"Touch her again," Ryder growls, his voice vibrating through the floorboards so hard the spilled water shakes, "and I will rip your arm off."

"She is Steel Venom property, Kane!" Garrett shouts, his posture stiffening as his men move up behind him. "Her father died owing this pack fifty thousand dollars. She stays until the debt is paid!"

"She is covered in Moonveil!" Ryder snarls, his voice rising into an Alpha roar that makes half the men flinch. "You've been drugging an Omega to keep her hidden!"

The word Omega bounces off the wooden ceiling, turning every face in the room pale.

I hear their thoughts explode into wild chaos inside my head.

An Omega? She is an Omega?

Reyes kept a breeding female hidden from the pack?

That is why he kept her locked in the kitchen!

Garrett's face goes completely drained of color. The secret he kept hidden for four years is gone in three seconds, exposed right in front of his own men and his worst enemy.

My fever spikes again.

A sharp cramp twists through my lower belly, forcing a soft cry from my throat. My body produces slick so fast that my jeans stick to my skin, my scent spreading through the room like spilled perfume.

I feel the exact second my heat hits the air.

The air in the room changes fast. The smell of blood and threat turns into something dark, hungry, and wild. Several unbonded wolves take steps forward, their noses flaring as their eyes shift to yellow.

"Out," Ryder commands his Vice President, Gideon, without turning around. "Clear the room or hold the line. She is going into heat."

Before Garrett or his men can react, Ryder bends down. His large hands slide under my arms and lift my body off the floor like I weigh nothing at all. The moment his bare skin touches my wrist, a shock of heat shoots up my arm, straight into my chest.

I cry out, my hands flying up to wrap around his neck, my fingers digging into the thick dark hair at his neck. I press my face into his throat, breathing in his scent like a dying person reaching for water.

"Hold on to me, Rosa," he whispers against my ear, his voice rough and unsteady.

He turns on his heel, shielding my body with his chest, and runs toward the heavy oak door leading to the back storage hallway.

"Stop him!" Garrett screams from the main room. "Do not let him leave the building with her!"

Shouts break out behind us. The sound of chairs breaking and boots rushing fills the air, followed right away by Gideon's loud voice ordering the Iron Phantom line to hold their ground.

Ryder kicks the storage hallway door open, carries me inside, and slams the heavy piece of wood shut behind us. He slides the iron bolt into place, locking out the noise from the roadhouse.

The hallway is narrow, lit by a single bulb hanging from a wire. It smells like cardboard, old iron, and dust, but within three seconds, Ryder's strong Alpha scent and my sweet heat cover up everything else.

He presses my back against the locked door, his huge frame pinning me in place so completely that no space remains between us. I can feel the fast beat of his heart through his chest, matching the wild pulse in my throat. His chest heaves, his dark shirt damp with sweat, his gold eyes burning down into mine.

"Look at me, Rosa," he orders, his voice dropping into a low growl.

I open my eyes, gasping as another wave of heat rolls through my lower belly, my hips moving forward against his thigh. I feel the hard length of his arousal pressed against my stomach, thick beneath his jeans.

"Who gave you the Moonveil?" he demands, his thumbs holding my jaw, his skin burning against my cheeks. "Tell me who has been drugging you."

"Garrett," I whisper, my voice shaking as my hands grip the shoulders of his leather vest. "Every morning... he calls it medicine..."

A deep growl comes from his chest, a sound of pure anger that shakes against my lips. His grip on my jaw holds me steady, his Alpha power wrapping around my scared wolf like heavy chains.

Before he can say another word, a heavy body slams against the outside of the storage door with enough force to make the wood shake.

"Open the door, Kane!" Garrett's voice roars from the other side, followed by the sharp click of a key turning in the lock.