he's okay, not to mention keep an eye on things in here in case Tom needs help. The territory chief's number is in my contacts. Give Ash a call and ask him to hightail it over here, would you? He's been hunting for this woman, and he'll need to handle an investigation."
"Sí, Alpha. No problemo." With a wink, Pedro ducked out the door, making me wonder yet again precisely how much got past him and Essie.
When I turned to Dave, prepared to ask him to do something like track down Raul in the golf cart, Charlie interrupted with a knowing smile. "Lucian, unless you need my dad, I'd like him to stay. If he doesn't know about omega gifts, and if Josh and my brothers don't mind, I'd like to loop him in. Without my abduction, he and Mom would've known about it when I hit adolescence."
Shaking his head, Tom didn't glance away from Alex while he muttered he didn't care. Darcy shrugged, and Josh seemed curious. "What do you mean by gifts? You mean like how I can speak to animals and understand what every bark, meow, quack, and moo means? My so-called parents never believed me. They thought I was making up stories. Only Alex ever listened."
Charlie smiled fondly. "Explains why he was able to roll with my mindspeaking abilities. He never told me he had an omega for a brother. I didn't find out about you until after things went down. He played it off like he'd heard about omegas and understood they were rare. Your brother's a standup guy, Josh. No offense, but I think he's been protecting you from your parents for a lot longer than you know."
As for Dave, when Tom's hands began to glow, Dave's eyes widened as his mouth fell open. Especially when Tom plucked the bullet from his chest with a steady grip and pressed those still-glowing hands against the outside of the wound. His hands moved constantly, massaging the flesh while he worked his magic. The blood stopped pouring, and the flesh inside stitched itself together.
When his hands started to tremble, Darcy squeezed in behind him and rested his hands on his shoulders as if sharing his strength. Whatever it was, it seemed to be working because Tom's hands steadied again, and he was able to finish the job. Tom didn't relax until Alex began breathing normally, and his eyes moved under his lids. Tom glanced up at me. "Alpha, if you would be so kind, I need your help now."
"Anything, Tom." I wouldn't normally offer such a carte blanche response, but I knew in my gut Tom wouldn't ask me for more than what he absolutely needed and felt no one but me could provide.
Tom waited until Darcy scooted away before leaning back on his heels. "I need you to use your Alpha powers to force a shift. Shifting won't repair everything, but it will speed things along since I've healed his actual wound. After that, we need to feed him and pour him into a bed for some sleep."
Taking him at his word, I pushed a wave of power toward Alex, focusing only on him. "Alex, I'm calling your wolf forward. You are going to shift for me now." On the final word, I sent a double dose his way. Instantly, his body contorted and changed. Bones snapped and realigned while muscles and ligaments moved around like marbles in a flesh-colored bag. His teeth and fingernails lengthened, dark brown fur sprouting along his visible skin.
With a relieved laugh, Josh stood and took a step back. "We probably should've at least removed his jeans first. Now he's going to be naked and gross."
Tom glanced over his shoulder at Darcy. "There's a stack of tablecloths in the cabinet left of the sink. He can wrap up in one of those until someone finds him something to wear."
"I can run over to my place. I'm sure Ford has something. You said they were friends anyway, didn’t you?" Dave glanced at Charlie for the last part.
Nodding, Charlie made his father's day with the first word out of his mouth. "Dad, what a perfect idea. Thank you."
Dave nearly melted on the spot. "Happy to help… son. And if I might say so, I'm especially glad to lend a hand to the young man who helped get you out of that place." He was already backing toward the door, his voice rough as he blinked several times. Muttering something about allergies, Dave rushed out