Love in Lace

Charlie heaves a sigh of relief as she reaches her apartment door. Carrying bags upon bags wouldn’t usually have bothered her too much, but hauling them all from the parking garage and up three flights of stairs left her feeling as if her arms would fall off.

Of course Lacey was tapping her foot impatiently, with nothing in her hands except her brand new purse.

“Come on, alpha. I thought you were supposed to be strong.” Lacey teases as she examines her new manicure.

Charlie rolls her eyes, but it too out of breath to actually snap back. She finally gets the door open, hurrying to drop the tons of bags in their room. Lacey follows closely after her, babbling about how she would organize all of her new possessions.

“I’m gonna go make dinner, what are ya feeling?” Charlie asks, wiping the sweat from her brow.

Lacey seems completely uninterested, waving her off as she opens up all of the bags and starts sorting all of her things.

“Whatever, just don’t burn it.”

Charlie huffs, muttering that she absolutely doesn’t burn her food as she makes her way to the kitchen. She hums as she rummages through her cupboards and fridge, hoping for an idea to pop into her brain. Charlie finally settles on pasta, something quick and easy that doesn’t require too much brainpower. The water boils as she puts the noodles in, much more than usual.

Hopefully Lacey isn’t too picky about leftovers. Who am I kidding, Charlie thinks, of course Lacey will be picky.

Putting that thought to the side, Charlie grabs some marinara and Alfredo and turns on the speaker, letting music calm her down as she falls into a nice rhythm around the kitchen. Lacey joins after a while, quiet and content for the first time ever. Charlie can’t help but glance at her from the corner of her eye, surprised to not see a scowl or a furrow in Lacey’s brow. Perhaps retail therapy actually works for her.

Lacey hops up in the chair at the counter, watching Charlie work with her chin resting on her palm. Charlie can’t help but smile at the small victory.

Bzzzz Bzzzz

Charlie glances over at her phone, confused. It’s past working hours, all of her friends know about her situation, so who…?

With a sinking feeling, she snatches her phone, looking at the latest text from an unknown number.

My alpha is going to kill me. I heard you could help me. Please I don’t know what else to do. My address is XXX.

“Fuck.” Charlie breathes out shakily, running a hand through her hair. Already, dinner is forgotten as she grabs her keys from the hanger, looking around for her wallet and her emergency bag.

“What’s got you so- where are you going?” Lacey’s demand cuts through the air.

Charlie stops, swallowing thickly. She can’t tell her, there’s no time, and what would she even say?

“I’m sorry, Lacey. I’ve gotta go. I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”

Lacey jumps down from her chair, her previous contentment gone in a flash. She crosses her arms with a glare.

“You can’t just leave me here! You’re not allowed- you didn’t even finish making me dinner!”

Charlie shakes her head, her hand on the doorknob.

“Look I’m so sorry Lacey, I’ll explain later. I’ll be back.”

She doesn’t hear Lacey’s response as she shuts the door, flying down the stairs to the parking garage.

Charlie manually unlocks her old beater and hops in, peeling out of the parking garage and typing in the address into her phone. Her heart pounds, the rush of adrenaline hitting her with full force as she goes as fast as she physically can in Chicago traffic.

Every time she does this, Charlie gets the same sinking feeling. With every omega she finds, she sees the wide eyes of her little brother. What if one day, she gets a call and it’s from him? What if she can’t get there in time? What if it’s already too late?

Charlie shakes herself out of her thoughts. She can’t afford to think about the what ifs. She wasn’t able to save her brother, but she can help whoever called her.

She drives down a quiet suburban street, mentally counting each address until she finds the number she’s looking for. She spares a moment to look at the house, entirely unassuming, with a white picket fence and perfectly pruned flowers in the small yard. But, as she parks her car a block away, she can see a man storming out in a rage, driving off in a Porsche. Once she watches it vanish, Charlie makes her move, circling back around into the driveway and walking up to the door.

Charlie knocks gently on the door. She can see a single light on in the house, and she waits as patiently as she can. The door opens a crack, one wary, fearful eye staring at her.

“Hi, my name is Charlotte. I believe you texted me?” She murmurs softly.

The door opens up a little more, revealing a young omega, barely twenty with a toddler on her hip. Charlie’s eyes soften, smiling slightly at the toddler and waving at her.

“I saw your mate just left. My car is ready, how much time do we have before he comes back? And does the little one need a car seat?” Charlie asks, her tone measured and calm. She assesses the poor woman closely, noticing how her shoulders bunch up with every question, the dark circles under her eyes, and the stark hand-shaped bruises wrapped around her throat. Charlie slowly allows her scent to sweeten, something soothing like a warm blanket and hot chocolate in winter.

The omega lets out a shaky breath as her shoulders loosen slightly.

“He’s going to get more beer, it’ll take maybe twenty minutes. I…I don’t have a car seat. It’s in his car.”

Charlie nods, smiling reassuringly. “No problem, grab anything you and your kid need, essentials, whatever you can carry. I’ll hold on to this little guy and help with whatever you need.”

The omega hesitantly hands over her child, watching as Charlie settles the boy on her hip, one arm tucked securely around him.

The girl swallows thickly before rushing back into the house, leaving Charlie to follow after her. A big dark wood grandfather clock at the end of the hallway mocks them with its loud tick tock tick tock. Each time the omega zips up a bag and flits to another, Charlie scoops it up and hurries to pack them up in her trunk. Time seems to blur in the panic, Charlie doing her best to calm both mother and child with her scent, promising the little boy some real chocolate later.

Charlie’s anxiety spikes as the clock hits a quarter til, maybe five more minutes until the alpha shows up. Unless he gets back early, a traitorous part of her mind supplies. Suddenly she wishes she could grab her gun from the front console. At least she’d be able to shoot the bastard if he tried to stop them. Then you’d go to jail, the reasonable part of her brain argues, then how would you help anyone?

Charlie sighs with relief as the omega packs her final bag, hoisting it over her shoulder just after the girl zips it up.

“Alright, let’s hurry.”

The omega nods quickly, her eyes wide with fear as they shut the front door, her toddler crying at his mom’s distress.

“Shhh, shhh it’s okay, we’re almost gone, you’re gonna be alright.” Charlie can’t tell if she’s trying to soothe the child, his mother, or herself. No matter how many times she’s done this, the fear of the unknown and the possibility of failure grip her heart.

Charlie ushers the omega into the passenger’s seat, handing the boy off to her. She jumps to the other side, turning the ignition with a shuddering lurch. As she backs out of the driveway, she glances over at the omega, who’s staring at the house with an indiscernible expression. She holds her toddler close to her chest, silent tears rolling down her cheeks.

Charlie’s heart aches for her, and she hesitantly places a hand on her shoulder, letting her scent slip out more, a rich chocolate, like brownies fresh from the oven.

Her breath hitches when the omega whimpers, nuzzling into her hand instead and brushing her scent gland against her skin.

“Sorry- I just…I’ve been here three years.” Her voice cracks, desperate for the warmth and comfort that her alpha should’ve given her.

As the omega looks at her through glassy brown eyes, Charlie can’t bear the thought of this girl’s fate being Parker’s. She deserved better than this, being snuck away from her own mate because he couldn’t treat her like a human. All omegas deserved better than this. Charlie can’t help but lean over the console and hug her tightly, feeling this poor, sweet girl shudder against her.

She can’t think of anything to say, just squeezing the omega tighter while she cried.

“Ready to get outta here?” Charlie asks softly.

The omega nods, pulling away with a tiny sniffle.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

And with that, Charlie drives away, carrying the omega and her child to safety.