Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. Just in front of me, Ivory took a shuddering breath, and then seemed to snap. Before I could even register what was going on, he was on his knees on the floor, hands behind his back as he submitted to something that scared him.

Sniffing the air, I realized what had set him off. There was an alpha here, an angry one. Immediately, I moved forward to help my omega, but before I could reach him I heard words that made my blood boil. "There's the little slut! I thought he'd never have the guts to show up. Look at that, I taught him well, didn't I?"

Officer Boone tried to grab my arm, but I shook her loose as I flew across the station to the alpha who had spoken. He was tall and strong, his pine scent heavy in the air around me. The cops leading him across the hall were stunned as I stood in front of them, seething at his words. I knew I shouldn't do anything. I would be in trouble, I would cause problems for Ivory's case and the evidence. My fists were curled into tight balls, shaking with the effort of keeping them at my sides.

Ivory's step dad chuckled lowly, "Well then, you must be the brat's new owner! Lucky you, he hurts so pretty, doesn't he..." his head flew back as my fist came into contact with his nose. There was a sickening crack, and the cops let him go as I punched him again, sending him back into the wall and then onto the floor. A kick to his ribs had him hunched over and coughing, but I wasn't done. This monster deserved all the pain he could get.

I didn't stop, I couldn't stop. Ivory was still by the door, he might see me angry, he might be scared of me. I couldn't stop. There was too much rage in my chest to calm down. I hardly felt it when Officer Boone and her partner latched on to me, dragged me away from the bloody mess against the back wall. They pulled me back, pinned my arms by my sides. For the first time, I felt like a true ruthless alpha, like a crazed animal. The world around me meant nothing, all I could think about was hurting him as much as I could, punishing him for what he had done to my omega.

The cops were in front of me, Officer Boone was talking. Her voice seemed to fade in and out of my consciousness until she said his name. "...Ivory, he needs you. He's scared, he needs you to be calm and safe." She was right. I blinked, my chest heaving as my eyes refocused on my surroundings, everything else that was going on.

Almost as quickly as I had left him, I was back by Ivory's side. He was still on the floor, frozen and perfectly silent. "Officer Boone, can we use that office from last time again?" She looked at me incredulously, "Tyler... you, you just beat a suspect. Literally right in front of a dozen police officers. What the hell were you thinking?" I sighed, "Please Officer, we can deal with that later I promise, I'm not going to run away or do anything. I need to...I need to help him."

After a short pause, she nodded, and stepped out of the way as I turned back to Ivory. My mind was running through images of the bathroom at school, how I had found him on the floor just like this after Xavier had left. I dropped down to my knees beside him, careful not to touch him or to get too close. My voice was as calm as I could manage, "Ivory, love, it's okay. He's...he's not going to hurt you. I took care of it baby, you're safe now. You're safe."

He didn't move or speak, his eyes still fixed on the floor in front of him, long hair hanging in front of his face. "We can go somewhere more quiet, where it's just you and me. Can I pick you up?" The nod was tiny, almost imperceptible, but I caught it, and lifted him gently into my arms. Turning around, Officer Boone watched warily as we crossed the station.

When we were safely inside the dim room, I crossed to the worn brown couch, setting Ivory down carefully in the corner where I knew he would feel safest. Squatting down in front of him, I lifted his chin to look into his eyes as I spoke, "I know that was scary, I am so so sorry that you had to see him again. I should have been more careful about bringing you here, I should have checked with Officer Boone first. I...I took care of it. Did you see what I did? Are you afraid of me?

I knew it was selfish to ask, but I just had to know if he hated me, if I had gone too far and scared him with the violence. He didn't answer immediately, curled up into his usual terrified ball in the corner of the cushions. When he did speak, his voice was shaky and uncertain, "I'm not-I'm not afraid of you. You...you p-protect me. You're-you're safe."

Almost immediately I felt myself relax. He wasn't scared of me, I could still help him. He reached out to me with needy hands and I could hardly believe it. "Do you want me to...hold you?" Ivory nodded, and looked up at me shyly through his lashes. I was more than happy to oblige, moving to sit next to him on the couch. I was about to scoop him up to sit in my lap when the door banged open, making both of us jump at the sudden sound and movement.

Standing up, I spoke before I even registered who was at the door, "Please, it's important that this room stays safe for Ivory-" I was cut off by the sharp voice of the stranger standing in the doorway. "Mr Dunwood? I'm the captain of this police department, and it has come to my attention that a serious assault has occurred in my station." He was tall and muscular, his broad shoulders blocking the light from the room behind him. He reeked of a sharp smokey, campfire smell, as his aggressive alpha pheromones flooded into the room.

Behind me, I heard Ivory slip off the couch onto the floor. And I stood up to face the chief. "You don't understand I-" he cut me off again, advancing into the room and reaching for something on his belt. "Tyler Dunwood, you are under arrest for the aggravated assault of Patrick Damien. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law..."

The chief's voice faded from my consciousness as what was happening sunk in. He had pushed me up to the wall. My wrists were being cuffed behind my back. My omega was kneeling on the floor again, his eyes glued on the carpet as he led me out of the office. I was vaguely aware that words were coming out of my mouth as we walked, trying desperately to explain what had happened. We passed Officer Boone in the hallway, and she looked at me sadly, mouthing "I tried" with an apologetic look.

Leading me further into the police station, the chief deposited me roughly at a counter, and turned to leave without a word. I was in disbelief, and almost didn't hear the officer behind the counter begin reading off my rights as a prisoner. Turning to face him, I could hardly focus on what he was saying.

Something had to have gone wrong, there was no way I was actually going to go to jail for this. I couldn't. What would Ivory do without me? I pictured him, still in the office I had just been dragged out of, crouched on the floor, his beautiful blue eyes staring blankly at the carpet. I had to do something, I couldn't let him be alone, especially not now after he had seen his father.

"Please, Officer, I think there's been a mistake. I was defending my omega. That guy, his stepdad, he did terrible things, I couldn't let him scare my baby. I had too-" The cop, another alpha with a muted spicy scent sighed and looked up at me. "Listen, I know why you did it, I've got my own mate at home and I would have reacted the same way. Boone is working on it with the Chief. He showed up at a bad time and got the wrong idea. He should come around soon."

Thank god this wouldn't last. But still, I couldn't wait that long to see Ivory, "What about Ivory? He's a victim, that's why we're here. He can't...he can't handle this without me." The cop nodded, "Omegas can be much stronger than you'd think. He is probably stronger than you think." He was right, I knew Ivory was brave enough to get through this, but he shouldn't have to. The only thing that mattered to me right now was making his recovery as easy as possible, and I couldn't do that from a jail cell.

It was too late though. The cop, whose badge told me he was Officer S. Bass, took my fingerprints and mugshot before leading me down the hall to the holding cell. Once the door was shut, I turned around to be greeted with the eyes of about a dozen other men sitting and standing around the large concrete room. From the looks of it, most of them were intoxicated in some way, probably here for DUIs.

Sitting down on the edge of a bench, I dropped my head into my hands. A gruff voice made me jump, and I looked up at the speaker. "Well now, what do we have here?" The man was huge, his muscles bulging as he hunched over to talk to me. His heavy alpha scent was of burnt coffee, and I tried not to make a face at the smell. "Someone has had a fun night!" I looked at him questioningly, taking in the unshaven chin and neck tattoo. "Oh come on man, I know exactly what you've been up to. You reek of terrified omega, and a pretty one at that."

He sucked a breath in through his nose, chuckling at the look of horror on my face. Resisting the overwhelming urge to pummel him into the ground, I stood up. With few other options of where to stand, I crossed to the other side of the room, sliding down the wall to sit between two betas nursing bloody knuckles. It was only a matter of time, I would be out of here and back with Ivory any second now.