Alpha Lost

Rules

**Trigger Warning: If you've read this far, you know Christoph is one sick puppy.  Sensitive issues and implied violence in this chapter and the next one.

Adjusting and applying gear while driving at speed was a skill that all tactical officers gained if they wanted to be ready when they arrived on scene. The only pieces Malcolm didn't pull out while he was driving were his weapons, but Telia had already checked her stunner's battery and her gun with a ruthless efficiency born of years of training.

Earpieces for the comm units went in so that the echo in the car disappeared, but now, Selah's tear-laden voice came through directly to his brain. Malcolm concentrated on his own Omega's voice and tried to block out Ashlyn's sobs and the ominous cracking sounds coming from the background. He knew Telia was doing the opposite because every time Ashlyn's cries increased in pitch, Telia's hands would pause in their preparations for just a brief second before resolutely checking her next piece of gear.

Almost there, Sel. Hold on, baby.

Her voice and Ashlyn's cries over the earpiece gave him a strange hope. They were alive. Ashlyn's pleas and the sound of a snapping whip pierced his own soul so he couldn't imagine what it was doing to Telia, but she was alive. As long as they were both alive, there was hope.

It was one of the most important tenets he taught the Omegas in the self-defense class. In his very first class as the lead instructor, a very timid Omega, who had stayed hidden at the back of the eight person group, had tentatively raised a shaking hand.

"Officer Malcolm? What if we try all these techniques and the worst happens?"

Looking at her trembling body, her drawn up shoulders, and the eyes that refused to meet his own but that kept flicking over to the two-way mirror where the Omega's Alphas sometimes watched their sessions, Malcolm knew that this was more than a "What if?" question. She refused to meet his gaze while he assessed what her body language had to tell him.

"Stay alive. Do whatever it takes to stay alive. There is no shame in doing what it takes to live. Your Alpha and your family will help you through any of the aftermath, but you have to live to come back home first."

"But won't he be angry? Disappointed?" a brief pause and then in a breathy voice so quiet Malcolm had to strain to hear her, "Disgusted?"

Moving closer to her, but still keeping a significant distance between them, he knelt down on one knee to bring himself closer to her level, "Your Alpha will be angry, but not at you. Never at you. Your Alpha will be angry at those who took you. Those who dared to hurt you. He will be angry and frustrated with himself because he will blame himself. Just as you blame yourself."

Her head had snapped up to meet his eyes, and the shimmering tears he saw in those depths made him continue, "He will think that there is something that he could have done better or faster. That he's failed you. But a good Alpha will never ever feel disappointed or disgusted in you. Ever."

The snick of the door opening had both Malcolm and the crying Omega in front of him looking to the side where an Alpha that Malcolm recognized from another OSF unit. As the Alpha approached, the little female in front of him had followed his progress with shining eyes.

"Come here," her Alpha murmured to her as he gathered her into his arms and clutched her to his chest. He rocked his Omega in his arms whispering to her in a quiet voice. Eventually, the Alpha stood in a smooth motion lifting his Omega into his arms and cradling her to his chest.

Malcolm stepped closer with one of Selah's cards that he had retrieved from his bag and handed it to the Alpha, "My mate works in the counseling department."