|E L I J A H|

Great. Another Alpha who acts like they've never seen a functioning Omega before. I should've known from the way Sean described Officer Hancock not to expect much. Did anyone in this station know how to politely introduce themselves? Besides me of course. They acted as if an alien had just walked through the door.

Officer Hancock was a stunning man. The type that took someone's breath away. I could tell from the way the fabric of his shirt stretched over his chest that he was quite muscular. At first, his hair seemed to be a deep brown shade, but upon closer inspection, I could spot the undertones of auburn within the strands. The shadow of stubble across his jaw only accentuated his sharp features. He was tall and the alpha pheromones surrounding him felt like a suffocating cloud of dominance and power. I couldn't recall ever feeling as intimidated by someone's pheromones as I did from his. He was the exact opposite of my type; I cringed.

With an internal sigh, I decided I needed to at least play polite. I already had Officer Davis hating my guts. I didn't want Officer Hancock disliking me, too. I needed to try my best to make a good first impression.

"Hello. You must be Officer Hancock. My name is Elijah Garcia. I will be working alongside you from here on out," I said with a forced smile and a nod.

     Officer Hancock seemed frozen in place as his eyes slowly raked up and down my body. I felt chills spiral down my spine. It was like his gaze had me pinned as he carefully assessed me and analyzed whether I was worthy enough. Worthy of what, I had no idea.

     "It's just James. I don't go by officer or Hancock... for obvious reasons. Say, how come I didn't know you were coming today?" Officer Hancock, no, James asked, finally shifting his calculating eyes from me to Johnson. He strolled over to where the bags of breakfast food sat in the bench and pulled out a ham and cheese biscuit. He bit into the savory food as he awaited a response.

     "Oh, I didn't get the news till after coming back from patrolling yesterday. It slipped my mind to tell you before you guys clocked out. The whole thing is kind of sudden," Johnson replied.

     "I see. So who thought it'd be a good idea to put such a cut throat looking dude on our team? He looks like he'd stab someone in the back just for funsies," James grinned a goofy smile.

      Something about this guy was so... annoying. We just met and he was already being a dick. The type to stab someone in the back? What the fuck did that even mean? Was he trying to imply I looked violent and untrustworthy? That was a load of bullshit.

     "You have ham between your teeth. Maybe you should be more concerned about what time it is rather than assuming someone you've barely met is planning to kill you," My voice came out flat and the sarcasm was practically dripping from my words.

      Godammit. I needed to learn to shut my fucking mouth for once. What happened to leaving a good first impression?

      Sean's boisterous laughter could be heard from behind me as he came up on my side to ruffle my hair. I grimaced as I hurried to fix the dark tousled waves. I hated my appearance looking messy.

     "Oh god, Elijah. You're one funny dude! Talking to cock boy like that, shit! I'm a beta and he still makes me nervous," Sean cackled. So it wasn't just me that felt his pheromones were extra overpowering?

     "Stop calling me that, fucking prick!" James snapped, trying to pick out whatever food managed to get stuck between his teeth. He had large hands with long, thick fingers... why was I staring at his hands?

     "It 8 am, you guys. You don't need to be so loud," James winced at Johnson's raised voice.

     Sean rolled his eyes. "You're one to talk Johnny. You weren't complaining about being too loud this mo-" Johnson shot Sean one of the most brutal death glares I had ever seen, effectively prompting him to shut up.

     James made a disgusted face as he set down his food. "I feel like I just walked in on my mom talking dirty to my dad."

      I couldn't help the short little huff of amusement that escaped my nose. I could totally see Sean and Johnson as the Mom and Dad of the group. I could sense James piercing grey eyes jumping to me at the small show of finding something he said funny. What was up with him and staring? Didn't his parents ever tell him that kind of shit is rude?

      "If I was your mom, I'd leave you on the side of the street to fend for yourself. No son of mine shall be a slut!" Sean said, snickering. I internally snorted at the fact he assumed he was the mom without hesitation.

     Johnson sighed, about to add in his two-cents when the phone on the wall began to ring. Johnson had it in his hand and pressed to his ear in a matter of seconds. The room went silent as he took the call. It was a bit awkward.

     All I could as do was look around. There was a wall of red, scratched up lockers lining half the room and a door on the far wall that led to the showers. There was also a desk shoved in the corner with a huge white board with pictures and writing scrawled all over it. There was Missing Persons posters, suspects listed, and theories all jotted down. It'd take an hour to fully absorb all the information put up there.

     Just as I was skimming information on a suspected prostitution case, Johnson's call ended. The phone gave an audible click as it connected back to its stand. Johnson turned to the rest of us with a determined look.

     "I just got a call about a noise complaint... someone heard a gunshot. Get your gear on. We're all heading to go check it out. Including you, Garcia."

     My heart swelled in my chest with excitement. It was finally time for my training to be put to the test...

*~•~|...|~•~*

      My mind was going haywire as we approached the location, my chest squeezing with anticipation. The warehouse looked abandoned; it was two stories of old moldy brick with broken and boarded up windows. I knew the area, and could faintly remember seeing the ugly building we were at the back of before.

      The warehouse was where the gunshot supposedly came from. Johnson informed me of all the other reports connected to the building. It was suspected to be a site for illegal activities for some time now, but the gunshot complaint was the only report that allowed us to get our hands on a warrant. This was one of the only chances we would have to get inside legally.

      My fingers skimmed over the earpiece Sean had given me while we geared up. The rest of my gear rested on my waist, including a gun, taser, handcuffs, and a knife. The uniform I was wearing was a bit on the bigger side; my own personal uniform was still being finished and adjusted to fit me better. I had been given Sean's spare since we were the closest in size. I was a bit taller, but he was much wider, making the fabric draped across my shoulders loose.

        Johnson had paired us up in groups of two. Sean and Layla had already gone inside to scope out the area. I, of course, was paired with Mr. Fragile Masculinity, or in formal terms, Officer Morgan Davis. I stood stiffly next to Morgan as I watched James head into the now open back door, his gun held in his hands stiffly.

Johnson gave me a firm clap on the shoulder with a supportive grin. "Stay here and listen to Morgan. I want you to stay back for this one. Watch and learn, 'kay?"

     I held back a frown as I nodded my head. Johnson gave me a final glance before quickly following behind James, his own weapon pulled out as he gave quiet orders through the mic attached to his uniform.

      Morgan gave me a pointed look, already acting like I was going to do something stupid. I glared right back at him until he looked away with a grumble. I could play childish little mind games all day. It didn't phase me for a moment.

     "Of fucking course Johnson is punishing me, making me babysit an omega. I swear to god if you get in the way of my job again, I'll...."

      I snorted loudly, "You'll what? Maybe Johnson just doesn't want you screwing the rest of the team up. Maybe you focus on bettering your own skills rather than worrying about little old me getting in your way. I'd say he's the one being punished by having a jackass like you on his team." I knew I should probably act nicer, but this Morgan dick was getting on my last nerve. It was times like this that I wished I wasn't such a hothead.

I gave Morgan a unimpressed stare as he seemed stuck on what to say; his brain had probably already reached capacity from spewing so much bullshit today. His dark brows were furrowed together and I could see him stringing together some lame response. Morgan was about to snap back at me when we heard a loud sound come from inside and Sean's voice through our ear pieces.

"Shit, They tried to fucking kill James! Those assholes are getting away!"

    We both met eyes, our bodies tensing as we went into full alert. My hand rested on my gun holster as Morgan responded, "What's going on? Do I need to call back up?"

Morgan started to slowly creep closer to the door, his footsteps silent. He reached towards his belt for the walkie talkie used to radio the station for back up. Before he could pull it out, we heard another voice come in through the mic.

Johnson was the one who answered this time, "We have it under control. The two betas have been apprehended and James is okay. It's clear for y'all to come in. We are ready to haul the betas back to the station, over."

    Morgan gave a short huff of relief and waved his hand at me to follow him inside. I was about to do just that when I heard the shattering of glass. Morgan's footsteps halted while I watched as someone sprinted out towards the road. It was like the world slowed in that moment. I could feel the adrenaline rushing through my veins. I had spent years preparing for this. My body knew what to do before my mind was even halfway through with assessing the situation. There was no time for hesitation. Only for action.

   "Don't you fucking dare, omega! I was ordered to-" Even Morgan's nasally, deep voice wasn't enough to hold me back. I was already gone.

   I could feel all my training flash before my eyes. I broke out in a sprint, my feet slamming against the pavement. My legs pulled me forwards at their own accord. Morgan's yelling was drowned out by the blood rushing to my head and the sound of my shoes scraping against gravel. The criminal glanced over their shoulder, their eyes widened in surprise as they realized I had given chase. They sped up and started heading for a dark alley. I wasn't willing to let them get away that easily.

I spent my high school years in poverty. I grew in this part of the city. I remembered days lounging on fire escapes and nosing through countless dumpsters. The area was familiar to me, and this alley wouldn't slow me down. I knew these streets like I knew the back of my own hand. I pushed forth, gaining distance on the runner. There was no way he was slipping out from my fingers when he was in my neighborhood.

The path ended at a large metal fence. The man had no hesitation in climbing up the wire wall, but neither did I. My hands and feet quickly maneuvered through the small diamond shaped spaces. As he landed on the other side, I was already perched at the top.

Before the man could scamper from my reaches, I leapt from my spot at the top of the fence and slammed into him. I did my best to use his body to catch my fall, but my head rammed into his. We both groaned in pain, but I quickly sat up on his back and straddled him.

I pulled the handcuffs out from my belt and swiftly had his hands clipped together behind his back. His head must have been spinning as much as mine. He didn't fight back much and laid there in pain after a minute of squirming. I wouldn't be surprised if I broke a bone or two of his from the impact.

I felt sick as I reached for my ear piece to let the team know, but stopped when I could hear footsteps come up behind me. Disoriented, I glanced over my shoulder to see Morgan climbing the wire barrier. His feet landed soundly on the ground with a thud as he approached me.

"Holy shit, how did you...." Morgan seemed to notice the dazed look in my eyes as I watched him blur in and out of site.

Morgan grabbed the man from under me and held him by the shoulders. I listened to him instructing someone how to find our location through his mic as I sat against the wall of a building. My head laid back against the brick and I squeezed my eyes shut. Soon, Sean was in front of my face. I peaked up at him.

"Hey hey, bud I need you to keep your eyes open. Looks like you hit your head pretty hard, don't want you to have a concussion," Sean spoke softly while lightly slapping my cheeks to keep me focused.

Sean gave me a small smile as my eyes started to clear up more. I grimaced in pain. "That fucking hurt."

"I'm sure it did," Johnson's voice seemed to come from nowhere. I looked to see him standing behind Sean.

Both officers helped me up as a patrol car pulled up on the road closest to us. I watched as Morgan shoved the man I caught into the back of the vehicle. He struggled against Morgan's iron grip. It seemed he gained back some of his senses and realized just what the future held for him.

Rolling my eyes, I ignored the yelling criminal. I couldn't help the small smile tugging at my lips. My skull may have been throbbing with my pain and my heart may not have recovered just yet, but I felt accomplished. I proved I wasn't just put on the task force to sit and look pretty.

A/N: soooooo.... we got a little action started! I hope you enjoyed this. The next update will be out on Monday!

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