by J. L. Wilder
“Bread,” she said. “There was always bread. Maybe other things too. It was hard to tell in the dark.” She shuddered a little, remembering. “I didn’t want to eat it at first. But when I thought about it, I realized they couldn’t be trying to poison me.”
“No,” the blonde man agreed, looking up at Emmett. “There’d be no point in kidnapping her to kill her.”
“Omegas are rarely killed, even by the worst of our kind,” Emmett agreed. “They’re just too valuable.”
“So, you know I’m an omega?”
“Of course, we do,” Emmett said. “When your pack hired us, they gave us all the information. They told us what you looked like, how old you were, what you were last wearing...” Here he trailed off, and Hazel realized suddenly that she was still in nothing but her bra and panties. She clutched the blanket that had been wrapped around her more tightly.
Emmett seemed to understand the gesture. “Pax, give her one of your t-shirts, will you?”
The blonde man—Pax, Hazel surmised—rummaged in a duffel bag and emerged with a forest green t-shirt.
Limbs feeling as though she hadn’t used them in weeks, Hazel clumsily pulled it over her head.
“They didn’t tell us everything,” said a fourth voice.
The new speaker was easily the youngest man in the tent, even including Dart, who had left. Hazel thought he looked about fifteen. He had the brightest blue eyes she had ever seen in her life and hair that didn’t look like it had ever been seen to by a mother. It was shoulder length and jaggedly cut, as though he’d done it himself.
“What do you mean?” Emmett asked.
“Her name,” the boy said. “They didn’t give us her name. Remember?”
“They didn’t tell you my name?” Hazel blinked.
“That’s common,” Emmett said. “Alphas who’ve lost an omega don’t usually spend a lot of time filling us in on the nuances of her personality.”
“My name isn’t a nuance, though.”
“What is it?” the boy asked.
“Hazel,” she said.
“Hazel Cavallon?”
“No. Hazel Lang.” She, like the rest of her pack, had taken the alpha’s name as her own. But now she hesitated. “How do you know that? About the Cavallon thing?”
“Your alpha told us,” the boy said. “He said you were a direct descendant of the Cavallon line.”
“That’s enough, Xander,” Emmett said.
“What’s the big deal?” the boy asked. “It’s not like we even know what the Cavallon line is.”
Maybe he didn’t. But by the silence in the tent, Hazel got the sense that the other three men—Emmett, Pax, and the one whose name she hadn’t yet learned—had at least some concept of the significance of it. How could they not? The Cavallons were famous. It was a name every shifter knew. And these men were definitely shifters. Even if they hadn’t been talking about omegas and the name of their pack, she would have known by the scent of them.
Dart reentered the tent with an oblong foil wrapped package. He handed it to Emmett who opened it. It turned out to be a warm baked potato. “Fresh out of the fire,” Dart said.
“Eat it all,” Emmett said to Hazel. “You need your strength.”
“Are you really going to take me back to my family?” she asked.
The others exchanged looks, but Emmett ignored them. “Yes,” he said firmly. “We’ll take you back in the morning. The sun’s about to go down, and I don’t want to move you in the dark.”
“They’ll take me back,” Hazel said. As if on cue, the tattoo on her arm twinged painfully. “I know they will. They love me.” They loved her not just as an omega but as a person. They wouldn’t give up on her.
Would they?
Emmett nodded, but said nothing.
Hazel broke off bits of potato between her fingers and ate gingerly but steadily. After the terrible food the Savage Rangers had given her, it tasted better than her birthday feast.
“Judah, can you take the first watch?” Emmett asked.
Judah was a thickset man with a full beard. He looked as though his movements should be slow or clumsy, and Hazel was surprised to see him rise fluidly to his feet and head out through the flap of the tent. “Where is he going?” she asked.
“He’ll walk the perimeter while we get some sleep,” Emmett said. “Make sure things are safe.”
“Do you think the Savage Rangers are still out there?”
“It’s possible they tracked us here,” Emmett said. “But you don’t have to worry. My pack are all good fighters, and we’ll protect you. We’re not going to let them take you again.”
“Why are you doing this?” she asked. “What’s in it for you?”
Emmett didn’t answer.
But Dart wasn’t shy. “Pay,” he said. “Your pack is paying us to bring you back safe. We’re not going to let anyone hurt you because if we do, they won’t give us the promised price.”
“Oh.” She should have known. Of course, Matthew would use money to solve any problem that came his way. And could she blame him? He had the resources. Why shouldn’t he use his money to get her back. She was glad he had.
Still, it was almost as hard to get to sleep surrounded by this strange and wild pack as it had been in her prison cell.
THE NEXT TIME SHE WOKE, there was a hand pressed over her mouth.
Terror flamed within her. She tried to scream, but the noise was stifled. “Hush!” a low voice said, right in her ear.
Emmett. She stilled, forced herself to breathe.
“I’m going to take my hand away,” he said. “Don’t scream.”
She nodded.
Slowly, he eased his hand away.
For a moment, she nearly did scream. Just as he let her go, a gunshot sounded from outside, followed by the frantic whimper of a dog—or a wolf. She darted a frantic glance at Emmett, and he pressed a finger firmly to his lips.
Savage Rangers? she mouthed.
He nodded.
She made a gun shape with her hand. Who?
He shook his head. He didn’t know.
This must be killing him, she thought. That was his pack out there. Nobody but the two of them remained in the tent. Yet he’d stayed with her, stood guard the way he’d promised to.
Now, he pointed at the back wall of the tent with one hand and beckoned with the other.
She shook her head frantically. She couldn’t move. She could barely think.
Just as urgently, he nodded and beckoned harder.
Hazel squeezed her eyes shut, steeled herself, and moved.
She slipped beneath the tent wall and was immediately running, crouched low, rows of corn giving way before her. The gunshots she’d heard from the tent seemed even louder now that she was outside, and for a horrible moment, she thought she’d started running in the wrong direction and that she’d break into a clearing and see the shootout at any moment.
Emmett darted past her. He was astonishingly fast for his size. He caught her hand in his and pulled her along so quickly that she thought she might fall in his wake. Somehow, she managed to keep her feet.
Somehow, she kept running.
Eventually, the gunshots faded into the distance.
Hazel didn’t know whether they’d stopped shooting or if she and Emmett had simply run so far that they couldn’t hear the shots anymore. The latter explanation seemed unlikely. A gunshot could be heard for miles around, couldn’t it?
Hazel had no idea.
“This way,” Emmett said, still speaking under his breath. He turned left and led her in a path perpendicular to the one along which they’d been running.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“I don’t know.”
“You’re going to leave the others?”
“I’m getting you away. That was the agreement. We all talked about it. If anything happened, whoever was closest to you would be responsible for getting you out.”
“But how can you just leave th
em?”
“Do you want me to leave you here and go back?” His voice rose a little.
“N-no.”
“Do you think I like this? Those are my brothers. But if one of them had been in my place, I would have expected them to stick to the plan. I can’t ask one thing of them and do something different myself.” He sighed. “Besides, we need the money.”
“Someone got shot,” Hazel said.
He nodded. “They’re together. They’re good fighters. They’ll help each other. And the fight should end quickly when the Savage Rangers realize you aren’t there.”
“What’ll happen then?” Hazel asked.
“Then they’ll come after us,” Emmett said. “So, it would be a good idea if we got ourselves away from here before that happens.”
“But where will we go?” she asked. “Back to my pack?”
“No, that won’t be safe right now,” Emmett said. “They know where your house is.”
“Then my family’s in danger! We have to go!”
Emmett shook his head. “I don’t think they are,” he said. “I think they’ll send someone to watch the place and see if you try to go back there, but they won’t pick a fight if they don’t have to. The only way your family will be in danger is if you’re with them.”
“And the only way your family will be in danger is if I’m with them.”
Emmett nodded. “That’s about the size of it.”
“So, we have to stay away from everybody.”
“It’s all right,” he said. “I’ve got some money. I can get us a hotel room.”
“We can’t just get a hotel room,” she said.
“Why not?”
“Are you crazy? Look at us.”
She had meant it rhetorically, but he actually stopped in his tracks and looked her over. “What’s the problem?”
“Well, I’m not wearing anything, for a start.” How obtuse could he be?
“You’re covered up,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter. I’m not wearing pants or shoes. A hotel manager is going to think you found me on the side of the road.”
“I kind of did,” he said. “What’s the big deal about it?”
“They’ll call the cops.”
“No. They wouldn’t really, would they?”
“I don’t know for sure. But they definitely won’t rent you a room. And by the way, in case you weren’t aware, you don’t look like a fine upstanding citizen yourself. You’re not wearing a shirt.”
“I have cash,” he said, as though that settled the matter.
“How much cash have you got?”
“What difference does it make?”
“Because if you have enough, we can go to a department store—well, you can, they’re not going to let me inside—and pick up some clothes. Plus, maybe some toiletries.”
“Okay, you’re not telling me they won’t let us check into a hotel without toiletries.”
“No, I’m telling you I’ve been living in a cement bunker for a week and I’d like to brush my teeth,” she snapped. Rescuer or not, she was beginning to feel a little fed up with him. Didn’t he know anything about the civilized world? Matthew had always told the Coywolves stories about wild packs who lived on the fringes of society, who didn’t know how to interact with normal people, but she was surprised by just how far from human he seemed. It was as if he were more wolf than man.
It occurred to her, suddenly, that she might not be much better off with these Hell’s Wolves than she had been with the Savage Rangers. They hadn’t branded their mark into her skin, which was a point in their favor, but they had still picked her up with the intent of earning money. They were planning to take her back to her family, but what if they got a better offer? What if the Savage Rangers made them an offer?
“Jeez,” Emmett groaned, unaware of the thoughts running through her head. “All right. If it means that much to you, we’ll get toiletries. I still think this whole thing is a waste of time, by the way.”
“Noted.”
ON THE EDGE OF TOWN, they found a superstore that claimed to offer groceries and other retail goods. Emmett hesitated. “You shouldn’t be out here alone at night,” he said. “Even if you weren’t being hunted by a pack of shifters, I wouldn’t like it. Even if you weren’t an omega.”
“Then go fast,” she suggested.
He sighed. “Stay right here,” he said. “Right by the door. If you see anything, come in. I don’t care if you think they’ll throw you out. Better to cause a scene than to be kidnapped again, right?”
She nodded.
“All right. What am I getting?”
“Shoes. Size seven. Something cheap. Pants, size four. Jeans, maybe. A shirt for you. Toothpaste. Soap. And get yourself a razor,” she added as an afterthought. “If you can change your appearance, you’ll be harder to find.”
He shook his head. “You might know a thing or two about renting hotel rooms, but you don’t know much about tracking, do you?”
“What?”
“They won’t be looking for my stubble,” he said. “They won’t be looking for me at all. They’re tracking you. And they’ll be going by smell.”
On that unsettling note, he ran inside and began his shopping.
Hazel lurked by the door, anxiously waiting. More than once, she almost took his advice and came inside, spooked by people walking across the parking lot, but each time, it turned out to be someone heading to his or her car. No one took any notice of Hazel. The Savage Rangers were still hunting her, she had no doubt, but for the time being, at least, they seemed to have fallen behind.
Emmett emerged, clutching a plastic shopping bag. He handed Hazel a pair of jeans and cheap sneakers, both of which she put on. The fit was good enough for the time being, if not exactly up to the standards she was used to. “Okay,” she said. “This is fine for tonight.”
“Great,” Emmett said. “Let’s get out of here, then, before anything else goes wrong.”
Chapter Six
EMMETT
“You said we were getting a hotel,” Hazel accused.
Emmett, who had been staring out the window, now turned to look at her in surprise. “We did,” he said. “We’re at our hotel. What are you talking about?”
“This isn’t a hotel. This is a mo-tel.”
“What’s the difference?”
“A motel is a drive-up place with detached units.”
“I know what the difference is,” he said. “I meant, why does it matter?”
“Because...” she flushed. “Well, I thought we’d be staying someplace clean.”
Once again, he had no idea what she was talking about. The beds had been made up when they’d entered the room. The carpet was clearly vacuumed. Someone had wiped down the mirror and the bathroom sink, and there were even glasses with those little paper protectors over the rims. All in all, Emmett thought, this was one of the cleaner places he’d ever stayed.
And yet, Hazel was sitting on the edge of the bed as if it were a toxic swamp. As if she were afraid she was going to fall in and get infected with something. “What were you expecting?” he asked.
“I wanted to take a bath tonight,” she said. She let out a sigh. “I know it probably sounds silly. I should just be glad to be out of that bunker. I am glad. Don’t get me wrong. I just wish...”
“You wish what?”
“I wish I could go home!” She pressed the heels of her hands against her temples. “I never thought I’d be like this. I never thought I’d find it so impossible to be away from the comforts I grew up with. But it is impossible. Not having clean clothes, not being able to wash...it honestly feels like the end of the world.” She laughed a little. “You must think I’m so melodramatic.”
“Mostly, I’m just wondering why you can’t take a bath,” he admitted.
Her eyes widened. “Have you seen that tub? It looks like something died in there!”
Emmett wondered what she would say if she saw some of the place
s he’d bathed. He decided not to broach that topic. “We should get something to eat,” he said instead. “Are you hungry?”
She nodded.
He slipped the key card into his pocket. “I’ll go see what I can find,” he said. “Until I get back, don’t open this door to anyone. No matter what they say. Understand?”
“Do you think the Savage Rangers will find me here?” she asked, fear in her eyes.
He wished he could lie to her, give her a false sense of security that would make her feel more comfortable. But to allow her to let her guard down would be to put her at greater risk. “I think it’s only a matter of time before they figure out we were here,” he said. “I’m just hoping they’re far enough behind us to give us the chance to get some sleep and move on before they get here.”
“How will we know when it’s safe for me to go home?” she asked.
“We’ll have to take that one day at a time,” he said. It was one of his greatest fears already. How was he going to outsmart the Savage Rangers? He knew that was what he would have to do if he was ever going to get Hazel back to her family.
Tucking the key card into his pocket, he headed out. He wasn’t going to spend too much time worrying about the Savage Rangers right now. The entire point of bunking down at this hotel—no, motel, he reminded himself with an internal chuckle—was to get a few hours’ rest and to recuperate from their frantic flight. They would stay attuned to their surroundings, of course, but there was no point in stopping at all if he wasn’t going to allow himself to relax.
He had a few singles in his leather wallet, and he’d spotted a vending machine on the way to their room. It wouldn’t be the most nutritious food in the world, but it would be calories, and that would be enough to keep them moving for a bit longer. They were going to have to make their money last as long as they could. Who knew how many nights they’d have to run before they could return to the Coywolves.
The vending machine was old and appeared to have been thoroughly picked over. Most of the snack slots were empty. There was beef jerky, though. Jackpot, he thought, feeding a few dollars into the machine and buying the last two remaining packets. Protein was just what they needed. He also chose a package of powdered donuts and used two dollars to buy two bottles of soda. Breakfast of champions.
