by Aja Foxx
"I was attacked, Fagan," Beck said.
Fagan gasped and reached out until Beck grabbed his hand. "You were attacked?"
"I was," Beck answered. "I needed to bond with you to help heal my wounds."
"Did it work? Are you okay?"
Fagan felt a kiss pressed against his knuckles before Beck replied, "I am. After I bonded with you and shifted, I was as good as new."
At least he'd done something right.
Chapter Nine
Beck frowned as he glanced at Fagan. The man had simply deflated. One minute he was fully involved in the conversation. The next minute, his shoulders were slumped and he looked even more dejected than when he first arrived.
Beck leaned in closer. "Fagan, what's wrong?"
Fagan shrugged.
"Tell me, little one."
"I feel like my whole life has been a lie," Fagan whispered. "All my life I was taught that I'd have a master, someone I was duty bound to serve, someone I would find great satisfaction in serving. Now, I find out that it was all a lie. I was never supposed to have a master."
"No, you weren't, but look at it this way, Fagan. The education you were provided, even if they meant to train you to serve someone, made you pretty self reliant. You may not know much about life out here in the real world, but a lot of blind people aren't nearly as independent as you are."
"And that's supposed to be a good thing?"
"Do you think any of us could cook a meal like this?" Beck could barely boil water. He'd never had to learn to cook. There was always someone to do it for him. Yes, in the grand scheme of things, he realized that made him spoiled, but he was a fighter, not a cook.
"I couldn't swear to it," Greyson said, "but I'm pretty sure most blind people don't know Krav Maga."
"Oh please," Jaggar snorted. "Most sighted people don't know Krav Maga."
Greyson chuckled. "That's true."
"Most people don't speak seven languages either," Beck added. "What we're trying to say here, is that the education you received is better than most people get. It was the education I wanted you to have, the one I paid for, so your life has not been a lie. That these morons turned it into something else is on them, not you."
"And what about the others?" Fagan asked. "So many of my friends have already been taken away. What happens to them? Or the ones still there?"
"We're working on that, Fagan," Beck said. "I promise you."
He wasn't quite sure what they were going to do, but he wouldn't stop until the people doing this were brought to justice and those sold into slavery were freed. He didn't care if it started another great war. Selling people and sending them into slavery was just wrong. It had to be stopped, even if it was simply to bring Fagan peace of mind.
Beck knew that probably wasn't the best reason to save a bunch of omegas, but Fagan was his number one priority. If Fagan was upset, Beck was upset. It was as simple as that.
"I guess," Fagan whispered, but he didn't sound convinced.
Beck brought Fagan's hand up to his mouth again and pressed a kiss to his knuckles. "Baby, listen to me. The education you received was the one I wanted for you." Most of it anyway. Beck was a little iffy on the whole sex-ed thing. "I'm sorry they convinced you that you were going to be serving a master. That was wrong. But don't dismiss all the hard work you put in to being the man you are today. You should be proud of all you accomplished. I am."
"What did I accomplish?" Fagan asked. "The ability to cook a seven- course meal? The ability to jab someone in the throat and incapacitate them? The ability to deep throat a cock without gagging? Those are things I should be proud of?"
"Damn." Jaggar groaned. "I have got to find me an omega."
Beck pressed his lips together when Fagan shot Jaggar a glare. Anyone looking at him would have a hard time figuring out he was blind. Beck didn't know if that was part of Fagan's training or not, but the man walked around and behaved as if his sight was twenty-twenty.
It was kind of sexy.
"You don't have to save the world to accomplish something, Fagan," he explained. "Most people don't. They find something to do, something they like, and they stick to it."
"But I don't know what I like," Fagan said. "We were never allowed to do anything that wasn't approved by the headmaster."
Beck slid his hand to the back of Fagan's neck and gently massaged him. "Then maybe we should try a few things and see what you like."
"I do like cooking, but I really need my cookbooks."
"Have you ever considered an audio cookbook?" Jaggar asked.
Beck lifted his eyebrows. "They have audio cookbooks?"
Jaggar smirked. "They have audio everything."
Huh.
Beck smiled as pressed a kiss to Fagan's temple. "Looks like we need to get you a tablet and an Audible account."
Fagan's brow flickered. "Audible?"
Jaggar nodded. "It's like a gigantic audio book bookstore."
Beck's heart nearly broke in two when Fagan whispered, "I've never been to a bookstore."
"Maybe we'll go to one as soon as we get this whole thing figured out with the headmaster." There were a lot of placesd he wanted to visit with Fagan. The man might not be able to enjoy watching the sunset in the Fiji Islands, but he could certainly stick his toes in the sand and feel the water on his feet.
There were a lot of places like that that Beck wanted to share with Fagan. Many of them he'd hoped to share because he wanted to show his mate the beauty of those places, the sights to be seen. Now, he'd have to reevaluate exactly what he was going to show him because it would be based on all the senses except sight.
Beck would still take Fagan.
"There are a bunch of places I want to take you to," he admitted. "Is there any places special you've always wanted to visit?"
"I'd like to go to McDonalds if possible," Fagan said. "I've heard that their fries are something really special."
"McDonalds?" He'd offered his mate the world and he chose a fast food restaurant? He glanced at the others at the table then chuckled when he saw them all staring at Fagan with their jaws dropped.
"Yeah." He chuckled at the dismay on his friends' faces. They weren't fans of greasy fast food joints. They preferred steakhouses. "I think we can do McDonalds."
"Is it true that they have golden arches?"
Beck chuckled. "It is. It's like part of their logo or something."
"I wonder if there's a connection between their golden arches and their golden fries?"
Huh.
"You know, I've never thought about it." He glanced at the others, who were all smiling as they looked at Fagan. Even Jaggar was smiling. "Maybe we can ask when we go to get you some fries."
"You'll have to describe the place when we get there. I'm very interested to know what this place looks like. I heard the guards talk about it a lot. I guess there is one right down the street from the monastery where a bunch of them go for lunch all the time."
Beck shot the others a quick look. "You don't say."
"No, I did say. Just now. Didn't you hear me?"
Beck chuckled. His mate was adorable. "That's just a figure of speech, Fagan. It basically means I found what you said interesting."
"Oh." Fagan's forehead scrunched up. "Then why didn't you just say that?"
Beck brought Fagan's hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to the palm. "I will in the future. I promise."
He realized that, while Fagan had a very high intelligence, he had no practical life experience. And that made sense considering he'd grown up in such a closed environment. He'd never been exposed to the real world.
Beck shuddered to think of what some of the others who'd already been sold must be going through. They needed to find them and get them somewhere safe as quickly as possible.
"What would you like to do with the rest of your day, little one?" Beck asked, remembering that Fagan was never allowed to do what he wanted.
"Uh..." Fagan shrugged. "I guess whatever you're doing."
&nbs
p; Beck started to open his mouth and protest that statement until he saw the confusion on Fagan's face. "Are you saying that because you don't care or because you can't think of anything to do?"
Fagan shrugged again. "I can't think of anything to do."
At least he was honest.
"Well, we could go for a walk. We could go into town and get you a tablet so we can order you some audio books. We could go into town and take you to McDonalds. We could—"
"Could we call that elder friend of yours and see if he found anything?" Fagan asked. "I know it's only been a few days, but I'd really like to know what happened to my friends."
Beck's eyebrows lifted. "Yeah, we can call Elder Ramsey."
Fagan smiled.
"Okay." Beck stood then drew Fagan to his feet. "You guys are on dishes."
"Why us?" Jaggar asked.
"Because it's not fair to ask the Fagan to cook and clean, so if you want to eat like this again, you get to do the dishes."
"Oh, I don't mind," Fagan said quickly. "I was trained to—" Fagan snapped his lips closed when Beck growled.
"It is not fair for you to have to cook and clean, Fagan. There are enough of us here to split the work up evenly. If they eat, they can clean. It's that simple."
"Okay," Fagan said meekly.
Beck stifled a groan as he drew Fagan into his arms. "I know you were trained to care for your master, baby, and I'd bet anything that you're damn good at it, but you don't have to sing for your supper here. You don't have to prove your worth to us. We already know how special you are."
"I don't mind cleaning," Fagan whispered. "I really don't."
Beck sighed. "Okay, then how about we all pitch and help clean up? That way it'll get done a lot quicker."
Fagan smiled. "That would be nice."
"Why don't you go fill up the sink with hot soapy water while the rest of us gather up the dishes?" That should be easy enough.
"You know you do have a dishwasher, right?" Fagan asked.
"Yeah, but it's a temperamental bitch. If you don't clean all the food off first, none of it gets clean." It was probably time to buy a new one. Maybe that was one more thing they could add to the list of things to do when they got to town.
Once Fagan left the room, Beck leveled a hard gaze at each of the men still in the room. He didn't say anything because he didn't want Fagan to overhear him chewing the guys out. He'd wait to do that later.
He picked up the empty plates on his side of the table. As he stacked them, he noticed the others gather up the rest of the dishes. He carried his dishes into the kitchen. After scraping any remaining food off of them, he slid them into the sink.
He pressed a quick kiss to Fagan's cheek. "I'm going to put these leftovers away. Is there anything that can't be mixed with anything else?"
"Well, I don't think I'd mix the breadsticks in with the meatballs and sauce, but other than that..."
Fagan said that with such a straight face that for a minute, Beck thought he was serious, but then he saw the twinkle in Fagan's pale eyes.
"Funny."
Fagan's laughter lit up the room and stole the breath from Beck's lungs. While Fagan had laughed a few times, he'd never laughed with such abandon before. It was a wonderful sound, one he desperately wanted to hear again. He just needed to figure out what made Fagan happy.
Beck kept a close eye on Fagan as he packed away the leftovers. He doubted they'd stay in the fridge for long. Someone would heat them up and enjoy a midnight snack. Beck's money was on Dominic. The man was built like a brick shithouse. He needed the extra fuel just to stay upright. If Fagan kept cooking like this, he'd probably end up with a stalker.
"I think that's all of them," Beck said as he set the last empty dish into the sink of hot sudsy water. He leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms as he watched Fagan finish washing the dishes and then loading them into the dishwasher.
He did notice that Jaggar grabbed a rag and some cleaner and wiped down the counters. He just wasn't sure if the man was doing it to be nice or because he wanted to make sure Fagan continued cooking for them.
Once Fagan emptied the sink and rinsed all the suds down the drain, Beck grabbed his arm and pulled him into his arms. "So, mate, how about we go check in with Elder Ramsey and then we can see about going into town and getting you a tablet?"
Fagan tiltedtled his head back until his milky white eyes were looking up at Beck. "Sounds good."
"I'm not sure I'll ever get used to that.?"
Fagan frowned. "Used to what?"
"How breathtaking you are."
Chapter Ten
Fagan knew his cheeks were flushing. He could feel the heat blooming in them. He'd just never really received compliments before. The elders weren't big on handing them out. He didn't know if it was because it wasn't part of his omega training or if the elders were just jerks.
He was pretty sure it was a little of both.
"Do you think Elder Ramsey learned anything new?"
Beck stiffened and Fagan knew the man wasn't happy with the change in conversation, but he was just too uncomfortable accepting compliments when he wasn't sure what they meant. Yes, he understood the term breathtaking, but not when someone was referring to him. He had no idea what he looked like. He could be as ugly as a slug for all he knew.
"Why don't we go call him and find out?" Beck asked. "Greyson, I'd like you to join us if you can. I could use your council in this."
"Of course," Greyson replied. "I'd be happy to help."
"Jaggar, can you and the others get the cars ready to go into town? I'd like to take two vehicles."
"You don't want to take the bikes?" Jaggar asked.
"Not today. With any luck, we'll have a few things to bring back with us. The cars would be easier."
"I'm on it."
Fagan kept a tight hold of Beck's arm as they walked down the hallway. He assumed they were headed to the man's office. Beck seemed to do all of his work in there. Fagan still wasn't quite sure what it was the man did, but he seemed to spend a lot of time on his laptop and making phone calls.
"What is it you do exactly?" Fagan asked when his curiosity became too much. "You seem to spend a lot of time in your office on your computer or the phone."
"Well, I've spent the last twenty-five years guarding the council elders. During that time, I took the money they paid me and invested it, so a lot of my work involves making sure my money is making money. It's my duty to provide for the members of my pride, to care for them and protect them."
"Your pride?" Fagan wasn't exactly sure what that meant.
"At the moment, it's a rather small pride." Beck chuckled. "Just the guys you've already met, but we'll get bigger as time goes by and more people join us."
"And you have to provide for everyone?"
"I need to make sure my pride is taken care of, whether that is financial, or emotional, or even just personal safety. That's my job as alpha. As for providing for everyone, they all have income of their own, but I make sure their money makes money just like mine does. I have a master’s degree in finance."
Fagan grinned. "So, smart and sexy?"
Beck chuckled. "If you say so."
That was a weird response. At least, Fagan thought so. He didn't know what to make of it. Beck seemed very self- assured and confident. There was no reason for him to question Fagan's attraction to him.
Beck led him into the office and to the chair next to his desk before sitting down himself. Fagan heard him pick up the phone and start dialing. As he sat there, his mind began to wander, hitting on one of the questions that had plagued him his entire life.
"Do I have parents?"
"Of course you have parents."
"Do you know where they are? Who they are?"
"Yes," Beck replied. "I've met with them several times over the years."
"Did they..." Fagan swallowed tightly. "Did they not want me? Is that why they gave me to the monastery?" That was a fear pretty much e
veryone student at the monastery had felt one time or another.
"No, baby." Beck took Fagan's hands in his. "Your parents loved you, Fagan. They still love you."
"Then why did they give me away?"
"It wasn't like that." Beck tugged on Fagan's hand until he stood up and moved over to sit down on the man's lap. Beck's arms wrapped around him. "Remember what I told you. When a Sidhe child is born, he or she is taken to the Síceach, the seer, to determine if they are an omega. If they are, then they are sent to the monastery to be trained to be the mate of a shifter king."
"Do the parents get any say in this?" It seemed barbaric to Fagan, taking an infant away from their parents.
"It's a great honor to find out your child is the mate of a shifter king."
Fagan could hear hesitation in Beck's voice. "But?"
"But, no, they don't get a choice. Once it is discovered your child is the mate of a shifter king, there is no choice. There are only five omegas born every twenty-five years. Upholding the mandates of the peace treaty between our people is a duty we all have to fulfill in one manner or another."
Fagan's shoulder slumped. "Do theyat hate me?"
"No, of course not."
"Then why have they never contacted me?" Fagan asked. "You at least sent me birthday cards." Beck became so still, Fagan turned toward him. "What?"
"Your parents sent you birthday cards as well," Beck replied. "Every year."
Fagan gasped. "I never received them."
"You never received them?"
Fagan shook his head. "No."
"Have you had any contact with them?"
"No. The only thing I've ever received was your birthday cards."
"No presents?"
"No, nothing." Fagan's heartbeat sped up when Beck didn't say anything. He pressed his hand to the side of Beck's face. The man was clenching his jaw. "Beck, what's going on?"
"Since I'm not allowed to personally see you until you reach the age of twenty-five, I've met with your parents several times to talk about you. Each time we've visited, they were heartbroken that you refused to see them when they went to visit you. They never understood why, but we all figured it was because you never had time to form a bond with them after you were born. You were only a week old when you were sent to the monastery."
