All Brogan could do was stare at the man he’d worshiped his entire life treat him as though he was a bug on his windshield.
“I’ll leave you here tonight and tomorrow if you’re still here then I’ll know that you’ve made your decision and will treat you accordingly. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll call Jackson.”
With that warning his father was gone.
The decision he had to make tore Cade apart. He was drunk and he knew that he couldn’t make the drive home. He didn’t know what he wanted to do, so he picked up his phone from the desk and called Jackson Bennett.
Two hours later he was sitting across from the man who’d tried to claim his mate looking for answers. He’d arrived early because he felt that it would give him an advantage and to help him relax as he ordered a drink and was on his second one when Jeff walked into the restaurant.
“Why’d you call me?” Cade asked barely giving the older man a chance to sit. He tried to keep his voice down so that he wouldn’t disturb the dinner crowd, but he wanted to pummel the smiling idiot sitting across from him. “You could have kept him, forced him, to mate you, but you called and gave me business instead.”
“Hello to you too,” Jackson smirked. “I take it this isn’t business related, then?”
“No.” Cade growled.
“Then I need a drink,” Jackson sighed and flagged down their server.
“Why did you come to me?” Cade grilled Jackson, “You could have taken the same route as Jaden and forced Brogan to mate you, but you didn’t. Why not?”
Jackson leaned forward and said, “You sound as though you wanted me to take him off of your hands, but the picture on your desk says otherwise.”
This was familiar territory for Cade, a bigger Alpha thinking that he was scared or easy prey because of his size. Brogan had made this mistake as well. “I want to never see you again, but that’s not gonna happen since we have business together, but I want to know why you didn’t and why you came to me.”
The older man leaned back in his seat and sized Cade up. He didn’t answer right away but he did emit a low growl at having been challenged by this young pup.
“I wanted to see if you were like that fucker, Richard Ford and when I walked into that office and saw that despite what the news was saying about him you still had faith. I knew that you were a good Alpha and a good man.”
“He keeps running. I just want him to give us a chance…”
“I’m sorry about that. I can’t imagine how much that hurts, but he felt that he was backed into a corner. If it helps, he talked about you and about how hard it was for him to adjust.”
“I tried to help him,” Cade confessed. “I tried but he wouldn’t let me. Why did he let you, a stranger helps him but not me?”
“It’s simple really. You turned him, and everyone else who knew him, knew him as an Alpha. He was suddenly having to make concessions in his everyday life and living with the new restrictions. While he might not have been the nicest person before the change, he was trying to adjust, and it felt as though the entire world was against him. I hadn’t known him before, and I didn’t judge.”
“I never judged him. I gave him room and he took advantage from day one.”
Cade thought back to the morning after he had turned Brogan. The struggle had been one he hadn’t been anticipating, he had sized Brogan up in that Dodge that he’d been so proud of and thought that he’d kiss his knot goodbye, but his wolf had other ideas.
He’d fought and won.
Or at least he thought he’d won until the next morning. It had started wonderful enough, something about a bonding and great sex to make a guy feel as though he was on top of the world. He had a new job and a new mate and when he’d walked down to the hotel office to file the paperwork registering their bond, he’d been practically floating. That feeling hadn’t lasted long and he’d come crashing down after waking up in his apartment a couple of days later and found that his new mate was gone.
“I don’t know that Brogan, the one I met was a sweet little Omega, that I can’t see doing the things the news outlets said he did. I know he did them, but I still have trouble reconciling the two Brogan’s.”
“Tell our kid that he doesn’t have one of his parents so his dad could protect himself from being an Omega.” Cade mocked.
Jackson pursed his lips as though thinking about Cade’s response. “There is no defense to that, but that’s something you have to decide if you can get past. If you can’t then let him go. I wasn’t going to claim him, but I can if I need to save him from the Omega Center.”
“I can’t promise anything,” Cade admitted before taking another drink. “I need some more time to think it through.”
“I watched you put away a couple of drinks before I sat down. Perhaps you’ll gain some clarity if you stop looking for answers in the bottom of a bottle.”
“Don’t judge me,” Cade bristled.
Sighing heavily, Jackson assured him, “I’m not. I have no idea of what it’s like to be in your shoes, but I do understand what it feels like to lose your mate and I promise you that is a pain that will never end, so you need to choose wisely. If you’re going to leave him then make it a clean break, if not then knot up and get him out of there.”
“He ran away three times, what makes you think that he wants me to get him released?” Cade voiced his fears.
“Because staying claimed by you was the reason, he wouldn’t let me claim him.”
The knock on the door was loud and incessant and Brogan was too tired to answer it. That just confirmed how tired he was because his father didn’t allow him to greet visitors and he had been contemplating answering it. It had been a month since Brogan had turned down Jackson’s request, and became an Omega in his father’s house.
He had learned some harsh lessons during that time and letting his father greet visitors was one. A backhand to the face was a harsh lesson, but he only needed one time to learn.
As the knocking continued, Brogan dragged his tired body back to the smaller room that was now his as his father went to greet his visitors.
The bedroom door was barely closed when he heard shouting.
Strangely enough this was not the first-time guests have entered the cabin angry and as per usual, he would just put on his ear buds to tune it out, but not this time. This time he swore the person shouting was Cade.
He stood at the door not sure if he should confirm his suspicion or stay rooted in place. Cade might not know that he was there and even if he did, he would leave him there once he learned that his baby was gone.
In the end the decision to leave the room was taken away from him when the door to his bedroom was thrown open almost hitting Brogan. He had expected to see his mate, but it was a uniformed police officer whose name tag read Peter.
The officer was tall, clean-cut and from what Brogan could tell a Beta. He was kind and gentle as he led Brogan from the bedroom to the main area to face Cade.
Cade ran towards Brogan and gave him a fierce hug before stepping back to take in Brogan’s overall condition. His normal tanned skin was pale, and he was underweight. His face sported bruises both old and new making Cade’s face draw up in anger.
He was about to reassure Cade that he was okay when he noticed Cade staring at his stomach.
“Brogan… you should. Your stomach. The baby, where’s the baby?” Cade stuttered before turning to face Richard who had been placed in cuffs and was being questioned by Amanda Wheeler. “What did he do?”
“I didn’t do shit!” Richard barked, “it was that bitch’s idea to abort his baby.”
“Aborted?” Cade asked in confusion. “Brogan you hated me so much that you killed our baby?”
Opening his mouth to answer in a way that would make Cade understand, the world suddenly went black and Brogan slid to the floor.
Chapter 20
You’d think that they would have picked him up from the floor was Brogan’s first thought when he
woke, but when he sat up and swung his feet to the floor, he realized that they had. He had been picked up from the floor and placed in a room even smaller than the one he’d been sleeping in at the cabin.
Despite the smallness of the room there was another bed placed up against the wall on the opposite side of the room. The bed was made up in what looked to be an institutional type blanket tucked at the foot military style while the top was folded to reveal a crisp white sheet with a pillow in an equally crisp pillowcase.
The walls had peeling paint and were covered with writing and Brogan wasn’t sure if a fresh coat would help. The thing that struck Brogan the most was the toilet and sink in the corner of the small room. Had there been bars he’d swear he was in prison.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Brogan tried to orient himself to his current surroundings, Cade did find him yesterday so why was he here? As much as he tried to deny it, he wanted to go home and beg his mate’s forgiveness.
There was a knock on the door and before he could answer, it opened and in walked an Omega Brogan had never seen before. He was tall but not as tall as Brogan, with dark hair and a pretty smile.
He stopped in front of Brogan and offered his hand in introduction, “Hi, I’m your cellmate, Eric Holden.”
“Cellmate?” Brogan repeated trying to quell the panic that was rising in him. “Why am I in a cell?”
“Apparently, like me, you suck at being an Omega and did something stupid and had to be locked up for it. Me? I refused to let the bitch who turned me into an Omega fuck me and apparently that’s frowned upon. After the third refusal and a couple - okay maybe four attempts at running away gets you sent to the Omega Center as punishment. Now she’s going to come every day and fuck me until I accept her as my mate. Your turn.”
“Omega Center? This is not the Omega Center,” Brogan frowned remembering his last stay there. It was clean and neat with only one bed in the larger room and certainly no toilet and sink in the room. Perhaps this one was closer to the cabin and wasn’t as nice as the one in the city. “This is nothing like the Omega Center I was at before.”
“Before?” Eric laughed. “You mean before when you were just new at the Omega thing and they were hoping that you’d get with the program? Forget about that place. This place is mostly for turned Omegas who have run more than once; repeat offenders. A huge Omega like you I’m going to go out on a limb and say that you were turned.”
Having just met Eric, Brogan was not inclined to share all of his discretions, but he would admit to running away. If the Omega proved to be trustworthy then maybe he’ll share everything, but hopefully he wouldn’t be in this place long enough to find out.
“I. I ran from my Alpha,” Brogan confessed and shrugged his shoulders in a gesture of helplessness. “It was hard.”
“They don’t get it,” Eric voiced Brogan’s feelings. “You’re expected to go ass up for some bitch or in your case, bastard who tricked you when the action is against your nature. My Alpha drugged me. Penny and I have been friends since we were kids and the bitch drugged me and laughed as I changed, yet no one can understand why I ran.”
“We were mates, caught his scent and it drove me crazy. He was so tiny and pretty, it never occurred to me that I would be the one turned, and I couldn’t handle it. Even after all this time I crave him, and a part of me still can’t handle it.”
There was an awkward silence after that because Brogan hadn’t meant to tell the person he’d just met five minutes ago that secret, so he tried to change the subject.
“I understand how you feel. Well, now that we’ve spilled our guts, what is this place?”
“This is a prison - a working farm really and I am your guide. Today I will show you around the place and what your duties are. I will tell you this Brogan, the Alpha bullshit that got us here won’t fly. If you follow the rules then you’ll get out of here, but if you don’t your stay won’t be pleasant, understand?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I do,” Brogan nodded.
“Good,” Eric smiled. “Let’s get you cleaned up and something to eat, you look like shit.”
Because there wasn’t much to see the tour was short. Eric walked Brogan through to the dining room, a lounge that had seen better days and the interview rooms for the case workers and conjugal visits.
“Next you’re going to shower and then lunch. After lunch I have been ordered to make sure that you meet Ms. Wheeler in her office.”
“Why?”
“Uh, problem Omega that’s why. Look I’m not gonna dance around this, you’ve been over the news for a few months for running away and for ruining a famous Alpha’s football career, so don’t play dumb with me Brogan. I highly recommend that you don’t with Amanda Wheeler either because she will have your ass for lunch.”
“I’m not playing dumb,” Brogan defended himself.
“Well then if you’re not playing then I feel sorry for you. I’m gonna pretend that you’re not and tell you to have your shit together when you see Amanda. Now come on let’s get you cleaned up.”
After a month of five-minute showers, it felt wonderful to stand under the spray and let some of his worry wash down the drain. He didn’t know what would come out of his meeting with Amanda Wheeler but surely it was better than dealing with his father.
Lunch was simple but good, but here he was able to sit down and enjoy it instead of having to find some imaginary dirt to clean.
“So, Brogan, how are you?” Amanda Wheeler asked him an hour later as he sat across from her in the room, she called an interview room. He didn’t answer because he thought the question to be rhetorical, instead he studied the room.
The walls he supposed were white at one time and in the middle sat an old table made of metal that was scarred and should have been replaced a long time ago. Because they were in a room accessed by the public, the walls were in better shape than the ones in his room but not by much. The chair he sat in didn’t match the one Amanda sat in and the only thing they had in common was the fact that the stuffing was coming out. He didn’t usually pay attention to furnishings, but his chair was so loose that he wasn’t sure that it would hold him for the duration of their conversation.
“Well?” She demanded when he didn’t respond.
“I don’t know that you want me to say,” He said as he shrugged his shoulders. “I know that you don’t really care, you’re just happy that you caught the runaway Omega.”
“Brogan, I’m sorry that you feel that way, but I take the care of any Omega very seriously. I tried with you but you - you didn’t think about anyone but yourself. We even gave you the chance to come home - Cade pleaded for you to do so to every news outlet that would talk to him, and you didn’t come. Because of your selfishness you’re paying the price, but so is your Alpha.”
“How is Cade?” Brogan softly asked.
“Embarrassed. Hurt. Heartbroken.” She answered truthfully.
“It was never my intention to cause any of that, I… I didn’t realize what he meant to me until it was too late.”
He explained as he unconsciously touched his stomach.
“Omegas who run don’t usually get second chances, there are some who have been here for years because their Alphas didn’t want to take the chance of them running again. They have had their bonds chemically severed and their Alphas never looked back, but not yours, he doesn’t want you to suffer after everything you’ve done. At least for now.”
“He’s not going to break our bond?”
“He hasn’t requested it. But we’ll see after your first meeting.”
“Cade’s here?” Brogan asked trying to tamp down the excitement. He couldn’t sense him, but maybe he wasn’t close.
“No, he won’t get to see you for at least a week, this is just a meeting for you to learn what’s expected of you and to get your story of why you ran and why you terminated your pregnancy.”
“I don’t want to discuss it,” Brogan said softly hoping that she would understand.
<
br /> When she pursed her lips in anger Brogan could tell she didn’t get it, that she didn’t understand. Other than the people there, Omegas like Holden are the only ones who could understand.
“You don’t get off that easy Brogan. You’ve fucked up your life and the lives of those closest to you because you couldn’t cope. You need to get through your head that you’re an Omega and you’re not the same. Until medical science comes up with a way of reversing it, then you’re stuck.”
“But I haven’t…”
“Quiet!” Amanda barked.
Obeying her command, Brogan closed his mouth and unconsciously bared his neck for the Alpha.
From Alpha to Omega Page 23
