It hurt and on reflex, Jay tensed and tried to pull his foot away, kicking at Byron's hand with the other foot.
“Easy, easy. I’m sorry,” Byron said, letting go and holding his hands up. “It'll hurt a bit but it’ll make sure things heal properly.”
With a sigh of resignation, he offered his foot back to the Alpha, letting him get on with it, his eyes closing as he tried to ignore how it stung.
“What did this to your feet?” Byron asked.
He opened his eyes to find the Alpha watching him again. He wasn’t sure, but he thought the Alpha might be angry. Or sad. It was hard to tell.
Byron was holding his foot with care, his touch gentle.
“Stick,” Jay managed, hearing the strain in his own voice.
The Alpha’s hands stilled, and his eyes widened at Jay’s word.
“A stick? What kind of a stick would… Do you mean a cattle prod?”
Jay wasn’t sure what that was and the Alpha seemed to guess from his expression.
“It’s like a long metal stick that makes electricity. It would zap you, causing a shooting pain but only for a second or two and it wouldn’t leave a mark. But if you held it in place for a while, I guess it would burn.”
Jay nodded slowly. That sounded right.
“Did they use it on you often?” the Alpha asked.
He didn’t answer, a little afraid he was giving the Alpha ideas.
“Can you show me where? I need to make sure there aren’t more burns,” Byron asked, helping him stand up in the bath.
Jay thought for a moment, before pressing hands over the areas they liked to shock. His stomach, his chest, his groin, his armpits, his back. The Alpha took all this in, turning Jay this way and that as he checked over his skin. His eyes were sad as he helped Jay lie back into the bath.
“How long, Jay? How long were you with those bastards?”
The anger in the Alpha’s tone scared him and he gripped the edge of the bath tightly.
“Hey, no, it's okay. I’m sorry if I frightened you. I'm not angry with you. And I know talking is hard, so it’s okay if you can’t answer. I’ll just keep talking away enough for both of us. How does that sound?”
It was so similar to something Ro had said, that Jay couldn’t help but smile.
“That’s better. Don’t worry. It’s all going to be okay. I’ll keep you safe here until we can get you home.”
Which raised another question. Where was home? And how was he ever going to get back there?
Once he was clean and dry, he thought he knew what came next. Darkness and chains. But instead, the Alpha left him in the bright room, on the bed. That was different but then, Byron was different. He was an Alpha. And Mike said Alphas did terrible things to Omegas. Things worse than chains and the dark. Maybe he’d get the chance to run again, once the Alpha slept. Right now, he knew he was no match for the other wolf, he’d chase him down easily.
Creeping to the window, he pulled aside the blinds and looked out. It was dark and he could see the night sky, the moon standing out starkly among the blackness. He’d missed the moon. It had made the long, dark nights bearable for many years. He enjoyed it while he could. The Alpha would be back any moment and who knew what would happen then?
Chapter Eleven
He got the Omega out of the bath and into a bathrobe, opting to bring the food to him rather than drag him to the dining room.
Returning with a tray, he found him kneeling on the chair next to the window, peering out through the blinds.
“Here, I’m sure you’re hungry,” he offered, setting the tray down on the small table. “It’s just some cold meats, salad, bread, and fruit.”
He took a seat, taking a plate from the tray and using a fork to help himself, hoping the other wolf would follow his example.
The Omega perched on the chair opposite him, taking a plate and a fork. He held the fork awkwardly in his hand as he tried to spear a piece of ham. It slipped off the fork and he tried again, letting out a sound of frustration when it fell back onto the plate.
“Here, let me,” Byron offered, taking the plate, liberally piling it with food. He set the plate and the fork down in front of the Omega and turned his attention to his own meal.
Out of the corner of his eyes, he watched him pick up the fork and knife, holding both at odd angles. The Omega tried again to get some meat onto the fork but dropped the knife, which hit the carpeted floor with a soft thunk. He let go of the fork to pick it up, the meat slipping off it again. The shifter huffed another sigh, watching Byron surreptitiously. Byron pretended to be fully engrossed in his own meal and didn’t acknowledge when he chose to forgo his fork and knife in lieu of his hands.
And he was clearly starving, shoving the food into his mouth at such a rate that loathe as he was to interrupt, Byron felt he had too.
“Hey, not so fast. Too much too quickly and you’ll make yourself sick.”
The Omega swallowed hard, then paused, waiting.
“You can keep eating,” Byron said. “Just one mouthful at a time, chew and swallow. And take breaks now and then. The food isn’t going anywhere.”
But they were going to have to work on his table manners, the Alpha concluded ruefully, handing over a napkin so the Omega could wipe off the tomato juice trailing down his chin.
“Good?” he asked, wondering what passed for a nice meal where he was concerned.
The younger wolf nodded. He picked up another miniature tomato and seemed perplexed by it.
“That’s a cherry tomato.”
The Omega gave him a small smile and popped the tomato into his mouth, crunching with enthusiasm. Byron’s ready answer seemed to encourage him and he pointed to something else, looking at Byron hopefully.
“That’s a slice of melon. It can be a little tricky to eat. You might need another napkin.”
The Omega surveyed the rest of the table and Byron had the sudden, awful idea that he didn’t know what any of it was. He suspected his hunch was right when, a moment later, the wolf pointed to a piece of ham and looked at him again. So he went item by item through the platter, pointing out each foodstuff in turn.
They ran into some trouble with the hard-boiled eggs, the younger wolf turning his head this way and that as he regarded it. “I’ve taken the shells off. And these eggs are from a chicken and they've been cooked.” Which might be very different from what the other wolf knew of eggs if he’d only ever scavenged them. He didn’t go into fertilized and unfertilized. They could talk about that another day.
They ate in companionable silence for another while before Byron ventured another question.
“Before those men took you, who did you live with?”
If he had a Pack or a family, he could help find them and get the young wolf back to them.
The Omega kept his eyes on his plate but shook his head very slightly.
“No one? You lived alone? Where?”
The Omega glanced up at him, nervously biting his bottom lip.
“Home.” A word that meant much and nothing at the same time.
“Where is home?”
The Omega shook his head, eyes downcast.
Byron swallowed hard at the pain so clear to see. “Do you know how old you were, when you were left alone?”
He didn’t expect so. As he watched, the Omega seemed to contemplate his words, teeth worrying the skin of his lip again. His answer, when it came, was childlike in its simplicity and for good reason.
He simply held up two hands, eight fingers outstretched.
The Alpha told Jay to get some sleep, then left the room. For the first while, he didn’t move, certain he would be returning to get the answers he was seeking. But he didn’t come back and Jay’s eyes kept closing so he settled down in a corner to sleep.
After unsuccessfully trying to get the Omega into some clothes, Byron left him to get some rest, clearing up the dishes to return them to the kitchen. He had some calls to make and some arrangements for their gue
st. His father would have to be informed about what they'd found. In Byron's absence, he had opted to continue completing negotiations with some of the smaller Packs so they wouldn't have as much work to complete once the rest of the talks got back on track. Byron asked Odin to continue with the search for Ro, opting to focus his efforts on the Omega they’d rescued.
An hour passed before he got back to check on his young guest, hoping to find him sleeping, but when he stuck his head in the door, he found the bed empty. Stepping into the room, he followed the sound of a heartbeat, finding the Omega curled up in a corner. He was sleeping lightly and woke as Byron made his way over, wide eyes peering up at him.
“What are you doing down there?” Byron asked, bemused.
He got a confused look for his trouble.
“What, you don’t like the bed?” he asked, gesturing towards the double bed beside them. The Omega seemed not to understand but took Byron’s hand readily when the Alpha offered it, letting himself be pulled to his feet.
“I promise you, the bed is a lot more comfortable than the floor,” he said, pulling back the covers and guiding him inside. The Omega didn’t seem to know what to do once he was in, body twisting and turning.
“Here, like this,” Byron said, lying next to him with his head on the pillow and his body outstretched. The Omega mimicked him, laying his head on the pillow.
“Nice, huh?” Byron asked.
“Soft,” the Omega whispered, stroking the pillow with his hand.
Then he reached for Byron, fingers brushing the Alpha’s cheek. Byron held still, wondering what he was doing.
“Soft,” the Omega murmured again.
Byron smiled, shaking his head. “Get some sleep now. We’ll talk again in the morning.”
Jay was trapped, something heavy on his body, his arms caught. Panicking, he struggled to free himself but when nothing worked he forced himself to shift, twisting harder, his body tumbling onto a soft surface. He found a dark space to hide under, waiting for the men to come for him.
Once he was sure the Omega was sleeping, Byron went to continue with the mountain of work that lay on his desk. He could ill afford the time they’d taken to help Glenoak find their Omega, but he knew that it mattered more than any contract or financial arrangement.
He worked until two am, then lay down on the couch in his office to get some sleep.
Waking shortly after dawn, he went to check in on his guest and see if the young wolf wanted some breakfast.
The Omega’s bed was empty again, but Byron could hear his heartbeat and smell the strong scent of wolf that told him he had shifted.
Kneeling down, he peered under the bed to see a bundle of dark gray fur curled against the wall.
“Hey, there. Time to wake up,” he called.
The wolf’s eyes opened, staring back at him before he let out a low growl.
“Hey, what was that for?” Byron joked, reaching a hand towards him. The Omega snapped at him, growling louder and forcing Byron to yank his hand back.
“Whoa, there. It’s Byron. You remember me, right?”
The young wolf continued to growl, crouching low against the ground.
He wasn’t sure his words were even getting through to the wolf. If you spent a very long time in wolf form, did you eventually stop recognizing human speech?
“It’s breakfast time. Are you hungry?” He sat back and got to his feet. “You can stay as a wolf if you like.”
There was no movement from under the bed.
“Suit yourself. Follow my scent or the smell of food if you change your mind.”
He forced himself to leave the room and give the wolf space. The Omega was distrustful, frightened, and for good reason. One plate of food wasn’t going to change that.
It was the weekend and the kitchen was quiet. Augustine only worked weekdays and the very occasional weekend if Byron was entertaining. That was better right now, Byron suspected his guest wouldn’t be too tolerant of more people.
Byron was rare among wolves in his preference for solitude. He sacrificed that preference often in completing his duties, but his father had understood, granting him a house set aside from the Pack, near the outskirts of the city. There were months on end where he spent very little time there, his attention needed elsewhere, things too busy, too full on for him to be making the daily journey to and from his house.
He raided the fridge, grinning when he found the pancake batter. “Thank you, Augustine, you always know the way to this man’s heart.”
Rummaging a little deeper, he found some bacon and set to making breakfast.
His guest had to be hungry by now. The smell of bacon cooking might be enough to draw him out from his hiding place.
He focused on the cooking, flipping the golden-brown pancakes onto a plate until he had a large stack. The bacon sizzled as it cooked, the smell making his mouth water.
The click of claws on the wooden floors alerted him to the Omega's arrival. He didn’t turn or acknowledge the wolf, concerned it would scare him away. Instead, he piled some bacon onto a plate and set it on the floor. Then he carried the remaining plates of pancakes and bacon over to the table, setting out cutlery, cups, syrup and a jug of water.
Rubbing a hand over his tired eyes, he brewed a pot of coffee as well, the bitter aroma pushing away the last vestiges of sleep.
He sat at the breakfast table, stacking his plate with pancakes and bacon. He could hear the crunch as the wolf dug into his food but was careful to hide any reaction.
Only when the sounds of eating stopped did he speak.
“There’s plenty more if you’re still hungry.”
He turned his attention back to his own meal, hearing the wolf come closer.
He had hoped his words would encourage the young shifter to change form and had to restrain a laugh when the wolf jumped onto the chair opposite him instead.
“Nice of you to join me,” he said, then put more bacon and pancakes on a plate and pushed them in front of him.
“Pancakes are wasted on wolves,” he muttered, as the Omega gulped the first one down in one go.
When he stood up to get himself more coffee, it startled the Omega, who sank down into his chair with a whine.
“Well, you don’t need any coffee,” he said cheerfully. “You’re jittery enough for both of us.”
The wolf’s dark eyes peered above the table, regarding him with suspicion.
“But how about some water?” he added, filling a bowl half full with the cool liquid and setting it down on the floor next to the table.
He went back to fixing his coffee, smiling when he heard the wolf lapping noisily at the water.
The Omega showed no sign he was planning to change back to human form. They might have a long weekend ahead of them. Byron was eager to question him to find out what he knew about Ro, but considering he’d gotten a total of three words from him so far and he seemed very fearful of Byron, he felt a show of trust might make more headway than any softly spoken words.
So, once they’d both eaten and drank their fill, he walked to the patio doors, throwing them open.
“The land at the back of the house is all Pack, but no one bar me spends much time there. It’s bordered by a fence to the east and a river to the northwest. I have some work to do. I’ll be in my office, just down the corridor, if you need me.”
The Omega moved to stand next to him, sniffing the scents carried in on the breeze before cautiously stepping outside. As he neared the edge of the wood, he glanced back, his eyes seeking Byron’s, then he turned and launched himself into the woods, disappearing between the trees.
Chapter Twelve
When Byron opened the door and gave him back his freedom, Jay didn’t hesitate to take it. He planned to run until he found his way back to his forest.
The smells and sounds were enticing after so long trapped in a tiny room. He could hear the rustle of mice in the undergrowth and caught the scent of rabbit more than once but that wasn’t wha
t distracted him from his plans. He had a full stomach but an uneasy conscience. He’d heard his captors talk about where they were taking Ro, who they were taking him to. And Ro had spoken about how much he wanted to get back to Sebastian, his mate. As scared as he was, could he just run away and leave Ro to the fate he’d just been living?
With a heavy heart, he turned back towards the house. The doors were still open and he slipped into the kitchen changing back to human form and padding further into the house to find the Alpha. His heartbeat was easy to hear and follow, leading Jay to the open door of an unfamiliar room. The Alpha was sitting at a desk, his back to Jay.
The Omega froze in the doorway, unable to take those last steps across the threshold. What if, once he’d started, he couldn’t find the words the Alpha wanted?
Byron turned, the Alpha motioning him into the room. He hesitated, whispering one word. “Ro.”
“You want to talk about Ro?” the Alpha asked, getting to his feet. Jay took an automatic step backward and Byron froze.
“Why don’t we talk in the living room. There’s more space there.”
He walked towards him with measured steps, pausing when Jay took another hurried step back.
The Alpha held up both hands, palms out. “It’s okay. Let’s just take this nice and slowly.”
He was careful to skirt around Jay where he stood just outside the door, gesturing for the Omega to follow him. Jay did and they entered a room with a skylight and large, open windows. A breeze carried through the room. It was almost like being outside.
Byron sat on a long couch.
“Sit wherever you’re comfortable,” he offered.
But Jay knew he’d need to be close if he was going to let Byron know about Ro. He perched on the couch next to the Alpha, surprised to find his body sinking gratefully into its comfort. He was still bruised and sore, though he was healing fast.
“Do you think you might be up to talking about Ro?” Byron asked.
The Alpha's Love: Lost Omegas Book Four: A M/M Shifter Romance Page 7
