He wasn’t sure how to answer, rocking back and forth for a moment. The Alpha seemed to understand his difficulty.
“How about if I ask you some questions and you can nod for yes,” Byron said, nodding his head to demonstrate, “or shake for no.” He did that too, leaving Jay in no doubt of what he meant. “How about that?”
Jay nodded. If the Alpha asked the right questions, that would make things a lot easier.
“So you know Ro, you met him?”
Nod. That was easy.
“Was it at the house where we found you?” That was another yes.
“How long ago did you see him, do you remember? Was it one day or two?”
He thought one but he wasn’t sure. Reaching out one arm, he tapped Byron’s hand once with his finger.
“One day, you saw him one day ago?”
He started to nod but then shook his head, causing a look of consternation on the Alpha’s face. “…maybe one day? Is that what you’re saying?”
Relieved that Byron understood, he gave a heartfelt nod.
“You’re doing really well, so well. But I have to ask something of you, something I can tell is going to be hard. I have to ask you some more questions and if you know the answers, I’m going to need you to speak them. I know you can talk but I also know it’s difficult for you. I wouldn’t ask this if it wasn’t so very important to getting Ro back safely.”
No. It was too much. He couldn’t, he couldn’t speak. They always wanted more. It would never be enough. And if he didn’t give them willingly, they drag them from him, shock, after shock, after…
Arms wrapped around him, hugging him tightly against a warm body.
“Hey, it’s okay. I promise. If you can’t answer, nothing bad will happen. I just really need you to listen, that’s all. Just listen and if you can’t do any more, then that’s just how it is.”
The Alpha’s hands eased their grip until he was being held lightly. He could have broken away easily if he wanted to, but Byron’s voice flowed over him, calling to him. Instead of running, he let himself listen to it.
“That’s it. Just relax. No matter what happens, you are under my protection and I will keep you safe from harm.”
“Ro,” he whispered again, letting the Alpha know he was ready.
“Do you know where the men were taking him?”
He did know that, didn’t he? They’d said a word, a place.
Pressing his head close to the Alpha’s neck, he murmured the word against him. “Flats.”
He felt some of the tension leave the Alpha at his answer. “The Flats, of course. Thank you. Alright, one more. Do you know who they were taking him to?”
That one was harder, the word a struggle for his mouth to manage. “Mi… Mig…”
But even that much was enough, the Alpha putting the pieces together. “Migones? They were bringing him to the Migones?”
Glancing up, he met the Alpha’s blue eyes and nodded. That was it, the word that put so much fear in Ro. "Frank."
“Okay, that… that’s great. You did great. I’ll call Seb right now and let him know. The Flats are a few days drive from where we found you, so they might be able to intercept them before they hand Ro over.”
The Alpha cupped his cheek, wiping away the tears that had fallen. “One last question. For my sake. What’s your name?”
Ro had asked that too, made it seem important. He didn’t understand how it could be when he’d gone without it for years. Still, the Alpha’s expression was in earnest, his touch gentle on Jay’s skin.
“J…Jay.” He released the breath he’d been holding but instead of the relief he’d expected, his fear only seemed to grow. He wasn’t that person anymore, he couldn’t be. That person couldn’t be cared for, got left alone. If he was Jay, then he couldn’t be here, in this place. He had to be out there.
“Wait, slow down,” Byron said, as he scrambled from the Alpha’s arms to the floor. He shifted and ran towards the kitchen, hearing Byron call after him. But he didn’t stop. This house was a trap, like those men, like his name, like that room. Out there was the only place he could be safe.
Byron’s next hour disappeared in a series of phone calls, first to fill Sebastian in on what Jay had told him and then trying to reorganize the search teams followed by the trade talks that had been postponed to the following week. When he finally took a break, it was almost three in the afternoon. There was no sign of Jay and he didn’t come when Byron called from the edge of the woods.
Byron listened carefully, but couldn’t hear him. Worry thrummed through him and he stripped, changing quickly.
It was easy to find Jay’s scent, and Byron followed it through the woods. Jay had covered a lot of ground. The scent trail reached the river and disappeared. Had the Omega crossed it? Run? He’d still be within Raventree territory, but they weren’t all that far from the border. If he’d run flat out, he could be in a neighboring territory by now. But when Byron crossed to the other side of the river, he didn’t pick up Jay’s scent again.
Maybe he hadn’t crossed? Or he’d traveled in the water for a while? He crossed back to his side and followed the stream, searching hard for Jay’s tracks. It was fifteen minutes before he found them, pawprints in the soil and the scent of wet wolf heavy in the grass.
The trail led back into the forest and he continued after it. He heard Jay before he found him, the wolf hiding in a thicket, only his eyes visible from within it. The Omega withdrew as he approached, pressing close to the ground.
He crouched down, trying to make himself look less intimidating. When he crept slowly forward, Jay growled at him. Byron could see the fear in the wolf’s eyes. He backed off, then lay down and rolled onto his side, doing his best to seem like he wasn’t a threat.
Time ticked slowly by and though Jay stopped growling he didn’t move from his hiding place. Byron needed to get back and while he didn’t want to leave the Omega, he sensed the young wolf would be more at ease alone. He barked once, short and sharp, then turned and headed towards the house.
When he reached home, he found he wasn’t alone. He walked passed Odin to his room, changing back and pulling on his clothes before joining him in the kitchen and taking the proffered cup of coffee.
“Where’s the Omega?” Odin enquired.
Byron gestured towards the woods with his coffee cup.
“Has he been out there long?”
“Since this morning. I went out to get him but…” He shook his head.
“Poor kid looks like he’s been through hell.”
“He has,” Byron replied, explaining all he’d learned so far.
Odin whistled, pacing towards the window. “I’ve heard stories, about shifters abandoned as children. They’re usually bitten wolves who run away after their first change or the parents panic and dump them somewhere remote.”
"I've heard those stories too," Byron agreed, "but never come across one first hand."
Odin turned back to him. “They don’t integrate well, Byron. And him an Omega on top of that. It might be best to return him to wherever he came from, let him go back to his life.”
“And when he goes into heat, what then?” Of everything that was known about Omegas, that their heats proved fatal without a mate was knowledge that had survived the decades of their absence.
Odin’s face said it all. “It might be kinder just to let him go.”
Byron shook his head. He wasn’t ready to be that fatalistic.
“He’s safe where he is right now. He hasn’t crossed the boundaries I set. Let’s just give him some time. He might come around. Meanwhile, we have work to do. Father wants me back at the hotel by tomorrow to join in the talks.”
Chapter Thirteen
He woke to the noise of someone in the kitchen. Jay was back. Probably hungry. He’d left food out for him. He didn’t get up, knowing that his presence risked scaring the Omega away. Instead, he let himself drift back to sleep.
A low growl woke him and he
sat up, ready to try and talk Jay down. But it wasn’t Jay. A strange wolf stared at him, his eyes standing out in the dark room.
That was all the warning Byron had before the wolf pounced on him. He threw his arm up to protect his head and neck as the wolf landed on him, knocking him back onto the bed. Jaws clamped down on Byron’s arm and he spit out a curse, trying to use his legs to throw the shifter off.
It was then that he realized the attacker wasn’t alone. Another wolf was in the room. Fuck. He aimed a heavy kick at the wolf on top of him, succeeding in throwing him off and onto the floor, but the second wolf jumped onto the bed next to him. He went for Byron's throat when another body hit him, slamming them both to the ground.
Jay.
The shifter Byron had kicked went after Jay instead and it was two against one. Byron, keen to even the odds, grabbed the heavy lamp from his nightstand and swung it, smashing it across the second wolf's head but the shifter shook off the impact with a snarl.
There was a loud howl from the wolf lying beneath Jay. It died mid-cry and the attacker slumped to the floor, shifting back to human form.
Byron reached into the drawer of his nightstand, pulled out a knife and moved to a crouch. The first shifter was lying still, blood pooling around his neck. That left the one Jay was now battling. The other wolf was bigger than Jay and though the Omega was holding his own, Byron knew that wouldn’t last long. He jumped down, landing on the floor next to them, and stabbed his knife into the wolf’s hind leg, a disabling blow to the joint.
The wolf howled, turning and snapping at Byron but Jay barked sharply and Byron raised the knife again. The attacker seemed to think better of it and began to back away. Jay followed him, growling and snapping, as the wolf turned tail, limping out the door and down the hallway. Jay gave chase and Byron followed, knife in hand, until the attacker escaped through the doors out into the garden.
He called Jay back when the Omega went to cross the threshold. They wouldn't follow them any further. There might be more of them. Instead, he called Paul who was on security at the perimeter of the house. The call rang out. Cursing, he called Odin. The other wolf answered on the second ring.
“Odin, we’ve had a security breach. Two wolves just tried to take me out. I need you to check on Father and Felix and send a team here. Paul's on the perimeter but he's not answering his phone.”
He hung up and knelt down next to Jay, his hands reaching for the wolf.
“Are you hurt?”
Jay growled in warning and Byron held his hands up.
“Hey, I just need to check, to make sure you’re not injured. It was two against one for a while there.”
He let his hands rest on Jay’s fur then slowly ran them along his back and sides. Jay was panting, his body tense. Scared, but letting Byron check him anyway.
He found a bite mark near Jay’s shoulder, Jay snapping at him when he tried to touch it.
“Okay, I got it. Hands off.” He held up both hands again, waiting for Jay to calm. There was a second injury to his back leg.
“They’re not so bad, should heal up okay. If you change into human form, I’ll run you another bath and clean them up for you. Bites can be very dirty.”
Jay backed away at his words and he held up his hands again.
“Okay, got it. You don’t want to be in human form right now. Can’t say I blame you.”
His own arm was dripping blood still and throbbing painfully.
“I’d better take care of this.” He stood, noting that the world was spinning slightly. That made no sense. Taking a closer look at his wound, he noted how the skin surrounding it was red and beginning to blister. There was an odd scent coming from the wounds.
Jay surged forward, nudging insistently at his knee. “Poison? Who the fuck makes their bite poisonous?”
His knees went weak and he sank to the floor, distantly aware that he was sweating.
“Jay, when they get here, you need to tell them I’ve been poisoned. I don’t know what with, something that has an antidote that the shifter who bit me must have already taken. If the two of them had it, you’ll be affected too. You’ll have more protection in wolf form but I don’t know if it’ll be…”
The world faded slowly to gray, Jay’s whine chasing him into unconsciousness.
Chapter Fourteen
Byron's conversation with the Omega he'd found gave them their best lead yet. Seb's team were already out searching, sans Daniel who had been needed back at the hotel.
"Needle in a haystack," Martin muttered unhappily as he pored over maps across the bonnet of the car.
Seb didn't want to admit that Martin was right but the Flats, an area on the outskirts of Yellow Rock, was poorly mapped with few roads. And they had no indication of where Ro might be.
Martin suggested breaking the area into grids and searching systematically.
"That'll take too long," Seb said. "We won't get to him before the handover. If it hasn't happened already."
Ben's team were on the other side of the flats, starting their own search with the help of more of Raventree’s security.
Seb walked away from the car, staring at the dry forest surrounding them. He wished there was some way he could find Ro. They were bonded. A bond that other Alpha Omega couples had shown was more than the sum of its parts. Adam still contended that he'd helped keep Ben alive through their bond after he'd been fatally injured. Matt and Zach, despite a bond so weak they didn't even recognize it, had sustained a pregnancy in spite of being very far apart.
If their bond existed over space, over time, then surely Seb could find him. He closed his eyes, picturing Ro and focusing on his feelings for him; how much he wanted to see his Omega, how he wished to have him safe. He let those feelings wash over him.
Footsteps crunched behind him.
"Sebastian?"
Opening his eyes, he knew.
"That way." He pointed east, turning to look at Martin over his shoulder. "Ro is that way."
"How do you know?"
"He's my Omega," Seb replied.
His phone rang as they drove, Sebastian directing Martin as best he could.
“Hello?”
“Sebastian. It’s James.” The voice was unfamiliar but not the name.
“James, of course. We think we’re near to finding Ro.”
“I know, Ben told me, that’s why I’m calling. I have people tailing two of Frank’s nephews, who are right this minute traveling through the Flats. We need proof they’re the ones picking up Ro.”
“So…”
“So, when you find him, hide your car and people and make it look like nothing’s been disturbed.”
“You want us to wait for them to arrive?”
“I want incontrovertible proof that the Pack Council can’t ignore. We need money to change hands. We need them to try and take possession of Ro.”
“I’m not putting him in any more danger than he’s already been in.”
“You won’t have to. We’re pretty sure these guys haven’t had direct contact with the nephews before. Take their guys out, stick two of your own in their place, and let them hand over the money in exchange for Ro.”
Seb didn’t like it, but he could see James’ reasoning. The Pack Council likely wouldn’t act on just the word of the two traffickers. And that’s if Eagle Creek didn’t find a way to silence them before it got that far.
“Okay. If Ro doesn’t require medical assistance and isn’t in immediate danger, then we’ll do our best to let things play out. But if you get there before we do…”
“We’ll intervene, of course. I wouldn’t let any harm come to Ro, he’s-” James cut his sentence short, but Seb finished it for him.
“…family.”
“You know.” It was more statement than question.
“I guessed. The only connection truly stronger than Pack is family.”
“I’m afraid this isn’t the time for this conversation. Perhaps, once you have Ro back, we can sit down a
nd talk about it. For now, we have work to do.”
“We’re close to Ro. I can feel it. I’ll call once we have him.”
“We’ll be waiting.”
Brett dragged Ro from the car by his hair and in through the door of the dilapidated house.
“This place is a dump,” Mike said from behind them.
“What were you expecting, five stars?” Brett snapped. “I’m putting him in the basement. The handover should happen this evening. So keep your whining to a minimum for a few hours and we’ll be home free and richer for our troubles.”
He forced Ro down the steps, the Omega twisting in his grip, trying to get loose. When they were close to the bottom, Brett let go, shoving hard and he tumbled down the last few steps to the ground.
“I am so sick of this babysitting shit. If I never see another Omega, it’ll be too soon.”
Ro sat up, wiping a hand across his mouth and tasting blood. He glared at Brett, who threw a bottle of water to the floor next to him.
“Make it last. There won’t be more where that came from.”
And then he stomped back up the stairs, slamming and bolting the door, leaving Ro alone in the dark. He felt along the floor for the bottle, opening it and taking a sip, savoring it. It was warm and stale but as least it was water.
Letting himself have another few mouthfuls, he screwed the cap back on tightly and set to exploring his new cell. This obviously wasn’t somewhere these men frequented, so maybe they wouldn’t know if there were other exits. But though he searched, all he found were concrete walls. He caught a whisper of fresh air at one point, but worked out it seemed to be coming from a small vent high up near the ceiling. No use to him.
Giving up the search, he sat with his back against a wall, watching the stairs. A few hours, that was all, and then he’d be stepping back in time, into the hands of his childhood tormentors.
He had one card up his sleeve, one ace to play that might protect him, for a time at least. It just depended on how desperate and greedy they were, and how impatient. But if he dangled the possibility of an Omega baby in front of them, it might be enough to stall them from whatever their plans were.
The Alpha's Love: Lost Omegas Book Four: A M/M Shifter Romance Page 8
