by J. M. Snyder
He couldn’t just leave the guy. As soon as Jake escaped, the kidnappers were likely to move their other captive (captives?). Time for plan B, then. Too bad Jake didn’t have a plan B. “Okay, let me see what I can do,” he said.
The obvious first step was taking out the other guard. By this time the second guard had gotten suspicious about how long his buddy had been gone. That actually worked to Jake’s advantage. He shut the door to this other guy’s room and moved away from the window, keeping his hand on the doorknob so he could open the door silently. He only had to wait a few seconds until the guard went to the room where he’d been held.
Then he pounced. The element of surprise was a grand thing. Subduing this guard was slightly harder; the guy was an alpha and no weakling either. Jake almost saw stars when the guard’s foot connected with his bad knee. He channeled his pain into rage and managed to get a solid chokehold, holding it tight until the guard blacked out.
This guard had a loaded Glock, giving Jake something to work with. On the other hand one Glock wasn’t going to be nearly as much help if he had to carry the other prisoner out with him.
Along with the Glock he discovered a cell phone. Now he had a better plan B. He tied the guards to a pole in his room. He only had their clothes to work with, effective gags but not the best restraints, so he pistol whipped them for good measure. That ought to keep them out cold a while longer. While Jake had zero problems killing his kidnappers, he’d rather not call attention to his escape with gunshots if it could be helped. That done he tapped the word Emergency to bypass the passcode and called 911.
“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?”
“My name is Jake Nelson and I’ve been kidnapped,” he reported. “I’ve tied up the guards for now but I don’t know how long before they’re missed, and there’s another captive here who’s in bad shape. He can’t walk.”
“Do you have any idea where you are?”
“I was kidnapped outside the Auburn YMCA, and they only drove for about ten, twelve minutes at most. I’m in what looks like an abandoned warehouse, and when they took me I was put in a blue cargo van, the kind with no windows.”
“I’m getting your location information now, Mr. Nelson. Police and ambulance are on the way and I’ll stay on with you until they arrive.”
Plan B couldn’t have gone better. Jake knew 911 couldn’t always get the location information from cell phones so, aside from that kick to the knee, this whole escape was going very well.
He limped back to the other guy. “Police and ambulance are on their way. Hang in there, okay?”
This time it registered that the other guy was an omega. No claim scar, but he was young enough to be unclaimed, and his pheromones were weak which was hardly surprising considering his poor physical state. “So thirsty,” he croaked out.
“I think I have some water left. Be right back.”
Jake moved as fast as he could manage with his busted, throbbing knee. Sure enough, there was a little bit of water left in his plastic bottle. Why hadn’t the other guy been given water? Jake got sufficient water and three meals a day, even if the food was lousy and he had a bucket for a bathroom.
“Here,” he said, giving the other guy the water bottle. “Not much left, but I’m sure you’ll get more soon.” Besides, if the guy was dehydrated he shouldn’t be gulping down a whole bottle at once anyway, as much as he might want to. Vomiting wasn’t going to help anything.
“What is his name?” asked the 911 dispatcher.
“Nine-one-one wants to know your name.”
The other guy finished the water before answering, “David Beecham. And we were kidnapped by Roger McLaughlin. He’ll be here any time.” David looked frightened just mentioning their kidnapper’s name.
Jake wondered how exactly David knew this but speaking seemed like a lot of effort for the guy so he relayed the information to their dispatcher and reminded himself his questions could wait. Besides, he heard noise coming from down the hall which couldn’t mean anything good.
Sure enough, he heard a loud “What the hell?” and a couple seconds later they were joined by an irate man posturing in an attempt to make himself look like more of an intimidating alpha than he really was. Sure, the guy was an alpha but he wasn’t a particularly daunting specimen. Did he even bother to work out?
Besides, Jake had the Glock pointing straight at him.
“You,” growled out the wimpy alpha. Eloquence wasn’t his strong suit, evidently.
“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll be out of your hair soon enough,” replied Jake.
“Do you really think you’ll get out of here alive?”
Jake hoped all this was making it to the 911 recording. “Yep.”
Wimpy alpha shook his head. “Not a chance.” Maybe he didn’t realize one of his goons had a cell phone. If Jake was going to kidnap people he sure wouldn’t allow cell phones around the prisoners. This whole operation was poorly devised, to his great personal benefit.
“Do I look worried?” Now he was just stalling until the police showed up.
Wimpy alpha hadn’t produced a weapon yet. This kidnapping was so badly planned Jake wouldn’t have been surprised if he was unarmed. On the other hand, he could pull out a weapon at any moment.
Their captor’s phone rang. He moved to answer but stopped when Jake said, “Uh-uh, hands where I can see them. Stand against the wall.”
Defeated, the man did as he was told. Jake had figured he was the kind who was nothing without his hired muscle. Sorry excuse for an alpha, really, though since he was a criminal, Jake wasn’t complaining.
They remained this way for a couple minutes before Jake could hear the police approaching. “In here!” he yelled.
Then it was over. Wimpy alpha was in handcuffs, one of the officers helped Jake stand, and EMTs rushed in to take care of David, who was weak enough he was carried out on a stretcher.
“Thank you,” said David as he was taken out. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” replied Jake, because what else could he say?
Another officer came in and shook Jake’s hand. “Detective Rossini. I have to say, Mr. Nelson, you’ve done most of our work for us.”
“Shoddiest kidnapping I’ve ever seen.”
The detective’s eyebrows shot up. “Have you seen a lot of kidnappings?”
“I was on a rescue team. Special forces.”
“That explains a lot. Dispatch said you were admirably calm. Let’s get you out of here so your knee can be looked at.”
“I’m guessing they took me for ransom,” he remarked as he hobbled down the hall. Another EMT arrived with crutches, making his life much easier.
Rossini nodded. “Your parents received ransom demands.”
Jake’s parents had recently won the lottery. It wasn’t a huge jackpot—after taxes they received a lump sum just over $8 million—but it had been big local news. They’d expected people would come out of the woodwork asking for money. None of them had foreseen the win would lead to kidnapping.
“They’ve been worried sick. You want to give them a call?” Rossini unlocked his phone and offered it to Jake.
“Thanks.” He’d reassure his parents he was okay and have them meet him at the hospital. If he was very fortunate he’d be released in a timely fashion and his parents could drop him off to sleep in his own bed.
* * * *
The doctors wouldn’t release Jake until they were sure his knee wasn’t in really bad, surgery-requiring shape. Hopefully someone would come up with the results of his CT scan sooner rather than later, and the results would be good. In the meantime he was feeling fine thanks to the painkillers he’d been given and his greatest complaint was boredom. That, and hoping none of the kidnappers got away.
All things considered this was not a bad state of affairs, though he knew his knee would hurt like hell without the painkillers. Best to enjoy them while they lasted.
His parents were with him and his dad picked him up a legal thriller from
the hospital gift shop. Jake was having a hard time reading because his mom wanted to talk. He’d already told her three times it wasn’t their fault he got kidnapped but the statement hadn’t stuck.
Now she announced, “We’re buying you a house.”
Jake once again put down his book. “You don’t need to buy me a house out of your misplaced sense of guilt.”
“Actually, we’d already decided to buy you a house last week,” said his dad. “We were just waiting for the money to come through before we told you.”
That was better, at least. “Wow. I wasn’t expecting it, you know.” Jake didn’t feel entitled just because his parents got a nice windfall.
“We know. We can afford it, obviously, and we want to give you something that would be a benefit long term, not just a fancy car or something,” explained his mom. “We’ll get you a nice house, a place where you can raise a family if you want.”
“That is the long-term plan,” he agreed. His mom was obviously delighted at the prospect of grandchildren in her future.
His dad said, “You’ll own it outright, so you’ll only have to pay property taxes. It’ll save you a fortune in interest and that’ll be a real leg up.”
Not to mention he wouldn’t have rent and/or mortgage payments. “Thank you. Really. This is amazing.”
“So think about what you’d like,” suggested his mom.
“Single-story for sure.” He could usually manage stairs but would rather not if it could be avoided. Jake would also prefer to live in certain areas; specifically he wanted to be close enough to visit with his parents but not so close they lived in each other’s pockets. He’d chosen his apartment with that in mind, as well as being a reasonably short commute to work.
His dad started to speak but was cut off by a nurse in the doorway. “Mr. Nelson?”
“Yes?”
“Dr. Andross would like to speak with you about David Beecham. He should be in—oh, now.”
Dr. Andross was a balding alpha well past his prime who still retained his air of authority. “Jake Nelson?”
“That’s me.”
“We have an unusual situation here,” began the doctor. Jake didn’t care for the sound of that. “You were taken by the same kidnappers who held David Beecham.”
“Is he okay?”
“I’m getting to that. You noticed, I’m sure, that he’s an unclaimed omega.”
“Yes.”
“From what I’m told he was kidnapped by a rejected suitor in the hope he would bond with his captor.”
That was sick. Once an omega bonded with an alpha they couldn’t bond with anyone else for the rest of their life. To bond with someone who kidnapped them was so awful Jake felt queasy on David’s behalf.
“Frankly it’s scientifically inexplicable that David didn’t bond with his captor. For an omega to fail to bond with an alpha who they spend hours a day in close quarters with for two weeks is unheard of.”
Jake was really glad David wasn’t bonded to the bastard kidnapper. Nobody deserved that. “Is that why he wasn’t given water?” he asked “To punish him for not bonding?”
“Yes. However, that’s not the salient point here. After this impressive feat which I can at this point only attribute to tremendous strength of will, David was in a very vulnerable place. And then you came in, an alpha who protected him, cared for him, and secured his freedom.”
“That’s what alphas are supposed to do,” pointed out Jake.
“Mr. Nelson,” said the doctor gravely, “we believe it very likely David bonded with you.”
For a moment time actually stopped. That couldn’t be right. Sure, accidental bonding happened, usually when an unclaimed omega started having sex with an alpha. It wasn’t common because omegas were rare enough that they were carefully guarded by most families, but it happened. After only a few minutes together, though?
Jake was dimly aware of his parents speaking. The words didn’t register. This was just a wild theory, maybe. The doctors were reaching for something because they didn’t know what else might be going on. Yeah, that made sense.
“Mr. Nelson?”
He realized the doctor was talking to him and rejoined the world. “Yeah?”
“Would you come with us to his room to test our theory?”
“I guess I’d better.” The sooner he did that, the sooner they could rule this crazy idea out and move on. He accepted his dad’s help getting into the wheelchair.
“Please stay here,” Dr. Andross instructed his parents. “Are you ready, Mr. Nelson?”
“Ready as possible.”
“David is just down the hall.”
He told himself this was only an insane notion the doctor pulled out of thin air, something that would make a great story when it was over. If only he could entirely believe that.
Chapter 2
David hadn’t wanted to believe he’d bonded with Jake Nelson. After all, the medical staff were amazed he’d managed to keep himself from bonding with Roger McLaughlin, especially when he was weakened by dehydration. He’d been stuck in that room with Roger a good fourteen hours a day, he figured, and the doctors had never heard of an omega who didn’t bond with an alpha after two weeks of prolonged daily exposure to said alpha. They could only surmise David had incredible strength of will.
So surely he wouldn’t have just latched on to the next remotely decent alpha that happened by, right?
Wrong. He felt better as soon as the doctor brought Jake into his room, like the missing piece fell into place. Which, under the circumstances, made him almost cry.
“Oh God,” he said, “no, no, no.”
There was a reason why mature unclaimed omegas were very careful when they went out. Bonding with an alpha was permanent. David wouldn’t respond to any other alpha for the rest of his life because Jake’s unique pheromones had imprinted on him. Therefore, his life was now in Jake’s hands. If his alpha refused to claim him, he’d be alone until he died. Worse still, omegas were never independent because laws were apparently written by people who’d yet to advance out of the Stone Age. If Jake didn’t want him, David would live with his aunt and uncle for the rest of his life, later his cousins or an omega home run by the state. No family of his own, no alpha, nothing.
On the other hand, he’d wanted a good, progressive alpha. Even if Jake was willing to claim him, who knew what kind of alpha Jake would be? He might want David to be totally subservient, without so much as an independent thought. Some traditionalists were like that, in which case David thought being alone would actually be preferable.
“You did bond with me?” asked Jake.
David nodded and fought his tears. If they didn’t escape his eyes he wasn’t technically crying.
Omegas bonded for a practical reason. Their pheromones attracted alphas and one didn’t want countless alphas sniffing around. An unbonded omega produced pheromones when exposed to any alpha, but a bonded omega would produce much less except in the presence of their alpha, who would be able to protect them from unwanted advances. Jake, however, hadn’t claimed David and therefore had no compulsion to protect him, nor any obligation to David whatsoever.
This was clearly a shock to Jake and in most circumstances David would empathize. Now he was too caught up in his own situation for much empathy. After all, Jake could walk away from this without a second thought while it would determine the rest of David’s life.
“I’m sure this is quite a shock for both of you,” said the doctor. “We’ll arrange for a social worker to speak with you first thing in the morning.”
“Do you have an omega or a significant other?” Uncle Ed asked Jake.
“No. I’m single.”
“It would be helpful for David’s recovery if you would agree to share a room tonight,” the doctor told Jake.
“Yeah, okay.”
“I should have your CT results shortly. Mindy will be in momentarily.” With that the doctor left.
“My parents are waiting in my ro
om. I’ll go let them know and be back in a few.” Jake didn’t wait for anyone, just wheeled himself out and left David alone. David might have taken offense to that if it didn’t give him an opportunity to cry.
Aunt Julie wrapped him in a hug. “Let it out, David.” So he did, crying on her shoulder while Uncle Ed closed the door to allow for some privacy. It was too much. After everything he’d gone through, after beating the supposed rules of biology by not bonding with Roger, and in the end he bonded with a stranger. He had no control over his life anymore.
When his crying slowed down to sniffles, Uncle Ed sat on the other side of his bed and patted his shoulder. “You don’t have to let him claim you if you don’t want him.”
“I never wanted to end up alone.” He didn’t like the restrictions placed on omegas. There was no reason omegas couldn’t be legal adults, for one thing, and he had a long list of similar injustices. All of that frustration over how he was treated didn’t mean he never wanted an alpha, only that he was very picky about what he wanted in an alpha. Not that it mattered anymore.
“You wouldn’t be alone,” said Aunt Julie, but that didn’t make him feel any better.
“He doesn’t have any obligation to me. Or he could agree to claim me but be awful,” he mumbled into his aunt’s hair. Since omegas were rarer than alphas, most alphas would be pleased enough to claim him to ensure they didn’t have to ‘settle’ for a beta. That wouldn’t make him feel any better if Jake would insist on a stereotypically meek omega.
“I know. If he does want you, though, the choice is yours. You don’t have to accept his claim unless you want to.” Aunt Julie handed him a fistful of tissues. “We support whatever you decide is best.”
“Completely,” added Uncle Ed. “And you don’t need to make up your mind right away.”
“Thank you.” His aunt and uncle had been incredibly good to him and loved him like a son ever since his parents died. David had never appreciated them more than right now.
“Do you want to consider him, if he’s agreeable?” asked Uncle Ed. “Because you don’t have to.”
“Yes.” Jake was his only chance for an alpha and the man hadn’t done anything to disqualify himself from consideration. David wasn’t going to hold his breath all the same.
