Falling Together (The Omega Haven Book 1)

by Claire Cullen

  Jake shook his head fiercely, the anger behind his tears taking his mind from the pain. “They drugged me, dressed me up like a doll, and gave me to that… that…”

  “Monster,” the Alpha supplied helpfully.

  “Did he…” Jake had to know. “Did he… he said he liked his Omega innocent, and he wanted to taste me.”

  The Alpha shook his head slowly, resting one hand on Jake’s upper arm.

  “No. He was still on the first round when we entered Fruits, and he fled before we found you. If we hadn’t come, you know how that would have ended, right?”

  Jake nodded, misery snaking through him. Beaten, raped, and who knew what else.

  “You remember what I told you when you asked permission to stay?”

  “Yes.” How could he have forgotten, especially now. “My safety is my responsibility, no one else’s.”

  “That’s right. And yet here we are. Forced to come and get you out of a situation you walked right into.”

  Jake bit back the excuses that threatened to roll off his tongue. How he’d been desperate, hungry, tired. Afraid. Lee had thrown him a lifeline, and he’d clung to it, only to find himself baited on a hook instead.

  “Our doc says four to five days healing. You’ll stay here until then. After that, I’m revoking your permission to stay in the city. We’ll arrange transport for you with one of our suppliers back to your pack.”

  “No, Alpha, please…”

  Jake reached for his hand but the Alpha brushed him off, standing and pushing back his chair which scraped loudly across the floor. “This isn’t a negotiation or a debate, it’s a decree. You will be out of the city by midnight Thursday.”

  He turned and left, shutting the door behind him. Jake craned his neck to stare after him, hoping the Alpha would change his mind, would come back so Jake could change his mind. But the door remained closed, the corridor outside silent.

  He let himself fall back into the bed, before turning to lie on his stomach, curling his body up as much as his wounds allowed as sobs shook his thin frame. He couldn’t go back. Not now.

  Chapter Six

  “It’s the best decision you could have made,” Dave said as they cleared away the new stock. “The city is no place for an unattached Omega.”

  After Will’s conversation with Jake, after he’d delivered his decision, he kept his distance, sending Dave and others in to take care of Jake’s needs. He wasn’t surprised to hear the Omega was quiet, off his food and tearful. Not unexpected given the trauma he’d just been through. He’d had a lucky escape. A lot of Packs wouldn’t take an Omega back if they thought they’d been with an Alpha, willing or not. Jake could probably return to his life as if nothing had happened. In a few weeks’ time, there wouldn’t even be a mark left to show what he’d been through. It was for the best.

  “Will?” Celine called from the door to the stockroom. “Did you move Jake to another room?”

  He turned. “Another room? No. Why?”

  “We got that order of oranges in this morning, they’re really sweet so I went to bring him one, thought it might cheer him up, you know?”

  Normally, he could tolerate her tangents, but when it came to Jake, his least favorite subject… “Get to the point, Celine.”

  “He’s not in his room. The clothes Daryl got for him are gone.”

  He and Dave looked at one another.

  “I’ll check the front entrance,” Dave offered.

  “I’ll check the back,” he agreed. “Celine, go room by room. Might be he’s just wandering.” But he didn’t believe that. In the two days Jake had been there, he’d shown no interest in what the rest of the building held.

  He turned right and jogged down the corridor from the stockroom. The next left led to the employee’s rooms and to the room Jake had been staying in. Right led to the offices, and the corridor beyond that led to the back exit and out to the street.

  He found Jake a few feet back from the exit, leaning heavily against the wall.

  “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

  Jake didn’t turn, his body sagging against the cold stone.

  “Jake? I asked you a question.” He stepped in front of the Omega, turning so he could see the other man’s face. Jake was white as a sheet, beads of sweat on his forehead, his face a mask of pain.

  His initial anger softened in the face of such misery. “You shouldn’t be out of bed. Let’s get you back…” He reached out and gripped Jake’s elbow gently, ready to turn him around and support him as they walked back to his room.

  He wasn’t expecting the Omega’s reaction. The elbow was torn from his grip with a hiss of pain. “No, get off me. I have to go.”

  “Go where, huh? Where do you think you’ll get to in that condition?”

  “It’s like you said. I can’t stay in the city. I’m just doing what you asked.”

  With what Will could see was a monumental effort, he pushed away from the wall and tried to step around him. Will caught him easily in a careful grip, trying to avoid the whip marks that marred his body.

  “I also told you we’d take you out of the city, get you home, once you were well enough to be moved.”

  Jake wouldn’t meet his eyes, trying feebly to brush his hands away. “No. I have to go. I’m going now.”

  “How far do you think you’ll get? You can barely stand. One of Antoine’s boys will pick you up if someone else doesn’t first.”

  “Doesn’t matter. I can’t go back.”

  “Yes, you can. If you won’t walk, then I’ll carry you.”

  “No, you’ve banished me. I’ll go, like you said, like you want me to.”

  Will was at a loss. He didn’t relish the idea of trying to hold a shifter for days against his will while he railed against them.

  “Alright. I’ll get Dave to organize someone to drive you home. We’ll get Heidi to give you something to make the journey easier.”

  Jake jerked upright at that, wide, scared eyes boring into him before a tremble wracked him from head to toe.

  “No,” he breathed. “I can’t go home, I can’t go back there.” He’d gone from trying to shove Will’s hands away to clinging to him, pleading with every breath. “I can’t, I can’t.”

  Will had seen that look only a handful of times before. Each time, there’d been something behind it, something dark, hidden. A bruised heart.

  “Okay,” he capitulated, knowing he couldn’t turn the terrified Omega back over to whatever it was he’d run from, been willing to risk his life to escape from. “Okay, you can stay. You can stay.”

  Jake’s face crumpled, and he gasped out a sob. Will pulled him closer with a hand on the back of his head, and Jake clung tighter, his face burrowed in Will’s shoulder, arms around him as he sobbed. Will slid his hand lower to cup Jake’s neck, soothing him, and the sobs began to ease.

  He glanced up to find Dave and Daryl watching him, all three sharing grim looks. So much for not keeping stray Omega underfoot.

  In the end, Will had picked him up and carried him back to his room. Celine got him settled into bed again before the Alpha returned with a glass of water which he helped Jake drink.

  Jake lay on his right side as the Alpha took a seat next to the bed.

  “I’ll agree to let you stay on in the city. But there are conditions attached.”

  He nodded readily. There was a lot he’d do to stay there.

  “You live and work here, in Snakes and Ladders, until you set yourself up with something else.”

  It was on the tip of Jake’s tongue to say yes before he paused. He didn’t know anything about Snakes and Ladders other than there was a bar and a stage and it was run by shifters. What would they agree to employ an Omega for unless…?

  “What kind of work?”

  He looked down at his hands as he asked, twisted in the light sheets he’d been sleeping under so as not to aggravate his wounds.

  A finger under his chin tipped his head up to meet stor
my blue eyes.

  “I’m not Antoine. My Omega employees are just that, employees. Not slaves, not prostitutes.”

  He let go and Jake let his gaze fall again, his face burning. He hadn’t meant to imply anything.

  “Honest work,” Will said when Jake didn’t speak. “Cleaning tables, scrubbing floors, washing dishes. Hard work for fair pay, and room and board here. You can come and go as you please, but check with myself or Dave about the safe parts of the city and where you should avoid. Don’t go out alone, take a buddy with you. Two Omega are safer than one. A Beta or an Alpha even safer. Celine is always up for a shopping trip and if clubs are your thing, there’s a group that goes out after we close on Wednesday nights, and dances until dawn.”

  “I can really stay?” He didn’t quite believe it, given the Alpha had been more than ready to turf him out.

  “If you accept those conditions.”

  “I do. I accept.” A job where his body wasn’t on offer was too good to refuse. Besides, it wasn’t like he had choices.

  “Thank you.” He risked a glance up, meeting the Alpha’s eyes again.

  “Don’t thank me. I just don’t want to be the one carrying your broken body back to your Pack.”

  Chapter Seven

  As the weeks passed, Jake grew more comfortable in his job. His co-workers were friendly, for the most part. There were three other Omega, Andy and Micah, who were close friends, and Laurie, who was dating an Alpha and spent his spare time at his apartment.

  Most of the staff ate dinner in the dining room next to the kitchen before the place got busy for the night. It meant he never ate alone unless he wanted to. And there were always people around if he wanted to go out. He hadn’t left the building often, anxious about Antoine, Lee, and that masked Alpha who’d hurt him.

  Will wasn’t around much. That is, he was almost always there, but kept to his office, appearing only to cover the floor when Dave was gone. At first, Jake made it a policy to keep his head down and work hard, staying under the Alpha’s radar. He didn’t want to give him a reason to revoke his permission or his job offer. As he gained confidence, his wish to remain invisible to the Alpha became a wish that the Alpha might notice him. Those blue eyes seemed to pass over him as if he wasn't there. It was the same with the other Omega. At first, he thought Will just wasn't into Omega, until Andy let slip that Will had had an Omega mate before. But things had ended badly and Will had sworn never again, or so Andy said. Jake had to content himself with the brief glimpses of Will and the times he'd catch his scent nearby, like they were ships passing in the night.

  But as the weeks went by, more than just his comfort grew. Jeans he’d been wearing since his first week started to feel a little snug. Maybe he was just eating too much. And the nausea he was having was just his stomach getting used to the city’s water, which had an odd tang to it compared to the water at home. And the tenderness in his chest, around his nipples, that was just…

  For the seventh morning in a row, after falling out of bed with his stomach roiling and having to sprint to the bathroom to retch, he stood in front of the mirror and stared, perturbed, at his stomach. It was still flat, though there was the tiniest of slopes below his navel, only visible when he stood sideways and really looked.

  It might not be anything. God, he hoped it wasn’t anything. He counted the weeks, doing his best not to think of the act that had started all this. Seven. Seven weeks. He glared down at his belly again, running his hand over it. He was probably right the first time. He was eating too much, there was something hinky about the water, and his chest was just muscle strain from all the contorting while he cleaned under the bar stools and tables. In five or six weeks, his next heat would be due. It would come, he’d ride it out, and he’d go on as before. Nothing to it.

  He didn’t let himself stare in the mirror. It was only fueling his anxiety. But five weeks later, with no hint of his heat arriving, he now had a very definite, if small, bump. He was in a world of trouble. Being an unattached Omega was bad enough. But this… how was he going to manage this? He barely had a job and his accommodation was very decidedly tied to it. He couldn’t see them keeping him on if they learned the truth. Being homeless, jobless, and on the streets in his condition… he’d have no choice, he’d have to go back. They’d be so happy. That bitter thought floated across his mind almost tauntingly. They’d get exactly what they'd wanted all along.

  There was only one solution he could see. An Alpha. Reel one in, get them so utterly bewitched that they’d overlook his very obvious deficit. It wouldn’t be easy, but he knew it wasn’t completely impossible. He’d heard stories of others, women and Omega, usually spoken about in unfavorable terms. Gold digger. Opportunist. Those people perceived as having lied and manipulated their way into a relationship, because what straight-thinking Alpha would accept a mate pregnant by someone else?

  He went shopping with Celine, bought more clothes, looser ones that wouldn’t let him show but wouldn’t make people suspicious. After that it was easy. All he had to do was keep his eyes peeled for interested Alphas, and flirt. With Snakes and Ladders being the most reputable bar and music venue for shifters in the city, there was no better place to look.

  Saturday nights always made Will grumpy. Grumpier than usual, that is. It was the night the more popular bands always wanted, the ones that drew crowds, so a host of non-regulars on top of the regulars, and usually a gaggle of tourists came to see what it was like to party with shifters. He usually let Dave handle Saturdays for that reason, but Dave’s brother had got them tickets to a football game and Will didn’t like to come between a man and his sport.

  Celine was on tills. Daryl and Micah taking orders. Laurie and Jasmine delivering drinks and food while Andy and Jake cleared tables and kept the place clean.

  The band finished up their set at eleven-thirty and the throng that had descended on Snakes headed for trendier clubs to finish their night in style. He saw to it that each staff member got their break. They had an extended opening license for Saturdays, so they’d be nudging the last customer out the door at three am.

  As he walked the floor, he nodded to the bouncers who were looking more relaxed now that the music crowd had filtered out. The place was still bustling, loud and boisterous, they’d need all hands on deck. Which was why, when he saw Jake chatting to an Alpha over by the far wall next to the stage, his irritation grew. If it had been once, he could have passed it off as the Omega just being friendly while doing his job. But this was the third time in two hours that he’d seen Jake talking to that particular Alpha, his cleaning cloth tucked in his back pocket, his hands empty, as if he’d forgotten he was there to do a job.

  Will turned and went to find Andy. The other Omega could have a word in Jake’s ear, tell him to get his ass in gear and keep his mind on the job. He was almost at the bar when his phone rang. Heidi. He side-stepped the bar and went through the door marked 'Staff Only' as he answered the call, circling through the back corridors. It was nothing urgent, he’d just asked Heidi to keep him appraised of any arguments or fights that might spill out into turf wars. That kind of thing he liked to shut down fast, if he was of a mind to.

  He re-entered the bar through the staff door behind and to the right of the stage, walking out almost on top of two people in the midst of making out.

  “You can’t be back here,” he growled, loud enough to be heard over the ambient noise and background music.

  The man with his back to him turned slowly, looking at him with raised eyebrows. It was the Alpha he’d seen earlier. And with him, looking like a deer in headlights, was Jake; hair mussed, lips flushed, looking gorgeous and just ready to be taken.

  “You, out,” he said to the Alpha, drawing himself up to his full height. The Alpha’s eyes widened at the challenge, but he was in no hurry, straightening his shirt and turning to flash a smile at Jake.

  “You coming, babe?”

  “No, he’s working.”

  That seemed to get
through to the Alpha, and he squeezed Jake’s shoulder briefly as he passed.

  “I… I should get back to work,” Jake stuttered out, rubbing a hand across his mouth and inching along the wall away from him. Will swung open the door to the back corridor. “Get inside.”

  Jake scurried past him, his head down, his hands tucking his shirt back into his pants. Will had to take careful, shallow breaths to not let Jake’s scent overwhelm him, to not give in to the urge to push him against the wall and crush their lips together. He drew on his anger and it beat back the attraction, but only just.

  He stepped inside after him, shutting the door and blocking the noise from outside. Now he could hear Jake’s fast breathing, not to mention the patter of his heart in his chest.

  “Do I pay you to chat up customers? To flirt? To spend your time making out with them?”

  Jake shook his head. “No, Alpha.”

  “And you think that’s okay? To leave your co-workers with more than their fair share of the work while you enjoy yourself.”

  “No, Alpha. I’m sorry.”

  “Well, I’m disgusted with you. This is unacceptable for any employee of mine. You want to have fun, enjoy yourself, you do it on your own time, during your off hours. Not during my time and not at the expense of your co-workers.”

  “Yes, Alpha. I understand.”

  “After we close up for the night, you’ll scrub every inch of that floor outside, until it shines. Have you got me?”

  “I’ve got you.”

  “I find you doing that again, I won’t make you clean or dock your pay, I’ll just have you pack your bags.”

  The anger burned white and hot in his veins.

  “Get back to work.”

  Jake scrambled for the door, slipping out into the din. Will had to take a minute, leaning against the cool wall, and try to dial down his anger. Not just anger. There was something in the way that Alpha had looked at Jake, the possessive way his hand lay on him. He didn’t want to name the emotion, didn’t want to go back there after so long. But there was no denying the surge of jealousy he’d felt on realizing that Alpha was kissing his—No. Jake wasn’t his. He didn’t want an Omega. He couldn’t go through that again.