Falling Together (The Omega Haven Book 1)

by Claire Cullen

  “Risky,” Will countered. “We Alphas are a mite unpredictable with it comes to matters of the heart. Here.”

  He turned and held out the faded t-shirt. Jake stood to take it from him, letting the towel fall as he pulled it over his head. It came to mid-thigh.

  “That’ll do,” Will said. “Unless you’re cold.”

  Jake shook his head, wrapping his arms around his middle. “Not cold. I’ll go back to bed.”

  Will moved to intercept him as he crossed the room towards the door.

  “I’d rather you stayed here for a few more hours. So I can keep an eye on you. That kind of stress last night isn’t good for your body.”

  “I’ll be fine,” Jake countered, giving him a watery grin. “Besides, I think I’ve taken up enough of your time.”

  “Nu—uh, my establishment, my rules. Into bed with you, or I’ll have to call Heidi out.”

  Jake looked ready to argue again, a hint of that defiance back in his eyes as he met Will’s gaze head-on. Then he seemed to deflate, a wave of tiredness washing over him. He let Will lead him to the bed and help him in, covering him with blankets up to his chin.

  “You won’t make me go back?” the sleepy Omega asked, his anxiety slipping through the cracks in his armor.

  “No, I won’t.” He wouldn’t let a dog live in those conditions, let alone an Omega.

  “But you will send me away.”

  Jake was perceptive. Because one thing remained true. Eden was no place for an unattached Omega. Especially a pregnant one.

  “Sleep. We’ll talk about it later.”

  Chapter Ten

  When Jake woke with a cry two hours later, Will was at his side in an instant.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  Jake ran a trembling hand across his face. “Nothing. Just a nightmare.”

  “About your sister and Rick?”

  Jake shuddered visibly at the names. “No. Forbidden Fruit.”

  Will sat down on the side of the bed.

  “Do you dream about that a lot?”

  They’d spoken about the physical wounds and Will had hoped Jake would talk to the other Omega in Snakes to ease the mental trauma, but he’d always kept his distance. And now Will knew why.

  “Sometimes. They drugged me, too.”

  Bastards.

  Jake yawned, oblivious to the angry thoughts filtering through Will’s head.

  “Go back to sleep. I’ll stay and keep you company.”

  “Guard me from my bad dreams?” Jake joked, but already his eyes were slipping closed.

  “That’s right. No scary clowns getting past me.”

  Jake didn’t manage a reply, already asleep.

  There was a knock on the door to his office mid-morning, and he stepped out, closing the door to his bedroom so Jake wouldn’t be woken. Dave stepped inside.

  “You have a visitor. Smells like law enforcement.” He looked past Will to the door, then back to Will with a raised eyebrow.

  “Jake and I had a bit of a misunderstanding. He’s fine now, he’s sleeping, but there’s an issue I could use your opinion on later.”

  Dave nodded slowly. “Of course. Do you want me to show this guy in?”

  Will nodded, running a hand through his hair before straightening the pile of papers on his desk and taking a seat. It wasn’t too unusual to have the police call. It was rare to have something kick off in Snakes, his bouncers were quick off the mark and not shy about getting the troublemakers out. But now and then there were requests for CCTV, wanting to check on credit cards used or looking for witnesses to something or other. The policy at Snakes was to be cooperative and polite. Officers were antsy where shifters were involved so Will made it known that any officer within the establishment's walls was considered as under their protection.

  Two sets of footsteps traipsed back up the corridor before a tall man with dark hair stepped inside. The second he came into view, Will was on his feet.

  “Chris?”

  “Will, it’s been a long time.”

  “When Dave said police, I was expecting one of the local detectives.”

  “Yeah. I’m not here in an official capacity, seeing as we don’t have permission to be in the city.”

  Chris headed a team that dealt specifically with shifter-related crimes. Stephen had banned them from the city a few years back, right after Will had resigned from his position on the team. He hadn’t been able to bring himself to make contact since then, content to lose himself in the city’s murky underworld and his role at Snakes. But now Chris was here, and Will couldn't exactly bury his head in the sand.

  “So, what does bring you to Eden?”

  “Been following up on some leads in Omega disappearances over the past year.”

  “And?”

  “All roads lead to Eden. At least some are being routed through the city though we’re not sure this is where they’re ending up.”

  Will grabbed a second chair and slid it across the floor to the other man, then went and sat down, indicating for Chris to take a seat.

  “As a city, we’re not alone in that regard.”

  “You’re one of the few cities right now with an open shifter population that’s not under the control of a Pack. And the only city with effectively no leadership.”

  All true and Will had no wish to defend his position.

  “What do you need, Chris?”

  “We need back in. Permission for our teams to operate within the city’s limits.”

  Will scrubbed a hand across his face. At the time, had he been in his right mind and not in the depths of grief, he’d have talked Stephen out of his decision. And, given what had so nearly happened to Jake, he could see the need for some form of law enforcement to tackle it.

  “Consider it granted. I’ll put the word out.”

  Chris paused. “We’d rather keep it under the radar for now, if it’s all the same.”

  Will shrugged. “Sure, it’s not like I have much by way of authority here. I’m pretty much a figurehead until someone steps up to the plate.”

  Chris nodded. “You put any thought into that, who might succeed Stephen? From what I’ve heard, Eden's on a slow free fall into chaos.”

  “Yeah. Stephen didn’t leave a lot to work with.”

  “It’s not Stephen holding the puppet strings now, Will.”

  There was a hint of disapproval in Chris’ tone. An easy mistake for his old friend to make; to assume Will cared. Chris had known him back when he was a different person, a better person. But all that had fallen by the wayside. He ran his bar, and he did the minimum to fulfill the Alpha obligations Stephen’s death had foisted on him.

  “If that’s all, Chris. I have things to do.”

  “There is one more thing.”

  He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and slid it across the table. It was a picture of Jake.

  “You know this Omega?”

  “Yeah, he’s an employee.” He didn’t mention that he was fast asleep in the next room. It would only confuse the issue. “If this is about what happened in Forbidden Fruit, the assault…”

  “What can you tell me about it?”

  Will filled him in, about Lee, Antoine, the masked Alpha, and then the rescue. Chris listened carefully.

  “And no ideas on who this Alpha was?”

  “None. He was gone before we got into the room. Did a real number on Jake’s back though. And that was just the warm-up.”

  Chris nodded. “It sounds like it might fit with a pattern we’ve seen in other places.”

  Chris looked down at his steepled fingers and Will cursed himself for missing the obvious. “That’s not why you’re asking about Jake, is it?”

  “No,” Chris admitted with a wry grin. “But given what we’re tracking at the moment, it is relevant. The reason I asked about Jake is that his Pack, his family, filed a missing person's report with us. We looked into it, suspecting that he likely left of his own free will. I woul
d like to speak to him to confirm that.”

  “Sure. I can arrange that. Why don’t you go to the kitchen and grab yourself a coffee while I get him?”

  “You’re not going to spirit him away are you?” Chris grinned to take the sting from his words, but Will could see the suspicion in his eyes. They didn’t know each other so well, not anymore.

  “And be down an employee on the weekend? No. He had a late night, let me go see if he’s up.”

  Chris eyed him curiously but didn’t ask questions, following Will’s directions to the kitchen.

  Will stopped by Jake’s room to grab him some clothes, then doubled back to his room. The Omega was in a deep sleep and roused slowly to Will’s voice.

  “What is it?” he asked, scrubbing a hand across his face, wincing and glaring at his skinned palm.

  “There’s a police officer here, a detective from the shifter crimes division. He’s an old friend of mine, his name is Chris. He wants to talk to you.”

  Jake’s eyes went wide as he sat up, painfully awake.

  “What does he want?”

  “It seems your family has put out a missing person's report on you. He just wants to know that you’re here of your own free will.”

  “He can’t… he can’t make me go back, can he?”

  “No, not if you’re here of your own volition. He won’t take you back unless you ask him to.”

  Jake nodded slowly. “Oh. Okay.”

  “Here, I brought you some clothes. Get dressed, and we’ll go see him together.”

  He set down the jeans and t-shirt, stepping towards the door to give Jake some space. The Omega pulled on the jeans over his legs then pulled off Will’s t-shirt and replaced it with his own. Will had a second to regret the fact that his scent would be on Jake from the t-shirt, not to mention a night spent in his bed, but he knew they didn’t have time to worry about that.

  “Come on,” he said, once Jake was dressed. “I’ll go with you. You’re covered in my scent so Chris might make some assumptions.”

  “I thought you said he was an old friend. Doesn’t he know you?”

  It took Will a moment to work out the implication. That, if someone like Chris knew him well enough, they’d know he wouldn’t be shacking up with an Omega.

  “He knows me as I was then.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Back then, I had an Omega mate.”

  Jake didn’t seem surprised, meaning the rumor mill had been doing its normal, efficient job.

  “But that was a long time ago.” And he wasn’t interested in repeating the mistakes of the past.

  Chapter Eleven

  Jake stepped into the kitchen, Will on his heels. Standing by the fridge, chatting to Celine, was the tall, dark stranger he assumed was Chris.

  Celine giggled at something he said, then crossed the kitchen, passing them on her way out. “He’s cute,” she mock whispered to Will. “You should invite your old friends around more often.”

  “Don’t let Jeff hear you say that,” Will warned with a smile but it didn’t reach his eyes. Jake turned his attention back to Chris, who took a seat at the small table. Jake slid into a chair across from him, hearing Will step behind him, resting a hand on the back of his chair.

  “Hi Jake,” Chris said, then glanced up at Will. “I’m sure your boss told you why I was here?”

  “He did.”

  “Will, do you mind giving us a few minutes alone?”

  Will lifted his hand, resting it on Jake’s shoulder before squeezing gently. “That okay with you, Jake?”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “I’ll be in my office if you need me. Chris, come and see me before you leave.”

  “Will do.”

  Jake didn’t really want Will to leave, but neither did he want to seem too needy. The Alpha had already been up half the night on his behalf. So, he let the Alpha walk away and turned his attention to this new Alpha.

  “I’m not sure how much Will told you. I’m guessing he told you I’m a cop, right?”

  “Right. You’re shifter crimes?”

  “That’s right. We’re known officially as the Special Lycanthrope Taskforce. Run by shifters to tackle shifters. We’re why it’s no longer an automatic shoot-to-kill when there’s a shifter-involved crime in progress. Time was, if the police suspected our involvement, they’d go in shooting. Men, women, kids. Didn’t matter if they thought we had teeth.”

  “And you follow up on missing persons, too?”

  Chris smiled at his question.

  “Are you a missing person?”

  Jake shook his head, returning Chris’ smile with one of his own. There was something very affable about the Alpha.

  “How long have you been in the city, Jake?”

  “About three months.”

  “And how did you come to be here? You’re pretty far from home. Not in distance maybe, but the city is a long way from the kind of life you left behind.”

  “I wanted a change. Hitched a ride to the city with one of the suppliers of our Pack business. Will gave me permission to stay, and a job.”

  He left out the fact that it had happened after he’d been tricked into going to Forbidden Fruit, sold to an Alpha, beaten, and rescued.

  “Was that before or after your run-in with Mr. Antoine?”

  Jake blanched and pushed back his chair.

  “Whoa, Jake. I’m sorry. Will told me. I’m sure that’s not something you want to talk about. It might help me if you could, though.” Chris’ voice was low and gentle. Jake pulled his chair back in.

  “How would that help?”

  “There’s been a pattern of Omega going missing. From time to time they turn up, mostly they don’t. Sometimes, by the time we find them, it’s too late. What happened to you might be connected.”

  “You mean the Alpha has done that before, to others?”

  “It’s likely. We think we might be looking at a ring of Alphas. A network. Purchasing Omega for the purposes of abusing them, maybe even killing them.”

  “I didn’t see his face. He was wearing a mask.”

  “Anything you can remember, anything at all, would help.”

  Jake rested his head in his hand, dredging up the memories he’d much rather forget.

  “He had a cultured accent. And pale eyes. Green, I guess. His hair was dark, it matched his mask.”

  “Good, that’s really good. Anything else?”

  “He… Antoine said there’d been an auction. They’d posed me, taken pictures. He said there’d been a lot of bids. He kind of implied they auctioned underage Omega, too.” Jake's stomach twisted at the words, too awful to contemplate.

  Chris nodded at that, his expression grim. “We’ve heard rumors to that effect, but Antoine’s operation is pretty leakproof. Thanks, Jake.”

  He blinked, as if filing the information away, and the smile returned to his face.

  “Alright, back to the matter at hand. Do you want to go home, Jake?”

  That question had him on his feet and backing towards the door.

  “Okay, okay, Jake. Slow down. It was just a question. I’m not taking you anywhere you don’t want to go.” Chris hadn’t moved from his seat but was holding his hands up, palms out.

  “I don’t want to go back. I came here by choice. I’m staying by choice. I’m safe here.”

  “No one is forcing you to stay here, coercing you in any way?”

  He shook his head, stepping back towards the table but not sitting. “After what happened in Forbidden Fruit, Will wanted me to go home but I couldn’t. He offered me a job here, so I’d be safe in the city.”

  “Are you and he…”

  “No. He’s my boss. Besides, he barely looks at me.”

  “Pity. It’d be nice to see him move on after-” Chris stopped himself. “Well, I won’t take up any more of your time, Jake.”

  “My family, are you going to you tell them where I am?” There was no way they wouldn’t come looking. And
when they discovered the pregnancy…

  “You’re an adult. If you’re choosing not to contact them, not to make them aware of your location, then that is your decision. I will let them know that we’ve looked into it, and we have no concerns about your welfare, that you left of your own free will.”

  The words were a weight off his shoulders. “Thank you.”

  They found Will chatting to Dave at the end of the corridor and trying to look casual about it.

  “You get what you need, Chris?”

  “Just about.”

  “Why don’t I walk you out?”

  “Sure. Bye, Jake. It was nice to meet you.” There was that warm smile again. Jake smiled back. “Bye, Chris.”

  Chris nodded to Dave as he passed, the older man leveling him with a glare. Chris turned back and winked at Jake.

  As the Alphas left, Jake found Dave eyeing him. “You have to be careful with the charming ones like him. Cops learn that kind of thing to suck you in and before you realize it, you’re spilling all your darkest secrets.”

  Jake wasn’t worried. His only real secret was what he carried inside him, and he’d held on to that with both hands.

  Chris slowed to a stop just before the exit.

  “It’s been good seeing you again, Will. Maybe we can catch up if I’m going to be in the city for a while?”

  The last thing Will wanted was to dredge up the past. “Sure. It’d be nice to hear how the others are doing.”

  Chris nodded at that, looking uncomfortable. “You know, you’re wasted here, in this place.”

  “I’m happy here,” he corrected quickly.

  “And Jake, is he happy here?” Chris had a half-smile on his face, as if he regretted asking the question.

  “Seems to be. He’s not complaining.” Will folded his arms. He was fast losing patience with the direction of this conversation.

  “You’re very protective of him.”

  “An Alpha’s prerogative.” His terse response did nothing to dissuade Chris. That was his old friend, tenacious through and through.

  “You’re sure you and he aren’t…”

  “What part of 'no' is so hard to understand, Chris? You used to know what it meant.”