“Let’s be off,” Terrance said, striding past them and out the doorway. Josh followed, shoving Adam in front of him. The Omega twisted his head, looking back at Ben, his eyes pleading with the Alpha. Ben lost sight of him as the rest filed out after them, clapping Ben and Sam on the shoulders as they passed. Ben didn’t bother following them to the door to see them off. They didn’t expect it. And, if he was honest with himself, he didn’t want to see Adam’s frightened face again.
As the front door slammed, he spoke. “He’ll be better off. The protection of a Pack, for him, and his children. He wouldn’t have been safe with us.”
Sam merely glared at him pointedly, then stormed off and out the back door. Ben heard him change a minute later and run off into the woods. He didn’t follow, knowing the younger Alpha needed time to cool off. Ben, feeling just as restless, paced the house. He found himself in the study, where Adam had spent most of his time. He should have insisted they take some books for him.
Picking up the detective novel he was halfway through, he sat down and tried to immerse himself in the story. It didn’t work. The room smelled of Adam, his scent on the chair and the books. Despite himself, Ben found he was listening out for the Omega’s heartbeat, constantly scanning for it. But there was nothing, only silence.
Chapter Thirteen
The drive was uncomfortable. He was squished in the middle of the backseat between his new Alpha and another shifter. Josh had a look on his face every time his eyes fell on Adam. Like Adam was an insect he was thinking about squashing under his shoe. When they arrived, he dragged Adam out of the car, his grip bruising.
“Put him upstairs,” Terrance said, striding to the door and not even looking at Adam. “Third floor. Spare room. Lock the door, we don’t want him wandering. I'll make the arrangements for tonight's celebration.”
Josh didn’t let up his grip until they reached the room in question, whereby he shoved Adam, hard, and it was all the Omega could do to keep from sprawling across the floor. He gulped when the Alpha strode into the room after him. Would he take him now, even though he wasn’t in heat?
“You’re practically a gutter rat,” the Alpha sneered when Adam back away. “I expect I’ll need you hosed down a few times before I touch you.”
He caught Adam’s chin in his hand, running his thumb across Adam’s lips before pushing the appendage into his mouth.
“If you bite me, I’ll have your teeth pulled.” The Alpha’s voice was a menacing whisper as his thumb pressed against Adam’s teeth and tongue.
He withdrew and released his grip. “We’ll have the Pack medic check you over. We’re just lucky we’re shifters or I'd be having you checked for diseases.”
He grabbed Adam’s shirt in one fist and yanked him forward, throwing him off balance. As Adam struggled to keep his feet under him, Josh’s free hand pushed underneath his shirt, groping along his stomach. When Adam tried to pull away, his hand gripped the nape of Adam’s neck and pushed him forward. His touch was nothing like Ben's and only intensified Adam's terror. The hand on his abdomen slipped lower and Adam struggled harder.
Josh pushed his head close to Adam’s ear. “I hope you haven’t got a pup in there. That would be unfortunate.” He pulled back and, without warning, punched Adam’s stomach, hard. Adam gasped and cried out, twisting beneath Josh’s hold. His hands released Adam abruptly, and the Omega crumpled to the floor, curling up and sobbing as he tried to catch his breath. A savage kick to his stomach forced another cry from him.
“I’m sure you’ll like it here, Adam. I’ve wanted another toy to play with for so long. Tatiana is lovely but she’s too fragile, every mark is noticed, every bruise reported to her father. We have to make love, we can’t just fuck. But you… who’ll give you a second glance if you have a bruise or a cut or a limp?”
Adam opened his eyes to see the triumphant smile on Josh’s face. “You’ll see. It’ll be the perfect partnership.”
The door slammed closed before the bolt slid across. Adam didn’t move from his position on the floor, his stomach aching, a sharp pain that drew tears to his eyes.
The drag of the bolt woke him some time later as the afternoon light was fading. He pushed to his feet as Josh returned, followed by an older man with graying hair.
“He’s scrawny looking,” the stranger commented.
“What use is a buff Omega?” Josh replied. “All we need to know is that he can reproduce and he hasn’t already got one in the oven. I presume that isn’t too much to ask, Johnson?”
Adam could see the anger in the older man’s eyes, but he didn’t voice it.
“Let’s see, shall we?” He turned to Adam.
“Hello, Adam. My name is Ed Thompson. I’m Gray Valley’s Pack doctor. I’m here to examine you.”
His tone was quiet and calming.
“Sit down on the side of the bed, please, Adam.”
Adam did as the doctor asked, holding himself still as Thompson and Josh came closer.
The exam was mercifully brief.
“There are no obvious signs of pregnancy but it could be early. When was your last heat, Adam?”
It had been shortly before Harvey’s death. “Four weeks?” He wasn’t certain.
“So, pregnancy is possible?” Josh asked.
“Anything is possible.”
“Well, find out and if it’s there, get rid of it,” the Alpha demanded.
“All in good time. I’ll need to do an ultrasound to confirm fertility anyway.”
“Then why aren’t you doing it now?”
“The machine is in for repair. It won’t be ready for a few days.”
“And we won’t know if he’s pregnant until then?” Josh’s anger was growing.
“I didn’t say that. There are easier ways. Here.” He handed a container to Adam. “Urine sample, first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Why not do it now, get it over with?”
“Morning is our best chance to get an accurate test, especially this early after a mating heat.”
“And if he is, how long will it take to deal with it?”
The conversation continued as if Adam wasn’t there.
“A few pills and it will be a non-issue. Even without the pills, in the absence of a bond, nature would take its course. Though you might be waiting until Spring before he goes into a bonding heat.”
Adam didn’t quite follow the meaning of the doctor’s words, except that none of it sounded good for him.
“Well.” Josh watched Adam with narrowed eyes. “Let’s hope it doesn’t take that long. You know I’m not a patient man.” He turned and walked out the door.
“Welcome to Gray Valley, Adam. Get some rest,” the doctor said before following Josh from the room. The door closed and the bolt slid home.
Adam let himself curl up on the bed and didn’t stop the tears when they started to fall. For a few days, his life had seemed like heaven. Food, freedom, even books. But now he was on the slippery slope back to another basement.
Chapter Fourteen
Ben was still sitting in the study, staring at the pages of his book but not really seeing them, when Sam came to find him. He put the book down. Sam stood with arms folded. He didn’t speak.
They stared at each other silently.
It was Ben who broke their silence. “What did you expect me to do, Sam? There were ten of them and two of us. They didn’t ask for Adam, they just took him.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
“It’s better in the long run.”
“Better? For who?”
Ben couldn’t meet Sam’s eyes. It was hard to just sit there, knowing the Omega was out there. Knowing what would happen to him.
“Not for Adam, that’s for sure,” Sam ranted, voice raised. “You know Josh’s reputation. You know Terrance will turn a blind eye to what he does with Adam so long as they get a few babies out of him. And you just let them walk him out of here.”
Sam sat down on the chair across f
rom him, hands fisted in his hair.
“I keep listening for his heartbeat.” Ben found himself speaking out loud the thoughts he’d been trying hard not to acknowledge. “His scent is everywhere here and I can’t block it out.”
Sam sat forward, anger warring with confusion on his face.
“Sam, it is taking every bit of strength I have to sit here right now and not go after him.”
“Ben, I don’t understand.”
“Since I set eyes on him, there’s been… something. Every time we touched, it was like I’d touched a live wire only it felt so good. When I put my hands on him, when he calmed under my touch, I haven’t felt that kind of peace in a long time.”
“Fuck.” Sam was staring at him, eyes wide. “You started bonding with him.”
“What? No. I never touched him like that.”
“Bonds don’t always require sex to form. You can’t complete a bond without sex but you sure as hell can start one. God, you’re an idiot, you know that? You couldn’t have figured this out twelve hours ago, when we could actually have done something about it?”
Ben held his head in his hands. “I know. It’ll get better, right?”
“I guess so. Time and distance should fade the bond. But that doesn’t do much to help Adam.”
“Even if. And this is a big if,” Ben said, “we did get Adam back from them, what exactly do you imagine we would do?”
“We’d go to ground. Your plan for if things ever went south with the Packs.”
“That’s us giving up everything, Sam. Our whole lives. We’d have to stay hidden, keep off the Pack's radar. That’s a huge step to contemplate taking. And we’d have to do it together. You know they’d never believe you didn’t know where I’d gone.”
“I can live with that.”
“Can Lianna?”
“If we’re together, that’s the important thing. I’d give her the choice of joining us. Not right away of course, but when things have settled. Anyway, things might blow over if we gave it some time.”
“The Porters don’t forget and they don’t forgive. This is both our lives, and Adam’s, we’d be forfeiting. Lianna’s too if she follows you”
“But if we could, would you?” Sam pressed.
“I’d do anything right now to have Adam back,” he admitted.
“Then there’s only one question left. Can we rescue Adam?”
Ben spent a few moments mulling the question over.
“It won’t be easy. But if we are going to do it, it would have to be tonight. Terrance said they’d celebrate Adam’s arrival. That means a party, lots of alcohol. Their guard will be down at the main house.”
“But not on the approach. They aren’t stupid, they’ll have patrols, people on watch.”
“Well, what if we could bypass those? What if all we had to worry about was the house?”
“You learn how to fly when I wasn’t looking?” Sam was understandably skeptical.
“Did you forget I grew up in that house?”
It had been his home until the Porters had arrived and decimated his world.
“So what am I missing?” Sam asked.
“An old escape tunnel. Runs underground about a mile from the house towards the old quarry. It was how I got out the night...” He didn't have to say it, Sam knew well enough what had happened to his family all those years ago.
“Won’t they have sealed it?”
“They don’t know it’s there. I check from time to time when we visit. Last time was about eighteen months ago. It’s part of the old cellar, they just had boxes and stuff stored down there. I don’t think anyone ever really looked around.”
“Okay. Bypass the guards, get into the house and get Adam out. Probably best that you go to the house, seeing as you know the layout so well. I'll stay near the tunnel exit. I suggest we take the bikes to make a quick getaway. We won’t be able to come back here, so we’ll need to pack essentials to bring with us. Then we swing by Glenoak on our way. Get Adam checked out by Alicia and I can talk to Lianna before we go to ground.”
Sam nodded to himself, seeming satisfied with their plan.
“That simple, huh?” Ben asked.
“It’s only as complicated as we make it. We go get Adam and we high-tail it out of there. Come on, you can’t tell me you haven’t been getting bored of this Enforcer stuff. I mean, sure, we’re good at it, but it’s a dead end. There’s no progression, no settling down, just perpetual bachelorhood until, if you ask really nicely, another Pack agrees to take you in once you’re too old to make trouble. And how often does that happen?”
“Glenoak would take you, in a heartbeat,” Ben replied.
“Glenoak are a ticking time bomb with Eagle Creek on their doorstep. I wouldn’t be long settled there. Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Rescue mission. We hardly ever get to do those.”
Sam spoke with an enthusiasm that was hard to ignore, try as Ben did. The thought of seeing Adam again, of getting to hold him, touch him. It made him heady with excitement. And that was no good. He needed steady and serious, his head in the game and not up in the clouds.
Chapter Fifteen
They waited until after midnight before they left, taking the motorcycles, driving on the back roads towards Eagle Creek territory. Ben took them off the road before they reached the border, weaving a slow path through the sparse forest.
He came to a stop a few miles from the tunnel entrance.
“Better go on foot from here. Too high a chance the sound of the bikes will carry and raise questions.”
Sam jumped off his bike. “Okay. Lead on.”
“No, we go on four legs from here. Faster, quieter.”
Sam grinned, shirking off his shirt. “I never say no to a good run to stretch my legs.”
They piled their clothes next to the bikes, changing quickly. Then Ben led the way through the forest. The tunnel entrance was inside a dilapidated old stone shed whose roof had fallen in decades ago. They changed back when they reached it, Ben knowing they’d need human hands to get the wooden trapdoor open. The wood was rotting and practically came apart in his hands.
“Are you sure you should go by yourself?” Sam was watching the dark forest surrounding them, keen eyes and ears listening for danger.
“Yeah. I need you here, Sam, to make sure we have a way out.”
Ben changed again and jumped down into the tunnel. He crawled through it many times as a child. It had been his favorite way of getting out of the house when he had chores to do. It was a tighter fit now, even as a wolf, but much easier on four legs than hands and knees. He hoped there hadn’t been any collapses in the many years since he’d used it.
Other than a few small areas where the walls of the tunnel looked ragged, it had held up well. Reaching the other end, he debated whether to change back before opening the hatch. He nudged the hatch upward with his head. It budged, slightly but he could feel a weight on it. Something was on it, pressing it down. He’d need to be in human form, needed the dexterity to get the trapdoor open without waking the whole house.
He’d never changed in such a confined space before. Pushing his way back into the tunnel, he curled his body in tightly and let the change take hold.
Minutes later, he pressed the trapdoor upwards again, testing it. There was something half covering it. It wasn’t too heavy and it shifted with the pressure he exerted. That would work. Slowly and steadily, he pushed the trapdoor open, listening to the slide of the box. At the last second, he pushed too hard and the box slid and thunked against something. The noise sounded loud, almost as loud as Ben’s heart thudding in his ear. Listening carefully for sounds he’d alerted anyone, he was met by nothing but some distant creaks and snores.
The trapdoor was free and swung open fully, allowing him to climb out as a cloud of dust covered the air. He thought about changing again, to make it easier to slip through the house unnoticed, but he knew the first closed door he met would be a major barrier. Instead, naked and baref
oot, he slipped up the stairs that led from the cellar to the kitchen. The kitchen was in darkness, plates, glasses and cans littering every surface. The Porters sure knew how to throw a party.
The door to the laundry room was open and he stopped just long enough to grab a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. While he had no problem being naked, if someone did catch sight of him, they were more likely to ignore a clothed figure than a naked one.
He paused at the door leading into the hall and listened, trying to work out where they were keeping Adam. If he was in Josh’s room, that would be an added complication, but Ben suspected things wouldn’t have moved that quickly.
It shouldn’t have been possible, given there were probably more than a dozen shifters asleep in the house, but he could pick out Adam’s heartbeat. It was faint, high above him. He recalled the third floor was where they kept guests, both willing and unwilling. That was his destination.
He moved with careful steps, listening for sounds of movement or wakefulness. Just as he reached the bottom of the stairs, footsteps crossed the room above him, a door opening and shutting. Late night bathroom visit? He held fast, then used the sounds of water rushing through the pipes as cover as he climbed the stairs. He didn’t pause on the second-floor landing but kept going, stopping to get his bearings only as he reached the very top of the stairs.
There was only one other person on this floor, the other two rooms empty. The familiar heartbeat was loud in his ears, a reassuring thump that eased some of the wrongness that had filled him since Adam’s departure.
The door to the room they’d put Adam in had been bolted shut. He slid it free, mindful of the noise he was making. The house still slumbered, loud snoring coming from the room he’d heard movement from only a few moments before.
He pushed the door open, trying to decide how he’d wake Adam without the Omega making noise, only to be met by two bright, fearful eyes peering at him from the floor next to the bed.
The Alpha's Choice: Lost Omegas Book Two: A M/M Shifter Romance Page 6
