“You’re leaving me behind?” He’d assumed he’d be going wherever Zack went and hadn’t anticipated being separated from the Alpha so soon.
“You’ll be safe here with Seb and Ro, safer than you’d be on the move. And the FW have people in the area keeping an eye on things.”
Matt wasn’t sure he believed that and didn’t like the idea of being parted from Zack. But, he chided himself, it wouldn’t do to get too attached. Zack had made it clear he didn’t want a bond and after his behavior with Ro yesterday, Matthew couldn’t blame him.
Still, his unhappiness must have shown on his face. Zack took a seat next to him at the table.
“You should talk to Sebastian about finding a mate. I’m sure he’d find you someone who would take care of you and a Pack who would keep you safe.”
“Even after what I said to Ro?”
“He won’t hold that against you.” Zack seemed very sure of that. “Come on, let’s eat.”
A car pulled up late the next morning. Zack recognized Graham, one of the wolves who had been with Andrew at the cabin. Matthew followed him to the door.
“I’ll be back in a day or so. I’ll talk to them about helping find you somewhere safe to live and you should talk to Sebastian, start making some plans.”
The Omega nodded slowly. “Be safe,” he called after Zack who waved as he got into the car.
“We’ve got a long drive,” Graham commented as they drove off. “I hope you like jazz.” The other wolf hit a button on the stereo and the car filled with music. Zack closed his eyes and let the sound wash over him.
Graham wasn’t kidding when he promised Zack a long trip. They stopped at a drive-thru for lunch but got straight back on the road.
It was growing dark when they reached their destination. An out of the way house, off the main roads, surrounded by woods. Not a surprise for shifters. There were a handful of cars parked outside and Zack counted three people standing guard at various points around the property.
Zack followed Graham inside, aware from the sounds he could hear that there were a lot of people in the house.
There was a guard at the door, arms folded, looking none too impressed at their arrival.
“James?” Graham asked him. The guard didn’t speak just jerked his head to indicate a door down the hall.
Graham led the way, Zack glancing upwards to see their progress was being watched by some younger wolves at the top of the stairs. A few of them ducked out of sight when he caught them looking, while one stared at him defiantly.
Who were all these people and why were they here? As best Zack could tell, they were in another Pack borderland, clearly not well policed by whoever owned the territory.
They entered a room where a group of adult wolves sat; one man, an Alpha going by his scent, and two women.
On seeing them enter, the Alpha stood.
“Thank you, Graham, and welcome, Zack.” He turned to the others. “If you’ll excuse us, Zack and I have a lot to talk about.”
The others stood, walking past Zack and out the door. Graham was the last to leave, clapping a hand on Zack’s shoulder as he did. “Hear him out, you won’t regret it.”
“You’re James,” Zack surmised once they were left alone. He was younger than Zack had expected, Zack guessed in his thirties.
“That’s right. Though I’ve gone by more than a few names in my time. I’m sure you’re wondering why you’re here?”
“Andrew told me most of it.”
“Oh, somehow I doubt that.” The older man smiled and gestured for Zack to take a seat.
“You’ll have to excuse any interruptions, it’s been quite a busy day here.”
“Who are all these people?” Were they all working for Fenrir’s Warriors?
“Most of them are members of the FW.”
“Even the kids?” Those had been young eyes watching him from the stairs.
“No, not the children.” The other Alpha’s eyes turned sad.
“What is this place?”
It reminded Zack of a Pack house, where all generations would mingle together, loud and full of life. It sent a pang of longing through him, reminding him for the hundredth time what he’d lost.
“It’s a safe house. We carried out a raid early this morning on an illegal fighting ring. That’s where most of the young people came from. We rescued nine in all, six males and three females.”
Zack didn’t know what question to ask first.
“Why? Isn’t that the kind of thing the Enforcers are supposed to tackle?”
James sat back in his chair, strumming his fingers on the armrest.
“The Enforcers have one major weakness; their activities are dependent on reports provided by the Packs. If Packs don't report concerns about illegal activity or missing people, the Enforcers have nothing to act on. This ring has been running, in one form or another, for almost five years. We got wind of it about three months ago.”
“But how could that be? Surely it would have come to the attention of the Packs before now?”
“Undoubtedly. I would say some of the Packs are intimately familiar with the establishment, considering at least three are actively involved in keeping the place running.”
Zack sat forward, eyeing James with disbelief.
“Not sure you believe me? Oh, it gets much worse than that. Who do you think supplies the wolves for the fights, not to mention the brothel?”
“Are you… are you saying…”
“The turnover isn’t too high but they need a few fresh faces every year. They make their choices carefully, choose wolves already marginalized, on the fringes of a Pack. It’s not too hard to contrive a bit of conflict then the males are simply exiled or leave of their own accord. The ring gets forewarned and picks them up shortly after they leave. It’s a little harder with the females since exiling them is almost unheard of. But a few dozen girls disappear every year, get their heads turned by handsome outsiders, labeled as troubled by their Packs and written off.”
Zack shook his head. “But the Pack Council…”
“An empty figurehead too weighed down by bureaucracy to see what’s going on right under its nose. And if anyone does get a sniff, there are plenty of people on the Council with vested interests only too happy to look the other way. Occasionally, by a stroke of luck, there’s a positive development. The Enforcers managed to take down a female trafficking ring a little over two years back. Returned a handful of wolves to their Packs, found a home for two more. When we checked up on them a year later, all but three had disappeared again. And no one was looking for them this time. Certainly, not their Packs.”
It had been big news at the time, Zack remembered, in part because Glenoak had lost a female and kicked up a storm until the Pack Council put the Enforcers on alert to investigate. It seemed like James had read his mind.
“We think the traffickers made a mistake. Got greedy or overconfident by grabbing a wolf from a Pack that wasn’t willing to just write it off as something that happens. Glenoak forced the Council’s hand and that put the Enforcers on the job. The team that landed the job were a little more diligent that most would have been. They actually did what they set out to do.”
“You’re saying the Packs are choosing their own people to be taken?”
“I’m saying they make a profit from it. Paid more for better fighters, prettier kids and if they can get them out younger. They get their cut just like everyone else.”
Zack felt sick at the thought. If he’d been exiled at the same age as Andrew, would this have been his fate?
“Come on, why don’t I show you around?” James offered.
He led Zack into the kitchen where two teenage boys sat at a table watching one of the men cooking. He was talking to them as he worked, explaining what he was doing. The boys seemed wary, careful eyes watching all around them, sizing Zack up as he came into the room. He could see fresh bruising on their faces and arms.
James spoke to them briefly, wit
h a casual reassurance that had them both relaxing a little. He snagged two pieces of garlic bread from the counter, flashing a smile at the cook’s sharp retort, and handed one to Zack as they made their way back out.
James introduced him to everyone as they traversed the house, a sea of faces and names that Zack struggled to hold onto. He munched on the bread, famished given lunch had been many hours previous.
He showed Zack back out the front door and into the night. The breeze had a bite to it and he was glad of his jacket.
They walked in silence for a few minutes, Zack watching the crescent moon as it disappeared and reappeared behind a cloudbank.
“None of this tells me why I’m here.”
“You’re a trained paramedic, yes? You worked with fire and rescue services?”
“That’s right,” Zack replied.
“Well, it just so happens we’re very short on the medical front. We have one doctor and two nurses. It doesn’t stretch very far when our people and operations are scattered across the country. When we raid somewhere like that fight ring, we do so at great risk. And we never know what we’re going to find. I’m trying to form a kind of an emergency response team. Basically, like a second wave who don’t take part in the actual raid but who swoop in afterward to take care of the injured and rescued. We already have a loose set up whereby we have people who go in once the fighting is over but, in most cases, they don’t have more than the basic first aid,” James sighed, looking up at the sky.
“About six months ago, we lost a teenage boy we had rescued. He had a head injury but was too malnourished to heal and we didn’t recognize how badly hurt he was in time. I vowed after that that we’d do better. If we’d recognized the signs and gotten him to a hospital, there’s a very good chance he’d have lived.”
“You want me to be…”
“Our paramedic. And to train others in something more than the basics. We need someone who has experience working with the human health system, in case it ever becomes necessary.”
As they circled back around to the house, two wolves ran by. From their scents, Zack recognized the boys from the kitchen.
“What happens to them?” he asked, indicating the youths.
“From here we move them on to more permanent accommodations. To stay with smaller families living outside Packs if they’re younger. We find the older do better in larger groups so we have houses like Pack houses they can stay in. They’re taught trades and when they’re older can choose if they want to join the Warriors. Most do, but not all.”
It sounded so secure and sensible a setup for a group that had only risen to prominence over the previous few years that it prompted another question. “How long have you been doing all this?”
“Over two decades now. Things have grown a lot since we started and we only began to use the Fenrir’s Warriors name very recently. Before that, we wanted to stay anonymous and not give the appearance of an organized group. Now, well, we aim to be heard. And what better name to invoke than Fenrir when you want someone to listen?” James grinned at him and led the way back inside.
Chapter Sixteen
The first day without Zack, Matthew kept to himself and distracted his mind by reading about Pack history. Sebastian tried to draw him into conversation a few times but Matt’s attention was fleeting. Ro worked away on his essay, surfacing every few hours for food or to spend some time with Sebastian. Night fell and still Zack hadn’t returned.
Sebastian’s phone rang. Matt knew immediately that it was Zack.
“He wants to talk with you,” Seb said, handing him the phone.
“Hey Mattie, are you keeping busy?” The Alpha’s voice washed over him, a reassuring balm.
“I’ve been reading about Gray Valley’s history.”
“I’d say that’s a checkered past.” Zack sounded bemused.
“Maybe the recent stuff but the older is pretty dull. When are you coming back?”
“Tomorrow. I’ll be there by early evening.”
“Is it going well?”
He could hear the amusement in Zack’s voice. “That depends on your definition of well.”
There were voices in the background and he could hear the Alpha talking to someone.
“Listen, Matt, I have to go. I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon and we can talk then.”
“Okay, bye Zack.”
He handed the phone back to Sebastian.
“Is everything alright?” Seb asked.
Matthew nodded. “He’ll be back tomorrow.”
He wished the time away.
There was something wrong at Glenoak. Sebastian took three calls within the space of an hour, going outside to answer each one. It was something to do with the pregnant Omega, Adam. Ro, who was up early doing college work, seemed unhappy and distracted, watching after the Alpha with concern.
“What are you studying?”
Matt almost thought Ro wasn’t going to answer, so long was the pause.
“Engineering.”
“Oh. My brother Brett studies that. He’s really smart too.”
“You don’t study?” Ro put down his pen, giving Matt his full attention.
“No. Father didn’t think it was appropriate for an Omega. My Alpha brothers have all worked or studied and my sister Cara is training within the Pack to be a nurse and midwife. Annie wants to be a fireman, but she’s only ten. Father wouldn’t hold with that but he might let her train as a nurse too.”
“You must feel left out.”
Matt shrugged. “When you’re different you’re treated differently. But not always fairly,” he added quietly.
“No, not always fairly,” Ro agreed.
“So how come your first Pack let you study engineering?” Matt asked, taking a seat across the table from Ro.
“They didn’t know. I kept it quiet, studied in secret. They didn’t care too much so didn’t keep a close eye on me.”
“My family was the opposite. They watched me constantly, corrected me for every little thing. They meant well, they wanted me to learn to be a proper Omega so I’d make a good mate when they arranged for me to bond.”
“So, what happened?”
Ro’s defensiveness was waning and he seemed curious about Matt’s story.
“The Alpha they chose, he was already mated but they couldn’t have children.”
“They just wanted you to carry their babies?” Ro sat forward, leaning on his elbows. “I didn’t know that kind of thing happened.”
“Neither did I. It wasn’t just that. The Alpha, he was so cold. He barely even looked at me. How could I be bonded to someone like that?”
“And so, you ran?”
Matthew nodded. “And I ended up in the woods, in the snow. It was so cold and I was tired. I couldn’t find any shelter. I was more dead than alive when Zack found me. When I woke up I was in heat, Zack didn’t realize and we… you know.” His face heated at the admission.
Ro nodded. “But you didn’t bond?”
Matt shook his head.
“But you want to bond?” Ro pressed.
“Zack doesn’t.” The words were leaden, weighing heavily on him.
“There are lots of Alphas out there. Plenty of them are good and kind, like Sebastian, like Zack. I’m sure we can help you find one.”
Matt nodded slowly. Zack had said the same. But his grandmother had told him there was only one true Alpha for every Omega. Could it really be that it wasn’t Zack? Zack who Matt had known was his from the moment he’d set eyes on him. Was that just biology talking? Hormones running roughshod through him?
“It’s not easy being an Omega.” Ro interrupted his musings.
“No, it’s not,” Matthew agreed as Sebastian returned.
Ro stood up, moving towards him. “Is everything okay?”
Sebastian reached for him, drawing him close. “It is. Adam went into labor. There were a few complications and it looked like outside assistance may have been required but Alicia has managed things
. Adam is fine.”
“And the babies?”
“The first has been born, a baby boy. They’re waiting on the second but he or she is head down so it should be straightforward.”
Ro smiled, relief on his face at Seb’s words. Matthew shoved down his jealously at their intimacy, not wanting to ruin the happy news, but a sound in the distance caught his attention. Seb and Ro, talking quietly to each other, didn’t seem to hear it. Standing, Matt made his way to the window, listening closely. While there was the occasional vehicle passing by, there wasn’t much out this way to bring people to the area. Certainly, no reason for two cars to be headed their way.
“Sebastian? I think someone is coming.”
A moment later the Alpha was at the window beside him, his face a mask of concentration.
“He’s right. Two vehicles, traveling fast and headed this way.”
“Should we take off?” Ro asked.
“We’d just meet them on the road instead of at the cottage.”
“Maybe it’s the FW with Zack?”
“Zack said they wouldn’t be back until this afternoon,” Matthew replied. He didn’t feel good about this, whatever it was. “They’re here for me, aren’t they?”
“We don’t know that. But just to be on the safe side, let’s get ready to leave. Grab shoes and coats, I’ll get the car keys.”
The vehicles pulled up just as they were leaving the cottage. The sound of a motorbike coming from the other side of the cottage heralded the arrival of another stranger and with him, a shifter in wolf form.
“They’re with the FW,” Sebastian said, herding Ro and Matt towards them.
Shifters spilled from the other two vehicles. Matt recognized a member of his own Pack, his father's adviser, Morgan, and one of the visitors from Bear Lake who’d joined them for dinner.
“Matthew,” Morgan called. “I’m very glad to see you unharmed. Everyone has been worried. You need to come with us.”
“Matthew is here under our protection,” Sebastian interrupted.
“He’s not yours to protect,” Bear Lake’s shifter said. “He’s ours.”
“Why don’t we ask Matthew what he wants to do?” Sebastian reasoned.
The Alpha's Wish: Lost Omegas Book Three: A M/M Shifter Romance Page 8
