“Tell me,” Byron coaxed, knowing they needed to get it out in the open.
“The man from before,” Jay whispered.
“The one who watched you?”
The Omega nodded. “Because I was different. But it was a secret.”
“You being an Omega?”
Jay didn’t give a direct answer. Byron suspected he just didn’t know. It had been a long time ago, and he’d had years as a wolf in between with nothing to cement the memories from before.
“They were scared of him.”
“Who were?”
“The woman and the man. But her especially.”
He turned in Byron arms, so they were face to face.
“I don’t remember her much, except her eyes were sad and scared.”
“Because of the man.”
Jay nodded.
“They were afraid he knew about me. That he might come for me.”
“So that’s why they took you to the forest?”
Why not just take him and run, find somewhere safe?
“They had to do it quickly, before he came back. He was always coming and going. And when he was there, he watched, and everyone was scared.”
Jay lay his head against Byron’s shoulder. “What if he’s still out there?”
“What if he is? He can’t touch you now. You’re mine.”
“But I should have been his. That’s why they were scared. They kept me out of sight, but they knew he suspected. Then one night they woke me. It was dark and I was sleepy. They said we had to go, because he’d be back. He always came back.”
No names. That was something they hadn’t gotten before either. Jay had never called the woman and man Mom and Dad, which made Byron wonder if that’s what actually they were. They might have been grandparents or other relatives. Outside of Packs, shifter relationships were funny things.
“What were they afraid this man would do if he knew what you were?”
Jay shrugged. “Take me away.”
In an epic feat of bad timing, his phone rang.
“It’s Sebastian. I need to answer this, sorry Jay.”
But he knew Jay didn’t mind. He had a fondness for Sebastian and Ro, and he liked the other Omega, Adam.
“Seb?”
“We have some news. We know who took Noah.”
“Who?”
“Gray Valley's Alpha, Terrance Porter.”
“There’s a history there.” Byron vaguely recalled the story.
“A long one.”
“Gray Valley been teetering on the edge these past few months. I know Fenrir’s Warriors have set their sights on it being their next target for wiping the slate clean. With this, we can justify approaching the Pack Council for immediate action against them.”
“It’s not that simple. They’re saying they took Noah, but that they don’t have him now.”
“Then where is he?”
“They traded him, in exchange for an older Omega, closer to mating age.”
He blinked at that, the oh-so-casual trading of people. Jay shifted against him, eyes alert, and Byron knew he was taking in every word.
“Which Pack did they trade him to?”
“Not a Pack, a person. The same person who raised Adam and Luke, a man going by the name of Tobias.”
Jay went rigid against him all of a sudden, his eyes wide then one hand scrabbled for a hold on Byron’s shirt.
“That’s him,” he breathed. “That’s the man.”
Chapter Seven
Byron got off the phone, promising to call Seb back as soon as he could.
“Jay, what do you mean?”
“The man, the one who watched me. That was his name.”
“Tobias?”
Jay shuddered at the word, visibly sinking and making himself smaller.
“Describe him.”
Jay blinked.
“Tell me what he looked like,” Byron coaxed. “What he tall or short, dark hair or light?”
Jay struggled to recall more than a few small details, it was clear his memory was hazy, though the fear was clear as day.
“Had he taken others?”
Jay nodded. “That’s how they knew. That why they kept me away from him. But they couldn’t fool him, he was too clever. And the… the rules were on his side.”
Byron hugged him close, unsure what exactly his words meant. Whose rules? Pack law?
“No wonder you’re scared. But it doesn’t change anything. You’re here with me now and the whole of Raventree will fight to keep you here if needs be.”
He shifted Jay in his arms. “Listen, I need to talk to Seb again. I can hear Odin in the kitchen, why don’t you go and join him for some lunch?”
Jay was reluctant but capitulated, climbing off the bed and padding out into the hall. He stopped at the door and looked back at Byron.
“Was Tobias watching Noah? Did he take him?”
“No, but someone else may have given Noah to him. You were very brave to tell me, Jay. Thank you.”
There a flash of a smile at the praise, lightning quick, before a sad frown took its place. Odin called to him and Jay turned away.
Byron turned his attention to the phone in his hand as Jay slipped away, returning Seb’s call.
“Sorry about that, Seb. Who is this Tobias person and where do we find him?”
He listened intently as Seb explained what they knew about the elusive Tobias. A man who raised Omega according to an extremely old and strict form of the Asenian doctrine.
“James and his people have been actively looking for him since Ben and Adam first met them. They’ve heard whispers here and there, have met people who’ve heard the name or who had seen him before but they’ve never met anyone with detailed first-hand knowledge of him. We have no idea where he’s based or if he’s constantly moving around. Both Adam and Luke were severely traumatized by the conditions in which they were raised. Tracking this wolf down isn’t going to be easy, not even with the number of people we can muster. Our best bet is to do so while the trail is still warm and hopefully while he’s still on the move. But, even then, we don’t have a starting point beyond Gray Valley and they’re saying Noah never came anywhere near their land.”
“At this point, it doesn’t matter, does it? They have information that will help us track Noah, even if it’s just telling us where they handed him over. And they must have some way to contact this Tobias. He isn’t a stork, just dropping Omegas into their laps.”
“No,” Seb agreed, “You’re right, there must be a trail. But it sounds like this Tobias is good at hiding his tracks.”
Byron debated for a moment before relinquishing his tight hold on the secrets of Jay’s past.
“We may be able to shed just a little more light on this Tobias figure. Jay was with me during the first call. He recognized the name, that’s why I had to cut the call short.”
“Recognized it? How?”
“He’s been having nightmares about a man from his past. Apparently, this Tobias was the reason Jay was left in the woods. They thought he knew what Jay was and was coming back for him.”
“And they just abandoned him?”
“It seems so. But his memories are hazy, he might be misremembering, clinging to things that he’s heard rather than things he remembers. But his reaction to the name Tobias is difficult to misconstrue, it was very visceral.”
“Do you think you might be able to get more information from Jay? If we found out where he’s from, where he encountered Tobias, it might go a long way to helping us find him. There may be someone there who knows more than we do.”
“I can certainly try, Seb. But I wouldn’t hold out much hope. It’s been over a decade, a decade during which Jay spent most of his time as a wolf. Those memories from before are likely long faded.”
“We have so little to go on, Byron. Right now, any little piece of information would mean a lot.”
“We’ll do our best,” he promised the Alpha.
“Thank you, that’s all I ask,” Seb said. They talked for a few minutes longer, Seb passing on a list of places they were hoping Raventree might be able to send groups to check. Byron was happy to help, especially with something more concrete. Sending people to scout places was easy. Bringing Jay on a journey into the past was going to be very, very hard.
Chapter Eight
Most of the drive was silent, both of them lost in their own thoughts. About two hours into their journey, James rang. Ben pulled over into a lay-by and got out to answer it, walking away from the car as he did. Adam watched him go torn between anger and fear. This was their son, he had every right to hear what James had to say. And it hurt to see Ben putting distance between them. Yet he was afraid to follow, afraid to hear James’ news.
Ben jogged back to the car and got in.
“They’re holed up in Gray Valley with all the ex-Eagle Creek wolves they’ve been able to entice in as well as a large group of Red Oaks' people. They’re not letting anyone in and Terrance isn’t coming out to talk.”
“Do we have enough support to take them on?”
Ben turned to him, his expression surprised. “No, Adam. Not yet. It would take a few days to muster that kind of force, not to mention the added support of the Pack Council.”
“But we need to be in there now. We need to know what they know.”
“We will, and soon, but not today.”
The finality of his words sent a flare of anger through Adam. He wasn’t even going to try.
“This would never have happened if you hadn’t been so set on retaking Gray Valley in the first place.” And once his tirade started, he couldn’t stop. “That’s why Terrance had to strike first, because he knew you were coming. If we hadn’t gone to Eagle Creek so you could have that stupid war council with James, they’d never have had a chance to take Noah. And now, when I need you to take the Valley, you can’t. What use are you, Ben, tell me that?”
Ben looked shocked then crushed. He reached out to touch Adam’s arm and Adam pulled back out of reach.
“Adam, please. This isn’t what I wanted.”
“If it was Xander, nothing would stand in the way of you finding him, your Alpha heir. But it’s only little Noah, and he’s just an Omega. Give it a year or two, I’m sure we’ll have another.”
Ben opened the door and climbed out of the car, disappearing off the road and into the dense forest surrounding them. Adam watched him go, his own harsh words echoing in his ears.
The sound, when it came, was more animal than human; tortured, anguished, desperate. A father torn from his son. It was a sound that told Adam how very close to the edge Ben really was. One foot over.
Instinct told him to go to his Alpha but caution held him back. He couldn’t undo this. Couldn’t take those words back.
Ben reappeared, striding towards the car. He got back in and Adam noticed his phone was in his hand. Had someone called?
“James is nearby. We need to meet him.” The Alpha started the car.
“Ben…”
“You’re not right, Adam, but you’re not wrong either. Noah is my son and I remember what it’s like to be pulled away from my parents, to be separated from the people who loved me.” Ben was only a boy when Terrance and the Porter clan had had his parents killed and taken over the Pack.
“I don’t,” he murmured in reply.
“What do you mean?” Ben frowned over at him.
“I don’t remember, even though someone, somewhere must have cared about me. But I was too young, maybe even Noah’s age and I don’t remember them. If it takes us years to find him, he’ll have long forgotten us. He won’t be that little boy we know. He’ll be someone else.”
Ben braked and put the car into park before reaching over, pulling Adam into a hug and whispering fierce words into his ear.
“We’ll find him, we will. I won’t stop until he’s back in our arms.”
“I know you won’t and I’m sorry I said all that.” His tears wet the fabric of Ben’s t-shirt but he couldn’t hold them back. “I can hear him crying for us, calling our names, not understanding why we’re not coming for him.”
“Me, too. Our little lost boy.”
Ben’s phone buzzed. “That’s James. We should get back on the road.”
James was leaning against the bonnet of his car when they pulled up.
“You have news?” Ben asked as he and Adam jumped out.
“We stopped a car belonging to Gray Valley an hour ago. A few people had reported its position to us earlier today, taking an unusual route through some back roads, so we thought we’d take a look.”
“And?”
“We think we might have the Omega Gray Valley traded for Noah.”
“You think?”
“No one’s talking just yet and they’ve spun a half-cocked tale about who they are and where they’re going. We’ve split them up and we’re going to talk to them separately. Adam, I thought you might speak to the young wolf. Ben, you and I can take the other two.”
Adam nodded, taking a deep breath, and wiping the last tears from his eyes. He needed to keep it together, for Noah’s sake.
They were stopped near one of Fenrir’s Warriors old safe houses. When they got there, Andrew led Adam upstairs while Ben and James went down to the basement.
There was a woman standing by a door in the landing. She glanced around as they reached the top of the stairs. “He’s like a frightened mouse. Hard to tell if he’s just a trafficking victim or an actual Omega.”
“Thanks, Susan. Go ahead,” Andrew said, gesturing Adam forward.
The boy—because that was what he was—was crouched in a corner, rocking back and forth. He cringed as Adam stepped closer so he took a seat at the end of the bed, instead.
“Hi, my name is Adam. What’s yours?”
There was no sign his words had been heard.
“Please don’t be scared, you’re safe here.” Still nothing.
There was shouting from downstairs, sudden and jolting and violent. It startled him and he stood, turning towards the landing. Out of the corner of his eye, he could still see the young wolf, his rhythmic movements shocked to stillness. A half-formed idea entered his mind and with careful steps, he stood in front of the wolf and sank to his knees, trying to look small and unthreatening.
This boy might know where Noah was, where Tobias had taken him.
Frightened, suspicious eyes met his and Adam got a better look now he was up close. His heart sank. This wolf couldn’t have been the one Terrance had spoken about on the phone. He was too young. Adam guessed fourteen or fifteen at most. Probably just another young wolf being trafficked, more likely for the brothels than the fighting rings, given his small stature. Like Adam, he was wearing shorts, but they were paired with a grubby vest, his thin arms and legs sticking out.
“Adam,” Andrew called to him from the door. “James wants you to check whether he’s an Omega.”
And how to do that without traumatizing him?
“I guess this might be one of those ‘I’ll show you mine if you show me yours’ things. Okay,” he shifted to balance on his feet, his knees bent, as he continued to talk, “so I’ve already said my name is Adam, but just in case you missed it, there it is again. And I’m an Omega, which you might know a lot about or know nothing, I guess. There’s a way to prove what I’m saying though, and that’s a mark on my thigh that I’m gonna show you.”
He looked up to find that Susan had stepped into the room and was standing by the door. He pulled up the hem of his shorts up until his mark was visible.
His actions got the wolf’s attention, his eyes taking in the Omega mark.
Once Adam was sure he’d seen in, he smoothed out his clothes.
“Do you have anything like that on your skin?”
Dull eyes met his before the wolf parted his legs, one hand pushing up the hem of his shorts and revealing the familiar brown mark.
Adam couldn’t quite believe it. How had To
bias got his hands on another Omega? Why had he and Luke never met him before?
“Do you know Tobias?”
That got a reaction, the Omega nodding, eyeing him cautiously.
“You know you can speak, right? It’s just you and me here.” He glanced over at Susan who nodded and stepped back out into the hallway.
“Can you take me back?” the Omega whispered.
“Back?”
“Home to Tobias. He wasn’t supposed to give me to my Alpha until I was ready to go into heat. But then he said it had to be now, and he took me and gave me to the men. Is one of them my Alpha?” The Omega’s wide, scared eyes watching him hopefully.
“You’re too young for an Alpha,” Adam said. “How long have you been with Tobias?”
The Omega shrugged. “Always. If I’m too young for an Alpha, then can I go back to my brother?”
“Your brother?”
“He’s smaller and he cries sometimes, when he has scary dreams. If I’m not there, there won’t be anyone to wake him up so his crying doesn’t make Tobias angry.”
“What’s your brother’s name?”
“Duncan.”
“And your name?”
“Casey.”
“Are you hungry, Casey?”
The boy nodded.
“Susan?” Adam called over his shoulder. She reappeared in the doorway.
“Any chance of something to eat for Casey here? And a blanket.”
Adam remembered being that thin. He was cold all the time and just couldn’t get warm.
“Casey, can you tell me about when Tobias gave you to the men?”
The Omega chewed on his chapped lips. “He was angry because I couldn’t stay still in the car and it made me sick to my stomach so he put me right in the back and it was all dark.”
“He put you in the trunk?”
Casey nodded, a hint of uncertainty in his reply, as if the word was unfamiliar to him.
“Then it was bright and there were lots of people and I was in another car, driving away.”
The Alpha's Kiss: Lost Omegas Book Six: A M/M Shifter Romance Page 4
