He raised his hand in my direction and I spun around, heading back the way I came at my best speed. He shouted behind me, answered by another shout more to my right, and then I heard the crashing of the bushes as he came, hot on my trail.
There was no way I was going to be able to outrun him on his own territory—I’d have to out think him.
I dodged and weaved through the trees, gaining a few feet only to double back in the hopes he’d keep running in my original direction. It worked a couple of times, but he always figured it out, which was frightening. I’d hoped he’d be one of those big guys that got riled up and stopped thinking—I’d used that a few times to get my ass out of sticky situations. No such luck here, though. He was a good hunter and knew how to read a scent trail, which I had to be leaving behind by now.
But if he was busy chasing me, maybe the trick was to stop running…
It only took them about fifteen minutes to find me once I stopped. I had to admit, I was impressed. I’m pretty good at blending into the background—most omegas are, or if they don’t come by it naturally, they learn that protective camouflage pretty fast. So when the big redhead hauled me down out of the tree I’d climbed, I didn’t put up much of a fight. Well, maybe a little, enough that the dark-haired guy with him, easily as huge as his redheaded buddy, cuffed me across the back of the head with sufficient force to make my eyes water.
“Settle down. Humans shouldn’t be sneaking in here; it’s not safe for you guys without an escort.”
Red drew in a deep breath, then pulled me close and sniffed at my wrist. I guess the water had washed away my protective menthol shield. “I don’t think he is.” He frowned and raised the wrist he held so high that I had to stand on tiptoes or I would have been hanging in mid-air. Another sniff, this one with his nose buried deep in my armpit, and he nodded. “Yep. He smells a bit like my cousin Bram.”
Dark cocked his head to one side and leaned in for his own sniff. I kicked at him out of pure contrariness, and ended up with both my legs caught in a stranglehold against his hip. This isn’t how the night was supposed to go. I growled and tried to punch him, but Red grabbed that arm too. Dark laughed and inched his way up my legs until he could sniff at my groin. “Definitely wolf, but I don’t know. I don’t know what he smells like.”
“We have to take him back anyway. Maybe someone else can figure it out.” Red eyed me thoughtfully, and my heart sank. I recognized that look. If I let them take me back wherever they were talking about, I might never get out again, and I’d be stuck here, slaving away for whatever Alpha was fast enough to mate me, or for whoever won the fight if they got me locked up first. Dad would never know what happened to me—he might even think Orvin had caught up with me, and he’d go home and get himself killed trying to get me back. The thought sent a shot of cold adrenaline through my body, and I began to throw myself around, hoping to loosen their grip enough to get free.
Red laughed. “Easy now, you’re going to hurt yourself.” He nodded to Dark, who let go of my legs. As soon as my feet touched the ground, I tried to bolt, but Red still had my arms, and all I managed was to wrench my shoulders so hard a whimper escaped.
“You’re hurting the boy,” Dark said.
“If he’d stop squirming, he wouldn’t get hurt. I’m not the one moving around.” His hands squeezed my wrists, thumb pressing on the nerve hard enough to bring me to my knees. “There, that’s better.” He let up on the pressure, but I stayed down. I wasn’t going to invite that kind of pain again. And maybe, if I played scared, he’d relax and I’d have another chance to break away.
Dark pulled a walkie-talkie from his belt. “We got him. It’s a wolf, but not one of ours.” A voice crackled out of the speaker, too distorted for me to make out, though Dark and Red seemed to have problem with it. “Roger that. Be there in about ten minutes.” He put the walkie away and patted me on the head. “Well, you wanted in. You’re in.”
What the hell did that mean?
Red pulled me to my feet and twisted one of my arms behind my back. He patted me down, taking my phone, my wallet, and my car keys out of my pocket. There wasn’t anything else to find. “Come on, pup. Let’s go see what the big guy says.” He pushed a little on the arm and gave it just enough extra twist to promise a world of pain if I fought back.
I went with them quietly, playing the dutiful omega while I watched for a moment’s inattention on their part, and an opportunity to escape on mine.
The entire time, I wondered who they were taking me to see. And was it salvation, or total disaster?
My life didn’t allow for much in between.
CHAPTER SEVEN
I tried once to escape, after we’d been walking a good fifteen minutes and Red’s grip had loosened slightly—absolutely the wrong idea. I ended up squashed between the damp spring ground, and Red’s very solid bulk, with the evidence of Red’s interest poking me in the ass. I immediately gave up on my pointless squirming and went as still as stone. More than one omega had been forcibly mated, and I didn’t want to find myself being faithful unto death to some random stranger who took me against my will. I knew that would be my eventual fate, but I wanted at least a chance at a life that didn’t completely erase me.
My standards for a decent life had fallen pretty far in the past couple of months.
He seemed to take my stillness for submission, which I suppose it was. A few moments after I stopped moving, he got up and pulled me to my feet. “Don’t try that again or I’ll tie you up and carry you back like prey. Unless that’s something you’d like.”
No, I wouldn’t like that. Tied up was definitely not the way I wanted to travel.
He must have been expecting a response, because he grabbed my hair and shook me, though not roughly. More to get my attention. “Answer me. How are we going to do this?”
I swallowed so hard it hurt. “I’ll walk.”
He transferred his hold from my hair to my arm. “Good.” A tug forward sent me stumbling along beside him, three steps of mine to every two of his. He really was tall. But he was careful not to strain my shoulder, which I hoped boded well for later treatment. Dark followed behind us, and I could feel it in the hairs on the back of my neck that he was watching my every move, waiting for some sign that I was going to make a break for it.
The omega magic had had time to do its work—they were much gentler with me now than they had been when they first found me. I wondered if their boss would be as reasonable, or could be…encouraged to be. I wondered how I could get the whole story on Abel Mercy Hills. And, finally, I wondered if one of these guys might do just as well as a way to keep Orvin off my ass. Not that I could be certain that they were any better, but so far my worst with them was better than my best with Orvin. At least with these guys, I’d done something first before they started manhandling me.
And that made me wonder if Orvin was the exception, or the norm.
I filed that thought away for later perusal. We were coming up a long, low building with floodlights all around it filling the night with light. They were so bright I couldn’t see past them, and the building rose up out of its halo of light like the lone sign of civilization left in the world. As we approached the door, it opened, another huge man standing in the opening, half silhouetted in the warm light behind him, the floods throwing highlights across his face.
They must breed them that way. I snickered to myself at the idea, mild hysteria, then sobered. Maybe that’s what they did, which led to other unpleasant thoughts, and my feet began to drag.
“Are you thinking about running again?” Red asked.
The closer we got, the more reluctance I felt. Without conscious thought, I slowed my pace even more, only to be jerked stumbling forward again by Red.
“Stop shuffling.” And then we were at the door.
The man in the opening looked me up and down. “This is the feral?”
A wave of outrage washed over me. I’m no feral!
It must have shown on my
face, because the man grinned. “He doesn’t like being called that. Well, bring him in and let’s figure out what to do with him.”
That put an end to the outrage—they could call me what they wanted, as long as they didn’t hurt me.
Doorguy scratched the neat beard that covered his jaw and stepped out of the way. “I’ll take over, Duke. I need something to break the monotony.”
Dark nodded and disappeared around a corner of the hallway. Red dragged me in through the door and Doorguy closed it behind us. I heard the thunk of the deadbolt being turned and fear squeezed my heart so tightly I nearly forgot how to breathe.
I was trapped.
CHAPTER EIGHT
MacKenzie led the feral into the interview room and pushed him down into one of the chairs. The feral didn’t want to go, it was obvious, but Mac could smell the fear on him. And there was that scent, that almost-omega smell that both attracted Mac physically and repelled him mentally. Mac didn’t like the way omegas were treated and he didn’t blame the young man one bit for being frightened if that’s what had been happening to him, simply because of some slight resemblance in his scent.
The pseudo-omega sat straight-backed in his seat—Mac could tell he had some pride, despite the acrid fear-smell. That had to be a hard thing to maintain as an omega, or someone perceived as an omega. Poor kid. Mac backed away and leaned against the wall, partly to see if it made the young man more comfortable, and partly to get away from his scent and the effect it was having on him.
Abel sat down across the table from the omega. “I don’t suppose you want to tell me where you come from and why you were climbing over our walls instead of coming through the front door like any honest shifter would do?”
Mac nearly laughed. He already knew the little omega had pride, and apparently he also had a temper, if the way his jaw tightened and his head dipped was any indication. Mac decided to add his own two cents and see what would happen. “He’s right. You should have applied through your pack to come visit. Only thieves come in over the wall.”
The young omega threw him a baleful glare and replied through gritted teeth, “I don’t have any papers. And I don’t have a pack.”
“Everyone has a pack,” Abel said.
“I don’t.”
Silence.
Abel sighed. “Then I have to report you to the human police. You have to have a pack, it’s the law, and I can’t afford that kind of trouble. Did they throw you out?”
“No!” The omega jerked in his chair, his eyes wide. He looked back and forth between the two of them a couple of times, and Mac watched as realization dawned on his face. His gaze dropped and he mumbled defiantly, “I ran away.”
“Well that was very silly of you,” Abel said. The tone was way out of character for him, and Mac threw him a questioning glance. Abel lifted a finger, a silent signal to play along. “Omegas shouldn’t be out on their own.”
“I’ve done fine up until now.” Still the defiance, colored with the knowledge that, right now, he wasn’t doing fine. Though Mac had to admit it had only been luck that he’d glanced up in that tree and caught a glimpse of sneaker through the leaves. Smart young man. Shame he’s omega. Nothing like starting a race twenty feet behind the starting line.
Abel leaned back in his chair and propped his elbow on the arm so he could rest his chin in his hand. “You still haven’t told me why you’re here.”
The omega looked up at him. “I need to see someone.”
“Who?”
And this is where it went kind of funny. The omega tilted his head to one side, his gaze halfway between aggressive and social, and his scent changed--not much, but the tension in the room dropped like a stone. Abel twitched and his eyes widened, and he and Mac shared a glance of wonder and disbelief. When they turned back to the omega, he was watching them patiently, as if he was waiting for whatever he’d done to take effect.
They stared at each other for a moment, then the omega said, in a much more confident tone, “Abel Mercy Hills.”
Mac guessed that was natural, Abel being the Alpha of the pack, but a small knot of disappointment formed in his gut. He was starting to take a liking to this kid, who smelled like an omega and acted like an alpha. “What do you want with the Alpha, feral?”
“That’s for me to discuss with him. But he’ll want to hear my proposal.”
Abel spread his fingers over his mouth, barely hiding the smile behind them. “How do we know it’s worth his time? He’s a busy man.”
Oh, and that made the little omega mad, though he did his best not to show it. Good for him. Most omegas were passive little things. Whatever pack he came from had handled him completely differently if this was what they’d turned him into. He was a real spitfire.
Not that Mac minded. Maybe other guys would think it was annoying, but Mac kind of liked it. It was one of the reasons he’d turned down a few omega matings. As head of security, and Abel’s childhood friend, he was considered an excellent mating prospect, and most of his social life was spent quick-stepping around attempts to get him to propose to someone. So far he hadn’t been caught, and he planned to keep it that way. He couldn’t imagine living with someone who never argued, never expressed an opinion until he knew what Mac’s was, never stood up for himself or herself. When he mated—if he mated—he wanted someone who could be his equal. The supposed bedroom advantages of an omega mating were far outweighed by the thought of always having to be in charge. He got enough of that in his day job.
Now, if real omegas were more like this one, whatever he was, that would be a different story. He caught Abel’s eye and jerked his head at the door. The Alpha nodded and stood up. “Wait here,” he told the omega.
The omega’s eyes widened. “Where are you going?” He jumped to his feet and started around the table.
Mac caught him before he could get to Abel. “Don’t push your luck. You’re on shaky ground as it is.”
“I need to speak to the Alpha. It’s important.”
“You freely admit you ran away from your pack. Why shouldn’t we just send you back?”
The omega looked up at him, anger and a deep-seated fear in his eyes. “Because he’d be giving up a True Omega.”
CHAPTER NINE
Mac followed Abel out of the room. His last glimpse of the omega’s face wrung his heart—he didn’t go into security for the pleasure of wielding power over people, but for the pleasure of helping them in situations like this.
Abel closed the door and moved away from it so the omega inside couldn’t eavesdrop. “I’ve heard rumors,” he said, his voice low. “That there was an omega running around that wasn’t your run-of-the-mill omega. Didn’t believe them—everyone knows that line died out a century ago.”
“You think he might be one?”
“I don’t know. He doesn’t smell like any other omega I’ve ever met.” Abel leaned against the wall, tapping a finger against his lips. “I’d like to keep him around until we can figure that out. If the rumors are true… At the same time, it’s going to be a royal pain to get papers for him.”
“We could forge them.”
Abel smiled up at him, but the weight of being Alpha darkened the humor in his eyes. “You’d know just where to get that done too, wouldn’t you?”
Mac shrugged. “It’s my job.” Sometimes you had to sidestep the human laws—not all of them were meant to preserve good relations between the species. Some of them were just damn inconvenient, and meant to remind shifters where they stood in the scheme of things, and who was really in charge.
Abel looked thoughtful for a moment, then shook his head. “I think the less I know about that, the better. Let’s see what I can find out first through channels. We’ll talk to him again, see if we can get him to tell us what drove him to run.” He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Like I needed this right now.”
“Negotiations going poorly?”
“Not going at all. I may have to see if I can market elsewhere.
The new projects aren’t anywhere near ready to go public with yet—I need this contract.”
“Don’t let them take advantage of us. They need us as much as we need them.”
“Do they?” Abel smile wryly at him. “I hope so.” He put a hand on Mac’s shoulder. “Let’s go talk to our wild omega in there.”
“You make him sound like salmon,” Mac complained, and was pleased to see the grin it brought to Abel’s face. His childhood friend was feeling the stress of being Alpha of a large pack and having to deal with the human community surrounding it all the time. Maybe Mac should push the idea of him mating the omega. Abel could use someone to look after him, someone who wouldn’t argue with him.
On second thought, this might not be the right omega for that job. Mac ignored the guilty sense of relief he felt at that thought, uncertain of where the emotion came from. He wasn’t interested in mating.
When they entered the room again, the omega was curled up in the chair, his arms wrapped around his shins and his head resting on his knees. Exhaustion beat from every line of his body, but his eyes were alert when he lifted his head to watch them.
Abel took the chair again, and Mac the wall, though he stayed a step closer to the omega this time. Why, he wasn’t sure.
The omega glanced between the two of them. “So, what are we doing?”
Mac hid a smile at the omega’s phrasing, almost as if the three of them were a team deciding on a course of action. As if he had any say in this.
The corner of Abel’s mouth twitched, but the expression he turned on the omega was stern. “First off, I need your name.”
The omega let go his grip on his legs and slowly uncurled himself. “Why?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
The omega bit his lip and stared at Abel for a moment, then nodded. “Jason.”
Silence.
“What?” Jason asked, though the look on his face said he already knew what Abel was waiting for.
Mating the Omega (MM Gay Shifter Mpreg Romance) (Mercy Hills Pack Book 1) Page 3
