Home in His Arms

by Skye R. Richmond

  "Guys, talk to me. What's going on?" Maddox asked, the concern in his tone evident.

  “Yeah. Yeah, man. Everything is fine. It just felt like...” Ro paused and shook his head. He didn't even know how to explain it. "Nothing, man... it was nothing."

  “You sure? Cause if your instincts are telling you anything, share with the group,” Maddox said.

  Ronin looked at Nix, then turned his head so he was staring in the direction of the warehouse. They'd killed their lights a while back, so it was all darkness as far as the eyes could see. Ronin sighed deeply. He couldn't explain what it was, so he grunted. “It’s nothing. I’m fine...”

  “Everything is fine,” Nix added.

  Alright everybody, out and gear up. We’re going in.” Maddox instructed.

  They got out and opened the back doors, getting their tactical gear on. When they were all set and Nix and Ro double-checked each other’s bullet proof vests, they grabbed their pistols. Ro put his in the gun holsters strapped to the side of his left leg, and then grabbed his rifle and slung it across his chest.

  They might be going in blind, but they would be fully armed.

  The team began on foot, making their way towards the warehouse location quietly, with Maddox in front as lead. He brought them deeper into the woods, using a well-worn but weed-choked path, and when they rounded a corner next to a partially caved-in house, they saw the gray building, hidden behind a bunch of trees. Calling it a warehouse was a stretch since it looked more like a bunkhouse. Many of the windows had been partially boarded up, and there was very little light coming from inside.

  Maddox put his hand up in a fist telling them to halt.

  “Ready?” Maddox turned so he was looking at them, and although he phrased it as a question, it wasn't really one.

  “Okay, listen up,” Maddox said. He kept his voice low because he didn’t know who could be lurking in the shadows, although Ro didn't feel any other presence.

  “We’re going to take tonight to just watch and monitor the situation. If the moment presents itself, we will pounce, but only after the order is given. Understood?”

  They all nodded their understanding and then they headed off in the direction of the warehouse. They stayed hidden, as best as they could, carefully looking between the structures they passed before moving on.

  When they got to a set of trees that were no more than twenty feet from the warehouse, they stopped. “Just observe and wait,” Maddox reminded them. “Zander, Nix, you take left. Ro and I will take the right.”

  Before everyone parted, Maddox was silent for a moment while looking over at Ronin, then he spoke in a low voice. "Ro, I'm giving you command of this mission. Your brothers called and asked you to come and free the omegas. Me and the team are here to help make sure you can.”

  Ro held Maddox's eyes briefly before a small smile showed, and he replied, "Thank you, Mad."

  Maddox looked to the rest of the team. "Everyone ok with that?"

  They all nodded and then split.

  Ronin and Maddox stayed quiet and still. They were used to recon, and Ronin's breathing was calm. His eyes periodically darted around the area, making sure they weren’t missing any signs that someone was coming or on to their presence.

  The feeling that had hit Ro in the van grew more intense now that they were this close to the warehouse, but he refused to let it break his focus even though it was a battle keeping his wolf at bay.

  He glanced at his watch several times, and when they had been there thirty minutes with no activity, he spoke up. “Looks like there's no security pattern.”

  Maddox nodded.

  “Same on this side,” Nix chimed in.

  “So... what now?” Before Maddox could reply, Ro felt his cellphone vibrate.

  Ronin pulled the phone out of his pocket and saw Rick’s name on the caller ID. Figured his brother would call to check up on him. Rick was such a worrywart, but that was what made him a good pack Alpha.

  “One second, guys," Ronin whispered. “I have to get this.”

  “You might want to move further away, just in case,” Maddox suggested.

  He was right. They were being quiet—hell, they'd barely spoken—but his brother’s voice might carry, and wolf hearing being what it was, someone might hear.

  “Don’t move from this spot. I'll be quick.” Maddox nodded, then Ro ran from the hiding place, making sure to be as silent as possible, and he didn't stop till he figured he was far enough away, and hoped like hell he was right. “Hello?” Ro finally said, although it came out sounding curt. He didn't like leaving Maddox with no backup. Sure, everything had been silent, but still.

  “How’s it going?” Rick asked, ignoring his tone.

  “We just got here a little while ago,” Ronin said, trying to tamp down the irritation in his voice. “We're doing recon at the moment. Your call interrupted... So, you know, I gotta go.”

  “Was your phone on vibrate?” Rick asked.

  “Duh! I would never be so careless as to leave it on loud... to be honest, I should have turned it off…”—but he'd known his brother would call—“I had to separate myself from the team so that no one inside would hear me talking. You put me in charge because you trust me, right?”

  “Of course I do, little brother,” Rick sighed.

  “You worry,” Ronin filled in for his brother.

  “I do, but that doesn't mean I don't trust you,” Rick was quick to reassure him.

  “Then trust me to do my job as much as I trust the team to watch my back, okay? We’ve got this covered. You don’t need to worry… nor does Rome. I’ll call you when there’s something to report. Alright?”

  “Understood. Just don’t make any hasty moves,” Rick couldn't help adding.

  “I’m won't. I promise,” Ronin replied. “Bye.” He disconnected the call and slipped his phone back into his pocket.”

  He turned around, but hesitated when that feeling hit him again. Ronin stayed where he was, unmoving, closing his eyes as he tried to figure out what had his wolf so on edge.

  “What is that?” he muttered to himself, shaking his head. Nothing came to mind, so Ro sighed and turned around, heading back towards the warehouse. The feeling intensified again, and, instead of going back to where the team was, he took a slight detour to the left, which brought him up to the back of the building.

  The warehouse had been made from gray cobblestone. He touched it and felt a warmth take over his hand. He pulled his hand back. It wasn’t that it was too hot; it was more like something had electrocuted him, not enough to shock... more like static electricity.

  Ronin moved along the wall until he came across a window where a light seemed to be radiating from. He moved up and peeked in, seeing a room that looked drab and dingy with only mattresses and a solitary lamp to light it. He squinted and saw that there were five people inside—a woman and four men. Omegas?

  “Hey… who the fuck are you?”

  Ronin froze. The sound of a man’s voice came from behind him. He turned around slowly, his hand on his pistol ready to draw if necessary.

  It wasn’t Anton—at least it didn’t look like the man he saw in a picture before, but the man was an alpha... a scrawny one, but an alpha nonetheless.

  “I'm just here to sample the merchandise. My boss sent me.” The words coming out of his mouth made him feel dirty, but it was what the asshole expected.

  “Oh, we weren't expecting anyone tonight,” the man said, “but we got some good inventory at the moment. There’s a new one, never been broken in. Lemme call Anton and tell him,” the man said, and then reached for his pocket.

  Bile tasted in Ronin's mouth at what he was hearing, and he was glad for the cover of darkness because it kept him in the shadows. Ro pulled the pistol from his holster and pointed it straight at the man’s head and pulled the trigger, grateful for the silencer on it as the man went down.

  Ronin stared at the man on the ground. That was too close for comfort. He needed to be care
ful.

  Ronin was glad he had forgotten to put his comms back in, or his team mates would have rushed over. Ro simply stepped over the dead asshole and put in his comms as he made his way back to Maddox

  “What took you so long?” Maddox asked when he returned.

  “Got a little delayed.” Ronin holstered his pistol now that he was back with Maddox. “There’s a man dead behind the warehouse.”

  Maddox’s raised a brow. “Anton?”

  “I wish, but nope. One of his lackeys. Thought I was here to sample the merchandise.” Ronin felt the bile trying to come up again at the word.

  “Decided to go all ‘save the world’ on us?” Zander’s voice came up on comms. “By the way, Nix beat you to it.”

  “What do you mean by that? I told you guys to wait for me.” He met Maddox's eyes.

  Maddox shrugged. “He saw an opportunity and he took it.”

  “How long has he been gone?” Ronin hissed.

  “Five minutes, maybe,” Zander said. “I’m sure he’s fine.”

  Ronin sighed. He shouldn't be surprised, but what surprised him was that all of them hadn't gone in.

  "Nix, Nix, come in," Ronin said, and waited for his friend to check in on the comms.

  He was about to suggest that they needed to go in after him when he saw a shadow coming from the darkness. He narrowed his eyes and unholstered the gun until he realized it was Phoenix, and he was carrying a woman in his arms.

  “Did anyone else see you?” Ronin asked as he met up with Nix.

  He shook his head. “I was careful.”

  “Good,” Ronin said.

  “Zan, meet us at our position…” Maddox instructed.

  “On my way,” Zander whispered.

  “Get her to safety and then come back. Make sure you’re not followed,” Ronin suggested to Nix.

  Phoenix arched an eyebrow. “This isn’t my first time doing this, worrywart,” his friend snarked. “I'll be back."

  As he turned to leave, Ronin heard the woman’s tiny voice. “Thank you!” she whispered. “I can never thank you enough...” Then her voice drifted away.

  Ronin turned to Maddox and Zander. “I say we stick together moving forward. No need to take any unnecessary risks.”

  Maddox and Zander both nodded.

  Ronin, Maddox, and Zander faced the entrance to the warehouse again and went back to their initial plan of watching and waiting. Time seemed to be dragging by—the inactivity making it feel like a crawl. Ro wasn’t sure how long they’d been waiting when the door finally opened and out walked a man. Ronin grabbed his phone out of his pocket and pulled up the picture. He showed it to Zander and Maddox. They both nodded. It was definitely Anton.

  He put his phone away and kept his eyes on the man. The alpha stood outside and looked around for several minutes. They all slowed their breathing down as they had been trained to do, staying completely still. Anton looked around one last time before he turned around and went back into the warehouse.

  “What do you think that was about?” Zander whispered.

  “Probably looking for the woman, maybe even the man I killed.” Ronin kept his eyes planted on the front of the warehouse as he spoke.

  With those words, it finally occurred to him Phoenix hadn’t come back, and for a moment, he wondered if something had happened to him. “I don’t think anything else is going to happen tonight.”

  Zander nodded in agreement.

  “Let’s go check up on Phoenix and the woman, and then we’ll come back tomorrow,” Ronin suggested

  Maddox and Zander agreed, and they began heading back to the van, making sure not to do anything to draw attention to themselves.

  When they were at a safe distance, Ronin went back on comms. “Phoenix, you there?”

  Nix answered right away. “On my way back. Had to reassure her we weren’t leaving her there.”

  “Copy that,” Ronin replied, “On our way back. Just stay there. Wrapping up for the night. We’ll be back tomorrow.”

  Nix replied immediately, “Heading back to rendezvous point. See you there.”

  “Did you get anything from the woman?” Ronin couldn’t help asking. “She’s an omega, right?”

  “Yeah. Her name’s Cybil, and Ro, she’s super freaked out.” His friend cursed. “She told me some shit that makes me want to bash some heads in.”

  “You’ll get your chance.” Maddox's voice was hard as he replied.

  Ro was barely holding on to his anger, and he could see Zan was feeling the same. It took everything he had not to turn around and barge in, recon be damned.

  “Fill us in when we get there. Should be back in ten.” He muted the comms again. They were almost at the vehicles when a thought occurred to him. “We can’t leave yet,” Ro said.

  “Why not?” Maddox asked.

  “I have to take care of the dead body. Mad, why don’t you come with me so we can get rid of him before he’s found.” He nodded at Zan. “Go back Nix up, just in case anything comes up.”

  He swerved in the direction that led him back to the window that he had seen earlier in the night. When he got there, he stopped and looked around.

  “Fuck,” Ronan cursed.

  “What?” Maddox asked.

  “I left him here.” Ronin pointed to the place where he knew he’d left the body. He looked up at Maddox and saw his friend had a frown on his face.

  “You sure?” Zander asked. “This shithole looks the same to me.”

  Ronin looked over to the window. The light still shone through the glass. He nodded. “We’re not going anywhere tonight. Someone knows we’re here, and we can’t risk that asshole moving the omegas.”

  Someone knew something about the mysterious disappearance of the body, and Ronin wasn’t about to take any chances.

  Ronin glanced at the watch on his wrist; it was already three am. He figured if they watched all day, they would have a better idea on the comings and goings or, at the very least, see who was around.

  “We’ll do shifts. I want eyes on the location the rest of the day, and later tonight, we’re going in.”

  Maddox nodded, and they both headed back to the van.

  Chapter Five

  Ollie

  After another day of barely getting any sleep, Ollie slowly came to. He wasn’t sure what had woken him… but something had… He wasn’t sure if he’d dreamed the man at the window or that feeling that everything would be okay when he saw him.

  He opened his eyes and looked around the room. Jax was still in his arms, and he looked at each mattress, checking up on everyone like he’d done each day he’d woken up in this hellhole.

  When his eyes landed on Cybil’s mattress, his heart caught. She wasn’t there. She hadn’t been back yet, had she?

  “Must’ve been a long night for Cybil.” Jax’s voice was low and tired, tearing Oliver from his thoughts.

  “I was thinking the same thing,” Oliver mumbled.

  “You actually said it out loud.” Jax managed a wry smile. Oliver couldn’t help studying his friend in the limited light provided by the lamp in the room. Jax looked like he was… His friend looked like he was at the end of his rope.

  If Anton had let Jax be beaten and he’d only been gone for a few hours, what had happened to Cybil who’d been gone most of the night.

  He really hoped that Cybil was alright. He refused to even think about what she’d gone through.

  Just as he had that thought, the door opened and Anton stood in the doorway, his eyes scanning around the room.

  Oliver's eyes flitted, landing on each person in the room; Jax, Shawn, Marco, and Sophie. It was easy for him to read the look in their eyes because it certainly matched his. He saw in their faces something between dread and resignation. Anton showing up never brought anything good with him.

  His eyes finally landed back on Anton and watched as the man moved into the room. Ollie saw that Anton seemed to enjoy the reaction he brought on and noted the smile on the man’s f
ace as Shawn flinched.

  “Something is off.” There was something in Anton’s voice that Ollie couldn’t quite put a name to. “What is it, do you think?”

  Oliver glanced around the room and saw the confusion written on everyone’s face. He was about to ask what Anton meant, but Shawn’s voice stopped him.

  “Nothing. We didn’t do anything.” Shawn’s voice came out barely above a whisper.

  Anton frowned. “Now why don’t I believe that?” The man walked up and down the space, his eyes holding each person as he passed. “I just have this feeling that something is going on. Anyone want to fill me in?”

  Oliver didn’t say a word, and neither did anyone else.

  Anton arched an eyebrow. “Anyone care to share where Cybil may have gotten to?” He paused his walking and stood in the middle of the room.

  Oliver's stomach roiled, and he felt physically sick. Cybil was gone. Had one of the alphas taken her… If even Anton didn’t seem to know where she was, then… Ollie hated even thinking about what could have happened to her.

  “Cybil’s gone?” Sophie voiced the question that was probably on everyone’s mind.

  A small, hopeful voice whispered, "Maybe she got away on her own."

  “Mmm, yes, and that’s not all,” Anton said, the look on his face, although pleasant, didn’t match the tone of his voice. Even though the man was not shouting, there was something there that had Ollie making himself smaller and pulling Jax with him, forgetting about his friend’s injuries.

  “Joey was found dead. But I’m sure you all know nothing about that, right?” Anton asked in that same conversational tone.

  “Dead?” Oliver didn’t even realize the words were out of his mouth.

  Anton turned, his eyes boring into him as he spoke. “Dead,” he repeated. “Now whoever tells me what happened will get spared. Otherwise, well…” The man sighed like it was their fault for what he would do. “I make no promises.”

  Anton’s face split into a wide smile, but there was nothing nice about it. He walked forward and grabbed Sophie. He pulled her into his body, an arm across her chest holding her tight against him, and placed a hand around her neck. Sophie’s eyes bugged out, fear seeping off of her like a living thing.