by J. L. Wilder
Someone did. Hazel felt the pin scrape her skull as Rita tucked it into her hair.
“Everyone knows that omegas can carry and give birth to litters of multiple pups at a time,” Rita said. “But an omega like Hazel, a purebred omega descended from a direct line of centuries of omegas, will be able to carry a much larger litter than most other omegas would.”
Hazel felt warm inside. It was wonderful to think that she was part of such a rich heritage. She liked thinking of her mother and her grandmother and all the women who had come before her, back and back throughout the centuries. She wondered what they would say if they could see her today, on her twenty-third birthday, about to begin her own journey as a mother.
When the hair and makeup was completely done, Paisley helped Hazel stand on the chair. Rita and the others lifted the ornate ivory dress that had been purchased for the occasion over her head. Hazel felt like a princess standing there as her packmates fastened up the back of the dress and exclaimed over how beautiful she was. She had been hesitant about getting all dolled up for this, but she had to admit, it was kind of fun to be the center of attention.
“All right, everyone,” Rita said. “Downstairs. Hazel, you and I are last.”
The girls lined up and filed out of the room, every one of them excited and giggling. “Are you ready for this?” Rita asked her quietly.
“I think so,” Hazel said.
“It’s normal to feel nervous.”
“I’m nervous, but I’m excited.” Hazel hesitated. “Nothing’s going to happen tonight, is it?”
“No,” Rita said. “Tonight is just about celebrating you. Matthew is still making a decision as to who you should be mated with.” She smiled. “I know it can be an intimidating time. If there’s anyone you like, anyone you’re hoping for...you should let me know. I can put a bug in Matthew’s ear. It’s always best when mated couples actually like each other.”
Hazel shook her head. “There’s no one.”
“You don’t have your eye on any of the men in the pack?”
“No,” Hazel said. “They’re all nice. I mean, I like them. But no, there’s no one special. I guess any one of them would be as good as another.”
“Okay,” Rita said. “It’s good that you’re flexible. Matthew will appreciate that. I’ll let him know.” But she did look a little worried. Hazel thought she could understand why. An omega who wanted to become a mother was all well and good, but there was something important that had to happen before pregnancy and motherhood, and so far, Hazel hadn’t shown any enthusiasm at all for that part of her omega life.
To be honest, she hadn’t felt any. What she’d told Rita was true. All the men in the pack were certainly nice enough, and she thought she’d be happy to be paired with any of them. But she didn’t feel any intensity or passion, any desire, any love. When it came to the actual baby making, she thought, she would just have to grit her teeth and get through it.
They didn’t need to worry. She would happily do that for her pack.
THE BIRTHDAY DINNER was extravagant. The long mahogany table in the dining room was big enough to seat the entire pack, and it had been filled with delicious foods—roast turkeys, platters of steak, boiled lobster, bowls heaping with mashed potatoes and tureens of gravy, and a three-tiered cake for dessert. Everyone stood as Hazel entered the room, and they remained standing until she had taken the seat of honor at the very center of the table. She was served first from every dish that night, and her packmates took turns telling stories about her childhood and coming of age.
It was a part of her life that was now over.
That was a bittersweet feeling, and Hazel felt strangely like crying as the cake was cut and plates were handed around. She was looking forward to what came next, to being a mother and raising children of her own. But it was sad to think that her own youth was behind her. She would miss the free hours spent meditating in the yard and reading in the library. She would miss sneaking out of bed at night, staying up late to gossip with Paisley
She took a deep breath, hitched a smile onto her face, and accepted the piece of cake that came her way. It was no more than her duty. It was, she thought, what her mother and grandmother and all the powerful omega women in her family would have expected of her. She had to accept her role in the pack.
When the last of the plates had been cleared, everyone got to their feet and began gathering dishes to take to the kitchen. Cleaning up after dinner was always a pack event. There was always enough work for everyone to help. Someone would wash and someone would dry. Someone would pack away the leftovers, and someone else would fetch serving dishes from the dining room and bring them into the kitchen.
Hazel stood up to join them.
Everyone waved their hands at her and shouted her down. “Sit, sit,” Matthew said. “Today is your day, Hazel. You don’t have to help clean up.”
“I don’t mind.” She wanted to help, actually. She wanted to feel like things were normal. The realization that her childhood was ending today had thrown her a little.
But the others shook their heads. “We’ve got it covered,” Rita insisted. “You take some time for yourself. No work for our omega on her special day.”
Defeated, Hazel decided to head out to the backyard for a walk. The house in which her pack lived was old and enormous, set on the side of a hill, and from the balcony, you could see the ocean. She wouldn’t be able to see it in the yard, but she would be able to smell it. She would be able to hear the no-see-em bugs that frequented this part of the country during the summer, and she would be able to smell the sweetgrass. It would feel familiar. Safe. Like home.
She knew that she probably wouldn’t be allowed outside in her nice dress. Even though her pack had plenty of money, Matthew didn’t approve of waste, and he would worry about her getting grass stains on the expensive garment. But I’m never going to wear it again, she rationalized to herself. You only turn twenty-three once.
So, she waited until no one was watching. Then she opened the sliding glass door that led outside and slipped through.
The sun was already starting to set, and sure enough, she could hear the bugs and the crash of the waves in the distance. She could smell the salt in the air. She closed her eyes and reveled in the sensations.
If only she could shift.
Sensations that were enjoyable in human form would be absolutely intoxicating in wolf form. Hazel loved slipping into her animal alter ego. She loved the way the earth felt under her paws and the way scents seemed to grow ten times stronger. Even the taste of food was wonderful as a wolf.
But it was too risky, right in the backyard like this. She would be seen.
Unless she were to slip off on her own...
Hazel glanced over her shoulder. Nobody was watching. They were all busy cleaning. It was dark out, and the stretch of beach behind the house would be deserted. She could go down to the water. She could shift and go for a quick run in the surf. If she was back quickly, nobody would be any the wiser.
As Matthew and Rita had said, today was her day. Why not take advantage of it?
Quickly and quietly, Hazel opened the gate and stepped out onto the sidewalk. There was only one street between her and the beach. All she had to do was to cross it and run down the sand, and she would be free to transform.
But she was stopped in her tracks by the arrival of a white van.
She had only a moment to register how strange it was to see traffic on this road before the back doors of the van were flung open. Two men jumped out.
Run! Hazel thought. But she couldn’t move. She was frozen in place, too frightened to even breathe. She had never been out of the yard without an escort before. Why the hell had she done this?
“Is this the omega?” one of the men asked.
“Smell her,” said the other.
To Hazel’s horror, the first man grabbed her and pulled her close. He bent his head to her neck and inhaled deeply. “It’s her,” he said. “No doubt about
it. She’s a ripe one.”
“Okay. Bag her.”
Hazel didn’t even have time to scream. The man flung her into the back of the van and jumped in after her. The doors were slammed shut, leaving them in pitch darkness.
Then the van began to move.
Terror broke over Hazel like a wave. She didn’t know who these men were or what they were going to do, but she knew one thing. These were kidnappers. And whatever they had in mind for her was bound to be horrific.
Chapter Two
EMMETT
The Itinerant Chapter of the Hell’s Wolves pack had stopped for the night in a small town just outside of Providence, Rhode Island, but Emmett Burke had a feeling they were going to be here for more like a week.
The problem was that everyone was tired. They’d been traveling pretty much nonstop since Kansas, and while that much open road was appealing, it could start to wear on you. Emmett knew he could depend on Pax, his right-hand man and the club’s enforcer, to be ready to ride at a moment’s notice. But even Pax was dead on his feet, and Emmett thought they all deserved a chance to rest.
There was also the fact that they didn’t know where they were going next. Judah, his road captain, had presented two possible routes—one that would take them up to Maine, and another that would lead them down to Florida. The options had been debated hotly among the younger members of the pack, some of whom wanted to go to the beach and some of whom wanted to try the best lobster in the country and check out the haunted houses that were supposed to be up north.
For now, Emmett thought, it made sense to live in the moment. Specifically, he was worried about the site they’d chosen to set up camp. They were in a cornfield by the side of the road, and though the stalks were as tall as the men in the pack, anyone who examined the field carefully would see the A-frame tarp they’d set up to sleep under. They’d have to pack up and move in the morning, at least a few yards over, if they wanted to stay here.
The nomad life had its challenges, but Emmett loved it. He loved sleeping under the stars. He loved feeling that the entire continental U.S. was his home, not feeling tied to one place. He liked the freedom that came with not having to worry about bills and maintenance and the responsibilities that homeowners faced. And he especially loved the knowledge that every member of his pack felt the same way he did about it.
Which didn’t mean they didn’t need a rest.
The others laid, piled underneath the tarp, asleep or on their way there, but Emmett stood awake and watchful. It was always a little hard to unwind after a day on the road. His mind still raced as fast as his bike had been.
Staying in Rhode Island would mean more than just getting some much-needed rest. It would mean the opportunity to take a job or two. They hadn’t worked since Oregon, and although The Hell’s Wolves could live off the land when they needed to, it was nice to be able to afford fast food and a nice cold beer once in a while. He had a feeling none of his packmates would object to the idea of making some money while they were here.
He just hoped they’d be able to find a job. It wasn’t always easy.
He heard a noise behind him and turned, always alert and attuned to danger, but it was only Pax. “I thought you were asleep,” Emmett said.
“Nah,” said Pax. “Just thinking.”
“About what?”
“The next couple of days. They’re not going to want to move on, are they?”
“Not likely,” Emmett agreed.
“Do you think there’s work in Rhode Island?”
“I don’t know,” Emmett said. “The Coywolves are in Providence, I know that.”
“Coywolves?”
“Big shifter pack,” Emmett said. “They take their name from a native species, but they don’t actually have any coyote lineage. They’re grey wolves, I think.”
“I didn’t know there were any of us here,” Pax said.
“Oh, yeah,” Emmett said. “The Coywolves have been in the area for decades. They’re one of the wealthiest, most established, shifter packs in the country.”
“Bluebloods, huh?” Pax gave a feral grin. “You really think they’d want anything to do with the likes of us?”
“I think there are things packs like that won’t do for themselves,” Emmett said. “Either they don’t know how, or they think they’re above it. But we’re shifters. Like it or not, there’s an animal side to us. There’s an animal nature to who we are and what we do. And no matter how much they want to live in the human world, they’re going to have animal needs. Yeah, I think we’ve got a very good chance with them.”
“Did you know that before we came here?” Pax asked.
“You know Judah plans the routes,” Emmett said. “I didn’t decide to come to Rhode Island.”
“Okay, but you have final approval,” Pax said. “Come on. You knew this family was here, didn’t you?”
“Okay, I did,” Emmett said.
“And you didn’t think that might be a problem?”
“Why would it be a problem?”
“Don’t play dumb,” Pax said. “After what happened in Oregon, how could you possibly think otherwise?”
“Oregon was a mistake,” Emmett said shortly.
“And this could be a mistake too,” Pax said. “Our pack is already small, Emmett.”
“What’s your point?”
“My point is that Zane left us because someone showed him a different way of life.”
“Zane left us for a woman.”
“Yeah, a woman who showed him a different way of life,” Pax said. “You don’t think that could happen here?”
“What I think is that we can’t just stop taking jobs because we’re afraid that someone might see something they like and abandon the pack,” Emmett said. “If one of us leaves the Hell’s Wolves for a settled life, it’s because they were never really a nomad in the first place. We don’t want people sticking with our pack because they don’t think there’s anything else out there for them, right? We want them to choose us.”
“I just don’t want us to go extinct,” Pax said. “And we will, Emmett, if we lose people. We live on the road. We can’t raise a new generation, the way other packs can. You know that. We depend on people finding us and joining us. And staying with us.”
“Did it ever occur to you,” Emmett said, “that what happened in Oregon might happen in reverse here? Okay, we lost Zane. But what if a member of the Coywolves doesn’t like the life he’s living and wants to join up with us? What if we leave with greater numbers than we rode in with?”
Pax shook his head. “I hope it happens,” he said, but his tone made it clear that he thought it highly unlikely.
“Get some sleep, Pax,” Emmett said. “We’ve got work to do in the morning.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll be along in a minute,” Emmett promised.
Pax regarded him for a long moment, then turned and went back to the tarp where the rest of the pack was sleeping.
Emmett lingered. If he was honest with himself, he had to admit, he had been badly shaken when Zane had decided to abandon the Hell’s Wolves. As the pack alpha, he knew he had the power to forbid members of his pack from deserting. They would have to follow any order he gave. But Emmett was reluctant to exercise that power over them, even though he knew some of the pack members—like Pax—thought he should.
The problem was that ordering Zane to stay would have stripped him of his free will. And Emmett couldn’t bring himself to do that. He would have awakened every morning wondering whether Zane really wanted to be with them. And if he gave that order to the entire pack ... well, then they wouldn’t be a pack at all, would they? They’d be no better than slaves, only together because they had no power to break away.
He would just have to hope that Zane’s departure hadn’t given any of the other pack members any ideas. He would have to hope that no one else would meet a woman and decide to leave with her.
There could be no question of wome
n coming on the road with them, of course. The Hell’s Wolves were a brotherhood, through and through. They went on cross-country runs, they shared a tent, and they accepted difficult and dangerous jobs. Involving women would slow them down, settle them down. No doubt, it would eventually lead to children, which would halt them in their tracks. Pax was right about that, at least. They couldn’t count on growing their pack biologically.
Oh, who needs a big pack, Emmett thought. He liked the Hell’s Wolves as they were. He liked being a tight band who knew each other well enough to predict each other’s moves in a fight. New people would just gum everything up.
He wandered back over to the tarp, crawled underneath it, and shoved Blake over to make room. Blake snuffled a little in his sleep but didn’t wake. Emmett settled down beside him and closed his eyes, but it was a long time before he managed to fall asleep.
“YOU’RE KIDDING,” JUDAH said. “This place?”
They stood outside a wrought iron gate, looking up at a huge estate on a hill. The house looked like it had been built sometime around the turn of the century, but it was well kept and in good condition. Considering that they’d spent the previous night sleeping in a field, Emmett could understand why his brothers were staring at the house as if it had dropped down from outer space.
“I told you,” he said, “they’ve been living here a while.”
“What are they, lawyers or something?” Judah asked.
“I think they’re investment bankers,” Emmett said.
“It’s weird that you even know that,” Pax said.
“They’re not like us,” Emmett said.
“Yeah, no shit.”
“I mean, they’re not as concerned with keeping a low profile. They’re, you know. Upstanding citizens. Pillars of the community. I think the alpha is the city comptroller.”
