“I don’t think it’s one of Zarbius’ friends then,” said someone. “They couldn’t care less how we get treated. By the Moon, they’re as bad as Zarbius and the betas.”
“Well, as long as it’s not one of Zarbius’ friends, then maybe it’ll be okay? Perhaps they’re just here on alpha business and they’ll leave us alone.”
We all looked around at each other. Wishful thinking.
But the next omega in the firing line would be Owen when he took dinner across later.
“Aren’t you scared?” I asked him, thinking of the unknown alpha in the cabin under the trees. The cabins where Zarbius andvisitors were accommodated were set well away from the main cluster of buildings. If Owen was in trouble, there was no-one to hear. “Those cabins are so isolated.”
Owen shrugged. “Can’t be any worse than my last heat,” he said, grimacing, “and I survived that. And if anything bad happens, I’d rather you guys didn’t have to hear. It’s not like you could do anything.”
I shuddered, but Owen looked unperturbed. He was a fairly unflappable character, the perfect offset to my own flighty nature. Maybe that’s why we were such close friends. That was typical Owen thinking too, always putting others before himself. Possibly because he was bigger than the rest of us, he felt he could handle more. I knew inside that implacable shell there was a sensitive soul, but whatever he had to do to survive this place…
“Tell me when you go,” I instructed him. “I want to know. And when you get back.”
“Okay, but I’m sure it’ll be fine. He wasn’t mean to Rata.”
“Yeah, still.”
The betas didn’t come back to bother us and the next hour or so was spent preparing the evening’s meal.
True to his word, Owen let me know when he was taking dinner to the unknown alpha’s cabin. When he came back, he sought me out.
“I’m back,” he announced, but his voice was a bit wobbly. He didn’t look upset, so much as unsettled.
“What happened?” I asked him, worried because nothing rattled Owen.
“Nothing. He was polite, but he asked a lot of questions… mainly about the omegas – where we were living, mated pairs…”
“But no-one here gets mated, except the Alpha’s mate… well, when there is one, that is.”
“Yeah, I told him that.”
“Why do you think he’s asking all these questions?”
“I dunno.”
“Owen, what aren’t you telling me? You look… upset. What’s going on? Did he do something?”
Owen sighed. “No, nothing like that. It’s just that it… it was almost like he actually cared what happened to us. It made me think that maybe what wethinkis normal, actually isn’t. Maybe all alphas aren’t assholes. Tosca… he asked me if we were happy here.”
The look that crossed Owen’s face was almost one of distress. “Why the fuck would he do that?”
Chapter 08
IRIAN
It was terribly cold in here. I suppose I could have shifted to keep myself warm during the night, but I wasn’t certain I’d wake up if anyone entered the shed. I would be vulnerable in my wolf form, though to be fair, I wasn’t much safer in my human form.
I’d slept fitfully, restless with cold and fear, but the waves of reassurance directed to me through my mating bond throughout the night assured me that Talius was awake and working on bringing me home. I tried not to think that there wasn’t much he could do in the middle of the night. At least he knew I was alive, and I’d given him a clue about who had taken me. So, thinking that I’d need to keep my wits about me, I’d tried my best to get some sleep.
I missed him. And I missed my other mate, Isca. I should have been curled up in bed with both of them right now, me wrapped around Isca, and Talius enveloping us both.
I couldn’t even say good night to Isca. His newly formed telepathic bond was still developing, and it wasn’t strong enough to reach over large distances yet…. I couldn’t feel him, which told me I was quite some distance from home. I missed him so much!
Finally, I had slept, but too soon the dim light of early morning was infiltrating the shed as darkness fled the sky. My spirits sank as I contemplated the oncoming day and wondered what ordeal I might face. Perhaps the unknown would be more frightening than the reality. Who could say? Time would tell. I looked up at the window, wistfully staring at the washed-out blue framed there and wishing I were running free in the crisp hours of the newly dawned day.
The sound of voices outside the shed kicked my heart into overdrive. I recognized the gutteral tones of the betas that had captured me yesterday, arguing with someone with a much softer voice. The soft voice was insistent. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but the soft voice must have won out, because a minute later, I heard the scraping as a bolt was slid and the shed door creaked open. My breath caught in my throat and my chest pounded with the thumping of my heart as I waited.
