Owen came hurrying back to us.
“It’s not Zarbius’ mate,” he told us, angrily. “It’s someone else. It’s an omega though. And the stupid betas left him there all night without food or water, or anything to keep him warm, and they wouldn’t have even thought to let him go to the bathroom, would they?”
“Sharkey’s taking him to the toilet block now,” said someone, still peering out from the window.
“That fucker?” hissed Lucey. “He’s mean.”
“Poor bloody omega,” cursed one of the others, “He’s in for a rough time then.”
“Shit.”
Sharkey was one of the worst betas, always taking advantage of every situation, touching up the omegas when he could, and one of the more regular visitors to the omega-house. He wasn’t above leaving a few bruises either, regardless of whether an omega resisted or not.
Everyone fell silent as the pair disappeared around the corner of the building, aware of what was likely to happen to the unsuspecting omega in the next few minutes. We hadn’t been waiting long, when “Hey, they’re coming back already!” shouted Rata, peering out the window from behind the lace curtains. A squeak of surprise came out of her. “Oh! And he looks… he looks okay.”
We clustered round the window, disbelieving. But it was true. Sharkey and the omega were walking back towards the isolation shed. The omega seemed calm and Sharkey was scowling angrily. The omega was shoved into the shed again, the door locked, and the sharp clang of boot heel hitting metal reached us as the beta kicked the side of the shed a few times. Clearly, whatever he’d hoped to do, he’d been thwarted.
We heaved a collective sigh of relief, though it probably meant one of us was in for an unpleasant time later. But we were used to it. Once you’d lived in this pack for a couple of weeks, you weren’t innocent anymore, you knew what to expect. This poor omega would not have known. He was okay for now, but if he stayed here much longer, he’d just be like the rest of us.
Later that day, the old van rattled up to the gate. Zarbius had arrived home. We knew we could expect visitors to the omega-house tonight.
******
I looked at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. My eyes were red-rimmed not from crying, but from tryingnotto cry. They kept watering up and I kept blinking the tears away.
The scent of my wonderful alpha, the scent that had haunted me all day yesterday, was beginning to fade. Once or twice during the day, I’d thought I could still detect it, but it was oh, so faint. I felt sad that the last tangible reminder of our time together was fading. Soon all I’d have would be the memories, and in time those would fade too. I was certain I’d never have another heat like that. And I’d never see that beautiful alpha again. The sound of my sniffle was unnaturally loud in the hollow space of the bathroom.
Someone banged on the door. “Hurry up!”
Fuck, this was the only place I had any privacy and I couldn’t stay here all night. I was on tonight’s cooking and service team. Oh well, at least I wouldn’t have time to be sad. Not too sad, anyway.
I heaved in a deep breath. There was no point pining over someone I couldn’t have. And the dinner wouldn’t make itself. I sniffed again, ran some water over my face, dried off and went out.
“It’s all yours,” I said to the omega waiting outside.
“About time,” she huffed, shouldering me as she pushed past.
I didn’t respond. Everyone was on edge tonight. When Zarbius came back from an absence, there were always calls to the omega-house. It had always been the case, but it had become more frequent since the Alpha Mate was no longer around, and the violence he’d inflicted on his mate was often now directed our way. With what we now knew, none of us would blame theAlpha Mate if he had just run away to escape, though there were rumors that the truth was far more frightening.
I sighed. There was nothing I could do about any of this. I stopped brooding about it and went to help prepare the meal.
Chapter 11
AGELIUS
A horn honked, loud and abrasive. There were voices. Yelling.
From where I lounged on the porch of my cabin, I could see the blue van that had pulled up at the broken-down front gate. A beta was struggling to open it, but not fast enough for the van’s driver who was blasting his horn impatiently.
When the van was through and had pulled up alongside the truck already parked there, several betas surrounded the vehicle and were talking and gesticulating wildly to a tall, lean man who emerged from the driver’s side. I saw someone point towards my cabin, and another beta pointed towards one of the dilapidated sheds.
Zarbius – I’d never met him, but I assumed it was him from his size and overall bearing – strode towards the shed with a couple of betas following him closely. One of the betas rushed ahead and fiddled with something on the door – some kind of lock, perhaps – before swinging the door open. Zarbius marched in, even from here I could see the alpha aggression in his posture and movements.
I held my breath, muscles tense, ready to intervene if I had to. My heart pounded, and my chest tightened.
A few moments later, Zarbius walked out again and I breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn’t been in there long enough to cause any serious harm to Irian.
I thought he’d come straight to my cabin after that to check me out. When he didn’t and instead disappeared into another shed, I retreated inside. I settled down on the bed and waited, knowing he’d get to me sometime. Making me wait was his way of showing me his dominance, that despite the fact we were both alphas, he was the one in charge. He could play his old school power games. I didn’t care. My concern was simply to play my role until I could find a way to get Irian and my omega out of here safely. I didn’t have a plan for that yet. I was going to have to play it by ear and see how the situation evolved. Of course, I was ignoring the fact that my omega didn’t know he was mine yet, and that he might not agree to come with me.
