“We’ll move him to one of the cabins,” Zarbius said, turning back to me. “And set a guard outside. There’s no way to cool this shed down. Gotta look after the merchandise!”
Irian’s color was terrible and I was worried for him. He needed care.
“He doesn’t look too good. Think you better send an omega with him to take care of him?”
“Yeah, I’ll do that. He’s no fucking good to us dead.”
I nodded in agreement. And hoped he didn’t take too long to get Irian out of here.
Zarbius stepped closer to the omega. Irian wasn’t paying him any attention because he was busy glaring at me through slightly hazy eyes. I knew how things looked. I wished I could let him know I wasn’t involved in all this, but for the purposes of getting him out of here, I had to pretend that I was. I had to hope that when this was all over, there’d still be a place for me in his pack. I didn’t want to be out on my ear again. And I wasn’t sure Talius would forgive me if anything happened to his mate.
Zarbius looked from Irian to myself and back to Irian. He nodded and huffed as if confirming something to himself.
Addressing the omega, he said, “You do know each other…” he let the sentence trail off.
“Traitor!” Irian spat at me, managing to summon a little energy despite his alarming condition.
I shrugged and turned to Zarbius, effectively dismissing Irian.
“Yeah… told you yesterday. He’s from my old pack.”
Zarbius nodded again.
“That’s good. That’s good. You can pay his alpha a little visit and make the ransom demand for me.”
“Sure. I’ll have no trouble getting into the pack. No-one even knows I’ve gone. Getting to see the Alpha will be easy.”
“Yeah, well, you gotta make sure he pays up.”
“He’s not gonna pay until he’s seen his mate is unharmed,” I reminded him.
“Yeah, yeah. Gotta be in good condition. I remember.”
“I don’t wanna lose out on this deal,” I told him. A speculative look crossed Zarbius’ face, and for a moment he seemed far away. He was plotting or planning something.
Zarbius sneered at the omega. “We’ll soon find out how much that useless alpha of yours thinks you’re worth. You better hope he’s fond of that skinny ass of yours and gets his hands on the money quick or you’ll be joining the other omegas on the next shipment out of here.”
Irian flinched. He’d probably been anticipating mistreatment here, so that in itself wasn’t a surprise, but he couldn’t have known about the shady business Zarbius and his pack were involved in. Omega trafficking. Once he was in that system it would be near impossible to locate him.
“He’ll pay,” I grunted.
Irian went to stand up but staggered. He stood there swaying.
“Where’s that fucking water?” demanded Zarbius, suddenly concerned. I could almost see him imagining all that ransom money slipping away. “And bring me one of the omegas – now!”
“Here,” the sly beta had returned with a bottle of water. The plastic crackled as the bottle landed at Irian’s feet. Irian wobbled as he bent to pick it up.
“Fuckwit,” muttered Zarbius under his breath, loud enough for the beta to hear but not loud enough to provoke a response.
The snap of the plastic cap, and the sounds of desperate gulping filled the next few moments. Irian poured the remainder of the water over his head. His soft brown eyes bored into mine, but I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
Zarbius’ sharp gaze remained watchful of Irian. His eyes narrowed. “You can take one of the betas with you,” he said, finally turning to me.
“That’ll make it harder to get entry into the pack…” I protested, “They’ll notice if I have a stranger with me.” The last thing I wanted was someone keeping a watchful eye over me – I had no illusions why Zarbius wanted to send a beta with me. If I was accompanied, it would be difficult talk to Talius about the situation here without the beta noticing. I’d have to stay in character. Fuck!
“You’re a smart guy. You’ll figure it out.” Zarbius was unmoved. “You better come back with my mateandthe ransom paid. It’s gonna be up to you to convince the Alpha that his mate hasn’t been harmed. But… if you have trouble convincing him, it wouldn’t hurt to let him know what happens if he doesn’t pay up in time.”
A rustle in the doorway behind us signaled the arrival of an omega with one of the betas ushering him into the hot shed. The beta himself didn’t follow, probably unwilling to subject himself to the same oven-like temperatures as their prisoner, the heat that was causing sweat to stick my shirt to my back. It didn’t take long to be uncomfortable in here… I wiped my forearm across my forehead, it came away with the hairs dark with sweat. The sooner we got out of this oven the better.
