“He’s not gonna like that,” said Sharkey pushing forward and inserting himself into the conversation, the insubordinate bastard.
“That’s all he’s going to get,” growled Talius, turning a menacing eye on Sharkey. “Either he wants the money or he doesn’t. And if anyone lays a finger on my mate, the deal’s off. Agelius, come here.”
Talius fastened the money bag loosely around my neck with a dog collar but had the decency to flash me an apologetic look.
“Get outside, shift and take the money and my terms back to Zarbius,” he told me curtly, motioning peremptorily to the open door.
I stepped out into the sunlight, blinking at the harshness of the afternoon sun after the gloom of the shed. I heard Talius’ voice behind me, “Not you. You can stay right here.”
“What the fuck?” demanded an angry Sharkey, his face contorted in a scowl. Talius’ had his hand pushing on his shoulder, preventing him from leaving the shed.
“You’re my insurance,” Talius said, simply, and he rolled the door shut in Sharkey’s disbelieving face. Talius nodded at me,I bowed my head, then shifted, streaking across the compound and into the forest on the long run back to the other pack’s camp.
Chapter 24
ISCA
When Talius came back into the house the first time, I was waiting for him. I’d dried my eyes, though one eye kept leaking every time I thought about my poor mate kidnapped and scared somewhere. Or maybe he was giving his captors hell, yeah, I liked the thought of that. Every now and then, I thought I caught a trace of his presence in the bond, but the bond hadn’t solidified enough yet for it to work properly over a long distance, though both Irian and Talius had assured me it would in time. He didn’t seem terrified. Maybe he had total confidence in Talius rescuing him.
I sighed. I wished I was more like Irian, had his confident outlook. I had faith in our alpha, but I was scared for Irian because I knew what my old pack was like. I couldn’t bear Irian to go through the things I had because of me. And oh,fuck, just that thought had my eyes leaking again.
And then when I thought about Agelius being mixed up in this, I couldn’t stop the sniffling. I’d thought he was my friend. How could he be involved in this? Had he been friendly with me all along just to get closer to Irian? Another wet drop trickled downover my cheeks. I used my sleeve to wipe it away, and the fabric came away covered in snot.
I didn’t want Talius to see me losing it like this, he had enough to worry about. He didn’t need an emotional omega to comfort as well.
Talius stepped inside the house, his phone to his ear.
“Get over here right away,” he barked into the phone, his voice sharp and no-nonsense. “We need to discuss this ransom demand.”
There was a loud‘Fuck! I’ll be right there’from the other end of the call, and I recognized Johnson’s gruff voice. Thank the Goddess that he was here on the farm, and we didn’t have to wait for him to get back from town or elsewhere.
As he ended the call, Talius looked at me. His face softened. Maybe he noticed my red eyes, because he walked over and wrapped his arm around me, warm and comforting.
“It’s going to be okay, Isca. Irian’s all right for now, Agelius made sure of that, and we’re going to get him back.”
“But… Agelius…” I was so confused, I stumbled over my words. “Didn’t he… I mean you were fighting him… I thought he must be … involved?”
“No, he’s not,” Talius said, firmly. “He just happened to be there at the time. He’s pretending to be involved so he can help us get Irian back.”
The press of his lips to the top of my head, and the wave of reassurance that swept over me, told me Talius’ pheromones were at work. I was a total sucker for his pheromones and they usually made me get a bit fuzzy headed on them… a bitlike I imagined getting drunk would be. Normally it was a very pleasant feeling, and it was comforting to get the reassurance but right now I didn’t want to zone out. I needed to know exactly what was going on. I needed my mate back. My telepathic bond might not have been fully developed, but my heart and mind were screaming in pain from the fear and separation.
“What’s going to happen?” I asked, looking up at him, but he began to blur as my eyes started welling up again. His arms around me grew reassuringly tighter.
“Johnson’s coming over and we’re going to discuss how to handle this.”
I clung to him.
“Come and sit in with us,” offered Talius, just as a hard rap on the door announced the beta’s arrival.
Johnson entered without waiting for an answer. His heavy steps thundered across the floorboards as he strode straight into the living room. He walked straight up to us, and to my surprise pulled Talius and myself into a bear-hug, wrapping his large arms around us and squeezing, before pulling away.
“We’ll get him back,” he assured Talius. “The pack will do anything you need of it.” Talius’ stoic face cracked momentarily, and he blinked, swallowing hard. This was killing him. He had no choice but to keep it together if he was to help Irian, but I could sense the turmoil inside him.
He indicated the office with an inclination of his head, and we all hurried in. The office chair squeaked a protest as Talius’ heavy weight landed in it with a thump, and he pulled me down onto his lap, holding me there with one large hand splayed over my rapidly beating heart. He needed me to be close, to know that Iwas safe, and through the bond I felt my presence helping him stay calm when we both knew his world was falling apart.
Irian was the most precious omega ever. We couldn’t lose him.
“Agelius arrived here a short time ago with a beta from Zarbius’ pack. They brought a ransom demand,” Talius explained to me, before turning back to Johnson. Cold fingers of fear ran down my spine. I shivered and huddled in closer.
