My eyes flickered around, looking for an escape route.
“Hurry! Load ‘em up!”
I was hustled forward with the others towards where the truck was waiting with its engine idling. The sound of sirens was deafening now. They had to be close.
I pushed back against the crowd of omegas being manhandled into the back of the truck, desperate not to be caught up in the crowd and shipped away. Slight as I was, I could slither between the jostling bodies, almost unnoticed. The betas had given up trying to choose which ones should go and which should stay, in their haste to make sure that a shipment went out before the camp was stormed by law enforcement.
Lucey was resisting being put on the trailer and the men were getting increasingly aggressive as the sirens loomed louder and louder. They were so close it would be touch and go whether the truck as going to make it to the one fork in the road that led to another way down the mountain, through the dense trees of the back country.
So close now, the advancingew-ew-ewhad separated into several separate sirens, all close behind each other, as multiple vehicles sped up the curving road through the forest.
The creaking of the back grill of the trailer cut over the sirens, with a couple of omegas still ahead of me and I breathed a sigh of relief.
As I breathed out, shoulders relaxing, a hard voice interrupted.
“Wait! There’s room for one more! A small one.”
The man leapt onto the wheel guard and peered into the group where we all huddled together, and a demanding finger stabbed towards…
“There! That one!”
Rough hands shoved me forward. I dug my heels into the ground, hoping they’d give up.
“Get the fuck up there,” snarled a harsh voice behind me, urgency lending extra aggression to his voice. Claw-like fingers dug into my bony shoulder propelling me forward despite my flimsy efforts to resist. But the beta was about three times my size and fueled by fear of Zarbius’ anger if they didn’t get this truck loaded and gone before the police arrived, and he mercilessly drove me forward.
Suddenly a body flashed past us and squeezed itself through the half-open tailgate. Owen! There were grunts and groans from the others already on the truck, as he squished himself into a space that was way too small for his large frame.
My mouth fell into a horrified “No!”, my heart turning to lead. Owen didn’t blink, his big brown eyes looking determinedly backat me between the boards of the truck’s sides. He was quiet, the only hint that he was scared lay in the whites of his eyes.
The ramp clanged up into place and metal chains clanked as the safety locks engaged. The engine groaned, gears ground, and the truck jolted forward uncertainly.
The engine roared as the truck surged forward, a couple of wheels spinning over the dry grass. As I watched, a flicker of fear crossed Owen’s face. A swirling djinn of dust and grass fragments kicked up behind the truck as it bounced over the uneven ground, blinding me and I blinked madly, my eyes watering. When the cloud of dust settled and I could see again, the truck was gone - disappearing out of sight behind the screen of trees, taking with it my best friend.
I couldn’t believe it. Owen… Owen was gone. He’d put himself on that truck, because he knew I had an alpha to go to, and he protected me just like he always had.
A stray tear slid down my cheek, and a large masculine hand landed heavily on my shoulder.
Chapter 27
AGELIUS
I saw the betas shepherd the group of omegas towards the truck, and Isprinted. They were wasting no time in loading them into the back of the vehicle, and to my absolute horror I caught glimpses of a familiar blonde head with streaky strands in the midst of the milling omegas. He was slender and shorter than most of them, and he kept disappearing from view, but every cell in my body knew him. It was as if our short time together sharing his heat had created an intangible but distinct connection between us.
I had to stop him getting on that truck. Sirens were drawing closer, and it wasn’t much of a leap to figure that Talius had set that in motion before leaving home.Home. Goddess, I couldn’t wait to get back there, to take my omega and get back to where I belonged. Despite the way I’d been feeling when I left on my run days ago, I now understood where home was. Would they still have me, though?
My breaths were scalding my throat by the time I reached the group and frantically began dragging the betas and omegas out of my way as I waded through them, trying to get to Tosca. Hisfair head was now dangerously close to the front of the jostling, milling group.
“Get out of the way!” I snarled, thrusting a reluctant beta aside. He’d been cramming up behind the group, pushing them towards the waiting vehicle,in my fucking way!
My relief was almost palpable as I closed the distance to Tosca, whenoof!suddenly he was gone. Someone had pulled him forward, out of the group. He was resisting, pulling back, but as slight as he was, he had no chance. The truck’s ramp was starting to close but had halted as they tried to fill the last space. I roared. Two omega heads separated me from Tosca, and they turned and stared at me stupidly instead of getting out of the way.
Suddenly there was a flash of movement and a large omega willingly squeezed themself into the last place on the truck, leaving no room for anyone else. He looked out between the railings, eyes strangely forlorn, and the ramp clanged shut behind him.
I exhaled the breath that had been squeezing my chest tight. Then brought my arm up to shield my face as the truck bounced away over the uneven ground spitting up a cloud of dust and debris behind it. There was coughing and sneezing around me as I elbowed my way through the remaining omegas until I got to Tosca.
With a hand that I was very much tryingnotto let tremble, I gripped his lean shoulder. As I leant in close, his sweet familiar scent teased my nostrils. My body instantly responded in places that couldn’t be satisfied right now.
“Are you wearing my collar?” I murmured, shocked how gravely my voice came out.
