“Eat, baby,” Kade urged me. “I promise, you’ll be fine.”
When Kade stepped out from in front of me, I could see that Mr. Keir had been watching our interaction with interest.
“Jeremy? Are you uncomfortable being alone with me? We have some Omegas on staff who are trained to assist with intake, if that would make you more comfortable?”
I shook my head and took a small bite of my sandwich before Kade left the room, knowing he’d worry about me if he wasn’t sure I was eating. “No, that’s okay. If Kade trusts you, so do I.”
“Thank you.” Mr. Keir waited until the sound of the front door closing sounded. “Now, some of these questions are going to be intrusive, but they have to be asked.”
I swallowed the last of my sandwich and reached for my room temperature coffee cup. “I understand. Go ahead.”
Well, he wasn’t wrong. The questions were definitely intrusive.
He asked about my childhood, my education, and even about when and how I’d lost my virginity. He asked if Kade had ever made me do anything, whether by force or by use of the dreaded Alpha control voice. Whether I’d married Kade willingly or if I wanted the marriage voided. Did I have any reason to think he’d railroaded me into anything, no matter what or when, and a million other questions.
My head was spinning, but I answered as honestly as I could. It wasn’t until the end when Mr. Keir had finished questioning me and was telling me about the room assignments that panic filled me and I finally broke down.
“What?” I gasped for air as the room closed in around me. “I..Kade doesn’t want to stay with me?” Tears filled my eyes and overflowed onto my cheeks. Had everything been a lie? “I..okay.” I shoved myself to my feet and rushed blindly for the door. “I can’t do this alone!”
“No! Jeremy, please wait!” Mr. Keir called from behind me, apparently unprepared for a front-heavy Omega to be able to move that fast.
Once I was outside in the blinding sun, I stared around in a daze, not sure where to go. The camper was no longer parked in front of the building and there was nothing around but row after row of neat white dormitory buildings. In the distance, opposite from the way we’d come in, I saw a tree line. Stripping off my clothes, I left them in a heap and threw myself into a shift. It had been quite a while since I’d tried to shift– it had gotten harder and harder on my body the further my pregnancy had progressed – but to my surprise, my hyena shoved free quickly and easily. Before the door had even opened behind me, I was loping toward the trees as quickly as was comfortable for my awkward body.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Kade
I’d just finished unloading our clothing, food, and other personal items from the camper into the small employee cottage that Chuck had offered me when a knock came at the door. Expecting to find my husband and eager to make good on the offer of relief I’d made during the trip, I tensed considerably when I found Chuck on the other side of the door instead. Knowing that as part of the intake Jeremy was offered his own, private quarters, I was left with the assumption that he’d chosen to be alone and my stomach clenched.
“He took off,” Chuck said baldly, shaking his head. “I’m not entirely sure what happened, but, when I started to explain the housing options, he ran.”
“Ran?” I scoffed, my eyes narrowing. “He’s huge. He can barely walk.”
Chuck shrugged. “I can show you the security footage, but, I’m telling you, he jumped up and ran.” Chuck groaned. “His clothes were on the ground outside, so he must have shifted. The security forces are already looking for him, but I knew you’d want to be involved.”
“Fuck,” I sighed. “Give me a minute to shift and I’ll track him down.”
“Hurry,” Chuck suggested. “He was very distressed.”
I closed the door and stripped down. I didn’t have to try and shift, all it took was the slightest relaxation of my control and the animal pushed his way forward, single-minded in his search for the mate he still hadn’t actually met yet. Not in his form, anyway.
As familiar as I was with it after months of searching for him, I didn’t even have to try to catch Jeremy’s scent. It was riding the breeze that wafted toward me as soon as I stepped out into the yard.
“You’ve got it?” Chuck asked, watching me as I raised my nose in the air.
I nodded.
“You want backup?”
I shook my head emphatically. The only reason I could come up with for Jeremy having run was that he thought I’d abandoned him. The last thing I wanted was to upset my Omega any more. Especially given how delicate his condition was.
The scent was coming from the trees a few hundred yards or so from the back of the housing complex, and since I couldn’t see anything on the flatland between me and the woods, I assumed Jeremy had already slipped into the shadows. My body stretched out low as I ran along the dried grass, my large paws sending clumps of dirt and dead grass flying behind me as my claws dug into the dried soil.
When I reached the shadows, I drew myself to a stop. Raised my snout and drew in a breath, sifting through the rich, dark fragrances of the forest until I found the mouthwatering scent of my Omega.
I followed it at a trot, hesitating when I came to an area with fresh urine that was spotted with traces of blood. My Alpha instincts bristled. No animal on the run would stop to pee by choice, that could only mean that something was very wrong.
Pushing forward, I finally came to a small opening in a rock face that was partially hidden behind a prickly bush. Wedging my way through, I dropped to my belly next to the crumpled heap of fur against the back wall. The small cave reeked of urine, blood, and fear.
