As the thick material of the pants and shirt settled over my skin, I enjoyed the sensation of being out of suits for once. Shame it had to be under these circumstances. Slade had been trying to get me to run with his squad all year, but I’d been too busy. Another one of my regrets.
“Hunter!” Kellan’s shout echoed up through the house as I ran down two sets of stairs, jumping the last flight to land in the foyer. “What the fuck is that crazy bitch doing here?”
The front door was open, and I saw Warrick first, followed by a tiny blond witch. “Kellan, baby,” Jewels crooned. “You know I love you. I never meant to curse you to pee a little every time you laughed.”
Kellan growled, his hands shifting to claws as he launched for her, only to bounce back off her magical protection field. “Enough!” I snapped. “Kellan, we need Jewels. They clearly have magic on their side. And considering you slept with her sister and bailed, you’re lucky she lifted the curse after a week. Let’s call it a fair exchange and move the hell on.”
Jewels threw her head back and laughed loudly. “Goddess, have I missed you boys. Just like old times, right?”
She went to throw her arms around me and I sidestepped the embrace. “Not like old times at all,” I warned her. “This is a normal exchange, where we pay you for your services.”
She opened her mouth, but I wasn’t about to let her dictate any of the terms. “With cash only. We pay you an exorbitant amount of money and you back us up with magic. Deal?”
Jewels was pretty, with full pink lips, olive skin, dark eyes, and wavy blond hair, but as she pouted all I felt was annoyance. The witch couldn’t hold a candle to my omega, and it pissed meright off that we even had to call in an outsider to help with pack business.
For Emme and Slade.I would need that reminder a lot over the next twenty-four hours.
“Fine, Hunter, you big meanie.” The pout disappeared and she was all business. “This is a freebie anyway. I owe Slade. For him, I’ll level those fuckers to the ground.”
This was the Jewels we needed, and even Kellan looked appeased as his dominance simmered down. We all knew that with her assistance we had a much stronger chance of successfully retrieving our mates.
“Let’s do it, then,” Finley said shortly, heading out the door. “We’re wasting time.”
We followed him to where the Range Rover sat out front, the ass end slammed with the weight of the weapons. As I started the engine, I cursed how long it would take us to get to Silver City. Even with our powerful plane, it was too long. If it was only me, I would have convinced Jewels to use witch portals, but she couldn’t take us all without wiping herself out for days. Which meant traveling the old-fashioned way.
Hold on, little omega. We’re coming for you.
CHAPTER 2
EMME
“You have been a burden to me from the day you were born, Emmeline Anders. I wish I’d done exactly what your daddy wanted and tore you from the womb before you took your first breath.”
Tears burned my eyes as Momma spewed venom all over me. I knew better than to openly cry and sob, but today it hurt more than usual. Today I felt it all the way to my exhausted, lonely eight-year-old bones as I cowered in the corner. Momma had never treated me well, but she was extra mean this year with the sneering faces of her pack to back her up.
Alpha Blaine Rogers stepped forward, the entitled alpha of the pack. I feared him the most, with his dark, angry eyes. “Maybe your little princess needs to be taught a proper lesson in obedience, Omega.”
They always called her “omega.” I was fairly sure they didn’t even know her actual name. Or care what it was. The only part they cared about was her being an omega, and I prayed with every part of my being that when my wolf finally appeared, I wasn’t the same designation.
Momma lifted her head and simpered at the big shifter. “What did you have in mind, Alpha?”
Blaine examined me. I was already pressed as hard as my slight frame could go into the corner, but I found myself trying to scoot back further. If his smug smirk was any indication, he enjoyed my fear.
“A reminder she won’t forget, perhaps,” he said, rubbing his chin like one of the villains from the cartoons I snuck into the living room to watch whenever the pack left the house. Crappy old television or not, it was one of my few glimpses of the outside world.
“Whatever my alpha thinks is suitable, I’m happy to agree to.”
Momma popped up on her toes and started to kiss him, and I heard the rumbles and grunts from the rest of the pack as they leaned toward Momma. But no one touched her except Blaine.
“Hewie, grab my hunting blade,” Blaine said when he pulled back from licking Momma’s face. The very sight turned my stomach, and if I’d eaten at all today, I’d have vomited all over the floor. Alphas not only scared me, they were gross.
Hewie, Josiah, and Donnie left the room, and Hewie returned with a giant blade in his hand. It was sheathed in a leather holder that I’d seen clipped to Blaine’s belt more than once. When the entitled alpha took the sheathed blade, he caressed it softly, and then unclipped the loop and pulled the long hunting knife free. The handle was white and carved, and while it looked old, the blade was wickedly sharp.
Warmth trickled between my legs, and I realized I’d peed myself. Again, a lack of food and water had saved me from more than a trickle, but it was enough to send shame cutting through my fear.
My body lurched forward as I held my hands up. “I promise. I promise, Momma,” I screamed. “I won’t ever leave my room without permission again. I won’t sneak food from the pack’s stores. I’m sorry. I was just so hungry.”
She stared down in disgust, before her booted foot shot out and she shoved me back. “You disgusting little shit. You say you’re sorry, and then you do it again.”
