Chapter 5
Gage
An uneasy feeling grips me as I lie in bed drifting off to sleep, a strong sense of panic and dread. I can’t quite pinpoint the cause, but the feeling persists despite me trying to convince myself it’s nothing.
Something’s missing, my alpha tells me. Something she needs.
Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me! Is this related to the runaway omega?
I shoot upright, wide awake, and try to tell my alpha to stuff it, but his presence only grows stronger. I feel drawn, pulled towards a distant location, past the cliff and the river, deep into the woods, somewhere so far away that I doubt I could reach it on foot in time. But in time for what? What’s about to happen?
The answer comes to me in the form of a raging hardon, one so sudden and painful it makes me cry out.
Shit. If this is happening to me now, in the middle of the night, with no one around to ignite such desires … that can only mean one thing. Two things, actually:
One: the omega’s in heat, and
Two: by some freak twist of fate, we’re connected.
It doesn’t make any sense–I was only in her presence for a scant few moments–but it’s the only explanation. I shouldn’t be aware of her distress like this, shouldn’t know the state she’s in without being there. If I’m right about this, our mission just got a lot more complicated.
Screw the mission. She’s ours. She’s mate. Nothing else matters.
I want to tell him that getting paid matters, and the Orion pack isn’t going to fork over one red cent if we bring back a bonded omega. They paid for us to bring her in, not breed her.
Breed! Yes, breed …
“Enough!”
Doors open and slam, and footsteps thunder down the hallway. From the sound of things, my pack are all on their way.
Since Diego’s room is closest to mine, he’s the first to burst through my door. He takes one look at my cock jutting up from my hips and skids to a stop. “Uh, jefe? I mean, I have no problem helping out with this, but it’s not exactly something to wake the whole compound for. Why the yelling?”
Emmett appears next, slamming into Diego so hard that both the smaller alphas tumble onto my floor.
“Where’s the fire, Gage?”
Olly stops just inside the door, carefully sidestepping sprawled limbs. “It’s not a fire; it’s heat.”
He looks at me with that intense gaze of his, like he’s analyzing my every breath. “I’m right, aren’t I?”
Great. We haven’t even caught the omega yet, caught Auryn, I should say, and she’s already causing trouble. I grit my teeth and reach for my pants on the back of the chair at my bedside. “Gloat later, Olly. Right now, we need to get moving. This might be our only chance to catch her.”
Diego and Em exchange twin glances of confusion. Clearly, they’re not up to speed.
“I have a bead on her now, guys. I know exactly where she is, but we have to move fast.”
We have to ease her heat. We have to take care of her. Sooth her, rut her, knot her, and breed her.
I shake my head to try to clear my thoughts, but my alpha won’t shut up.
“Wait a second … Are you saying we're gonna follow Gage's, er, divining rod to find our target?”
Em cringes as he untangles himself from Diego and stands. “I am not letting your dick guide me, dude.”
“It is a bit more complex than that, Emmett. There are more than just physiological indicators that will help us find the omega in question.”
Emmett shoots a glare at Olly, who shrinks back and taps his fingers against his thighs in a rapid staccato pattern.
After a few unsuccessful attempts to fasten my pants–this damn hardon is in the way–I toss them in favor of a loose pair of sweats. “Do you want to meet the omega or not?”
Emmett grumbles, but he falls in line when I rush past him and sprint down the hall towards the courtyard. Diego and Olly are right behind him from the sound of it, but I don’t waste time looking back. My alpha and I have one singular goal, one primal edict that must be met, if we're to get any relief.
Rut. Knot. Breed. Rut. Knot. Breed.
His litany repeats endlessly in my head, driving me forward. I reach our vehicle first and jump in behind the wheel. No time to give directions. I have to steer.
By some miracle, all three of my pack members make it in the car before I peel out of the compound and speed through the trees.
There’s not much in the way of a path for driving here, but I don’t care. I’ll plow through any obstacle if it means getting to Auryn in time. An omega’s heat can last for days, and the suffering, if unrelieved, is brutal. I might not know the woman, but I don’t wish that kind of agony on my worst enemy. The pain, the intense, unbearable ache, the unending need … No. I can’t let her deal with that alone.
About fifty feet before the last place we saw Auryn, my instincts scream at me to take a sharp left, away from the cliff and the river.
Olly leans forward between the seats and holds out a tablet. “The river curves here, and if we stay on course, we should reach a shallower crossing point in a mile or two. The topography here indicates a downward slope, and–”
“I don’t need the fucking map, Olly!”
I feel bad for snapping, but Olly can’t possibly understand. He’s a beta; he doesn’t have the same drives and desires that alphas have. The same needs.
Emmett and Diego are uncharacteristically silent on the drive, though I can tell they’re almost as anxious as I am. Diego toys with the crucifix he wears on his neck, and Emmett’s so wound up he can’t seem to sit still. The closer we get to our goal, the more they fidget and squirm.
As we near the downward slope Olly mentioned, the scent of the omega reaches my nostrils, blown on a gust of wind. It’s muffled, muted, but there’s no mistaking it. Lemongrass and sunshine, plus the cinnamon and peppercorn Olly noticed earlier on. Both sweet and spicy, a tantalizing combination. I inhale a huge gulp of air through my nose, savoring her aroma.
I turn a bend and bring the car to a screeching halt. A wall of rock and leaves meets us at the base of a high hill, blocking us from moving forward. My fists slam into the steering wheel as I grunt with frustration. It can’t end like this! I can smell her, can sense her nearby … Where did she go?
Olly’s arm reaches out from the back seat to point at the verdant foliage in front of us. “Anyone else think that looks weird?”
Emmett scoffs. “We’re in a forest. There are plants. What’s weird about it?”
Squinting into the glow from the headlights, I inspect the wall of leaves and branches more carefully. As my vision comes into focus, I finally take note of the broken stems and branches, of the odd angles. These plants didn’t grow this way; they were placed.
Nested, almost.
“Good catch, Olly.”
I cut the engine and hop out, creeping towards what I can now see is the hastily hidden entrance of a small cave. Auryn’s scent grows stronger with each step, quickening my movements. Breaking into a run, I crash through the wall of branches into the cave itself. I don’t have a flashlight, but I don’t need it; I’ll let my nose guide me.
Or my ears … The farther back I get, the more I hear faint crying and sniffles. Auryn’s definitely here, and she’s in distress.
She needs us.
That’s an understatement. My alpha really needs to chill.
“Auryn?”
I call out as I race to the back of the cave. “Auryn, I’m here.”
As if she knows who I am. Would she even recognize me in the darkness, know who I am without the mask?
“S-stay back!”
The shout catches me off guard. What heated omega in her right mind would tell an approaching alpha to stay away?
Then again, maybe Auryn’s not in her right mind.
“Auryn, it’s Gage. We met on the cliff. Do you remember?”
I slow my footsteps, hoping a more cautious approach might ease her fears. “I’m the pathetic alpha who could never forget your name.”
A peal of delirious laughter reaches my ears just as the rest of my group catches up with me. I gesture for them to stay back, though whether they can see my signal in the dark is anyone’s guess. I just hope they’re level-headed enough to let me take point on this, at least until Auryn’s safe and secure.
Something clicks behind me, and the cavern floods with light. Auryn’s slight form skitters back to the far side of the cave, and I want to curse Olly for his preparedness. Now she’s startled, and she’ll be harder to coax out. She probably felt safer in the dark.
“Auryn, I’m not here to hurt you. I’m here to help. You want help, don’t you?”
She shields her eyes from the glare of Olly’s flashlight. “Alphas don’t help. They only harm.”
Her words catch me by surprise. Alphas harm? What in the hell is going on? I’ve never heard of an omega who fears alphas, let alone one who declares us harmful. What the fuck is that Orion pack up to for her to react like this to an alpha’s offer of help?
These new questions, though valid, will have to wait. I’ve got to convince Auryn to let me help her, let me ease the unbearable ache she must feel.
Step by step, I inch closer to the cowering omega. Auryn shrinks in on herself, shaking and sobbing. The sight of her in pain is agonizing, and the pull I feel in my chest grows stronger. More even than my alpha instincts, I want to help her. I want to scoop her into my arms and protect her from anyone or anything that might try to hurt her.
Since she’s so skittish, I stop for a moment to appreciate the wild beauty about her. Her hair’s damp and muddy, but I remember the healthy glow to the dark locks when she stood up to me on the cliff. I remember the defiance in her dark eyes, the stark independence, the brazen challenge to her gaze. Even now, as terrified as she must be, she’s pushing back. She’s fighting with everything she has, glaring at me like she’s daring me to come after her.
That shouldn’t turn me on as much as it does, but my painfully hard cock twitches at the thought of a physical fight with her. Auryn might be small, but she’s fierce, and I bet she’s feisty, too. I lick my lips in anticipation and move forward in a lustful haze, so focused on my goal that Olly’s voice barely registers.
“Gage, you've got to purr first. No, don't pick her up! Oh, now you've done it. Watch out for her knee–”
That knee he mentions hits its target with laser precision. I fall to my knees, groaning and clutching my crotch as Auryn darts past me.
I hear scuffling as Diego and Emmett launch into action, diving on the girl and holding her down. Auryn screeches with frustration and lashes out. Both of my alpha comrades curse and cry out as she scratches and kicks them. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Emmett grab her from behind, pinning her arms over her head, while Diego wipes blood from fresh cuts on his face.
“Ella es una demonia,”
Diego says as he wraps his arms around her legs to hold her still. “She’s fucking possessed.”
Possessed with heat, but something else, too. No matter how scared she might be, no omega should be putting up this much of a fight when she’s in heat. Not with three alphas in the room–er, cave. We should be beacons of hope for her, the promise of sweet relief, not enemies.
Something’s very, very wrong with this girl, and I’m starting to suspect that the motive behind our mission is more nefarious than we’ve been led to believe.