No Mate
Chapter nine
"This is the stupidest idea you've ever had," I muttered, slouching in my seat.
"We have to do something. The pack is falling apart right under our noses," Kienan said with a sigh. The man was looking worse for wear these days, with dark circles under his eyes and deepening lines on his face.
"What if an omega just tears us further apart?
" As his second, I was bound to question his decisions and make sure he had the logic to back his theories up.
This particular one, bringing an innocent omega into the mess that was our pack, seemed like a disaster in the making.
"Between you and me, I don't think Vale is mentally well enough to handle an omega and Dean needs to chill the fuck out before we let him near anything female. "
Kienan gave me a sharp look. "They're our packmates and they're going to be fine. We just need an omega to create the links we need."
"Right." Maybe he had a point, but he was definitely not going about it the right way. "Still think kidnapping is the real flaw in this plan."
His lips tightened and he focused on the road, the wind from the open window playing with his hair. The man was sexy as hell, but we hadn't had a chance to do much lately. He was far too tied up with the downward spiral the four of us were in.
"There." He jerked his head. "That's the place. Apparently, they take the most defective omegas, the ones no pack will take, and put them in there."
I stared at the imposing concrete block wall in front of us. It was topped with razor wire. "Are they keeping omegas in there or feral animals?"
Kienan cracked a smile for the first time in weeks. "Who knows? But my connection says we can go in and sniff around a bit to find the one we want and then we…"
"Take her home." I nodded. "Okay, let's do this."
Kienan drove forward to the guard booth and we handed over our IDs.
"Just here to get some omega pussy," he said with a grin that fooled the dumb betas. The guard handed back our IDs and waved us through to the visitor parking lot.
"That was easier than I thought."
"They're trying to keep the omegas in, not the alphas out. They make money off us, remember?" Kienan wrinkled his nose. "These heat dens are really just glorified brothels."
"Let's get this over with."
I led the way into the office, a pleasantly neutral-smelling space done up tastefully in black and white tiles.
Kienan filled out the form and made the payment for both of us and we were introduced to the beta attendant, Josh.
The receptionist smiled, assured us we were in good hands with Josh, and left, completely unaware that this was Kienan's contact.
"There are three floors of omegas," Josh told us in the elevator. "I'm taking you to the top and we'll work our way down. You like something you smell, you can test her out right then and we'll make arrangements later."
I closed my eyes, gritting my teeth together.
How the fuck had we come to this point? Buying an omega was not only illegal, it was insane.
We were about to choose from the worst omegas out there.
The ones who would never find a pack and had been shoved in this prison to service alphas because they were considered too useless to be in a pack.
To be honest, I wasn't sure what exactly got them sent here, but the fact was, these were not good omegas.
They weren't first or even second-rate omegas.
We were dredging the bottom of the barrel and still hoping it would work out.
Sounded like a recipe for failure to me.
The elevator shuddered to a stop and we stepped out into the carpeted hall.
Faint whimpers and growls sounded up and down the hallways as we started to walk, pausing to sniff each door.
Most of the omegas were with someone and the alpha scents blended with and overpowered the more delicate omega scents.
Lilac, brown sugar, spicy pepper, the scents were all over the place. A couple of the scents made me sneeze. When we came across one that smelled like buttery bread, I glanced at Kienan, but he shook his head, disgust on his face.
"Just two more," Josh told us.
That's when it hit me. Tart lemon with a hint of mint. Like a mojito, but a million times better.
I almost lunged at the door, moving quickly toward it and inhaling deeply. Without even looking at Kienan, I nodded. "This one. I want this omega."
"Yes."
Turning, I found Kienan staring at the door, nostrils flaring. He was panting slightly, like he couldn't get enough of her scent into his lungs.
I reached for the door, ready to barge in and claim our woman, but the handle didn't turn. "Open it now!" I barked at Josh, who took a step back, dismay on his face.
"She's not here," he said worriedly. "This one ran and she's being punished."
"Our omega is being punished?" Kienan looked ready to tear the building down. "Go get her."
"I-I can't," Josh stuttered. "She's in the basement and no one can get down there except Brandon. And if she goes missing from the hole, they'll know someone let her out."
Kienan and I looked at each other, eyes wild. I'd never felt this close to insanity before.
I need that omega. Now.
"When does her punishment end?" I asked shortly.
"In a week?"
"We'll be expecting your call." Kienan spun on his heel and started marching toward the elevator.
"Wait, there are still two floors. Maybe you want a different one?" Josh called hopefully.
"Nope." Kienan stepped into the elevator and I got on after him. Josh scrambled toward us, but we were already on our way down.
We ignored the confused receptionist and marched out to the car before Kienan peeled out of the parking lot. Moments later, we'd cleared security and were speeding down the highway.
"I didn't imagine that, right? She's our mate?" I asked, suddenly worried. What if I'd been thinking about this for so long that any decent-smelling omega appealed?
"She's ours," Kienan agreed. "Now we just need to get her home."