Chapter 4
Chapter
Four
RYLAN
Something was happening. Nothing had really changed, but I could feel it in the air, settling over my skin like a hundred pricking needles.
I was still sitting at the table in the little break area at the back of the kitchen, but Dave had walked into view to subtly glance in my direction no less than five times in as many minutes.
Unease slithered through my belly. I pushed my mostly empty plate away. If I timed it right, I could make a break for the door. If the hall was empty, I’d be out and back into the woods in under a minute, but if someone was in the hall…well, I’d have to run into the bar and take my chances.
Slowly, I slid my chair back. The kitchen door opened, making me freeze, hands squeezing where I’d gripped the table while panic wreaked havoc on my insides.
Shep walked in and turned toward me. He had a first aid kit in his hands, and I swore his shoulders relaxed the moment his gaze met mine. Until he really looked at me. Forehead scrunching, he hurried to the table. “Rylan…are you okay? Do you need something?”
“What happened?”
He looked guarded for a moment before he blew out a big breath and set the first aid kit on the table, along with a business card.
I knew it immediately. Lurching up from the table, I knocked over my chair in my haste to get away from it.
The panic that had been rising in me slammed against my sternum, making me drag in a gasping breath.
I looked for the door, not actually seeing anything until Shep’s face became my entire field of vision.
“Easy, Ry, easy. Take a breath for me, honey. You’re okay. He’s not here.”
Somehow, I took a breath. Focusing on Shep’s dark eyes, I kept sucking in air and letting it out, trying to slow my heart.
I was on the floor; I realized. Face wet with tears and back pressed to the wall with my arms banded around my bent knees.
Shep was in front of me, on his knees with his hands up like he wanted to reach for me, but didn’t.
“What did you tell him?” I asked when I’d gotten enough breath to speak.
“Most of the truth,” Shep said, letting his hands rest on his knees. “That you’d been in the parking lot and after we’d scared off those assholes, you went on your way.”
I looked at him. He was a gorgeous man—tan skin, thick beard, head full of dark hair, tall and muscular—but it was his eyes that did it for me.
Dark brown with a fan of black lashes. Plenty of laugh lines at the corners.
Kind. Trent had never once looked at me the way Shep was looking at me now—like I mattered.
I reached out and laid my hand on top of one of his. That same visceral warmth spread through me immediately, bringing my heart rate down and letting me draw a full breath into my lungs. This man was good. I knew it like I knew my own name. Like I knew the man out there looking for me wasn’t.
“Thank you.” I lifted my hand, but he caught it with his, flipping his palm and threading our fingers together.
“Who is he?”
“He…” I took another breath. “My parents sold me to him. That’s what he does. He buys or takes Omegas to sell.” I licked my lips. “I escaped to find help. I have to find a way to go back and get the others.”
SHEP
My gods. Others.
“Shep?” Rylan’s quiet voice pulled me out of the cloud of rage descending on my head.
“Sorry, Ry. I’m so sorry that happened to you.” I squeezed his hand. Typically, I wasn’t a super touchy guy. Bears tended to be less pack oriented by nature. More the loner type. But nothing had ever felt as natural—as right—as his hand in mine.
He gave a little nod and clung to me, seemingly as unwilling to let go as I was.
“Let’s get you off the floor.” Standing up, I used our joined hands and a hand on his side to lift him up with me.
Reluctantly, I let him go so I could right the chair he’d been in.
Once we’d both sat down at the table, I reached for his hand again.
“Will you tell me about it? Where are the others?”
“He has a warehouse out in the woods. It took me two days to walk from there to here. He keeps us in the basement.” He looked down at the table. “I’m sorry. I don’t know exactly where.”
“It’s okay. Do you think you could show me what direction you approached the bar from?”
Another nod.
“That’s all I need, Ry.” I squeezed his hands.
“Hey, look at me.” Once he did, I leaned closer.
The dark circles under his eyes suddenly looked so much more prominent, like the energy that had been keeping him going was draining away before my eyes.
“There are some excellent trackers in our pack. We’ll find the warehouse and get the others out of there. I promise.”
Rylan’s chin started to tremble. “Do you mean it?”
“Yes. We’ll alert the authorities and get them out of there.”
He swallowed and nodded, pulling one of his hands from mine to wipe at his eyes. “Okay. Thank you. I guess, uh, I should find someplace to stay for the night.”
A low rumble bubbled up out of my chest before I could stop it.
Rylan’s head snapped up, wide eyes meeting mine again.
“Sweetheart,” I said, as gently as I could.
How could he think he wasn’t welcome to anything—everything—I owned?
That he ever needed to worry about finding a place to stay, to belong?
All that I was and all that I had was his if he wanted it.
I reminded myself that the people who were supposed to protect him and love him had sold him off and had to fight off a much deeper growl.
“If you want, and the choice is yours, there is always a place for you here. Whether or not you choose to accept our mate bond. If you want it, you’ve got a home here. You’ve got a pack here.”
More tears slipped down his face. The corners of his perfect blue eyes scrunched up as he squeezed them shut. After a shuddering breath in, he nodded. “Um, I don’t…I mean, I think I can trust you, but I—”
My heart squeezed. “You don’t have to decide anything right now. Or tomorrow. Or a year from now. Just let me help you, and when you’re ready, then you can decide what you want, okay?”
“Okay.”
I lifted one of his hands and kissed the back of it. “Now, you look like you’re about to fall over. How about some sleep, and I’ll get the pack together so we can go get the others.”
“I want to go with you.”
“Rylan…”
“No. I want to go. And they won’t trust you.” He licked his lips, fear and determination warring across his features. “Some of them have been there longer than me. The people he sells to…they get bored. Sell us back. Some of them have been there a long time.”
The rage I’d tried so hard to bank came roaring back. No one should be treated that way. “I swear you will never have to worry about that again. We’re going to stop him. No matter what it takes.”