Chapter 7
Chapter
Seven
SHEP
It’d taken the Omegas about thirty seconds to gather their few belongings and stuff their feet into their shoes. Before we’d set off into the woods toward the warehouse, we’d driven two trucks to a rest area about an hour in the opposite direction of the bar.
I had no illusions that Trent or one of his men wouldn’t eventually figure out who’d freed his captives—but that was a problem for another night—and I certainly would not make it any easier for them.
Right now, Rylan smelled content in the passenger seat of my pickup.
The others and myself had shifted back when we’d reached the trucks.
All five of the Omegas were piled into the back seat of my extended cab.
All of them—even Milo, who hadn’t let go of Hux since the basement—had insisted on riding with Rylan.
They didn’t trust us, which was understandable.
Glancing over, I caught Rylan’s eye in the dim light from the dashboard and extended my hand across the center console.
He smiled and threaded his fingers between mine.
The only sounds in the cab were the low hum of a country song coming through the speakers and the soft sounds of five sleeping Omegas.
Rylan looked as exhausted as the others despite his earlier nap.
Keeping my voice low, I said, “You can sleep if you want, sweetheart. We’ll be home in about half an hour.”
He hummed, but it wasn’t an entirely happy sound. “Home?” He looked at the others in the backseat before focusing back on me. “I can’t thank you enough for helping me get them out of there. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you and the others.” He swallowed and dropped his gaze. “But…”
I gently squeezed his fingers. “But?”
“What now?”
“Like I said, we go home. All of us. I own all the land surrounding the bar. Our house is set back in the woods.” I shot him a grin.
“I can’t wait for you to see it. As for the others, if they have somewhere they want to go, we’ll get them there.
If they don’t…they’re pack if they want to be.
There’s plenty of room to build more houses. ”
When he lifted his gaze back to mine, his eyes were shiny.
“You’d do that? Take us all in?” This came from one of the Omegas—Jamal, I thought.
Glancing at the rearview mirror, I found more than one pair of eyes looking back. “Absolutely. You’ve all got a home with us if you want it.”
We made it home a half hour later. Rylan’s hand still tucked firmly in mine. I kept sneaking glances at his face as I maneuvered the truck down the winding driveway through the woods behind the bar.
When the house came into view, Rylan’s eyebrows crept up his forehead, and I couldn’t contain my smile. Or a soft chuckle.
“You didn’t say it was a mansion,” he said, turning wide eyes to me.
The cabin was nice. I’d invested quite a bit of money to make it so, but it certainly wasn’t the fanciest. What it did have, though, was plenty of room.
“Because it isn’t. It’s a cabin. A big one, but a cabin.
I wanted plenty of room for all the pack to have space if they ever needed or wanted to stay with me. ”
“Wow.” He looked back out the windshield.
The cabin had two stories above ground and a basement below. The front was mostly log, with a few windows and a big covered porch. The inside was where it truly shined—a custom stone fireplace, floor to ceiling windows overlooking the creek out back, and the most comfortable furniture I could find.
I pulled the truck to a stop close to the door. “Let’s wake up the others and get them inside.”
Rylan shot me a sweet smile and hopped out of the truck.
***
RYLAN
There was enough space in this house that it’d been easy to find everyone a room to sleep in.
Of course, Hux had followed Milo around like a lost cub, Jamal and Xander had wanted to room together, and Tony and Sebastion had both fled to the first room they’d seen and locked themselves in.
I knew they were just overwhelmed and needed some time to breathe.
Thorn hadn’t been much better. As soon as we’d parked, he’d jumped out of the second truck, told Shep he'd patrol the perimeter, and taken off into the woods.
Looking back out toward said woods, I let out a little sigh.
The windows along the back of the cabin were really something.
Beyond the back deck, string lights lit up a fit pit and sitting area, complete with a swing hanging down from a large branch of the closest tree.
It was beautiful. And Shep had said it was ours.
When I’d fled the basement the first time, all I’d had was a mattress on the floor, the attention of an Alpha I didn’t want, and the clothes on my back.
Standing in this beautiful kitchen and looking at the evidence at a cherished space out the back door…
it was a lot of change to happen since I’d stumbled into the bar’s parking lot.
“I thought you’d have chosen a room and been fast asleep by now,” Shep’s voice, whisper soft, reached me from the kitchen door.
I looked back over my shoulder and gave him a caught smile. “Just, uh, trying to wrap my head around all this. Feels like a dream.”
His dark gaze grew softer as he made his way over to me.
He’d changed into plaid pajama pants and a black t-shirt.
His dark hair was damp and a little wild, like he hadn’t combed it after he’d run his towel over it.
He smelled divine and when he slid his arms around my waist and pressed himself along my back, a warm jolt of arousal flared in my belly. It caught me so off guard; I gasped.
Shep hummed, running his nose up the side of my neck as he took a deep breath. “I know it’s fast, but there’s no need for this worry.” He held me tighter. “Even if you never want to complete our bond, you’ll always have a home here, and I’ll protect you with everything I have.”
My bangs fell into my eyes when I turned my face towards him. I huffed and swiped them off my forehead. Taking a small step forward, I turned to face him completely. I liked that he didn’t try to stop me or hold me longer than I was willing to be held. “Will you do something for me?”
“Of course.”
I smiled at his lack of hesitation. “Will you cut my hair? Trent made me wear it this way, and I hate it.”
He moved his focus from my eyes to the unruly, too long mess on my head. “Sure. I’m no barber, but I’ve got clippers in my bathroom. We can at least shorten it until we can get you into one of the shops in town.”
Shep led me down a hallway off the kitchen. There was a single door at the end and inside was a spacious bedroom with thick rugs dotting the hardwood floor and the biggest bed I’d ever seen.
“Come on,” Shep said, nodding toward one of the doors in the room.
The bathroom had a lighter tone than the rest of the house. Several shades of gray covered the floor, walls, and vanity. A shower with dual heads sat directly across from the double sinks, clear glass doors revealing gleaming silver fixtures.
“This is really nice,” I said, standing just inside the door while Shep opened a drawer and began pulling things out of it.
“Thank you.” He stood, a pair of clippers in his hand, and looked at me. “I’m really glad you think so.” He rifled through the drawer he'd opened and pulled out a guard for the clippers, holding it out to show me. “Does this look short enough?”
I nodded.
“Okay.” He closed the drawer and clicked the guard into place over the head of the clippers. “You can just stand in the middle of the floor if you want.”
Shep motioned to a spot a couple of feet back from the vanity.
Once I was there, he moved toward me, meeting my eyes in the mirror over the sink.
“Ready?” he asked.
I nodded again. I wasn't sure what had stolen my voice, but I couldn't seem to push the words past my lips.
Shep held my gaze for another moment, finding whatever confirmation he needed. He clicked a button on the clippers and a low buzz filled the room.
I swallowed, my gaze never wavering from the mirror in front of me.
Shep’s other hand came up, and he ran his fingers through my hair.
Increasingly familiar warmth spread through me at his touch, and I let out a shaky breath.
Shep lifted the clippers and began to cut away the shackles of my old life.