28. Chapter 28
Cruz
Before the car even rolled to a stop, I had my gun out, prepared to shoot the padlock off the chain securing the gate to the lopsided fence post. Lucky for us, it was only draped around it, not actually locked.
With a noble attempt at remaining quiet, I unhooked the metal links and dragged the rusty blockage across the dusty drive.
Nico eased past me with the silent electric motor engaged. Fucking stealth mode.
The satin black paint sucked up the ambient light, making us almost invisible in the shadows of the trees.
Ahead of us, on the top of a small hill, the moon shone down on a dilapidated cottage with an equally unkempt barn tucked behind it.
In front of the open barn door sat a ratty, tan-colored minivan with the dome light on.
A pair of burly alphas were hefting something ominously omega-shaped out of the vehicle and carrying it into the barn.
Omega traffickers.
Nico flipped the car around and backed up the dirt track as far as he dared before the brake lights could give us away. This was getting extremely messy for something that was supposed to be easy…
We both grabbed an extra gun from the center console and headed up the driveway, stalking through the cover of thorny brush.
This omega was turning out to be a pain in my ass.
Once we were close enough to see details, it became more obvious that the alphas were indeed carrying unconscious omegas into the barn.
Through the open doors, rows and rows of dog kennels lined the wooden walls.
The fetid odor of decaying fruit and flowers was so overwhelming that it reached us all the way across the road.
No one noticed as we rushed across the lane to the shadows along the side of the building.
Now that we were closer, the putrid smell lodged in my throat.
The look on Nico’s face told me enough to know I wasn’t the only one struggling with it.
I hated to think of Rosa anywhere near a place like this.
Her smoky rose pheromones were too pure to be corrupted in this rancid cesspool.
Drugs, bad hygiene, and lack of nutrition could cause an omega’s scent to deteriorate, but for it to be this bad there had to be hundreds of neglected omegas in there.
We made it to the edge of the light spilling from inside. There was no way to know what we were up against, so we waited, watching for movement.
A moment later, two empty-handed alphas walked past us back to the van, oblivious to our presence crouched in the darkness. The overwhelming odor of the omegas and the shadows blanketing our hiding spot masked our presence.
Once they’d passed, we stepped out behind them.
I wrapped my forearm around the guy’s neck and squeezed while dragging him back into the shadows of the trees.
It didn’t take much to snap his neck with a resounding crack.
Unlike a beta, an alpha might live through that, but they’d be out for a while.
I noticed Nico doing the same to the second alpha.
We dropped them in a heap behind the barn and headed back toward the open doors.
Two pairs of terrified eyes watched us from the back seat of the van, and I held my finger to my lips, hoping they would shut the fuck up and stay quiet until we could get out of here. Neither of them was Rosa, so we’d have to keep looking.
Once the coast was clear, or as clear as we could hope for, we headed in. Hundreds of dirty faces stared back at us from kennels stacked three high. The smell was staggering, but we pushed through it, looking into cage after cage for our blue-eyed omega.
In a shadowed corner, I heard a familiar whimper.
I ran toward that sound, but Nico beat me to it. Her bloodshot glare blinked up from the darkness, fixed on Nico, and her fingers curled through the wire mesh. “Nico? What are you doing here? How did you find me?”
I stepped back, not wanting her to see me and panic, or punch me, or try to run once she was free. With her, it was hard to know.
“Fuck, I thought I’d lost you.” He knelt in front of her cage door, unlatching the locking mechanism. “It’s a long story, but you’re safe now.” He swung the door open and offered her his hand.
She took it, and he pulled her out, wrapping her in his arms. Nico held her close, nuzzling her hair.
“I got kidnapped from my kidnapper. What kind of shit luck is that?” She sniffled a defeated laugh against his chest.
The uncomfortable look he shot over her head was not lost on me.
She had no idea.
Once Rosa was freed from her confinement, the other omegas stirred, crawling to the front of their cages to get a better look.
Once the realization of what was happening spread, all hell broke loose.
They banged on their doors, sobbing and begging us to let them out.
We didn’t have room for this many people, and if they kept making noise, we’d all be fucked.
If this place was what I thought it was, there’d be more armed alphas lurking around just looking for an excuse to blow someone’s head off.
Nico stood, pulling Rosa up with him, ready to bolt. “Fucking hell. Everyone, shut the fuck up.”
His dark glare and growled snarl got some of them to settle, but most still restlessly rattled their cages.
“You have to save them. You can’t leave them here,” Rosa said, her face still buried in Nico’s neck.
She hadn’t noticed me yet, but I figured she might have a different reaction when she realized that Nico wasn’t the savior she thought he was.
Nico’s lips pressed together as he scanned the barn. He was probably thinking the same thing I was. We should leave them here. We had no plan and no backup. The cops in the area were more crooked than we were, and that was really saying something.
This was a shitshow.
The bodies of the alphas out back would tip off anyone keeping a lookout. We didn’t have much time to figure out what we were doing. Leave them here or try to save them. Our priority was Rosa.
Just then, the omega in question turned, and her eyes fell on me.
Nico’s hand wrapped around her mouth, stifling her gasp.
“Shhh, little omega. Cruz is going to take you back to the car, and then we’re going to help your friends.
But you have to be a good girl, or we’re going to leave them here. Do you understand?”
Her eyes widened with the shock of realization. He’d been the one driving the car all along. She nodded, but her eyes were spitting fire. Honestly, I was surprised that she didn’t bite him.
When he let her go, I expected her to run, but she just stood there looking at the filthy cages filled with equally dirty omegas in defeat. Seeing shit like this broke parts of me that I wouldn’t even admit to having. It had to be worse for her.
I held out my hand, but she just glared and stormed past me.