Chapter 85
Chapter Eighty-Five
~Harlow~
Alpha Jake tells me to catch a train. He will pick me up at the Clairview City station because it would take hours for him to drive here. He offers to make the drive, but when I explain why I can’t wait, he agrees that the train is the better option.
I sit with my bag clutched tightly in my lap, the strap over one shoulder. I’m in the very last carriage, where the security guard is. He watches me curiously but says nothing about me being here.
My eyes sting from exhaustion, but fear keeps me awake and alert. Each stop the train makes has me staring out the window, worried Thane will be there to retrieve me and drag me back to the Den. After an hour, I relax slightly.
The security guard clears his throat, and I snap my eyes open. I hadn’t even realized I had closed them. In his hand, he holds a wrapped sandwich, offering it to me.
“Eat. You look pale,” he says, his eyes roaming over my face and down my arms. I thank him and take it.
His eyes dart to my hands, where there’s still blood beneath my fingernails. His aura slips out, and only then do I realize he’s an Alpha. It makes me suddenly nervous, but he moves back to his side of the carriage and sits down before eating his own dinner.
I look at the egg sandwich wrapped in clear film.
The carton looks untampered with, so I open it.
My stomach growls hungrily. I polish it off in four bites, which makes the security guard chuckle.
My face heats with embarrassment, but he shakes his head and rises to his feet before handing me the other half of his. I shake my head.
“Take it. I can get more from the other carriage,” he tells me, and I thank him. He sits back down. He gets up at each stop to watch the passengers. He wanders off a few times to check tickets before returning and retaking his seat. I groan, wondering how many stops before I get there.
“You can sleep; I won’t let anyone near you,” the security guard tells me. I chew my lip. He’s been kind so far, and not at all creepy. But he’s still an Alpha, and I am an Omega.
Yet as the train slowly continues, my eyes grow heavy. I fight to remain awake when I feel something soft placed over me. My eyes fly open to find the security guard placing his jacket over me and glancing at my ticket.
“I will wake you up before your stop,” he says with a nod and sets my ticket back in the side pocket of my bag. I watch him move back to his seat. “Sorry, instinct to protect. You’re an Omega. Your de-scenter isn’t working because you’re—” He points at my belly.
Those instincts are clearly dead in Thane. Just the thought of him twists my stomach and makes my heart race, but sleep takes me moments later, suddenly feeling a little reassured.
“Ma’am?” his deep voice says, shaking my shoulder. I jump glancing around in panic.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you, your stop is next,” he says, pointing toward the window, and I see we are pulling into another station. I nod and check to make sure I have everything.
Minutes later we pull up at Clairview City Station. I step off the train, nervously looking for Alpha Jake when I am suddenly surrounded by three huge men. I turn to run back to the train when I hear Jake’s voice.
“Don’t be frightened, Harlow, it’s just my mates.” One of the men steps aside and I spot him. I step away from the dark-haired man with a crooked lip from a scar running through it.
When I first saw the men, I instantly assumed I had fallen into a trap.
Yet none of them touch me. In fact they are very careful not to, which is odd because the platform is crowded and there isn’t much room.
Instead, they just crowd around Jake and I as we exit the platform and walk out to the parking lot.
“Was the train okay?” Jake asks. It feels strange trying to make small talk with someone I don’t know.
We stop beside two black SUVs. The three men climb in one while Alpha Jake opens the trunk on the other.
I take my bag from my shoulder, feeling a little nervous about getting in the car with him.
Yet when I pass him the bag, he jerks his hand back when my fingers accidentally touch his.
The bag falls and hits the ground. He quickly bends down to retrieve it, giving me an apologetic smile, and motions me toward the car. I shake off his strange behavior. Yet when he gets in the car and grabs hand sanitizer from the glove compartment, I wonder if maybe he has a cleanliness issue.
“Sorry. Omegas. Well, you know," he says, and my brows scrunch together. He starts the car and pulls out, the other following close behind as we make our way out of the city.
“So, how many mates have you got?” I ask nervously.
“Eight,” he says simply, but I am horrified. Eight mates! I shake the thought away. I would die if I had eight Thanes in my life. One is plenty.
I get nervous the further we get from the city.
As we turn down a dirt road, his phone rings through the car’s Bluetooth.
Jake holds a finger to his lips and points to the screen on the dash.
The name ‘Bub’ pops up on his display. He answers it by pressing a button on his steering wheel.
My world suddenly stops at the sound of the voice on the other end.
A voice I would recognize anywhere. A voice I had been wanting to hear for over two years.
“What’s up, Love,” Jake answers.
“Where are you?” she demands.
“Almost home, I have a surprise for you,” Jake tells her.
“What sort of surprise? Ooh, is it a trifle?”
Jake laughs at the question.
“Something better,” he replies
“What is better than trifle?” she asks. “Now I want one! Why did you mention trifle?” she demands, sounding very much like a pouting Omega.
“I will send Travis back to get you trifle.”
“Wait, Travis is with you? Have you seen Donnie and Sam?” she asks.
“They’re behind me, but if I don’t get off the phone, I can’t let them know to turn around and get your trifle.”
“A Malteser one,” she says.
“Yes, okay, a Malteser one. I will see you soon,” he tells her.
“Don’t forget the trifle,” she tells him before hanging up. I blink at the screen before seeing the lights flash on the car behind as they turn around, heading back into the city.
“She fucking loves anything with chocolate,” Jake laughs, and I stare at him.
“You weren’t lying? She really is alive?” I gasp. I can’t believe it. All this time I thought she was dead.
“I would not lie to you. Everything I told you is the truth,” Alpha Jake tells me as we pull up to an extravagant mansion, lit up like a Christmas tree.
“But the other Omegas? The ones you bought before me?”
“They were members of my former pack, one I stepped down from. I gave that pack to my brother before creating my Alpha Pack. Those Omegas got themselves in trouble and were forced into rotation, then auctioned. I brought them back to the city, changed their identities, and returned them to their families. Packs are family, even after you leave one,” Jake tells me.
“Then why buy an Omega if you already had some here?”
“Same reason any Alpha-of-Alphas does: I needed to find one with strong enough genes to take my knot,” he says.
“So, they aren’t dead?”
“What? No! You shouldn’t believe everything you see in the media. Alpha Packs are always painted poorly. Especially those like mine and Thane’s. We are constantly in the news, and rarely for anything good,” Jake tells me as he pulls up front.
I suddenly understand why he freaked out when I touched him, and why the others didn’t get too close. Not because they are grossed out by me, but out of respect for Zara, knowing it would send her crazy if they came home stinking of another Omega.
Despite that, it doesn’t stop the feral snarl that leaves her as he steps through the door in front of me. I hear a struggle, and Jake rushes toward her, ripping off his jacket, which would smell like me after being in the car together.
Another man comes down the stairs opposite the foyer. He stares at me as I step inside. I turn to find Zara savagely tearing at Jake’s clothes as she scents him.
“Calm down, it’s your surprise,” Jake tells her, when her hand suddenly whips out to slap him. A man on the sofa beside her chuckles as Jake rubs his jaw.
“You dare come here smelling of some whore!” she roars at him, and I hear Jake sigh loudly.
“That whore is your sister,” Jake tells her, stepping aside and motioning toward me. She blinks.
“Harlow!” she whispers. Her eyes turn glassy as her lip quivers. She moves to stand. Jake and the two men on the sofa move to help her. I see why; she is massively pregnant, and she looks frail as hell.
“Steady, Love,” the man beside her says. I can hear the panic in his voice, and I move toward her quickly, so she won’t try to come to me. Her fingers reach out for me, and I clutch them when she breaks down, turning to a sobbing mess as she falls back onto the sofa.
“It’s really you. You’re really here. I thought you were dead,” she breathes. I smile sadly, tears streaming down my face at the sight of her. She is the same as I remember, but so, so different. I help her sit down.
“You’re pregnant,” I gasp.
Her eyes go to my rounded belly, which is nothing compared to the size of hers.
“And so are you. You have a pack?” she asks, staring at my belly in confusion before looking at Jake.
My mind is reeling. I have so many questions, and I can tell she does too.