Chapter Four
Craven
“Break time,” Jimmy said, coming out of the rooftop door.
“Yeah.” Most of the guards took their breaks in the designated area inside, but I didn’t like all the chatter. Besides, I had a sneaking feeling there were cameras in the break room recording everything.
We didn’t even know what we were guarding, and that was the fuel to most of the gossip. We knew what the name was on our uniforms. Swift Agency. There was a good bit of the building we couldn’t access, keycard or not. Signing NDAs was the only way to get hired.
But the pay was good. The night shift sucked.
I would keep this job until we found our omega.
That was the deal I made with myself. When we found her, the last thing I wanted to do was to stand here, pacing endlessly on top of this glass-and-steel building while she slept in her nest cuddled with my other pack members.
Not that I would be jealous of them, but I would want to be there with her.
There I went again, dreaming of someone who seemed like an illusion.
There was no set age for finding your mate, but the older I became, the more my wolf demanded I stop everything and search for her.
We knew that by moving to Pleasant, a small town, there would be less chances to meet someone new, but we trusted Fate.
If we were meant to have an omega, Fate would find a way to bring her to us or us to her.
From this vantage point, I could see all of Pleasant.
I sat on the bench and reached into my cooler, packed by Rork.
His lunches and snacks always hit the spot.
Tonight, he’d packed a bag of homemade trail mix and used the traded-for loaf of sourdough to make me a loaded turkey sandwich.
He cooked and sliced the turkey breast himself.
He took care in everything he did. And honestly, without his anchor, we would be eating from the diner. That and cereal all the time.
I scrubbed my hands down my face as the fifteen minutes we were allotted drew to a close. The job wasn’t bad. It was so fucking boring, but opportunities were limited in Pleasant.
One day, I hoped to find a new job. A job where I wasn’t in the dark about what I was helping to guard and preferably one during the day.
In the meantime, this was my way of contributing to the pack. The three of us met over five years ago by chance. We’d all shifted and ran right into each other in a clearing. Our wolves recognized us as bond brothers and the rest was history.
We were so eager and full of hope then. That was the way people told their pack stories. Find your pack. Find your omega. Live happily ever after.
We missed the middle part.
When we moved to Pleasant, we thought it would be a great place to have a family. Keep our omega safe. Flint smiled more then. Rork chattered on about things he wanted to cook and bake. We took turns keeping the nest clean.
It hadn’t been thoroughly cleaned in years.
“Break’s over. See you at lunch.” Jimmy went inside, and I put one earbud in. We weren’t allowed two, for obvious security reasons, but I had to have something to pass the time. Audiobooks had become entertainment when music only made me sleepy, something I didn’t need help with.
“Thanks.”
Now began the pacing, like captive animals.
By morning, I was more than ready to get out of there and back to our den.
When I walked in, Rork was already up. Breakfast was piping hot on the counter.
Fluffy pancakes and homemade chicken sausage and some sliced home-grown peaches, sprinkled with brown sugar and cinnamon.
Fresh pot of coffee. He hummed in the garden as he did his chores.
I wished I could be more like him, taking joy in everyday things.
Somewhere along the line, the joy had been sucked out of me, and I had no idea how to bring it back.