by Leann Ryans
Sandra was relieved when Natashia came in with lunch, though she didn’t have any appetite. She forced herself to take a few bites and get up to walk around for a little while. Her clothes were getting to the point of falling off due to the weight she had lost, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. Nothing held any appeal except finding Austin. She needed him.
Returning to the list, she poured over the names registered to the camp until she finally came to the end, not sure if she should be glad she had finished it since it meant she now had to move on to the outer-city camps.
Rolling her head to try and loosen the tension in her shoulders, Sandra let out a sigh and sat back, rubbing her tired eyes. Not sleeping well coupled with near constant staring at a computer screen had left her with a massive headache that never seemed to go away. Add that to the hollow ache where her heart should be, and she felt like crap.
Answering the phone, her mood raised a little as she heard the voice on the other side. The purchase of the land was approved, all that was left was to officially sign the document, and she would be the new owner of two-hundred square miles of wilderness. Not to mention considerably less wealthy.
Shrugging away the cost with a genuine smile on her face, Sandra hung up with the seller after scheduling a meeting and buzzed Natashia. Her assistant came walking in a moment later.
“Yes, Ma’am?”
Snorting a laugh, Sandra skipped the request not to call her Ma’am. It had never worked before and she had long since given up, though it still made her feel weird.
“The property is a go, have you heard anything yet on the permits I filed?”
“Two have been granted, still waiting on the other three. I got ahold of my friend in Alpha Control and they agreed to help as much as they could with finding Austin as well. We don’t have much for him to go off of, but he will try. I should hear something from him within the next day, one way or another.”
Letting out another sigh, Sandra’s smile slipped.
“Yeah, I finished the last list I had. I’ll have to start looking into the outer camps. If he completely left the city, I have no idea how I am going to find him.”
Trying not to focus on that thought, she shook her head a little and got back to what was still needed to complete her project.
“I need you to look deeper into the property I bought. I know we looked at topography and water rights, but I need any information you can find about it so I know what I will have to work with. Send me a copy of the surveyor’s report as well so I can double check a few things. I have to figure out how high that river can be expected to rise because I might need to adjust the buildings out farther.”
Nodding, Natashia took notes on her tablet as Sandra rattled off what she needed. When Sandra couldn’t think of anything else, Natashia left to get to work.
It was almost the end of the day before Natashia came rushing into her office without stopping to knock like she usually did. Noting her wide smile, Sandra couldn’t help but absorb a little of her assistant’s excitement as she waited for her to spill whatever good news she had.
“They found him!”
Sandra’s heart stumbled for a moment before going into overdrive.
Feeling light-headed, “What?” was the only thing she could manage to say.
“My friend in Alpha Control found him!”
Brows drawing together in a frown for a moment, she said, “Well, were pretty sure it’s him. An Alpha named Austin picked up from The Haven. He was in custody and serving a punishment until a couple of days ago, but they told me what camp he went to,” Natashia finished with a smile back on her face.
A hint of worry flashed through Sandra at the mention of Austin being in custody, but if he had been released and moved to a new camp then he must be okay.
Unable to stop herself, she jumped up and rushed to Natashia, giving her startled assistant a hug.
“Thank you so much. I would be so lost without you,” she whispered to her before releasing Natashia and taking a step back, cheeks aching with the smile that wouldn’t stop even with tears collecting in her eyes.
“Where is he? Is he close? I want to try to get there before they close.”
“Well, he’s not in the city anymore, but he’s not too far away. He was sent out to Mount Mornell Camp. They are building that new dam everyone was arguing about a couple of years ago, south of the city. It’s a few hours’ drive,” Natashia answered consulting her tablet.
Looking at the map Natashia pulled up to show her, Sandra’s eyes cut to the clock, realizing it was too late to attempt to go out there today. By the time they made it she wouldn’t be allowed inside to speak with anyone, and she had no desire to spend the night outside.
“I’m heading out first thing in the morning. I’ll do what I can on the tablet during the drive, so send me any files I need for the phone conference. Hopefully I’ll be back tomorrow night, but forward me anything that needs my attention just in case.”
Feeling like she was floating, Sandra went back to her desk and sat down, staring at the list of Alphas on her screen before reaching out and hitting delete. Letting out a slightly hysterical laugh, she deleted the other lists before shutting down her computer and heading to her suite to prepare for the next day. She didn’t want to see Austin without looking her best.
29. Austin
Austin was heading back from the work site when he felt a random surge of euphoria. Lifting his head and straightening his shoulders, the corner of his lips tipped up in a smile he had no reason for. Taking in the first easy breath he had been able to draw in a while, he felt tension melting from his muscles and pooling in his groin.
Rubbing his chest, his pace increased as he headed back to his room. Hopping in the shower feeling better than he had in weeks, he couldn’t help but remember the way Sandra had smiled at him as she had pulled him to the bed after the incident with the glass from the candle. Her whole face had shone with her lust, and even the cold water pouring over him couldn’t cause his erection to abate.
Unable to resist, he lathered his hand and wrapped it around his straining cock. Groaning as he slid his hand from base to tip, he thrust his hips forward, fucking his fist as he imagined Sandra’s cunt wrapping around him again. Throwing his arm forward to lean against the tiles of the shower, he clenched his eyes shut, focusing on the memories that he usually tried to shut out. The silky feel of her tan skin beneath his hands as he gripped her ass to plow into her, the hot wetness of her cunt sucking him in and milking the seed from his balls. It didn’t take long for his cum to paint the tiles, spraying out in long ropes of temporary relief.
Slightly more comfortable, Austin finished cleaning himself before dressing and heading towards the cafeteria. He figured he would try going now while he was in a relatively good mood, hoping the crowd wouldn’t change that.
Just as full as the night before, tension began to creep back into his shoulders as he entered the large room. It wasn’t nearly as bad as usual, but there was still the hint of aggression seething beneath his skin.
Taking a deep breath and trying to force himself to relax, Austin made his way through the line, filling his tray before finding a spot at the end of a table once again. A few of his crew waved to him as he passed by and he gave them a nod. He wasn’t struggling for control as much as he had around other Alphas recently, but he was still very aware of their presence surrounding him.
Forcing himself not to bolt down his food like he had the night before, Austin ate slowly, looking around casually at the other Alphas. There seemed to be fairly distinct groups settled around the room, with the men of his crew scattered throughout them. Even the new guys that had come in with him seemed to already be adopted into whichever group they were with.
A lot of the camps were like this, being divided within into different groups that would sometimes fight against each other. It was natural for Alphas to be aggressive and territorial, so there was no way to avoid fighting within the camps wher
e there was little else to distract them during their off hours. Some of the better camps would have sports to give the Alphas an outlet, the more physical the sport, the better.
Finishing his meal, Austin cleaned up and forced himself to walk slowly to the area where they dropped off their dirty dishes instead of dashing out like he had the night before. He noticed there were Alphas from each group watching him with calculating expressions. It wouldn’t be long before he began being approached by them, propositioned to join with one group or another. No one liked it when there were lone Alphas. It was unknown who they aligned or sympathized with, if they were a friend or foe, and it was difficult for someone not to get involved with a group simply because they couldn’t protect themselves from everyone.
Looking away before any of them took his stare as a challenge or an invitation, Austin dropped off his dishes and walked out into the night air, taking deep breaths to clear his lungs of the Alpha pheromones. He looked around and decided to take a walk along the inside of the wall instead of heading straight back to his room. Even though the irritation that had been an undercurrent through the past few weeks had eased, he still felt restless. Like something was missing, and he couldn’t help but think that this all revolved around Sandra and his time with her. He hadn’t had any problems before tending her through her heat.
Watching the stars as he walked, he thought back through everything that had happened. His feelings of unease and irritation didn’t start until he had awakened the last morning with her, realizing her heat was over and she would be leaving. The memories of her were bittersweet since everything since then had been so bad. So much had changed in such a short period of time, and he was still reeling a bit from it. Feelings like this weren’t supposed to happen if you didn’t bond with the omega.
Stopping in his tracks, Austin’s mouth fell open. He was thinking back to the first day with her, when he had first tasted her in the tub, then finally felt her wrapped around his cock for the first time. When his knot had receded, she had slid off the counter and cut her foot on the glass from the candle. He had cleaned it up, cutting his finger in the process, before she had taken him to the bedroom.
Feeling like he had been kicked in the gut, the air rushed from his lungs as he remembered pressing his fingers into her mouth, coated in their mixed fluids. The same finger that he had cut on the glass.
Dropping to his knees, Austin braced his hands against the ground and sucked in gasping breath, trying to calm his racing heart. The uneasy feeling at leaving her in the room, the growing irritation and anger towards other Alphas, the restlessness, the ache in his chest…
All of it was explained by assuming there had still been blood on his finger. That she had gotten his blood in her mouth, and they had bonded. Once bonded, most pairs were never separated more than a few hours at a time because it would cause pain and psychological distress. Being forced to stay apart would have effects on both partners that could be as physical as they were mental.
Putting his head in his hands, he pulled at the hair that had grown out and become shaggy since the last time he had seen her. If he had been feeling like this, how had she felt? Did she know what had happened?
Being trapped in the camp, miles from the city with no vehicle and no way to return, Austin was lost. He had to find out if she knew and if she was okay. Bonds were lifelong, but this didn’t feel the way he had been told one should feel. He didn’t know if it was due to the separation, or if it was something more. Was this what it felt like when one of a pair died? He had no way of knowing.
Panicking, he tried to figure out what to do. They had spent almost a week together but not a lot of that had been spent talking, and he didn’t know anything about her other than her first name and that she had to work in some kind of office from the way she had been dressed the first time he saw her.
A flicker of an idea popped in his head and he jumped to his feet, running for the rec room. There were supposed to be computers there that the Alphas could use to stay in contact with family, and he was hoping he could find something about her online. It was the only thing he could think of to try and reach her.
Slamming into the door, Austin bounced off of it, shaking the knob that refused to turn. Growling, he jerked the knob back and forth before looking up and seeing the sign on the door showing the hours that the room could be used.
Cursing as the growl continued to roll from his chest, he slammed his hand against the door before turning to stomp back to his room.
30. Sandra
It was before sunrise when she climbed into the AutoCab. Though she had learned to drive as a teenager, Sandra didn’t own a car since she lived in the city and using the AutoCabs was easier than maintaining her own vehicle and having to find parking. The problem was that they generally didn’t leave the city. She made special arrangements with the company to get it to take her out to the camp and wait on her so that she would have a ride back.
She didn’t have a plan besides getting to the camp and seeing Austin again. There wasn’t much she could do before she knew how he felt and talked with him about the options, so Sandra tried to focus on work during the ride out to Mount Mornell Camp. She had multiple phone conferences this morning and hoped to get those handled during the ride.
The first call went well and was completed with a simple tweak to the blueprint, but Sandra found herself distracted by the scenery as she waited for the next call. Though she had travelled before starting her company, she had always been in a major city and had never seen such wide-open spaces. The rolling green hills seemed to stretch on forever and she wondered how long it would take to walk to the end of them. Although she had woken up this morning with a vague sense of distress, the view was relaxing.
Startled by the ringing of her cell, she turned back to her computer, focusing on marking off another item on her to-do list. The more she finished now, the better off she would be if things got complicated with Austin. Sandra was willing to admit that her focus was torn, and she found herself caring less and less about her company. Depending on how everything went with Austin, that may not matter much longer anyway.
It wasn’t long before she was done with the calls and corrections she needed to make and was left with nothing to focus on. She had planned to continue the designs for her personal project, but Sandra found herself simply staring out of the window. The hollow achiness in her chest was still there, but the accompanying sick feeling that she had barely noticed before was fading as she drew closer to Austin. If she hadn’t been convinced she was right about the problem, that would have confirmed it. By the time she was with him she should feel much better, though it still wouldn’t be right until they completed the bond during her next heat.
A shiver went down her spine at the thought of that. Of being locked on Austin’s knot as he sunk his teeth into her neck, claiming her as his forever. Feeling slick soaking into her panties, Sandra shook herself out of the fantasy. She didn’t know if that was going to happen, though she had to admit that if Austin rejected her, she had no idea what she was going to do. She didn’t know any other Alphas, much less know one well enough to consider using him to break her bond to Austin.
Heaving a sigh as her heart sank again, Sandra hoped she hadn’t wasted all of this time and effort for nothing. Though she had never expected to bond with Austin, she hadn’t planned to bond at all for a few more years, the idea had grown on her and she was willing to look at it as a happy accident if he agreed to completing the bond. She didn’t know him well, and he knew her even less, but from what she had read about him and the time they had spent together showed her that he was a decent guy. She didn’t fear him or think he would try to control her.
As they approached the mountain range where the dam was being constructed, Sandra’s heartrate began to speed up. The nerves about seeing him were far worse this time than they had been the first time when it was only one estrous cycle on the line. There was so much more at stake now.
He
r first sight of the camp caused her jaw to drop. She knew the camps were usually not in the best of conditions, but based on the fence surrounding it, she knew of animals that were housed better.
The rickety wooden fence would never have been allowed in the city where the wall served an actual purpose to keep the Alphas in, but out here, away from any inhabitants, it must not matter that a stiff breeze could knock whole sections over.
The buildings she could see over the fence didn’t look much better. There was no way that the buildings that looked like housing blocks would have passed inspection if anyone had actually bothered to come out and check them. It looked like a cardboard box with tiny holes regularly placed in lines along the sides. Sandra’s anxiety spiked thinking that Austin was in one of them.
As the AutoCab rolled to a stop outside the pointless gate, Sandra waited as the beta guarding it came to her window.
“Are you lost?”
Putting on her best business face, Sandra glared at the guard.
“No, I am not. I need to speak with an Alpha assigned to this camp. A new transfer.”
Luckily betas couldn’t scent omegas or there was no way he would let her into an Alpha camp by herself. She was taking the risk of causing a riot going in there, but she didn’t know of any other way to get to speak with Austin.
“You’ll have to leave the car here, there’s no room for it inside. The Admin building is on the right just through the gate. Someone there can help you find the Alpha,” the guard said, backing away before turning and opening the gate.
Climbing from the car, Sandra took her things in case it was recalled for some reason and walked through the gate. The camp looked even worse from the inside since the fence no longer hid the state of the ground. There wasn’t a single blade of grass to be found, it was all dirt dried into messy ruts from recent rain.