by Lisa Oliver
“He’s mine!” Sean shouted, jumping to his feet, looming over his father. His dad leapt to his feet as well, staring Sean down. It took time, a long time, but Sean finally looked away. No matter how upset he got, he would not challenge the man who raised him.
Ian patted his arm. “Sit down, son.” Sean remained standing for a long moment, his wolf not happy with having to stand down, but eventually he did take his seat and as soon as he did, his father continued. “Look, I don’t understand why you think you need to give up on the idea of love. Alphas are just as capable of loving another, and saying so, as anyone else. But that’s your choice and you have every right to make it. Caden though, he deserves to be loved. With what he’s been through in his young life, he needs someone who can show him the love he never had. He’s going to be miserable without you; I know he will, especially after he gave his heart to you. Surely, you’re not that much of a cold-hearted bastard that you want him to spend the rest of his life alone?”
“He won’t be alone. I plan on getting him back as soon as this threat has been taken care of.” Sean had no intention of spending a minute longer than necessary without his mate. Not after bonding with him, claiming him and living with him the way he had. Caden was his – end of story.
To his surprise, rather than be pleased, Ian shook his head. “I thought you were better than that, my son. I really did. If you’ve got any common decency at all, then you’ll fucking leave him alone, and let him attract the attention of others who would care for him. George has spent a lot of time with Caden over the past few days. He’d be a good mate and he would keep Caden safe, and love him, probably even bring him into the pack if Caden agreed.”
“You don’t understand…” Sean said angrily, but then both men fell silent as the unmistakable sound of a window opening came from the bedroom. Without making a sound, the two men got up and moved towards the bedroom door, one on either side of the frame. One thump, two, and then a third could be heard. Three men, and they weren’t being quiet. Sean sniffed and the foul scent of unwashed shifter filled his nose. Three of them. No problem. Nodding once at his father, both men burst into the bedroom. Behind them the front door burst open and the scent of the great unwashed got worse. Okay, more than three. Sean half shifted, letting out his claws and teeth, and got to work. He needed to release some tension and fighting was second on his list of preferred methods.
/~/~/~/~/
“He’s not here,” Josiah cursed as Sean looked around the wrecked motel room. Fuck, he hoped the council were fronting for damages. Then Josiah’s words rang a bell in Sean’s head and spun around, looking at the disgruntled troubleshooter.
“None of these are Collins?” Sean moved quickly, lifting the heads of four dead shifters, before scanning the faces of two others that were tied up and being watched by Matt and another council enforcer that Sean had met, but couldn’t remember his name. Every one of the shifter’s stunk, the dead more than the living, but not by much. But not one of the shifters had the scar that Caden had described.
“Fuck!” Sean kicked the nearest chair. It was already broken, but considering the mess, Sean wasn’t worried about one chair.
“I’m Collins,” one of the two survivors said with a snarl. “I see we were expected. But no worries, you can’t hold us. Let me go, and we’ll come to some arrangement. I only want the Omega.”
Sean crossed the space between them in three long steps, gripping the dirty man’s hair and tilting his head side to side. Then he bent and ripped the seams of the man’s jeans revealing dirty, but perfectly-formed calf muscles. Disgusted, Sean punched the man in the face and watched him slump to his side.
“Hey, you can’t do that,” the other captive spluttered. “We’re on Alpha orders. You’ve got no say over what we do. You’re not pack.”
“Listen, fuckwit,” Josiah growled. “We’re from the shifter council, and you and your whole pack are in a shit load of trouble.”
“No pack rules this territory,” the captive said. “My Alpha wants it, and the Omega you stole from him. Stealing the Alpha’s personal slave is against pack law, now let us go, and maybe we won’t kill you all.” The guy had a lot of audacity considering he was tied up and clearly beaten, or maybe he was simply stupid.
Sean raised his fist again, but Ian shook his head. “Not yet, son, we need him to talk.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.” The captive shrugged his shoulders. “You guys are the criminals here. You stole the Alpha’s possession. We were just sent to get him back.”
“Collins too chicken to come himself?” Josiah said with a not so subtle nudge to the man’s knee with his booted foot.
The captive looked away for a moment, and then he shrugged again. “The Alpha said he had another lead to follow up on, in L.A. He and our Beta have headed down there to sort it out. We were told to come here, capture any shifters we could find and hold the Omega until he returned.”
“Caden.” Sean’s heart leapt in terror and his wolf clamored to get out.
“Yeah, I think that’s the slave’s name, although the Alpha just calls him ‘bitch.’ Why, have you seen him?” Was the captive really that stupid? Sean didn’t know, didn’t care.
“He’s my mate,” he snarled as he let rip with his claws and within seconds the man’s head fell from his shoulders and rolled onto the floor below, his eyes wide open.
“You’d better have the boy close by then, because the Alpha has a hard on for him that won’t quit, and if he’s anywhere near L.A. Collins will find him. Mating marks mean nothing to him, and he’ll take the boy by force if necessary. It won’t be the first time.” The other captive was awake, although he didn’t move from his position on the floor. Possibly, because he was staring at the disembodied head of his friend.
“The council plane can be ready in an hour,” Matt said, pulling his phone from his pocket. He turned away, speaking rapidly into it.
“Tell them to bring a clean-up crew,” Josiah called out, looking around at the motel room. “I’ll get a report on the other team.” He pulled out his own phone and hit a number.
“Mordecai, did you find them?”
“Yeah, it was easy enough, we were approached within five miles of Cannon Falls and taken to the pack grounds. But fuck, I wished we hadn’t bothered. This is a fucking nightmare man.” A strong voice came out of the phone. “A dozen women, more kids than I can count. Eight gammas left on guard, and you don’t want to know what we found under the pack house. This fucking mess will clear twenty missing person’s files at least.”
“Is Rebecca Collins, the Alpha Mate, among the women?”
“Yep, but she ain’t talking. She’s crying all over the place, claiming she’s a victim and she wants her mate.”
“Take her to the council and let her know we’re holding her on murder charges, slavery, kidnapping, rape, and incest. Oh and by the way, watch your back.”
“Fucking hell,” Sean heard Mordecai say. “And I thought she was kinda cute.”
“As cute as a rattlesnake with a boot up his ass.” Josiah hit a button on his screen and put his phone in his pocket. “Well, at least the children Caden wanted to save are okay. He’ll be pleased about that.”
“Not if Collins gets to him first,” Sean snarled. “Where’s that fucking plane?”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Caden scratched the back of his neck, as he climbed the stairs to his apartment. He’d been feeling uneasy since he’d flown out of Phoenix, and it had nothing to do with his newly found fear of flying. I’m worried about Sean, I’m sure that’s all this is. Now that he was on his own, Caden could admit to that worry, to himself anyway. He had managed to get through dinner with Felix and Liam through sheer force of will. He had warded off at least a dozen men who had approached him throughout the evening, and had even signed a few autographs for fans who had seen his interview, while he was waiting for a taxi.
He’d been polite to Rocky and Bruno, and had even shown Wendy
his ring, a beautiful piece of carved platinum, that Sean had given him before they’d headed to Phoenix. Caden knew he should take the ring off; it hadn’t meant anything to Sean. He’d literally tossed it to him while they were in the car, and told him it would create more credibility for his interview. Given that Patrick and Ian were in the car too, he could hardly throw the ring back in Sean’s face, although he wanted to. Still, it was pretty and Caden was reluctant to take it off even though the reasons for wearing it were long past.
So what now? Caden unlocked his door with a sigh. It had felt like forever since he’d been in his own space, although it had only been a matter of days. Ignoring his canvases, Caden made sure the door was locked firmly behind him, flicked on the lights, and headed straight for the kitchen. He found a bottle of water in the refrigerator, and he opened it, leaning on the counter, staring at nothing, as he guzzled down half the bottle.
I wonder what Sean is doing?
Caden was fairly sure it was going to take a hell of a long time to forget his larger-than-life mate. “I was such an idiot. I should never have let the word love come out of my mouth,” he said, his words sounding loud and abrasive in the quietness of his space. He banged his head on the kitchen counter, but it didn’t help. He was worried sick about his mate, and Sean was miles away fighting a rogue Alpha. It was past midnight; maybe the fight was over already. Was Sean going to be okay? He has to be, Caden thought. Their mating bond meant he would know if his mate had been severely hurt, or had died, but that didn’t stop his concern. To try and stop himself worrying, Caden thought about the evening he’d had.
Would life really be that bad, if Sean never tells you he loves you? You’re mates. Isn’t life supposed to be better when you’re together? Felix had asked the questions during dinner, while Liam was off being a business owner. At the time Caden didn’t have an answer, and brushed Felix off. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that he deserved someone in his life who was going to love him; otherwise he would rather be alone. Caden knew he was no expert on that emotion. He had spent his childhood shunned or ridiculed, ignored or abused. No one had ever told him he was loved or showed him any caring at all. Mickey had told him more than once that Omegas thrived in a caring and loving environment, and Caden wanted that for himself.
Sean was kind to him, in his way. He was attentive and skilled in bed and before Caden had opened his stupid mouth, he was more than happy to ply Caden with affection. Affections that convinced Caden it was okay to lower his guard, and allow his true feelings to spill out.
“Should have kept my damn mouth shut.” Caden rested his head on his arms, where they lay on the granite, the coolness of the stone doing nothing to help. He missed Sean more than he thought possible, and yet the previous three days had been torture and that was with Sean by his side. Caden had always known what loneliness felt like; he’d just never imagined he could feel that way in a room full of people, with his mate by his side.
“Sleep,” Caden said. “I need to sleep, then I need to paint. Then maybe…” He trailed off, unable to complete the sentence, even to himself. Missing Sean was certainly going to feature strongly in his future, and he let out a large sigh as he threw his water bottle into the recycle bin, flicked off the main lights, and headed for his room. Forgetting Sean wasn’t going to be easy.
/~/~/~/~/
Crash! The unmistakable sound of glass breaking.
Caden was instantly awake; he rolled off the bed, and hauled out his gun case, frantically flicking the locks. Someone, two individuals, were in his apartment. He caught a whiff of unwashed shifter, and then a voice he remembered from his nightmares rang around the apartment.
“Caden. Oh Caden. Time to come home with your Master.” Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Alpha Collins. The asshole had broken through his windows. Caden would worry about how come he didn’t hear the fire escape ladder being pulled down later. For now, he had something more important to worry about – staying alive.
Grabbing hold of the AK47, Caden slipped in a cartridge. Thirty rounds. Hopefully it would be enough. But that thought didn’t stop Caden from sticking a spare cartridge in his pocket.
“You have been busy, boy. And this apartment? Yep, will do nicely while we have a short visit in this fine city.” Collins was wandering around, his boots heavy on the floor. Whoever else had come with him hadn’t moved. The sound of canvases being smashed on the floor rang through the apartment, and then the lights flickered on overhead. Fuck it all. Caden had to man up. He was on his own. No one else was going to save him from this mess. Silently he stood up, and moved around his screen, flicking the gun to automatic as he moved.
“I don’t belong to you, Collins. Slavery is illegal. This is my space,” he said, putting as much strength into his voice as he could. “You’re trespassing, I’ve already called the police, and they are on their way.”
Collins turned. It seemed he’d been looking at Caden’s art, although Caden figured he wasn’t much of a critic, as there were at least a half a dozen canvases on the floor. The man hadn’t changed much at all. His wild dark hair was longer, his beard rougher. Collins still favored the jeans and buttoned down shirt look and Caden would bet every last cent he had, that the boots the man was wearing were the same ones that used to leave marks on his skin. Douglas, the pack beta, was standing over by the front door, clearly blocking his escape. Caden hid a shiver as Douglas favored him with the same leer that had caused Caden to run, all those years ago.
“You wouldn’t shoot me, boy. You’re an Omega, too weak to pull the trigger. And as for contacting the police? You’d hardly be standing there with that poor excuse for a weapon if you’d called the authorities. You know the punishment for involving humans in pack business. Now put the gun down and get us some food. I’ve been traveling all day and I’m fucking hungry.”
He wanted food? Caden couldn’t believe his ears. Collins was still full of the same arrogance that used to terrify Caden as a child. But he wasn’t a child any longer. He raised his gun, pointing it straight at Collins’ chest.
“Get out.”
“I said put that gun down, boy.” Collins moved closer and Caden’s finger tightened on the trigger. “We both know you’re not capable of killing anybody and this little show of bravado is starting to piss me off. Now put it down!” Collins roared the last words, and Caden jumped. But he didn’t lose hold of the gun, and he refused to move from his stance. He could feel Collins shooting out his Alpha power all over the room, and for the first time in three long days, Caden was pleased he was mated. Collins couldn’t compel him anymore, and it seemed that the man was starting to realize it.
“Have you gone and got yourself mated to a shifter, boy?” Collins took another step closer, peering at Caden’s shoulder. Caden knew his mark would be clearly visible, given that he’d only been wearing sleep pants when he went to bed. Caden braced himself, keeping a close eye on Douglas, who hadn’t moved from his post by the door. “Would have to be an Alpha shifter, otherwise you’d be groveling on the floor right now.” Collins looked around, affecting a casual air. “He’s not here though, is he? In fact,” Collins sniffed the air, “he hasn’t been here for days. Aww, what happened boy? Your scrawny ass not good enough for your mate? He left you already?”
“Sean’s out of town, on business,” Caden said with gritted teeth. He would not give Collins the pleasure of knowing he’d made a direct hit in the emotions department.
“Business in Phoenix maybe? Never mind. I told the boys to make sure any killings done there were to be quick and clean. I hardly want anyone stupid enough to mate you in my pack, now do I?”
For a split second, Caden panicked. There were two attacks planned? He calmed himself immediately, his wolf quick to reassure him. Their mate was okay. Not here maybe, where he could be useful, but he wasn’t hurt. Caden’s wolf would know about it. Fuck, Caden would settle for seeing Josiah and Matt right now, but he was glad the men were protecting his mate.
; “My mate can take care of himself. He’s a strong Alpha, with a solid pack behind him. Now get out, or I will shoot.” Caden kept his eyes firmly fixed on Collins and when Douglas moved, Caden did too, making sure both men were within his sight.
Collins snorted. “I doubt you even know how to handle a gun, boy. You’re nothing. You were born nothing, you’ve done nothing and your only worth is in how well you serve your Alpha. Now get me some fucking food, or I’ll kill you right here, right now.”
“I’d rather be dead than do anything for you.” Caden was sure about that. He might not have believed much of what Mickey, or Sean or even Ian had to say about how important Omegas were to a pack, but he fucking knew that he was worth more than being a slave to an Alpha like Collins. “I won’t warn you again, get the fuck out of my apartment.”
Turning to Douglas, Collins said, “Can you believe the gall of this boy? Take that piece of machinery off him, would you? You can knock him around a bit if you want, but not too much. Otherwise we’re never going to get anything to eat.”
“Err…Alpha…” The leer on Douglas’ face had been replaced with a worried frown. “That’s a fucking big gun.”
“So!” Collins raised his hands in the air, in frustration. “He’s an Omega wolf, you’re my beta. Are you telling me you’re afraid of a tiny, scrawny, no good wolf?”
“No,” Douglas said angrily. “I’m telling you I have a healthy respect for an Ak47.”
“Fuck, if I want something done, I have to do everything my fucking self.” Collins turned and leapt and for a split second Caden couldn’t move. Collins’ arm reaching for him, snapped him out of his stupor, and closing his eyes, Caden pulled the trigger, swinging his body around from side to side, just like he’d seen in a movie Felix had taken him to once. His gun instructor had told him it was the most stupid way to fire any weapon, but Caden was panicked enough not to care. He had to stop either man from touching him or he knew he’d be a dead man, or at least wish that he was.