Adam ignores it. His days of acting like a savage are long behind him, and if he wants a chance with Thomas, he’s going to have to prove that he has changed.
Choosing the Van Zyle cabin to hide out in wasn’t a good first step, he admits to himself, but it was the obvious choice.
It’s a good distance from both the Warwick farmlands and the town of Aylewood. There are no other cabins for miles around, and its location just above the ravine and before the Charen Peak ridges make it almost impossible to reach for casual hikers.
It’s also drivable for most of the way, as long as you recognize all the turn offs hidden through brush and overgrown trees.
No one has to get out of the car and risk leaving a scent trail until they are almost at the door.
They’re also about to reach the point where the cell signal starts to get patchy.
Adam pulls his phone out of his pocket, glancing at the screen. The reek of fear thickens.
Thomas gives him a questioning look.
“I need to get hold of Gregor. My brother,” he explains to the omegas in the back. “The cabin’s in bad condition, and you’re going to need supplies.”
“It’ll be fine,” Thomas says. Bright blue eyes meet Adam’s. “It’ll be good to see him. It’s been a while.”
His voice sends shivers down Adam’s spine. The memory of it had faded over the years along with that of Thomas’ face and scent, even as his space in Adam’s mind never did.
Now, it’s like being hit with a Thomas-saturated rocket launcher. His whole body is tingling and hyper-aware of the omega in the seat beside him, even as Thomas sits there cool as a cucumber.
Adam sends a short message explaining the situation in as bland terms as he can, and without naming the cabin or people involved.
Gregor will know what he means. Adam has learned the hard way that a little paranoia can sometimes be a good thing.
Thomas turns the car left, off of the main road, and onto the track. It bumps as it maneuvers around exposed roots and rock.
It’s rough but the track should be clear of debris or fallen trees. There haven’t been any major windstorms since the last time Adam came up here.
When’s the last time you were up here to wallow, anyway? a little voice asks.
No, not wallowing, he argues with himself. Checking. He checks on the place. He checks on it for hours sometimes while wallowing about everything that went wrong with Thomas.
Ugh.
Adam’s phone buzzes with a response pulling him out of his thoughts. Gregor confirms he’s getting started on Adam’s requests, then the signal drops out, leaving nothing but a circle with a line through it where the signal strength icon should be.
The car continues on its bumpy journey, slower now as the trees thicken and the track bends making it harder to see what’s ahead.
The bumps are starting to take their toll, as is the sitting. The pain in Adam’s leg is starting to spike again. He ignores it.
Finally, the track comes to an end and the car can’t go any further.
“Okay, everyone out,” Thomas says. “We’re on foot from here.”
Adam gets out carefully, watching his head this time. His hip clicks as he straightens it out. The relief is immediate, even if he’s sure that it’s not supposed to make that noise.
The cabin looks worse than he remembers. It leans drunkenly to one side where one of the beams propping up the porch has cracked and broken. Green moss rises up the walls. The windows are cloudy with dust.
Adam is suddenly unsure of his decision. He can’t ask Thomas to stay here or the other omegas, and certainly not a child.
“It’ll do,” Thomas says from the driver seat, and Adam realizes the indecision must have been showing on his face. “We’ll be safe here. That’s what’s important.”
The car door creaks as Thomas opens it and steps out.
The air is fresh up here away from smells of the town below. The only sour note is the rotting scent of the cabin underpinning the pine.
It’s quiet too. The only sounds are those of the car doors opening and shutting, and the whispering breeze through the trees.
There are no wolf scents, nor human ones either. No one has been here in months. It’s the perfect place to hide out.
The kid scrambles out of the car and walks up to Thomas, putting his small hand in Thomas’ own.
“It looks like a witch’s house,” the boy says, but there’s wonder in his voice, not fear.
“Yeah, it does a bit,” Thomas says.
“I like it,” the kid says. “but I need to go to the bathroom. It does have a bathroom? Right, Dad?”
Thomas raises his gaze, thoughtfully. “I seem to remember it has an outhouse,” he says, but Adam hardly hears him.
Dad? Thomas has a kid?
THOMAS
dark drapes and a choice of trees
Adam’s head whips round the moment that Ivan says ‘Dad’.
Thomas can see the gears turning in his head as Adam looks at Ivan and wonders how old he is.
He also sees Adam dismiss the thought just as fast. That’s Adam too. Adam feels something he doesn’t want to and the shutters come slamming down. Some things never change.
Instead, Adam makes small talk, “Your kid?”
“Yeah, this is Ivan. Ivan, say hello to my friend Adam.”
“Nice to meet you,” Adam says, putting out his hand so Ivan can shake it. “You must be named after your grandfather. He was a good man.”
“He died before I was born,” Ivan says, then is distracted again by his bladder. “Dad, I really do need to pee.”
Thomas thinks about the likely state of the outhouse. “Just go behind a tree.”
Ivan gives him a dubious look, and Thomas is reminded that his son is growing up in the city, not among farm and forest like he did. Al fresco urination is unfamiliar to him.
“It’ll be fine. Just don’t pee on your feet.”
“Ew. You are so gross,” Ivan complains, but he starts looking round at the trees as if trying to pick out the most appropriate one.
Adam is still watching him and Ivan like they’ve got horns. Thomas sighs inwardly.
Thomas’ skills at the more practical side of parenting was not the first thing he was intending to demonstrate when he did finally introduce Adam to Ivan.
Cam and Shannon still haven’t got out of the car. Cam is watching Adam like he’s a lion about to pounce.
Evidently Adam picks up on that because he says, “I’m just going to check out the cabin, and have a look around,” even though anyone with a nose can smell that no one has been here in a long time.
Few people outside of the Aylewood packs even know that the cabin is here. For that matter, most people inside the Aylewood packs don’t know that the cabin is here either.
Adam finds a tree of his own to strip off behind, then re-emerges as a wolf. He’s a beautiful wolf: huge and golden.
Adam sets off, nose to the ground, and Thomas can’t help but notice that the limp has followed him into wolf form, and the reason for it is clear: a huge scar, bare of fur, on his flank. Adam is clearly doing his best to hide it but his gait is stiff and forced.
Thomas wants to stare and just drink in his fill of the scent and sight of the man he’s been fantasizing about for ten years. He shrugs the thought away.
Right now, he has other priorities than Adam Winterstoke, even if he wishes he didn’t.
Adam sniffs all along the cabin, and then gives Thomas a nod to go ahead before disappearing into the trees.
The car doors behind him open. Shannon gets out first, followed by Cam who looks as if he might bolt at any moment. His nose wrinkles when he takes in the sight of the cabin, and that seemingly endless scent of fear rises again.
It’s the sane reaction, Thomas thinks. The place looks like it’s a magnet for axe murderers or revengeful ghosts.
The cabin is in worse condition compared to when he saw it last, and it was dilapidat
ed then.
It’s isolated and it’ll be safe, he thinks. It was the obvious place to stash them, but part of Thomas still wishes that Adam had picked anywhere else.
“Let’s see what we’re working with,” he says, making his way across the clearing.
The key is in the same place it used to be – under a large stone to the left of the porch, and it’s stiff when he turns it in the lock.
The wood is rotten and swollen in the door frame, but a heavy shove with his shoulder forces it through, and he’s confronted with the scent of damp and mold.
Ivan trots up beside him and peers in with undisguised curiosity. His nose wrinkles.
“We just need to clean it out,” Thomas says.
“It smells really gross.”
Thomas shrugs. He can’t argue with that.
From memory, the cabin consists of four small rooms – one living room, one kitchen and two bedrooms. The bathroom is little more than an outhouse to the rear with a bucket shower attached to it.
There’s also a view of the road where it turns to track from the window in the front room. They’ll have plenty of notice of any visitors.
Ivan is leaning into him, keen to see inside. Thomas considers telling him to wait outside but the boy is just about buzzing with excitement at getting to explore so he thinks better of it.
“Stay behind me, and don’t run ahead.” Thomas instructs. “Look where you put your feet.”
The last thing he needs right now is for Ivan to put his foot through a rotten floorboard and twist his ankle.
The cabin is dark, the drapes pulled almost shut, although a thin sliver of light shines through, highlighting dust motes and disturbed spores dancing over the floorboards.
Thomas picks his way carefully across the floor which creaks as he moves but seems solid enough.
Everything is dirtier and more rotten, but nothing has actually changed.
The same green sofa where Adam kissed him for the first time still stands in front of the fire. He wouldn’t want to sit on it now and isn’t even sure if he could. It looks as if it would collapse at the slightest pressure.
Above, the ceiling is stained throughout where water has leaked through, and when he peers into the main bedroom, there’s a hole big enough to see the sky in one corner.
The bedding and mattresses are all black with mold.
Thomas runs his fingers through his hair. He can almost feel the spores settling into it.
“Dad, this place is disgusting. I don’t want to stay here.”
“It’ll be okay once we get it cleaned up. How about you get the windows open so we can let the fresh air in. Can you do that for me?”
“Okay.” The windows are probably swollen shut too, but it’ll keep him occupied for a little while.
Thomas takes a deep breath. It’s going to be just fine. All they need to do is hole up here for a few weeks until it’s safe. Or safer at least.
He beckons to Shannon and Cam from the doorway. He can only imagine what they must be feeling.
Shannon heads over with Cam following her like a chick that’s lost its mother. The boy still hasn’t said more than half a dozen words and nothing directly to Thomas. Everything has been communicated in whispers direct to Shannon’s ear.
Cam isn’t the first mute or almost-mute omega to come into Thomas’ care. Most of them continue on their way without saying a word, and Thomas always wonders how long it is before they are able to get comfortable enough to start talking again.
Shannon follows Thomas into the cabin and puts her hands on her hips, appraising the situation.
“I suppose it’ll give us something to do,” she says with a shrug.
Cam just stares.
Shannon takes a step closer to Thomas and lowers her voice. “Are you sure we can trust that alpha?”
“I’ve known him all my life.” Thomas replies.
“You said that already. It’s not what I asked.”
“Yes, you can trust him. And his brothers.” Thomas can hear the conviction in his own voice, but he’s not sure himself.
People change.
He hasn’t seen any of the Winterstoke brothers since they were in their teens. That’s the difference between a boy and a man. The boys would never give him up. The men had responsibilities to their pack. Their choices might be different.
Thomas’ stomach hurts with the thought.
It doesn’t matter either way, he thinks. We have nowhere else to go. He has to trust them whether he wants to or not.
There’s a light tap at the door. The light dims as Adam’s bulk fills it, blocking out the light. He’s dressed again after his stint as a wolf. It is the polite thing for him to do, but Thomas is unreasonably disappointed.
“Can I have a word?” Adam asks.
Thomas’ stomach sinks. Here it comes. He’s going to ask about Ivan.
He steps out onto the front porch, closing the door behind him. He has to shove it with his shoulder where it sticks against the frame, then he follows Adam into the clearing out front, his stomach in a knot.
Adam lowers his voice. “I need to know what I’m dealing with here. I don’t think your mom wasn’t completely forthcoming.”
Thomas hears the words but it’s hard to absorb them completely. Adam smells like heaven on legs. Thomas remembers standing exactly here ten years ago with his nose pressed to Adam’s chest, feeling Adam’s arms around him.
“Why is Ronmin after you?” Adam continues.
He’s not looking Thomas in the eye. Instead, he’s staring straight ahead as if the trees are endlessly fascinating. “I’ve respected your mom’s wishes and stayed out of Warwick business, but I need to keep you safe. I don’t want to risk anyone because I’ve been kept in the dark.”
It’s a reasonable request. More than reasonable in fact, but Thomas still hesitates.
Warwick business is Warwick business. Even back when he thought Adam was going to be his one and only for life, he hadn’t told him about Warwick business. The real Warwick business.
Adam is many things but he’s never been stupid. He’ll have picked up that this is something more than just a handful of omegas on the run, and he’s right. He can’t manage a threat if he doesn’t know what it is.
Adam stands patiently while Thomas pulls his thoughts together and makes a decision about how much to share.
“We manage a number of omega safehouses,” Thomas says finally. “Late last night, Ronmin’s men raided one that was operating in his territory.”
Adam is still watching the trees, but his posture is tense and his expression unreadable. He nods for Thomas to continue.
Look me in the eye, damn it. What are you thinking? Thomas swallows his frustration. He’s not entitled to know what Adam is feeling. Not anymore. He lost that right a long time ago.
“We don’t know how Ronmin found out about it or how long he’s known. We don’t know how much he knows about the other ones operating in his territory.”
“How many others?” Adam interrupts.
“I’m not sure,” Thomas admits. “At least one other in Fort Gosford. Lex and I ran that one, but there are others in other towns and cities. I don’t know the details. Information is siloed. I only really know about the one I run. I’ve caught snippets about others from omegas passing through, but I don’t ask.”
Adam reaches down and rubs at his leg. It seems like an almost automatic movement, as if he’s not even aware that he’s doing it.
He grimaces. “Shit.” He pinches the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. “And the other two omegas here? Who are they?”
“They came from the safehouse just before it got raided.”
“But who are they? Where did they come from before that? Do you know who might be looking for them?”
“I don’t know.”
“Anything at all,” Adam continues. “Are they escaping Ronmin’s pack? Someone else’s?”
“I don’t know. I don’t ask. It�
��s a chain. It’s not safe for anyone to know the whole of it. Maybe Mom does.”
Adam nods brusquely. “I’ll do that. Thank you. I need to make some calls.” He turns away.
“To who?”
Adam doesn’t turn around although he stops walking. “Luke. He’s away with his mate. He needs to come back. Also alphas in the town. Don’t worry. They won’t get the details, but we’ve had problems with Ronmin before. I need everyone to be alert.”
“Thank you.”
Adam shrugs those enormous shoulders of his. “No problem.”
The rumble of an engine sounds through the trees and Thomas freezes.
“That’ll be Gregor,” Adam says, walking towards the track. “I’ll get him up-to-date, then I’ll be off. Let him know if you need anything. He’ll pass it to me.”
Adam’s leaving? It shouldn’t have come as a surprise. There’s absolutely no reason the leader of an allied pack should spend his time guarding a bunch of omegas. That’s what pack alphas are for.
“I’ll be back later,” Adam says gruffly, as if reading Thomas’ thoughts. “I’ve got some stuff to sort out.”
He walks away just as another truck turns the bend and comes into view. He still hasn’t looked Thomas in the eye.
ADAM
teething and a newsletter
Adam’s first instinct is to get in Gregor’s truck, drive over to the Warwick farm and ask Barbara what the hell she’s playing at.
He doesn’t. His days of acting purely on instinct are done. He knows where that gets him.
Instead, he talks politely to Thomas, explains the situation to Gregor when he arrives, unloads the supplies from Gregor’s truck, and drives it down the mountain like a civilized person instead of having a massive tantrum like he wants to.
With everything that has happened recently, the last thing he needed was to find out that the Warwicks had been risking all the Aylewood packs for years without his knowledge.
He wonders if any of the other pack leaders are aware. Ash of the wild wolves won’t be. Max Foster of the Button Oak pack might.
“Shit,” he says again under his breath.
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