“This evening,” Seb promised as he pulled away. “That bathtub is big enough for two.”
Blushing, Ro’s smile widened. Sex in the shower was one of his favorites. He guessed sex in the bath would be an experience he wouldn’t want to forget.
A knock on the door brought their moment together to a close as Martin and Joel arrived.
“I’ll see you for lunch,” Seb promised again as he and Martin left.
Joel grinned at him. “Sam’s bringing the car around. There are a few places he had in mind for us to check out.”
“Sounds like fun,” Ro said, trying hard to sound enthusiastic as he followed Joel downstairs.
Sam and Joel dropped him back to the hotel at lunchtime. They had seen a burger place they wanted to try out for lunch but Seb wouldn’t have enough time to join them, so Ro was going to eat with him at the hotel.
The car idled by the entrance until Ro was safely inside. He turned and waved as Joel and Sam left, then made his way towards the hotel’s restaurant, searching out Seb.
But before he’d even reached the door, Daniel accosted him.
“Ro, how was your excursion? City life must be such an experience for you, what with your background and all,” the other man said.
Ro froze. What did Daniel know about his background?
“You must feel so out of place here. But don’t worry, I’ll do my very best to make you feel welcome.” Daniel’s fake smile sent as shudder through him.
“Thanks, that’s kind of you,” he muttered, trying to push past Daniel.
“Are you having lunch?” The other wolf’s voice halted him.
“I’m eating with Seb,” he replied, avoiding Daniel’s eyes.
“Sebastian is dining with Raventree’s Alpha and Alpha successor.”
“I’ll just go and join them.”
“I don’t think they want to be disturbed,” Daniel replied. “And I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable, Robert, but you aren’t really dressed for the occasion.”
Ro looked down at his casual pants and shirt before glancing over Daniel’s outfit. He had on another tailored suit, with cuff links and a tie that brought out his cold blue eyes.
“If you like, you can order room service and they’ll bring it to your room. I’ll let Seb know you stopped by.”
He put a hand on Ro’s arm, turning him towards the elevators.
"I hear they make delicious burgers, why don’t you give one of those a try?”
Ro had half a mind to turn around, push past Daniel, and go find Seb, but he didn’t want to cause a scene, knowing appearances mattered so much to Packs like Raventree. He jammed the elevator button with unnecessary force, stepping in and turning when the doors opened. Daniel still stood at the entrance to the restaurant, his smirk the last thing Ro saw as the doors closed.
He wondered if he should go find Martin. Or would he be at lunch too? He wasn’t strictly supposed to be by himself while on this trip. The only reason Sam had let him off was because he had promised to go straight to Seb. He pulled out his phone. Was it too late to call Sam and Joel and get them to come back and pick him up?
The elevator opened on his floor and he stepped out, making his way down the corridor to their room. The floor seemed busy for the middle of the day, a handful of heartbeats audible. Was everyone having lunch in their rooms or were they up to more pleasurable activities? It reminded him of Seb’s plans for their evening and he couldn’t keep the smile from his face. His stomach rumbled and brought his attention back to the matter at hand. Pulling out his keycard, he opened his door with one hand while dialing Joel with the other.
A sound behind him caught his attention but before he could turn around, someone barreled into him, forcing him through the now open door and to the floor. A hand pressed his face to the floor muffling his shout as a sharp pain pierced the skin of his upper arm. He twisted his head with all his strength to see the silver glint of a needle before another pair of hands took his phone, disconnecting the call he was making. As he struggled to get his hands under him, a heaviness washed over him. He sank back to the floor as he was swallowed into darkness.
Chapter Five
It wasn’t the talks that Sebastian struggled with. It was the needless posturing. Raventree weren’t the worst by far but, in Seb’s opinion, it still wasted valuable time that could be better spent fine-tuning a deal.
It was impossible to say no when William, Raventree's Alpha, requested they continue over lunch but Seb agreed only on the understanding that Robert would join them. Both William and Byron had readily approved. Byron's father was very keen on the new development of the Omega resurgence and wanted to know all the ins and outs. It made Seb a little uncomfortable and he wondered whether they had a way to get their hands on one. Considering how Briar Wood had all but tried to sell Matthew and Adam had actually been sold, Omega business seemed a secretive and lucrative one.
The time for lunch came and went and there was still no sign of Ro. They started without him, Daniel offering to go and let the staff outside know to direct Ro to their table. He returned a few minutes later, taking the seat next to Seb. Martin sat to Seb’s right.
Daniel’s presence made him uncomfortable. It was impossible to forget how well they knew each other, how much time they’d spent with their lives intertwined. But neither could Seb forget Daniel’s rejection. Sure, he’d done his best to ease the pain but it was hard to blunt 'you’re just not good enough for me’.
And now he found Daniel… over familiar. Too eager to touch, to press against him. His scent was still one that Seb struggled to ignore and Daniel seemed to want to make it as difficult as possible. Lunch felt wrong in his presence and without Ro by his side. Pulling out his phone, he rang Ro, heaving a frustrated sigh when it rang out. He went to try Sam next only for Sam to call him first.
“Just checking in to see if your lunch is going as well as ours,” Sam said cheerfully. “Our place has a queue out the door, there’s a real risk of starvation here.”
Seb couldn’t restrain a grin, even if he was a little hurt Ro had decided to dine with Sam and Joel. He couldn’t blame him, though, he’d had a tough few weeks and having to mind his manners and keep his opinions locked down was draining.
“Well, just make sure Ro eats his fill, dinner looks like it’ll be quite late.”
There was an awkward pause on the other end of the phone before Sam spoke again.
“Sebastian, I dropped Ro back at the hotel twenty minutes ago, to have lunch with you. Did you try calling him?”
A sense of unease crept over him. “It rang out. I’ll check our rooms, maybe he wanted to rest.”
“We’ll head straight back and meet you there,” Sam said. It was on the tip of Seb’s tongue to tell him no, enjoy their lunch, but his unease stopped him. This wasn’t like Ro.
“I’ll call as soon as we locate him.”
Martin was already on his feet as Seb ended the call. The others around the table, who couldn’t have helped overhearing his conversation, were watching him, undecided as to how to react.
“Why don’t I come with you?” Daniel offered smoothly. “Three people can search faster than two.”
"I'll speak with security," Byron offered, sparing a quick glance for his father, who nodded.
Seb agreed distractedly, more focused on Martin.
“He’s probably up in the rooms,” Martin said, following him as they made their way to the foyer. They eschewed the elevator in lieu of the stairs, jogging the five flights with ease, Daniel keeping pace behind them.
Pulling his room card from his pocket, he rounded the last corner, only to find the card wasn’t needed. The door was ajar.
Seb could smell Ro’s scent, strong enough to suggest he’d been here very recently. Alongside it were two scents he didn’t recognize.
“Ro?” he called, stepping into the room. Ro’s phone lay on the floor just inside the door but there was no sign of the Omega. They spread out, calling
for him as they searched.
“He’s not here,” Seb confirmed moments later. Daniel already had his phone to his ear.
“Byron? It's Daniel. We need the hotel locked down, every entrance. Robert may have been taken. His hotel room door was open, there’s evidence of a struggle.”
He flashed a look of compassion towards Seb as he spoke.
“No, no blood.”
But Martin was kneeling on the ground and pressing two fingers against the carpet. His fingers came away with a smear of red. He sniffed them carefully.
“It has a chemical twang to it. He may have been drugged.”
Daniel relayed that to Byron.
“He’ll meet us downstairs. We’ll commence a proper search and check the CCTV.”
“We’ll follow the scent trail,” Martin said, raising an eyebrow at Daniel’s words.
“It’ll be faster,” Seb agreed and followed Martin out the door and down the corridor. They came to a stairway at the back of the building marked staff only. The door opened with a push. Following the trail, it led them downward, until they reached the first floor and a door that opened outward to the loading bay at the back of the hotel.
They lost the scent there.
“A vehicle. Diesel,” Martin said, worried eyes meeting Seb’s. “I’d guess they’re gone at least fifteen minutes.”
Seb tried to think past the voice in his head roaring that his mate was in danger and he had to find him.
Martin’s hand rested on his shoulder. “We need to see their CCTV footage. If we can figure out who took him, it’ll take us three steps closer to finding him.”
Nodding, he followed the older man, more glad than he had ever been to have him by his side.
Kevin, Joel's father, had joined the group in the lobby by the time they came down. Sam and Joel had arrived back, Joel looking distressed. “Did you find him?”
“He’s been taken. Whoever it was had a car pulled around to the loading bay out back,” Martin said.
“We should have gone inside with him. We shouldn’t have left him,” Joel said, shaking his head.
“I’m so sorry, Sebastian,” Sam added. “We watched him walk inside. I thought he’d be safe.”
“So did I,” Seb said, reining in his anger. It wasn’t them he was angry at. “This wasn’t your fault.”
Byron was speaking to the hotel’s head of security, George. They followed him to the Security Office.
“You didn’t have guards at the loading bay doors?” Martin asked. Security was supposed to be tight for the talks.
George answered. “Only when deliveries were due in. The doors stay locked and alarmed outside of those times.”
“Well, they certainly weren’t locked or alarmed when we just checked them,” Seb replied. “Can you send some of your people to our rooms to check the scents. In case anyone recognizes them.” He left unspoken the very real possibility that there had been someone on the inside to open doors and disconnect alarms for the intruders.
“We’ve got the CCTV up,” another guard said.
They turned to watch.
“Here’s Robert arriving back at the hotel. This is him entering the lobby. And him in the elevator.”
“What happened in between? There are almost two minutes of a gap there,” Martin asked. Seb was too busy scanning the screen for any sign of impending danger. Someone following him, eyes watching him.
“We can’t say. The cameras cover the door and the elevator but not the center of the lobby,” the guard said.
“Check with the staff on the floor, see if they remember him passing through,” George ordered, and the second guard left the room.
“Here he is in the corridor outside the elevator. He stops outside your room and…”
A blur of movement as someone launched themselves from the door opposite theirs, across the corridor and after Ro. A second person crossed the threshold a moment later. The sideways view wasn’t illuminating.
“And here’s where they bring him out,” the guard said, skipping forward to footage from the corridor as the two figures carried Ro’s lifeless body between them.
“Pause it there,” George said when both men’s faces were visible. Whoever they were, as their scents had suggested, they were strangers to Seb.
“Well, fuck,” Sam said, breaking the silence that had fallen across the room.
“You know them?” Seb asked, a spark of hope flickering to life.
“The guy on the right. He was part of that trafficking ring Ben and I went after as Enforcers. The same bastards who took Lianna.”
Traffickers had Ro? There wasn’t a worse scenario Seb could imagine.
“But why take Robert? He’s already mated, what use would he be? Separated from Seb, he won’t survive more than a heat or two,” Daniel said.
“These people aren’t exactly thinking long-term,” Sam said, face gray. “I’ll call Ben, we can reach out to some of our contacts, see if we can track where these guys are holed up nowadays.”
Seb tried not to think of the meaning behind Sam’s words. With Omegas potentially available but in such short supply, there was a lot of money to be made in trade. And then there were those who wished ill on Glenoak and Sebastian. They’d made some enemies in the last few years, especially in their position on feuds over Omegas. Their alliances with other Packs protected them from direct attacks, but Seb had been worried about something like this. But not here. Few would dare to act within the heart of Raventree. And they couldn’t have done so without help.
Byron arrived back and all eyes turned to him.
“Sebastian, I’ve briefed my father. We cannot understand how this has happened. Our people are at your disposal. We will assist you in recovering Robert safely.”
There was no mention of the elephant in the room and Seb knew naming it might be enough to fracture the alliance between them. It would be the greatest insult to Byron’s father to suggest that Raventree had had a hand in this.
“We have the license plate of the vehicle they used,” George called across the room. Daniel was by his side in a moment, calling the number out to the room at large.
“Let all our people know the vehicle’s details. Use the text alert system. We need as many eyes watching the streets as possible,” Byron said.
“They’re sure to be leaving the city,” Martin said. “There are too many eyes and ears here for Ro to be kept hidden.”
“So, let’s get on the road,” Seb interrupted. “Head towards the city’s limits.” He wanted to do something, anything, to ease the feeling within him.
“But which direction? And where to then? You have no idea where these men have taken Robert. If the intention is to ransom him, it would be best to stay put,” Byron said.
Seb looked to Sam, trusting the ex-Enforcer’s experience to balance Seb’s instinct to just get out there and look.
“These guys aren’t the ransom type. Too much risk for an uncertain return. But we do need some direction before we head out there, otherwise, we’ll just be going in circles.”
Martin was talking with George in quiet undertones and the two of them were checking through more CCTV.
"Damn it," George said after a moment.
"What's wrong?" Byron asked.
"There's footage missing from this morning. Of the loading bay area. Only for a short period, a matter of minutes."
"But enough time to disable the alarm and unlock the door?" Seb said.
"Yes, enough for that," George replied. "We'll do a security sweep of the whole building, with your permission." He turned to Byron.
"Of course," the Alpha said. "I'll call in additional security. We'll need people for the search."
Chapter Six
Martin accompanied him back up to their rooms. Sebastian went to check Ro’s things, struggling to keep calm. Not even the strong scent of Ro from the Omega's belongings could dampen his emotions. He should have been more cautious, brought more security, had someone with Ro twent
y-four seven. But he’d been trying to give Ro a taste of freedom, of normalcy, instead of the restrictive life he knew Ro disliked.
“This isn’t your fault,” Martin spoke from the doorway. “If they were truly out to get Ro, then if not here it would have been somewhere else.”
“You and I both know what they’ll do to him. The longer he’s with them…” He left the rest unsaid.
“We’ll find him,” Martin said, speaking with a conviction Seb didn’t feel.
“I have to call Alicia. And speak to Ben. He’s had experience with this group. I want more of our people here working with us.”
It killed him to be unable to do anything more than make phone calls but he knew they needed backup.
Alicia answered on the first ring.
“Sam already called, Seb. Ben is tightening security here, he’s putting extra patrols on the border and getting a group together to come out and join you.”
“Make sure Adam and the twins are secure but I need you and Ben here, Alicia. Ask Ben to contact James. We need all the help we can get, Fenrir’s Warriors included.”
“Of course, Seb. We’ll find him, I know we will.”
The minutes eked slowly by with no news and no further leads presenting themselves. He and Martin went through the likeliest scenarios for who and why. A knock on the door interrupted them. Daniel, looking unusually ruffled, stood there.
“I know which way they went.”
“What do you mean? How?” Seb asked, crossing the room towards him.
“I have a friend who works for city transport. He checked the vehicle registration against the toll road system. They took the east road, crossed over the toll bridge about half an hour after Ro went missing.”
East. So now they knew the direction, if not the destination.
“Thank you, Daniel, that helps. A lot.”
“I’ve already informed Raventree, they’re sending people out in that direction but they don’t have a lot to go on apart from the vehicle itself. You must be hungry, I’ll have some food sent up,” he offered, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.
The Alpha's Love: Lost Omegas Book Four: A M/M Shifter Romance Page 4