by J. L. Wilder
“All right,” she agreed. “I can ride, I think.” She’d never done it before, unless you counted that frantic flight through the woods on the stolen bike, but how hard could it be? She wouldn’t have to steer this time. She would just be hanging on to one of them.
Harley left the room. “You’re going to need to get out of that dress thing,” Jamie said. “It’s too recognizable.”
“Recognizable? What do you mean?”
“I mean that if the Death Fangs put word out that one of their girls is missing, it’ll be easy to describe what you’re wearing.”
“We should cover up her hair too,” Mark mused.
“Okay, well, I don’t have anything else to wear.” Maddy was irritated. They couldn’t seriously be expecting her to climb onto the back of one of their motorcycles naked, could they? But even as she thought this, it occurred to her that she was all but naked right now. What difference would there be in taking off her dress, really?
Harley returned carrying a plastic shopping bag. “The gift shop had boxer shorts and hoodies,” he said, tossing the bag on the bed. “It won’t make for the best riding gear, but...”
“The important thing is getting her out while we can.” Mark nodded. He turned back to Maddy. “Get changed.”
“What, right in front of you three?”
“You can use the bathroom.”
Maddy snatched up the bag of clothes and went into the hotel bathroom.
Once the door was closed and locked behind her, she sank down to sit on the floor. She was tough, she thought, but she didn’t think she could take another minute of this. She felt like breaking down in sobs.
No. Not yet. Not until you know them and know you can trust them.
She got back to her feet instead and looked at herself in the mirror.
The last time Maddy had stood in front of a mirror she had been thirteen years old. She knew she wasn’t a little girl anymore, of course; she knew from looking at her body that it was different. But she wasn’t prepared for the shock of seeing her adult face for the first time.
It was like meeting a stranger.
She could have looked for hours, adjusting to those high cheekbones, the loss of the baby fat she was used to, the clear skin that had taken the place of teenage acne. But someone pounded on the door. “Hurry up.”
She couldn’t tell their voices apart, but based on her experience with them so far, she thought it was probably Mark. I’ll bet he’s their alpha. She stripped off her clothes and pulled on the new ones from the hotel gift shop. She took a moment to relish the feeling of clean, dry cotton, then stuffed the horrible dress in the plastic bag, picked up the jacket, and went back out to the men.
Jamie stepped forward to take the jacket from her. So, I was right. It did belong to him. As he shrugged in on, Harley took the gift shop bag with the dress inside and buried it deep inside a backpack.
“Why are you taking that thing?” she asked. They’d better not be thinking she would ever wear it again.
“We can’t leave it behind,” Harley said. “If the Death Fangs found it...”
“Oh, I see.” It was evidence. It would tell them she’d been here, and they might even be able to pick up and follow the scent of these three men.
Mark was peering out the window. “The coast is clear,” he said. “Everyone ready?”
They all nodded. Maddy had the sudden feeling that she had known these men much longer than the few minutes they’d been acquainted in real life. It was as though the extreme circumstances had bonded them together.
They formed a circle around her as they walked down the rear access stairs of the hotel to the lobby and slipped out a side door of the hotel. Maddy couldn’t decide whether she felt safe or vulnerable. It wasn’t likely that any of the Death Fangs would take her while she was surrounded by these men—not unless the whole pack came upon her, and she thought the chances were greater that they would split up to look for her. They weren’t expecting her to have help.
But the help she had wasn’t exactly comforting. Going with them because it was the best choice available to her wasn’t the same as trusting them. They might have been lying to her about everything. They might be just waiting to get her home before they turned on her and used her for all kinds of twisted purposes.
Nothing I can do about it if that’s their plan. I don’t have a hope of escaping them.
They walked her to three motorcycles, parked side by side. “You’ll ride with me,” Mark said.
Maddy didn’t want to. She feared him more than either of the others. But what could she say? “All right.”
Mark looked at his brothers. “Give it gas,” he said. “I want to be across the state line before they even think about putting up barricades.”
The others nodded and climbed aboard their bikes.
“I don’t have a helmet,” Mark said. “Ordinarily, I’d let a passenger wear one.”
“It’s all right,” Maddy said. She’d already been in one motorcycle wreck today. Lightning wouldn’t strike twice. “Let’s just go. I don’t want them to take me.”
“They won’t,” Mark said. “I promise you that.”
He helped her onto the bike and then climbed on in front of her. “Hold on tight,” he said. “We’ll be going fast.”
Even though she felt awkward and uncomfortable, she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist and clung on. It wasn’t so bad, she thought, her cheek pressed against his wide back. It was like hanging onto a tree.
Mark revved up the bike’s engine and pulled away.
The moment they were on the highway, he accelerated hard. The bike sped forward at an astonishing pace. Maddy struggled to breathe as air rushed into her lungs. She buried her face in the back of Mark’s shirt, closed her eyes, and centered herself. I can’t believe I thought I was going fast on that stolen bike! she thought. She hadn’t known the half of it. This was speed like she’d never experienced it before.
And, she realized with a sudden pleasant thrill, she liked it.
She liked the way the wind kissed her skin as she sliced through it. She liked the powerful rumble of the bike between her legs. She was even beginning to like Mark, strong, sturdy Mark, holding both her and the bike steady as they rode.
I could do this forever and not get tired of it.
She wondered if that was really true. She wondered if she’d have the chance to find out. It didn’t seem like they were stopping anytime soon. Were they really going all the way to the state line?
They were. But it wasn’t the one she’d expected. She’d been thinking of California, hoping against hope that, somehow, this was going to bring her closer to LA. The city where she’d been born, where she’d lived her first thirteen years. The place where, if she was lucky, her family was still waiting for her.
But they were traveling east, not south, and after about five hours of riding, they came upon a great blue sign which read WELCOME TO IDAHO.
Idaho.
Farther from home than Maddy had ever been.
She couldn’t help it. She pressed her face into Mark’s back and allowed a few tears to spill. It felt like unstoppering something, and she found she couldn’t stop. It had been forever since she had let herself cry.
Mark must have felt her shaking, must have noticed that the back of his shirt was damp with tears, but he didn’t say anything or stop the bike. Maddy was grateful for that. She didn’t want to discuss her feelings with these men. She didn’t want to tell them that sometimes, when she was alone at night, she still ached for the home she had left behind and the life she should have had. I was their princess, she thought now. It was a thought she rarely permitted herself because it was so painful. I was their omega. They would have cared for me all my life.
Now, she was on her own.
The tall pine trees rose around them and seemed to swallow them up, and Maddy felt with a sudden certainty that she was entering a new phase in her life. It only remained to be seen whether this
phase would be more tolerable than the last.
At least, she thought bitterly, it can’t be much worse. I don’t think life gets much worse than being sold as a breed mate at an omega auction.
Whatever these men had planned, it would be better than that.
It wasn’t exactly a comforting thought, but it would have to do. Maddy took a deep breath and fought to get her emotions back under control, and by the time they stopped for lunch, it was impossible to tell that she had been crying at all.
Chapter Seven
Amy didn’t even complain when Mark told her she’d have to give up her bedroom and move in with Piper so that Maddy could have a place to stay. It was clear that all three teens were in awe of the omega the men had brought back with them. Mark wasn’t surprised. If he’d come face to face with an omega as a child, he no doubt would have been taken aback as well.
She’s not a different species, he reminded himself over and over. But there was something different about her all the same. She seemed at once hardier and more delicate than other women he’d known. Like a diamond or something.
Amy was quick about emptying the bedroom of her things, and Mark led Maddy in. The mattress was stripped bare, of course, and the closet stood empty except for a few wire hangers Amy had left behind in her exodus. He opened his mouth to tell her they’d go shopping later today and pick up the essentials, but—
“There’s a bed,” Maddy said, sounding surprised.
“Of course, there’s a bed.” Mark was confused. “Did you think we’d make you sleep on the floor?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “The Death Fangs did.”
Mark felt his eyebrows shoot up. “I thought their whole mantra was that they took care of the omega girls they kept, so you’d all be healthy.”
“They did,” Maddy said. “They had us examined regularly by a doctor. They gave us nutritious food, and they made us exercise regularly. But they didn’t give us any comforts.” She glanced at Mark hesitantly, then back at the bed. “Can I sit on it?”
“You can do whatever you want,” he said. “It’s yours as long as you’re here.”
“How long am I here?”
“Well,” Mark said, “that’s probably a longer conversation.”
She nodded and went over to the bed. With a little giggle, she sat down and bounced on the mattress. She seemed like a child, suddenly. “I haven’t had a bed since I was thirteen,” she said.
That seemed painfully tragic to Mark, but the smile on her face told him she was happy about her new circumstances. That was good. If she was happy here, it would be easy to convince her to stay.
“I’ll let you get settled in,” he said, and nodded goodbye.
He lingered outside the door after he’d left, eavesdropping, wondering what a girl like this would do now that she had a space of her own. Mark had to admit that he was strangely captivated by her. He hadn’t expected that. He had known that an omega was an essential resource for the pack, but he hadn’t anticipated that he would feel so personally invested.
And yet he did. He couldn’t think of her as just a means to an end, not now that she was here. Not now that he knew her. She had surprised him. His mother had been an omega, so, of course, he had never believed the urban legend that omegas were nothing more than mindless breeding machines. But his mother had been so...maternal. She had been utterly dedicated to Mark and his siblings, and to being a good wife to their father.
Would Maddy be that way once she gave birth to her first litter? He didn’t think so, somehow. She seemed different at her core. There was a spark in her, a feistiness. He wondered if it was a side effect of the trauma she’d been through, being kidnapped at such a young age, or if she’d always been that way.
Harley was waiting for him on the stairs. “How is she?” he asked.
“She’s all right. Don’t go in there now. She needs her privacy.”
The look Harley gave him shocked Mark. It was venomous. “Do you think I’m an idiot?” his brother asked.
“What?” Mark was completely taken aback.
“You’re the one who wanted to get an omega from the Death Fangs,” Harley reminded him. “You’re the one who led us into kidnapping when we couldn’t afford to buy her at auction. And you’re the one who couldn’t resolve things with Jamie when he didn’t want any part of it. We’re in this situation because of you, Mark.”
“What situation?” He felt thoroughly confused. “We got our omega. Everything’s fine now.”
Harley barked out a laugh. “Everything’s about as far from fine as it’s ever been. And the fact that you can stand there and warn me not to bother her—to be sensitive to her privacy—oh, boy, that’s a hell of a fucking joke.”
“All right,” Mark said. His confusion was quickly giving way to anger. “Pull yourself together. Whatever’s wrong with you, go and run it off or something.”
“Can’t take it, can you?” Harley spat. “No one ever disagrees with Mark. Mark’s in charge. Mark’s the alpha. Well, here’s some news for you, asshole. You’re not the only alpha in this pack, and I don’t have to follow your orders.”
“I don’t know what the hell you’re so mad about—”
“You don’t? Really? You forced our hand back there, Mark. We had to go along with what you wanted or let you walk into the Death Fangs’ auction alone and unprotected.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“Bullshit. You wouldn’t have let any of us go alone into that hornet’s nest, and you know it.”
Mark couldn’t disagree with that. He stood for a long time, staring at his brother, who was looking at him in a way he never had before. “It worked out fine,” he said finally, quietly. “Okay, maybe I didn’t take your opinions into account. But we got what we wanted in the end.”
“Through coincidence and dumb luck.” Harley shook his head. “You’d better not walk around this house thinking your plan was a success, Mark. We found a runaway omega by the side of the road, and that had nothing to do with your idea to kidnap somebody being any good.”
Mark was speechless.
“And I’m going in to see her,” Harley added, and swept past him and up the stairs like a storm cloud.
JAMIE VOLUNTEERED TO do the shopping, mostly to get out of the house and away from his brothers. In all the excitement of finding Maddy and getting her away from the Death Fangs, he had forgotten his anger. But now that they were home, it came flooding back to him.
How dare Mark force them to kidnap somebody? Jamie could only thank his lucky stars that the girl they’d found had been on the run anyway. And how could Harley have refused to take sides like that? Surely, he could see that Jamie’s was the only side that made sense!
Jamie had never been comfortable with the idea of buying a girl at the auction in the first place. He had made his peace with it by reminding himself that these girls were going to be sold, no matter what he did, and making sure one of them was bought by someone who would treat her with respect was really giving her the best possible outcome. But the same didn’t hold true for kidnapping. Kidnapping was an act of violence and aggression.
Kidnapping was animal.
Shopping, though...shopping was human work. It felt good to be under the fluorescent lights of the town department store, wandering down aisles filled with sullen teen clerks, harried looking mothers of toddlers, mass produced clothing. It made Jamie feel more like a man. More like himself.
He had allotted several hundred dollars of their new budget surplus to attend to their new omega’s needs. He bought her shirts, pants, dresses, underclothes, and a few pairs of shoes. He chose bedding for her bed, toiletries and a little basket to keep them in, and a few novels for her bedside table in case she wanted something to read.
Even checking out was a pleasure. Jamie relished the electronic beeps of the self-checkout machine and the mechanical whrrr as it accepted his payment. His brothers were so connected to their animal sides, and they so encouraged
the same in the rest of the pack, that it was rare for Jamie to feel so wholly human. Even at work, where it was necessary to keep up a facade, he was constantly aware that he was different from everyone around him.
He bagged his purchases, carried them out to the bike he’d left in the parking lot, and stuffed them into his backpack. Maybe he would take the long way home, he thought. He was in no particular hurry to see or spend time with either of his brothers right now.
In fact, now that he thought of it, a drink wouldn’t go amiss.
He pulled out of the parking lot and rode the mile and a half to his favorite bar, a seedy little dive that was almost always empty. Today, he saw, there were four cars already in the parking lot. He would have preferred to be alone while he drank—as much as Jamie liked to feel human, he hated putting up a pretense about it. All that did was remind him of what he really was—and wasn’t. With a sigh, he went into the bar.
The bartender recognized him. “The usual?”
“Make it a double.”
The man nodded and set about blending and shaking the drink.
Jamie glanced up at the crowd seated at the opposite end of the bar. They were drinking beer and talking loudly, their laughter obnoxious and grating.
The bartender set down his drink. “Sorry about that,” he said quietly, jerking his head toward the noisy patrons.
Jamie shrugged. You couldn’t always help who you ran into at a bar.
“Yeah, I was there,” one of the men were saying. His tone was boastful, as if he expected the rest of his party to be impressed. “I tell you, you’ve never seen anything like it. They were tearing the place up.”
“I don’t think I’d have wanted to be around for that,” his friend said. “They scare me.”
“Coward,” a brassy looking woman with platinum blonde hair laughed.