by Joyee Flynn
“You can’t kill me. Even I could best a whelp like you!” Her eyes were wild. Someone had to have a long discussion with the High Council that humans could go bat shit crazy when their mates were killed. It was known to happen to wolves, but I think they assumed humans wouldn’t feel the bond breaking.
They were wrong, and kinda stupid to assume that.
“Bitch, I could give you an aneurism before you blinked,” I drawled, looking bored. “I’m being nice and letting you ask forgiveness for your sins. Think of it like last rites. Take the opportunity or I’ll just kill you now.”
She gave a horrid scream and rushed me. I rolled my eyes, focused my energy, and made one of the blood vessels in her brain pop. She instantly went down, dead before she hit the ground.
“You’re a little scary sometimes, you know that?” Bay asked quietly after they shifted back.
“No one fucks with the people I care about. If that makes me scary for protecting the ones I love, I’m okay with that.”
“We’re just glad you’re on our side, baby,” Harkin said as he hugged me from behind. Bay joined in on the group hug and the only thing that was missing was Levey. I was where I was supposed to be, surrounded by men who loved me, and right then I felt a sense of peace I’d never known before.
I could get used to feeling like that.
* * * *
That night after we got rid of any evidence of bitchzilla, we all booked our flights. Tristan was going home and I was heading to my place of birth to get a few of the Omega books out of their hiding spot. It was time that those who had been oppressed and abused learned about their rich history.
Bay, Harkin, and Levey wouldn’t hear of letting me go alone. So after we talked Adam and Susie into watching the pups, making sure they had a few deer to feed them, we packed. I wouldn’t have let them leave to do something potentially dangerous on their own either so there was no point in trying to argue with them about me doing it.
Oh, and the Sheriff called. That car we’d sensed in the bottom of the lake wasn’t anything nefarious. It had been from a guy whose car got dragged under because he was an idiot and had a boat too big hitched up and when he tried to set it in the water… Things hadn’t gone as planned. But they were glad to have an exact location because it had sunk in a different spot than they had thought and they didn’t have funding to drag the whole lake for it.
The next day we all drove to Spokane, Tristan catching his flight back to Denver and us to New York. We had a layover in Chicago and Carson agreed to meet us at the airport with his inner circle so we could have dinner. It meant having to go back through security, but since we had a three-hour layover, I was cool with it.
He was awesome. So was his inner circle. They loved each other so much it was almost like a living, breathing thing I could almost reach out and touch. I wanted that. I wanted it more than I could put into words.
I wished we’d had more time to spend with them, but Carson promised they’d schedule some time to rent a cabin soon and take a vacation. I could tell from his excitement, along with his men’s, that they needed a break. I just bet they did. Rescuing Omegas and dealing with the High Council had to be exhausting and a job I wouldn’t ever want.
The flight to New York was no big thing, but by then I was tired. It was a long day of travel that I wasn’t used to. I’d been spending so much time in wolf form helping the pups that dealing with human things again wore me out.
“Wake up, sleepy head,” Bay purred as he kissed me. I loved that they always woke me tenderly, and even better, I didn’t need kisses to see them or anyone anymore. It was freeing. I kissed them because I wanted to and as often as I could. It wasn’t my curse anymore.
“Can’t you wake me up with cock too?” I asked, being cheeky. He coughed to keep in the laugh and I opened my eyes only to meet a pair of very pissed-off ones from a man across the aisle. “Oh get over it. Just because your wife doesn’t want to be woken up that way doesn’t mean you should hate us because I love him more than she does you.”
I heard Bay’s gasp and I wanted to groan. I leaned my head back against the headrest as the plane touched down and closed my eyes. Seeing Bay’s confusion and hope right then was too much when I was just waking up. And besides, right then wasn’t the time to admit how I felt.
It took another hour to get off the plane, grab our stuff, and sign everything with the rental car. Everyone was silent, having heard what I’d said since Harkin and Levey had been in the row in front of me. It made me nervous. By the time we pulled up at the hotel Bay had made reservations at, I was a wreck. Partially because he’d gotten us into some swank place that I was sure the manager wouldn’t let the likes of me stay at.
“How late is the hiding place open?” Bay asked me. “Do we need to do this in the morning?”
“It’s a military-grade storage security place that’s biometrically locked. It’s twenty-four hours though.” I’d only been to the place once as a kid to have all my data put into their systems. I’d seen my mother get the books in there and then pay an astounding amount of money in cash to have a lifetime contract for the unit under an alias if anyone ever inquired if I had unit there. She hadn’t even told my aunt and uncle about it and I never went back there.
But where it was located was forever burned in my brain. It was where I had spent my last moments with my mother before she had died and joined my father in the afterlife. At least, I assumed they were together.
“Okay, let’s get checked in, our bags up to the room, investigate the hidey hole, and then come back to crash and order room service,” Harkin suggested. We all agreed it was the best plan and hopped to it.
Bay and I checked in while Harkin and Levey unloaded the bags. Then we handed them the keys to take everything up and went back to the rental car. There was no point in valet parking it when we were just leaving again. Once we were inside and had it running while we waited for them, I took Bay’s hand in mine.
“I do love you, all of you. I wasn’t sure until you immediately insisted in coming with me here. We both know it wasn’t for my protection only. You guys were worried that it would be emotionally taxing on me and didn’t want me to have to handle it alone.”
“Gorgeous and smart,” he chuckled as he kissed my hand. “I love you too, Wes. Thank you for giving us another chance to show you we were worthy of your love.”
“I’m just sorry it took me so long to get past something so little when you look at it in the grand scheme of things,” I admitted, finally saying the words out loud.
“We do the best we can given the situation. I can’t say I would have done things any differently or even as well as you did after all you’ve been through. We broke your trust and no matter on what scale the break is at, it’s hard for anyone to get over that.”
“Thank you for understanding,” I whispered as I leaned against him. Harkin and Levey hopped in the car then.
“You guys okay?” Harkin asked gently as I sat back up. I turned around to smile at him.
“Yes, just telling Bay that I’ve fallen in love with all you big dopes.”
“Sweet talker,” he grumbled as he leaned in for a kiss. “Love you too.”
“And me?” Levey gave me a wink as I moved in my seat, giggling when Bay pulled out of the valet station and I was so not where I was supposed to be for safety reasons. The kiss was brief but held the promise later for so much more.
My favorite kind.
“Yes, you as well. I love you, Levey Fergus. You’re a sweetie and I see you as one of the pups’ daddies since you’ve basically raised them with me. Even when you weren’t happy with me and hurt, you couldn’t do anything but love them. I should have said thank you for that earlier and I’m sorry I didn’t.”
“It was a good thing you were doing, saving them. I wanted to be a part of it and even if we weren’t cool, we were doing something together. I wanted to spend time with you.”
“And I thought it was better to give you sp
ace,” Harkin admitted with a sigh.
“Well, while he was awake,” Bay teased. I caught his gaze and gave him a questioning look. He didn’t answer right away, getting instructions to where we were going first. “Harkin watched you sleep most nights. I found him out cold in the doorway most of the time.”
“Why?” I asked Harkin, swallowing loudly because I was nervous and not sure what to make of this development.
“I was worried that us claiming you wouldn’t make things better and we all had to claim each other for you to be able to wake up and know who everyone was. I didn’t want you to wake in wolf form, which is draining to stay in that long, and be scared. You were upset enough. I didn’t want you to wake up afraid and stressed.”
“That’s really sweet.” I reached behind my seat and took his hand, smiling when he gave it a squeeze.
“You ready for this?” Bay asked about ten minutes later as we pulled up to the building. I shook my head, not sure if he could see it. I felt ready to toss my cookies. The face of the building had changed in the twelve years since I’d been there, but the security level hadn’t.
“Name?” a guard asked as we pulled to the checkpoint. He had a sidearm but the guy in the booth had a really big fucking gun.
“Wesley Orson,” I answered, leaning over so he could see me. “I’m not sure what to do. I was fifteen when my mother set this up for me.”
“And she’s not here to take you in,” he surmised, giving me a soft smile. Then he typed something in on his tablet and nodded. “You’re on the list but please step out of the car, Mr. Orson.”
“Why?” Bay growled, moving his hand in front of my chest when I undid my seat belt.
“Because his contract includes something I need to discuss with him in private,” the guard said darkly as the other one stepped out of the booth.
“He wants to make sure you’re not bringing me here under duress, Bay,” I whispered quietly as I opened the door.
“Okay.” He didn’t sound happy about it but he let me out.
I walked over to the booth and realized something else… They weren’t human. “I’ve never met vampires before.”
“You did when your mom set this up because the company has always belonged to our coven. You were probably just too young to know it,” the guy replied with a toothy smile. “Omega?”
“Yes. You heard me tell them what you were thinking.”
“Yeah, just wanted to make sure. There’s a clause in the contract your mom paid for that gives instant sanctuary with the coven should you need it. You’re cool with these guys?”
“They’re my inner circle. They love me. They’d never hurt me. I got away from the bad one I’d been with,” I rambled, realizing my men could be in danger.
“Don’t worry, kid. We don’t eat clients,” the other guy assured me with a chuckle. “Go on to the front entrance and park. You can bring them with. You have to scan your hand at the front desk, they’ll tell you what unit is yours. We rotate them every year so people can’t break into one unit thinking they’ll get what they’re looking for. Then at your unit there will be an ocular scan. That’s it, pain-free.”
“Thanks so much.” I smiled at both of them before heading back to the car. I knew Bay heard the instructions and he pulled forward when the gate opened. We parked and got out, all of us glancing around as we went into the building. It was weird before, but now that we knew there were vampires everywhere, we were on high alert.
I told the guy at the desk my name and he had me put my hand on a scanner. “Unit 312. Elevators are to your left, third floor, and follow the signs.”
I thanked him and away we went. When I was standing in front of the unit minutes later I had a feeling this was a bad idea. No one had ever known about this besides me and I felt like opening this door was like opening Pandora’s box. It could possibly start a shit storm and what was inside people would either want or want to destroy.
“You want us to wait down the hall?” Levey offered, seeing I was nervous.
“No, I trust you guys.” I took a deep breath and stepped up to the ocular scan, making sure to press my forehead against the pad like it said to activate the laser. And then of course I wanted nothing but to blink because I knew I wasn’t supposed to.
After it was over I heard metal locks disengaging. I stepped back and realized what that other noise was. My unit was moving into place like a rotating apartment or car garage like I’d seen in movies the Japanese had. That’s why it didn’t matter where they sent us, because if we were bad guys and opened the door, nothing would be there.
It was genius really.
“I feel like I’m going to pass out,” I admitted as the door pulled back open. Then when I saw what was inside, that’s exactly what I did.
Chapter 9
“The guy at the front desk looked at me funny when I asked for water. Then I had to admit why I needed the water and he accompanied me up here,” Levey said quietly. “The owner of the unit passed out. Of course they’re not going to trust we didn’t make him.”
“They didn’t hurt me,” I croaked out, grabbing my head.
“Drink this, baby, and just relax,” Bay said gently as he held a bottle of water to my lips. I nodded and took small sips. When I felt as if my world wasn’t spinning anymore I opened my eyes.
“I wasn’t hallucinating what was in there, right? I mean, you saw it too?” I asked quietly, not sure what the guard knew.
“Sweet thang, we have cameras in every unit. I’ve seen what you have and I would have passed out too if I hadn’t known it was in there.” He gave a chuckle and shook his head. “You good now?”
“Yeah, I guess.” I shrugged as I got to my feet. “You sure this is mine? I don’t remember all that being in there when my mom loaded it up.”
“From what your file said she had more delivered from somewhere else after she brought stuff here,” he explained gently. “I met your mom. She was a good woman and worried that we’d steal the stuff and you’d be screwed. I promised her that we’d keep it safe until you needed it.”
“Thanks. It was hard for her to trust anyone after all the shit my parents had gone through.” He smiled and nodded as if he understood but probably had no clue. I knew that feeling. He’d just told me how everything in the unit ended up there, but that didn’t mean any of it made any fucking sense.
“We could close it right back up and pretend like we never saw any of it,” Levey offered with a tight smile. I knew that’s not what he wanted. He was dying to see what was all in there. The guard threw back his head and laughed as he walked away, probably guessing how likely it was that I was going to say yes.
“No, let’s go check it out,” I sighed as Bay helped me to my feet. I drank a little more of the water and took a couple of deep breaths. I stepped back in front of the storage unit and simply stared.
“So, um, you’re rich?” Harkin asked, confusion in his tone.
“I guess.” I shrugged. “My dad did live four hundred years and my grandfather was really smart. I bet he hid what he could when he went into hiding and before the High Council started killing Omegas. He probably told my dad where it all was and my mom decided to put it in one secure location after he died. We didn’t live lavishly if that’s what you’re asking. I had no idea about any of this.”
“I can’t even imagine how much just that is worth,” Bay said in a tone of awe as he pointed to the pallet of stacked gold bars. Yeah, gold bars. It was about as tall as I was and about three feet by three feet if I had to guess. “That’s a lot of fucking gold.”
“He was alive during the gold rush.” Again I shrugged. I was just guessing that’s what it was. “My father didn’t have an immoral bone in his body so I seriously doubt he stole any of this.”
“Guess that’s something he passed on to you,” Harkin chuckled as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
“Hey, I found a note,” Levey said as he pointed to it. I went over to the crate it was lying on
and gasped. “Yeah, I saw the Nazi symbol on the box too.” I leaned over the note, seeing it was old and not wanting it to fall apart in my hands.
Dearest Wesley,
If you’re reading this then we’ve gone to the afterlife. I’m sorry to leave you alone in such a messed-up world but I pray you never know the abuse I did. I know all of this is confusing, but everything in here is rightfully yours and completely legal.
When the Nazis started rounding up Jews there were several who were wolves and some who were in with the German army. Some of this was theirs. They paid off officials to get out of the country, shipping their belongings to me because I had agreed to help them once they were here and gave them a place to stay. By then I was under the thumb of the High Council and hiding it seemed the best idea.
They never made it. The plot to escape was found out and they were slaughtered. I searched and searched for any living relatives when the war was over but their Alpha told me that they had all been killed and that things were too shaky in Germany to send it back. I kept it all in the hopes that one day when you were old enough, you could sell it and either buy your freedom or use the money to run. I had meant to tell you all of this, but you were so young. I’m sorry I never got the chance.
You need to know, while we never wanted to bring a child into the life of an Omega, we were always proud of you. Wesley, you made us so happy and were everything we had dreamed of when we thought of having a child. Your mother and I loved you always and I know you were the prophesized Omega that would lead our kind back into our rightful places.
More love than words can say,
Your Father
“What prophesy?” I whispered as I ran my fingers over the note. “What was he talking about?”
“I have a feeling you’re going to have to read through all these trunks of books to find out,” Bay said as he wiped off the dust on one of them. “It could take you years, baby.”
“Yeah,” I agreed with a sigh as I glanced at all of it. I walked over to one of the smaller crates and read the faded German writing. “My gods! This says there’s a Monet painting in here.”