“Those are some high aspirations.”
“We’re pretty set on making as much of it a reality as possible,” Will said with a shrug. Jake slid a hand across his arm, rubbing absentmindedly against his skin.
“There’s no denying we need options for Omega placements.”
“Speaking of Omega placements, how is Colin?”
“Ah,” Chris said, setting down his drink. “The perfect example of why we need better options. All the government would offer us was an Omega hostel identical to the one he’d been taken from. Same management group running it and everything.”
“What did you do?” Will asked, sensing there was more to the story.
“Well, we had to bring him there, it was court ordered. So we dropped him to the door, he walked in, walked right back out again. They haven’t seen him since.”
Jake jerked upright, alarmed. “He’s missing? But how could you just-”
Will caught hold of him easily. “Whoa, Jake. Slow down. He hasn’t finished telling the story yet.” He knew Chris well enough to know when he was holding back.
“Sorry, Jake,” Chris said, genuinely contrite. “We’d planned it. He left, got in a car we’d arranged to pick him up and we drove him to Tim’s family home.”
Will nodded at that, explaining to Jake the reasoning. “Tim’s family are well-off, they have a large house, plenty of room and top-notch security. Nice digs, if you can get them.”
“I’m not sure Colin sees it that way. To him it’s just a fancier prison that the one Hank and Craig were keeping him in. I think he half-expects the baby to be confiscated after it’s born.”
“He hasn’t had it yet?” Jake sounded surprised.
“Any day now according to the doctor.”
“What if his Alpha claims the baby?”
Chris shook his head. “His Alpha doesn’t know where he is Jake. Can’t make a claim without knowing there’s something or someone to claim.”
“But he can’t hide out in Tim’s house forever.”
“It’ll do for now. Though once you’re up and running here, this might be a possibility.”
“I’d say it might,” Will said, and that seemed to reassure Jake, the Omega settling back in his chair.
The conversation turned to Will’s return to work.
“So, are you nervous?”
Will tapped his fingers against the table. “What’s there to be nervous about? I’ve been itching to get back out there.”
“We’re still dealing with a lot of Omega-targeted crime, Will. It hasn’t gone away.”
“I know that. I wouldn’t have told you I’d come back if I didn’t believe I could handle it.”
He must have sounded angrier than he realized because Jake pressed close, trying to soothe him with his hands.
“Good. We’re looking forward to having you back on the team, Will. All of us.”
And Will was looking forward to getting back out there and putting the past behind him. It was time to move forward, with Jake by his side.
The transition of power was as close to seamless as they could have hoped, as was Will’s transition back to shifter crimes. His hours were somewhat erratic but Jake was getting used to it. He kept himself busy at the hotel, stripping wallpaper, painting, and doing other small jobs.
It was amazing to see it all coming together, day after day. Their apartment was taking shape, walls delineating a bedroom, a nursery, a bathroom big enough for a bath, on Will’s stipulation. Jake put most of his efforts into the rooms for what he’d named the Omega Haven. He wanted them to be places of comfort, of safety. Not cells or prisons, not dens of hopelessness.
As the days and weeks rolled by, it was getting harder and harder to move around. Shifter pregnancies were shorter than human ones. They had a whole nine months of carrying their babies inside them. Jake would be lucky to reach seven.
He finished up late one evening, after the rest of the workers had gone home. He was never alone though, usually some of the staff from Snakes were around to lend a hand. He walked back to Snakes with Laurie. Crossing the tunnel that lay beneath the street was second nature to him now, made easier by the lights Will had installed.
He caught Will’s scent as soon as he stepped out of the stock room and went in search of him. Dave called him when he was halfway down the corridor to Will’s office.
“Mitch is here. They’re talking.”
He nodded but kept walking. Will didn’t have a habit of excluding him from what was happening. In fact, he’d made it a point to include Jake in practically everything, giving him a say where possible. It was nice to be informed, to have a voice.
Still, he knocked on the office door before he stuck his head in.
“Come on in, Jake,” Will said. Mitch had turned around in his seat and gave Jake a nod and a smile. There was a third chair next to the desk and Jake slipped into it without needing to be asked. Both Alphas looked troubled. Jake didn’t like that, but they’d been expecting some disquiet with the city suddenly under an effective leadership again. Rules were being enforced, people being brought to task. There was bound to be some push back.
“Mitch, why don’t you tell Jake what you just told me.” Will gave him a tight smile as he spoke.
Mitch seemed in no hurry to speak and when he did break his silence, his tone was measured and even.
“I had some visitors this morning, bringing forth a challenge. A challenge against Will.”
Jake sat up, unable to hide the spike of worry that Mitch’s words caused. There were only very particular circumstances where a challenge could be refused, so more than likely Will was going to have to fight.
“Who made the challenge? And why?”
It was Will who answered, his voice gentle.
“Your sister’s mate, Rick. He’s petitioned Mitch to permit a challenge against me.”
“For the baby?”
“For you, Jake. And by extension, the baby.”
“So you’ll have to fight?”
“I’m sorry, Jake,” Mitch said. “I don’t have grounds to refuse to allow the challenge to proceed. This is as much a challenge to my leadership of Eden as it is to Will. There will be lots of eyes on this, lots of interested parties ready to jump on the slightest perception of weakness or favoritism.”
“So you’ll have to fight,” he repeated, his eyes not straying from Will’s face.
“Yeah,” Will said. “I’ll have to fight. And you’ll have to be there.”
“Have you ever seen a challenge, Jake? A proper one, not the grandstanding stuff kids get into. Have you ever seen two wolves fight over a mate?”
Jake’s Pack had rarely had arguments that couldn’t be solved by a night of drinking or a quick fist-fight. The last formal challenge had happened before he was born.
“No, never.”
“There’s quite a bit of ceremony to it. Will can fill you in.”
“Do you fight as wolves or men?”
“Rick has requested to fight as wolves. Will?” Mitch asked.
“Wolves would be my preference, too. There isn’t the same trickery or deceit that you get with humans. The fight is pure, in as much as fighting ever is.”
“Do you know what kind of fighter Rick is?” Jake asked, unable to ask what he desperately wanted to. Would Will win?
“I’ve asked around about him before. We’re well matched in size and strength.”
“You asked around?” Why would Will have done that, unless… “You knew he’d do this?” He winced at how accusing he sounded.
“I knew it was a possibility,” Will said, standing and crouching next to his chair. “I’m a cop, Jake. Doing a background check of some sort is second nature when I encounter someone in the kind of circumstances I met Rick in.”
“If we… if we offered them the baby, would he withdraw the challenge?” It was an awful, terrible choice. Once he could barely contemplate. But if it saved Will…
“Not going to happen, Jake.”
“But you’re risking your life-”
Will pressed his hands to Jake’s knees. “Even if we did offer, which we’re not going to, I don’t think it would make a difference now. Rick has some interested backers for this fight. Pulling out now could bring a lot of heat down on him and his Pack. He won’t want that.”
Jake leaned forward, resting his hands over Will’s.
“So that’s it. We have to go ahead?”
Will nodded.
“When? Where?”
“We’re working that out. But it’ll be here, in the city. Probably the old hall Stephen and Will’s father used for Pack challenges. And soon, within the week,” Mitch said.
He spoke again a moment later. “Jake, I’m not sure how much you know about challenges or what Rick winning would mean for you.
Jake didn’t, really. For his Pack, they’d been things of the past. Relics. Outdated.
“If Rick wins, you’d be considered his, his Omega. And that baby you’re carrying his by virtue of that. Any other child you might conceive would also be his.”
“I wouldn’t have a choice? To leave, to not have more children?”
“You could leave, but he’d be within his right to bring you back. Winning a challenge for someone is a mark of ownership. Lots of the older marks, mating itself, mating bites, they’re considered temporary. Challenges are still written into law. The only way you’d ever truly be free again, is if another wolf challenged Rick for you and won.”
“It doesn’t seem fair,” he said.
“It doesn’t seem equal,” Mitch corrected gently. “Because it isn’t. It’s still predicated on the idea of a basic inequality between shifters. That Alpha are superior to Beta, and to Omega, who come quite low down on the totem pole. The divisions aren’t as severe as they once were, but that’s not going to change anytime soon.”
Mitch stood. “I think I’ve taken up enough of your time. I’ll be in touch as soon as I know the rest of the details.”
“Thanks, Mitch,” Will said, standing too. “I appreciate you coming here personally.”
“Like I said, this is as much a challenge to my leadership as it is to you and Jake. I’ve only officially been in the role a matter of weeks and not only is a challenge issued but to my own cousin. It’s no coincidence.”
He left, the door closing quietly behind him.
Jake didn’t move from his seat. Couldn’t, feeling like he’d been glued down, or the gravity had been ramped up, pressing him against the ground.
“Jake?”
“I can’t lose you.” He spoke to the floor, his head heavy. “I ran from that life for a reason. I won’t go back.”
Will didn’t try to reason with him or coax him to look up. Warm, strong arms wrapped around him, lifting him up and into Will’s embrace.
“You won’t. Do you think I’d let that happen? I’ve made promises, Jake, promises to you. And I intend to keep every one of them.”
He clung to the Alpha, burying his head against Will’s shoulder as the tears fell.
Chapter Thirty-Five
For the next few days, Jake didn’t want to let Will out of his sight, which was problematic since the Alpha still had work. But Will was in tune with his anxiety, spending as much time home as he could.
“Will you still like me when I’m as big as a house?” he asked while they ate dinner one day. Will choked on a mouthful of water, setting down his glass as he cleared his throat.
“I’m pretty sure it’s physically impossible for you to be the size of a house. But it wouldn’t matter. Not to me.”
The ringing of Will’s cell phone put an end to their conversation, his Alpha stepping outside the room to take the call. That probably meant Chris and work. But when Will came back in, his expression grim, Jake knew it was something else.
“Was that Mitch?”
“Yeah. Tomorrow morning, eleven am at Grange Hall.”
His voice fled, so the next words from his mouth were whispered. “That soon?”
Will sank to his knees next to Jake's chair, clasping his hand. “Better to get it over with. It’ll be okay, Jake, I promise. It’ll all turn out for the better.”
“Not if the fight doesn’t go your way.”
He didn’t want to think like that, didn’t want to give voice to the possibility, but the danger was very real. Will had said it himself. He and Rick were well-matched physically.
“Could we run, escape?”
“The world doesn’t work that way, you know that. Where could we go that they wouldn’t work out who we are? If we run now, we’d never stop running. We could never settle anywhere.”
Jake knew Will was right, but it didn’t lessen his urge to act, to do something and end the torturous waiting.
“Come on,” Will said, standing and bringing Jake to his feet. “I’m tired, you’re tired. Let’s go to bed. Besides, I think this suggestion that you might grow as big as a house needs closer scrutiny.” As he spoke, he stroked a hand across Jake’s growing belly.
The morning dawned bright and cheerful which, under the circumstances, Jake felt was unforgivable. Will and Dave sat him down and went over the ceremony surrounding the challenge. There was no way he could get out of being there, not that he’d want to. Will needed his support. The Alpha was doing this for him.
Dave drove them to the Hall, Jake struggling to keep the thundering of his heart under some semblance of control.
“I want you to stay right next to Dave and Mitch during the fight, okay?” Will said, a hint of worry in his expression.
“I will,” he promised. Will held his gaze for a long moment before nodding with satisfaction. “Good. I need to know you’re safe until this is over.”
“And then?”
Will’s fingers laced through his. “And then we go home.”
He stuck close to the Alpha when they arrived. They weren’t the first, and he was relieved to see a slew of familiar faces. Many of Will’s family were there. And a handful of his colleagues, including Chris and Tim. Mitch greeted them briefly, nodding to Will and stepping close to Jake, being careful not to touch him.
“I’m sorry to put you through this Jake, but I promise it will be worth it.”
It was a funny thing to say, given the circumstances and the very real risk that things wouldn’t work out in his and Will’s favor. He looked to Will but the Alpha’s expression was blank. Before he could ask Mitch what he meant, the Alpha had moved on, disappearing into the large hall.
Jeff came to stand beside them. “The others are already inside. There’s quite the crowd here. The city hasn’t had entertainment like this in years.”
“I hope we don’t disappoint,” Will replied gamely, placing an arm around Jake’s shoulders. “We’d better get in there. We don’t way to hold up the day’s spectacle.”
He went to move inside but Jake tugged on his arm, stopping him, relieved when the Alpha turned so they were face to face.
“Jake?”
He glanced around. There was no privacy to be had. Too many people milling around, too many ears to overhear every word. Looking up at Will’s earnest face, he wondered if it mattered. This might be the last time they spoke, the last chance he had to say this.
“Will, I…” There was so much to thank the Alpha for; rescuing him, taking him in, trying to keep him safe when others would have washed their hands. Loving him, in a way he’d never believed could happen, not after everything. All that he’d done before and since. Trying to keep Omega safe, give them some measure of protection in a world that could be so callously brutal.
Will’s hand cupped his face, his thumb ghosting across a cheek. A thousand words of thanks were on his lips but he could see in Will’s eyes that the Alpha knew. That wasn’t what he wanted to hear. That wasn’t what he needed to hear.
“I love you, so much.”
Will leaned in, pressing their foreheads together. “I love you, too. Now and always. You and our child.”
&nb
sp; They kissed, chaste and sweet, a kiss worthy of an audience. Will’s lips curled into a smile and he pressed their lips together a second time, hungrier as they sought to taste one another. A whistle from the onlookers broke them apart.
“Let’s get this done,” Will said, strong and determined. They walked in side by side, hand in hand. United. Nothing and no one would part them, not even the man who waited within.
He and Will went their separate ways once they were inside. Dave was at his elbow, guiding him towards Mitch. The room was a large open hall, delineated only by a white circle on the floor. All those gathered stood around the edge of the circle, except Will who stood on one side and Rick who stood opposite. This next part made him nervous. It was old Pack tradition that he’d never seen in practice.
Mitch called the event to order and stepped forward.
“We are here today because a challenge has been brought forth by Richard, Alpha of Jagrar Clan, against William, former Alpha of Eden Clan, for the Omega, Jake, formerly of Jagrar Clan and presently of Eden Clan.”
Mitch turned back to him, gesturing him forward. Jake moved with reluctance to the center of the circle.
“I call each Alpha to stake their claim.”
Rick stalked forward first, confident, his eyes raking across Jake’s body, lingering on his protruding stomach.
“I claim this Omega as my own. He is of my Pack, he carries my child.” He stopped right in front of Jake.
“Kneel to your Alpha.”
He put every ounce of Alpha dominance in his tone, rising up to his full height and staring Jake down. Jake did exactly as Will had instructed him, held steady eye contact, didn’t drop his gaze, didn’t bend his knees. It was hard, with Rick’s Alpha presence pressing at him, his anger growing in the face of Jake’s defiance.
“You’re not my Alpha. Your Pack hasn’t been my Pack since the day I escaped your oppression. And this child will never be yours.”
He wasn’t expecting the blow, the Alpha’s hand striking his face and knocking him off his feet.
There was a roar of anger, shouting, and, blindly, he turned towards Will’s voice, finding him being held back by Chris, Jeff, and Tim, the three men struggling to keep a hold on him.
Falling Together (The Omega Haven Book 1) Page 19