Ripples of Threat

by Rebecca James

  “You…you can’t talk?” Gabriel guessed, and the other omega nodded, making a grunting sound.

  “Oh. Are you lost?”

  The strange omega shook his head.

  “Where are you from?”

  The omega gave a half-shrug.

  “Did you lose your pack?”

  The other omega shook his head vigorously, then pointed at Gabriel with a questioning look.

  “Me? I’ve left my pack.”

  The small omega nodded, pointing at himself, indicating it was the same for him. In the distance, Grey sent up another howl and Ian and several other wolves answered him from different directions, their calls volleying back and forth on the wind. They weren’t in the forest; that much Gabriel could tell. Ironically, knowing they were out there helped the pregnant omega to relax. His companion, however, visibly tensed.

  “That’s my mates looking for me,” Gabriel said.

  The other omega looked upset, brows dipping.

  “They’re not looking for me to hurt me. I ran away because I only cause them trouble.”

  The smaller omega tipped his head to the side, as though not understanding, and then reached out and touched Gabriel’s swollen belly.

  “Yeah. It won’t be long now.” Gabriel studied the other wolf, deciding he was younger than Gabriel, but of age. “I wish I knew your name.”

  The omega picked up a stick. Finding a patch of dirt, he wrote out a word.

  “Emory,” Gabriel read, and the other werewolf nodded.

  Gabriel’s stomach picked that moment to growl, and Emory raised a brow.

  “I’ve not eaten much today,” Gabriel admitted.

  Emory held up a finger, shifted, and darted off. Less than ten minutes later, he came back with a rabbit in his jaws.

  “It hurts me to shift,” Gabriel admitted.

  Emory immediately dropped the rabbit on the ground and shifted back to human form. Gathering sticks, Emory set about constructing a fire. Although werewolves ate raw meat when in wolf form, in human form they preferred their food cooked, and once Emory held a stick with the meat pierced onto it over the flame, Gabriel’s mouth began to water.

  “Gods, that smells good.” Gabriel wasn’t sure if he could have gotten through another night by himself. He was exhausted and doubted he even could have caught another chipmunk. When Emory handed him a piece of the cooked rabbit, Gabriel’s eyes filled with tears.

  Sympathetically, Emory patted the pregnant omega’s arm.

  Gabriel swallowed his tears and concentrated on eating until his stomach stopped hurting. Only then did he raise his eyes to Emory, who sat with his back against a tree, chewing as his eyes continually swept their surroundings.

  “How long have you been out here alone?” Gabriel asked. He stretched out, trying to find a comfortable position on the ground. Things were much easier when in wolf form, but then he wouldn’t be able to talk to Emory. Plus, he dreaded the pain the shift would cause him.

  Emory held up two fingers greasy with rabbit.

  “Two days?”

  Emory shook his head.

  “Two weeks?”

  The other omega nodded.

  “Wow. That’s a long time. I don’t know how you did it.”

  Emory shrugged.

  “What about…I mean, have you seen…” Gabriel didn’t even like to say it. “…The…The Turned?”

  Emory swallowed, terror in his eyes revealing to Gabriel how much he feared the feral wolves.

  “You’ve seen them?”

  Emory pointed to his ear.

  “Heard them?”

  The other omega nodded.

  Gabriel wrapped his arms around himself, no longer tempted by the succulent meat. What he’d consumed formed a hard rock in the pit of his stomach.

  Emory pointed at Gabriel and looked at him questioningly. Although the other omega could be asking any number of things, Gabriel seemed to know Emory wanted to know his plans.

  “I’m headed for Cascade City where my old pack leader lives. He’ll take me in. You should come, too. River will make you part of his pack.”

  Emory’s hopeful look hurt to see. Gabriel could only begin to imagine what it must have been like for the other omega out in the forest alone for so long and wondered why Emory had left his pack. The sun had dipped below the horizon and snowflakes began to fall. Gabriel shivered and explained to Emory that his inner thermostat had been off since he’d gotten pregnant. The other omega’s face creased with concern.

  “Maybe we should get to sleep and head out early in the morning.” Gabriel didn’t think Grey and the others would be able to see the smoke above the thick forest, and he wanted the heat the small fire afforded, so he left it alone and stretched out beside it.

  Emory threw the rest of the carcass into the flames and shifted before curling around Gabriel’s back. Gabriel sighed, immediately warmer, and closed his eyes.

  * * * *

  Gabriel made better time with Emory by his side, even though the pregnant omega couldn’t bring himself to shift into wolf form again. His entire body ached, and for the first three nights after meeting Emory, he woke up multiple times in the night with shooting pains in his groin. Gabriel was thankful to have someone there with him, although he never woke Emory.

  Sometimes Gabriel wished he was home again, lying safely in bed between Grey and Ian, before remembering the trouble he’d caused. Gabriel should have trusted that Ian knew best when it came to Grey. He’d let his guilt and worry overcome reason. Now there wasn’t any way to fix things, but maybe with Gabriel gone, the alpha and beta would find a way back to each other.

  And they had Finny.

  Gabriel’s heart ached missing his boy, and the baby cradled inside him got more and more restless with every day of traveling. At this point, the pregnant omega found it difficult to think of the unborn infant as anything but something growing inside him, making him sick and miserable. He knew it was his baby, but until it was born and in Gabriel’s arms, that was a difficult truth to realize. During the long hours hiking through the woods, Gabriel concentrated on his womb and the uncomfortable movements within, thinking about Ian and Grey and reminding himself the baby was a part of one of them, and a part of himself.

  Gabriel knew he’d made things harder on himself by running. In hindsight, he realized he should have stayed until the baby was born and then left. He knew that now, but remonstrating with himself wasn’t going to do any good, and Gabriel was frankly too tired to do it anyway. All his energy was centered on keeping going, thankful to have someone by his side listening for danger. Howls continued to go up, and as the two omegas reached the middle of the forest, Gabriel thought they were getting closer.

  As days stretched out to a week, Gabriel began to fret about the pack. His mates obviously weren’t giving up the search, and Grey’s absence had to be felt back at the compound. Once again, Gabriel was to blame. It seemed he really couldn’t do anything right.

  One evening as Emory and Gabriel prepared for sleep after a long day walking, the howls began again. Gabriel could feel Emory’s eyes on him.

  “Yeah, I know. They’re closer. They wouldn’t have thought I’d take the route through the woods, but by now they must be wondering.”

  Emory chewed his bottom lip, looking worried.

  “They never hurt me,” Gabriel assured the other omega. “They’re just worried and want me back.”

  Emory turned away, and for the dozenth time, Gabriel wondered why the mute omega was on his own.

  Gabriel winced as a particularly strong pain shot through his groin, and Emory turned to him again, eager to help.

  Gabriel held up a hand. “It’s okay. I’m fine. I’m just tired. I don’t even think I can eat tonight.” They’d been fortunate to find a nice indentation in a rock formation that would keep them dry. A warm front was moving through, changing the snow to rain.

  Too bad Gabriel was cold anyway. Lately, he’d begun to hope he might make it to Cascade Cit
y. They hadn’t been accosted by a bear, human hunters, or The Turned, and Gabriel had been able to walk every day without too many stops.

  As he attempted to make himself comfortable enough to sleep, the howls of his mates started up again, and raw emotion hit the pregnant omega with the force of a tornado. He tried to keep quiet and his trembling to a minimum, but Emory noticed and placed a warm hand on Gabriel’s arm.

  Gabriel’s bottom lip trembled. “Will you promise me something?” he asked the other omega.

  Emory nodded.

  “If…well, if something happens to me but the baby is okay, will you take care of him for me? Will you take him back to Angel Hills Pack? Please?”

  Emory looked horrified, but he nodded his head.

  Gabriel tried to smile. “Thank you. So much. Maybe that’s the reason we found each other, so you could take him home.” He closed his eyes, tears running down his face. Another pain assaulted him, but Gabriel barely moved in reaction, exhaustion taking over and body sinking into the ground, becoming one with the earth as a comforting buzzing took up in his head. He thought he heard Emory urgently grunting but his eyelids were too heavy to open. Besides, the darkness felt so good, it was impossible not to give in to it.

  Chapter 23: Emory

  Emory couldn’t wake Gabriel, and that scared the omega more than anything else that had happened to him so far. Putting his hands on Gabriel’s belly, he could feel how tight and drawn up it was. Gabriel was going into labor and wouldn’t have the strength to deliver.

  A third volley of howls went up in the distance, closer than Emory had ever heard them, and his heart began to pound. Although the wolves were closer than they were, there was no guarantee they’d find Gabriel before it was too late.

  Gabriel needed his alpha. He needed his alpha’s presence and blood or the pregnant omega didn’t stand a chance of surviving, and if that was the case, the unborn baby wouldn’t make it either.

  Emory crouched beside his unresponsive friend and chewed on his fingernail, brow furrowed. Gabriel had said his mates wouldn’t hurt him. The pregnant omega had run away because he felt he was a burden, yet by the sound of the intermittent howls they’d been hearing over the past week, his mates desperately wanted Gabriel back.

  The decision wasn’t difficult, although Emory was frightened. As an omega, Emory was extremely vulnerable and scared to go before unknown alphas, but he didn’t want Gabriel to die. Just being with another omega had made him feel so much better. Swallowing back tears of fear and worry, Emory set about making Gabriel more comfortable. He searched and found a rock with a flat, sharp end. It was a little more difficult to locate a large patch of moss growing beneath a tree, but he got lucky. Carefully, he cut beneath the patch until he could lift it away from the ground. He shook out the excess dirt and carried the large square back to where Gabriel lay in the curve of the rock. Carefully, Emory laid the moss over the sleeping omega, tucking it close and hoping it would help keep Gabriel warm.

  Emory had never known a werewolf to be cold like Gabriel always seemed to be and thought something must be really wrong with the pregnant omega. Another howl went up, even closer this time, and Emory knew he had to make his move. Bending forward, he kissed Gabriel on the forehead, shifted, and took off toward the sound, running as fast as he could.

  The wolves searching for Gabriel had entered the forest, that was obvious. Emory swallowed his fear and kept running, occasionally adjusting direction when a howl revealed he was off course. Then things fell quiet.

  No, don’t stop now, Emory thought. I must find you.

  When a sudden howl sounded directly in front of the omega, Emory slowed to a walk, shaking all over. The howl had come from an alpha, and not just any alpha—a pack alpha. Every fiber of Emory’s being told him to turn and run, but he forced himself to lower into a crouch and let out what would be a series of barks if his vocal cords worked properly, but wound up sounding more like sharp grunts. In no time, six wolves came crashing through the trees and circled Emory.

  Terrified, Emory whined and rolled over onto his back. The pack alpha, a large black wolf with silver markings, approached and smelled Emory from head to feet before letting out a ferocious growl that turned Emory’s guts to water.

  Faint with fear, Emory held himself still but continued to whine as best he could, wishing he could push the words out that wanted to fly off his tongue. I know where your mate is. Follow me!

  Another wolf, slender, dark brown with a white throat, and the only beta among them, moved forward and repeated the pack alpha’s pattern of sniffing. He bared his teeth before sitting back on his haunches.

  The pack alpha shifted into a tall, muscular man with black hair that fell over his shoulders and very blue eyes. One by one, the other five wolves shifted. Shaking, but knowing the pack alpha expected it, Emory shifted, too. He scrambled to a crouch, keeping his neck bared.

  “I smell my omega on you,” the pack alpha said with barely contained ferociousness. “Where is he?”

  This was the next hurdle. Without speech, Emory would be mistaken as uncooperative. He pointed to his mouth and shook his head. The pack alpha glanced back at the beta, whose dark eyes relayed confusion.

  Emory was sure his fear rolled off him in waves of unmistakable scent. He remained still, neck bared, until the pack alpha’s rigid stance relented, and he crouched next to the omega. The other four alphas stood at attention, watching.

  “I am Grey, leader of Angel Hills Pack. Where is my omega?”

  Emory clasped his neck with his hand and opened and closed his mouth as he’d done with Gabriel to show his inability to speak.

  “You can’t talk?” the beta asked, moving forward. “My name’s Ian. I’m Gabriel’s other mate. We’re worried about him.”

  Emory pointed in the direction he’d come.

  “You know where he is?” Grey asked.

  Emory nodded eagerly.

  “Will you lead us to him?”

  Emory stood and shifted back before taking off at a run, the sound of six other wolves following him, raising the fur on his scruff.

  The trip back to where he’d left Gabriel should have seemed shorter now that he’d faced the wolves, but with the small pack running at the omega’s heels, the trek seemed to take an excruciatingly long time. Emory worried Gabriel might not be alive when he returned. What would happen then?

  The pack alpha must have scented Gabriel a moment before Emory did, because suddenly he surged ahead, the beta close at his heels. The other wolves slowed, and Emory shifted and cautiously approached where the big, black wolf stood whining and licking Gabriel’s face. Ian shifted and tenderly pushed Gabriel’s blond hair from the omega’s face. Grey removed the moss, and Emory got a glimpse of the omega. With relief, he realized Gabriel was still alive.

  Reclining beside the pregnant omega, Grey attempted to wake Gabriel, patting his cheeks and projecting strong pheromones into the air. Emory watched with the others as Gabriel’s eyelids fluttered open.

  “There are those pretty eyes,” Grey said in the most soothing and loving voice Emory had ever heard from an alpha. “There’s my sweet omega.”

  A shiver ran up Emory’s spine.

  Grey held his forearm in front of Gabriel’s face. “Drink. You need my strength.”

  Gabriel’s eyes lingered for a moment on his alpha before darting to where Emory stood. “Emory,” he whispered fearfully.

  Grey looked over his shoulder and then back at his omega. “He’s safe, I promise. Now drink.”

  Gabriel obeyed, weakly raising his head and sinking his teeth into the skin of his alpha’s arm and drinking.

  Emory glanced around, taking in the other four alphas for the first time. All were large and heavily muscled. A blond with a surly expression that made Emory want to sink into the ground stood with arms crossed over his chest. He didn’t pay any attention to Emory. The other alphas looked at the omega curiously and sniffed the air. Emory’s gaze kept coming back to one w
ith dark, curly hair and big brown eyes that made the omega’s heart clench with some unknown emotion. Those eyes, the color of the richest, most fertile soil, met Emory’s, and the omega froze.

  Grey’s voice broke the spell. Scooping up the pregnant omega as though Gabriel weighed nothing, the pack alpha said to Ian, “Run ahead of me. Take the omega and Roanan with you. When you get home, prepare the tea Angela prescribed. I’ll be there as quickly as possible.” He looked to the other alphas. “You three shift and guard us.”

  Ian stepped forward and kissed Gabriel’s cheek before shifting. With a look to Emory and Roanan to follow, he took off at a run.

  It felt oddly euphoric running between the beta and alpha wolf, though Emory was equally as terrified, wondering what would happen to him when they reached their destination. The pack alpha had promised Gabriel Emory was safe. The omega could only hope Grey was a man of his word.

  Chapter 24: Christopher

  After Gabriel’s abrupt disappearance, the pack threatened to sink into turmoil, but Milo got them under control. Justin stayed at the omega den, and for the next several nights, all the omegas gathered there, curling up on the couch and in chairs, giving one another comfort while their children stayed at the nursery.

  Christopher envied the omegas their ability to be so physically demonstrative. They hugged and touched while Christopher went about cleaning the house and cooking. All the alphas seemed to understand their omega mates were worried about Gabriel and needed to be together so didn’t interfere.

  “I don’t understand why Gabe left,” London said on the third night after Grey, Ian, and the others had left and the omegas had congregated yet again after obligatory trips home or to the nursery.

  Christopher had a giant pot of stew on the stove and a roaring fire in the fireplace, and London had broken out some chocolate chips. The den felt cozy and welcoming.

  “He’d convinced himself he was a burden,” Justin said. He looked over at Vincent, who lay on pillows on the floor with his brother. “Is that all he said, Vince?”

  Vincent looked miffed. “I wouldn’t hold back information.”