He laid down first, fully clothed except for his shoes. I did the same. I rarely slept with my clothes on and he seemed uncomfortable as well, but then he turned toward me. He offered me his hand, and with it, the chance to reject him as well. But I took his hand, running my fingers over his softer ones and then we laid there together until he closed his eyes half an hour later and shortly after I did the same.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Thomas
I woke up first, which was rare for me, but I couldn't lay in bed and pretend to be asleep anymore much past dawn. I showered and went downstairs to wait for the others. Owen was beginning to stir when I left him there where he'd fallen asleep next to me.
We were all downstairs and having breakfast an hour later. I didn't have much to eat, not that I was really hungry anyway. My stomach wouldn't seem to calm down.
I was nervous about today and how it would go. And also if we'd be successful at all. I'd never been much of a fighter, but I had faith in Helena. I had to. Otherwise we were all being foolish, and our best hope was for a quick, merciful death from Abraham.
"Are you ready to go?" Helena asked me.
I nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be anyway."
"It's a good day to kill our alpha."
She may have been trying to cheer me up, but that wasn't the right thing to say to me to achieve that. At least not right then. I shied away from her and shook my head.
Helena sighed as she came over and gave my arm a big hug. "Thomas, I know...But think of it like this then, it's a good day to be able to start living as we actually want to. I can love Lily, openly, and you can love...well, someone. There's going to be some really cute person out there for you. Someone that you'll care about and adore and be totally mad about."
"Totally?" I teased her.
I looked to Owen. He could have been someone like that for me. I would have welcomed him into that role. Sleeping beside him last night had been good. I'd been relaxed and comfortable for the first time in a while.
She gave me a soft nip on my shoulder. "Yes."
I forced a smile. "I wish that we could disappear instead, but he would never let us just leave."
"Not as long as we're able to give him children to rule over," Helena said, agreeing with me. Her tone showed me how sad she was, despite the smile she tried to give me.
*~*~*
We went to Abraham not long after that. Her hand was in mine as I drove us all there. She was nervous. I could feel her pulse banging in her wrist as it thumped against my own. I didn't tell her that it would all be okay because I didn't want to lie to her. She deserved better than that. I wanted this to be okay though. Of course I did. I needed that too.
I parked in front as usual and we got out together. She took my hand again, but now it was her giving me strength as we showed ourselves to be a loving couple devoted to each other and to the pack.
It was probably the biggest lie we'd ever told them, and as the seconds ticked on and our slow steps took us ever closer to Abraham's front door, I began to realize how hopeless our plan really was. Beside me, Helena looked ready to fight, and I was too.
Helena didn't even bother looking at me. "We're getting our freedom today."
"One way or the other?"
She nodded. Her jaw was set. Either he'd kill us, or we'd kill him. Either way, we would be free of him, and so would Lily, Jonathan, and Owen.
They were behind us, quietly keeping up, but not intruding either. Even Jonathan was quiet in Lily's arms as if he somehow knew that he needed to keep a low profile right now. I wanted Abraham's attention focused solely on Helena and me. That was the only way to keep the others safe.
I only had a few seconds to make a decision, and no time to talk to Helena about the options as I saw them, or to warn her before I acted even, but as we stepped up to Abraham's front door I'd made up my mind and I knew what I was going to do.
Helena took the initiative. She knocked on the door as hard as she could. She made the door shake she was knocking so hard. I heard someone coming up to the door. The handle shook as someone started to open it. As soon as they pulled the door toward them, I lifted my leg and I kicked the door as hard as I could.
The door slammed open and I jumped forward. I landed on Abraham. I punched him in the throat. His muscles gave way under my strike and I knew his throat was broken as he bucked underneath me.
Someone slammed into me from behind. Another kicked me in my side. My ribs broke, and I gasped in pain as I rolled off Abraham and fell onto my side. One of Abraham's guards stood above me, and then Abraham was there with him. He rubbed at his throat where a deep purple bruise was already forming. I had broken his throat. I was sure of it. But there he was, standing in front of me, while one of his guards held me down.
Abraham coughed and rubbed at the bruise, then he motioned to his other guard, and Helena was brought beside me. Her hair was a mess and her shirt was torn. Someone had scratched up her arm but otherwise she looked unharmed. For now at least.
"We had a plan!" she hissed at me. She tried to come for me, but the guard grabbed her hair and slammed her back down before she could reach me.
"I thought this was better," I argued.
Helena glared at me. "Oh yes, much better."
At least the others were unharmed as they stood there on the sidewalk, staring at us with wide eyes.
Abraham waved his hand at us, and the guard pushed a rag into Helena's mouth, silencing her words, but not the screaming she did behind it. "Thomas, you should learn to control your mate," Abraham said. His voice was rough. I had no idea how he was still able to talk. "Now, did you really think this would work? That you'd what, become the alpha by killing me? You'd make a horrible alpha. You're spineless and weak. The only reason you two have been kept around this long is because of your ability to reproduce. So that's what you'll do, here, in my house, where you can be watched at all times. Once Helena is pregnant, I'll kill you, Thomas. And once the child is born she'll be made to give the pack another and somewhere in there you'll both learn that crossing your alpha is the last thing you two ever should have thought of doing."
I hated him already, but it was even worse when he went to Owen and slapped him. "I gave you one simple job and here you are, helping them try to overthrow me."
"I'm sorry," Owen mumbled.
That didn't stop Abraham from punching him in his cheek.
I struggled against the guard, trying my hardest to get free, but it was Helena who actually managed it. I watched her, stunned at her beauty and bravery even when she was seriously outnumbered, as she shifted and went for Abraham again. As a wolf she was stronger and faster than him. But only while he remained a human.
I followed her lead and called on my wolf as well. The two guards were already starting to shift, as was Abraham, but they couldn't fight us both at once. When they were fully distracted with her, I attacked. I bit into one guard's ankle, and then the back of his knee. With him unable to stand I moved to the next. Helena and Abraham were together, biting at each other and I wanted to go to her as well, but the other guard was still a problem.
I leapt over to him, grabbing his wrist in my teeth as he crouched there mid shift. His bones broke easily in my jaws. Then I went for his throat. I missed and got his face instead, but I clamped down as hard as I could there as he screamed underneath me.
He fell quickly, and I went to help Helena. But when I got to her, she no longer needed my help. She stood over Abraham's body. He was bloody and mangled almost beyond recognition, but she was still whole. I shifted back and grabbed my ribs as they screamed in pain. I touched her shoulder and she turned and growled at me.
"I'm sorry I didn't do what we'd talked about. I thought I might be able to take him if I surprised him," I explained.
Helena snapped at my hand and I stopped touching her. She limped away from me, and I followed along silently behind her with Owen and Lily still looking shocked. Naked and bloody, I opened the door to the back seat for her. She jumped
in and laid down. I was stiff from the pain as I sat down in the front seat.
"I can't believe you two killed them," Lily said, breaking the quiet.
"Thank you for doing that," Owen added on.
Despite my pain, and how scared I'd been, and how my heart was still racing, I still smiled. We were free. No matter what happened now, we were free to live our own lives.
Every bit of me hurt, but I still drove us away from that house. Abraham had been wrong. I didn't want to be the alpha. I just didn't want him in our lives anymore.
"I'm mad at you," Helena said as she slowly shifted back to herself.
I nodded. "I know. I don't blame you. We had a plan, a good one, but I thought I could end it quickly. I was wrong, and dumb. I'm sorry."
She laughed weakly. "You should be. Next time I give you a plan, you do it."
"I will," I promised her.
When we got home Lily and Helena went off together, leaving me with Owen and Jonathan. I was happy to have them both as we laid down together on the couch after putting Jonathan down in his crib.
I was in so much pain, but I still managed to fall asleep with Owen behind me.
I was surprised to find Owen beside me when I woke up. Maybe I shouldn't have been. After all, omegas generally stayed close to other wolves, but I'd expected him to be in the same room as the rest of us, not to find him lying there with his hand around Jonathan to protect him.
I was still sore as I sat up. I rubbed my ribs and winced as pain lanced through me even at my light touch. With a sigh I got out of bed and headed for the shower. It was early, and I was determined to be quiet, but I must not have been quiet enough because when I came out of the shower Owen was sitting up. And he was feeding Jonathan from a bottle.
I tucked the towel a bit tighter around my waist as I came over to them both. "Hey." I knelt down in front of them and touched Jonathan's cheek before giving him a quick kiss. Then I looked up at Owen, unsure of whether I should kiss him too, but I wanted to.
He touched my hand instead and then I leaned forward and put my cheek against his fingers.
"Are you my beta now?" he quietly asked me.
"Yeah, I guess that I am."
I came forward and touched his hair, then his cheek. "Thank you for looking after my son."
Owen seemed to relax instantly under my touch. He nodded and went back to feeding Jonathan. I touched Jonathan's cheek too, then headed over to the window. The blinds were closed, and I pulled them aside to be able to look out at the morning.
Helena and Lily came down the stairs. Helena's hiss of pain was unmistakable. I didn't have to turn back to know that it was her making that sound. After as long as we'd been together, I knew most of the sounds she'd ever made.
I came away from the window to come see them both. I hugged my sister, then I turned to Helena, my new alpha. "Hello."
She touched my shoulder. "Good morning. It feels good to be free, doesn't it?"
It really did. We were free. I stepped back from her and went to Owen. I kissed his cheek, and then his lips. "I'm glad you're our omega," I whispered.
Lily came and picked up Jonathan from Owen. "You two really don't think anyone from the pack will come after us?"
I didn't. "I don't think anyone really cared about him all that much to begin with."
Helena laughed a little, though it was full of pain. "I'll call a few of the women in the pack that I know tomorrow and subtly make sure that they're happy in their matings. If not, we'll have a place for them here. We killed Abraham. They won't mess with us. I'm an alpha now. Our pack may be small right now, but I really love you. All of you. Including you, Owen. Thank you for joining us. Now, my mate and I are going to take care of that little baby so why don't you two go do whatever for a while. I'm serious. Alpha's orders."
When she put it like that, it was hard to refuse her. I went to Owen and took his hand. For the rest of the day we lay quietly in the back yard, talking about our quiet future together.
FIN
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Caitlin is the author of many books including some Rainbow Award winners. While most of her books include shifters, she does write a little of everything. She was first published in 2012 and since then hasn’t stopped writing. When she’s not writing she enjoys gardening, hanging out with her dogs, and watching movies with her husband. She lives on a small farm in Missouri.
Website: www.CaitlinRicci.com
Unwanted Omega Page 5