by L. C. Davis
"You wouldn't be the first alpha to say so," Mitchell sneered.
"I would never hurt an omega in my care," Benjamin growled. "My reputation should speak for itself."
"Oh, I know all about you. You're the Council's golden boy. Hell, I'm pretty sure I've heard the phrase 'most eligible bachelor' bandied about with your name attached to it," Mitchell said in a dry tone. "Thing is, an alpha's reputation is generally made and upheld by other alphas. Some of the worst men behind closed doors can put up a front of being the best in public spaces. I'm sure you understand why I can't just go on reputation alone, given the nature of the program."
Benjamin clenched his jaw, struggling to keep his anger in check. Mitchell was right. He couldn't argue that there wouldn't be much point in a sanctuary for omegas if they could be transferred in and out on nothing more than an alpha's word or claim. "At least let me talk to him. If he truly wants to be here, then I won't stop him."
"Ben..." Heinrich frowned. "We don't have to accept this. We can go to the Council."
Benjamin shook his head. "Even if they could force Mitchell to hand him over, it doesn't matter if Yuri doesn't want to come home. If he was unhappy enough to run without my having any idea of it, then that's on me." He gave Mitchell a pointed look. "If it turns out this was his decision."
"An admirable outlook," Mitchell said with a nod. "I'll go find my mate and have a talk with Yuri. If he's comfortable with seeing you, then we'll let you know. In the meantime, you can make yourselves comfortable," he said, gesturing around the spacious office. "Care for a drink while you wait?"
"I don't drink," Benjamin muttered.
Heinrich sighed. "I'll have a scotch."
Benjamin blinked at his father in surprise but said nothing as Mitchell left the room. He wandered over to the open window where a sleek black crow was lingering on the ledge. It scattered into the air when he came a bit too close and he found himself staring down at the bustling hub below.
"Strange place," Heinrich murmured. "Not at all the way it was when I was here last."
"You were here?" Benjamin asked in disbelief.
"Covert ops, back when Allen Teak was Alpha," said Heinrich. "Gotta say, the place has changed for the better."
"You think Yuri is safe here?" Benjamin asked.
"Safe as anywhere, I suppose. That doesn't mean he belongs here."
"You think I should go to the Council." It was a statement, not a question. Benjamin could read his father better than anyone other than his mate, and he knew well enough when the man thought he was doing wrong. It was a rare occurrence, but that only made the sting of his disapproval sharper.
"I think this is the first major decision you've got to make on your own, not just as the future Alpha of our pack, but as a man," Heinrich replied carefully. "I can't tell you what to do."
"But you think I should force him to come back."
Heinrich sighed, easing into the chair across from Mitchell's desk. "I think I'm glad that in all my years as Alpha, I've never had to make a decision as hard as your first one."
The two alphas fell silent and Benjamin found himself drifting into a trance of regret, his mind torturing him with a second-by-second replay of every moment he had spent with Yuri, searching for signs he had missed, mistakes he had made. There were many things he wished he could do over, certainly, but he remained as convinced that the night of passion they had shared, poorly timed though it might have been, was as much the result of Yuri's desire as his own. How had things gone so horribly wrong in the hours that passed between falling asleep with his omega in his arms and waking up to find his bed empty and his heart missing a piece?
The door opened, jolting Benjamin out of his thoughts. When Mitchell entered the room, followed closely by Yuri and another lean blond wolf Benjamin recognized as Angel from Council events, his heart went still in his chest. It ached and seemed to start beating again solely on Yuri's account. The omega was as beautiful as ever, even though his heavy lashes concealed his warm brown eyes. He wouldn't look up and his hesitation made Benjamin's wolf long to wrap him up in a coil of fur and keep him pressed close and safe, but his human side knew better.
There was fear tingeing Yuri's scent, along with something else he couldn't quite identify, and Benjamin knew he was the cause of it. Why the omega was afraid of him didn't matter. The fact that he was made Benjamin's gut twist and coil in self-loathing. He must have imagined Yuri's happiness in his arms, or at the very least, failed to see it for the mask it was. Surely things couldn't be the way he remembered them if the omega had fled and sought sanctuary in a foreign pack with a reputation for brutality at the first chance he got.
"Yuri," Benjamin whispered, not trusting his voice at full volume. He feared the slightest breath would be enough to prove to the omega that he really was something to be fled and feared. He no longer trusted his own judgment.
The omega jolted at the sound of his own name, but when his eyes met Benjamin's, they were full of shame. He quickly averted his gaze and folded his arms, a defensive posture that matched his energy, as if he was trying to make himself appear as small as possible. Angel was far more guarded than he had been at Council events. Benjamin had spoken with him once or twice on friendly terms, but this time, the omega was polite but cold.
"Hello, Heinrich. Benjamin," he said, resting his hand on Yuri's shoulder.
"Angel," Heinrich said, nodding in reverence to the other Alpha's mate. It's good to see you again, though I can't say I fully understand the circumstances."
Yuri's shoulders slumped and when Benjamin looked closer, he realized the omega was shivering. He clenched his fists at his sides to keep himself from reaching out to comfort him, knowing the gesture would have the opposite of its intended effect.
"Are you alright?" Benjamin asked. There was so much more he needed to know, but that took precedence over everything else and he didn't trust his voice with anything lengthier.
Yuri looked surprised by the question, but he nodded faintly.
Benjamin swallowed, unsure of whether he was prepared to receive an answer to his next question. "Did you come here of your own free will?"
Another nod.
"Why?" Benjamin could feel the walls shoot up as soon as the question left his lips, but it was too late to reel it back.
Yuri was silent for long enough that Benjamin felt sure he wasn't going to answer. Angel squeezed his shoulders. "It's alright," he urged. "We're here."
Benjamin felt a twinge of agitation at the way the other omega was behaving, as if Yuri had anything to fear from him. He reminded himself that it was the safe assumption. Yuri's face was pink when he finally looked up.
"I'm sorry," he said softly. "You've been kind, I just...I don't belong in the Cold Water Pack. I never wanted to be there."
The words hit Benjamin hard, knocking the breath out of his lungs. It was no surprise. He wouldn't be standing in the territory of a former enemy, separated from his rightful mate by chaperones, if Yuri had felt like he belonged in Benjamin's pack, but that didn't make the words any easier to hear.
"I'm so sorry, Yuri," he murmured, at a loss for any words that mattered more or any that accurately communicated the flurry of emotions washing over him. "I didn't know you were so unhappy. I wish...is there any way I can convince you to come back?"
Yuri shook his head slowly. "I want to stay here."
Another blow. Benjamin nodded. Everything in him screamed to fight, to insist that the omega didn't know what he was doing and make the decision he knew was right for both of them. Everything except the part of him that had grown to care more about what Yuri wanted and needed than what felt right to him, even if his head and his heart were at war over the very definition of right.
"Are you sure?" he asked hoarsely. "You feel safe here?"
Yuri nodded again.
Benjamin let out a slow, controlled breath. "I guess it's decided, then."
"Benjamin," Heinrich began. "This is absurd."
"It's what he wants," Benjamin murmured. "He was given to our pack under false pretenses, without his input. If this is where he feels safe, then this is where he'll stay."
"We'll take care of him," Angel said softly, a hint of pity in his gaze that hadn't been there a moment ago. Benjamin would have preferred the mistrust and ire.
"You have my word," said Mitchell.
Benjamin forced a smile, but it was tight and probably looked far more menacing than reassuring, so he pressed his lips into a line instead and nodded. "Let's go. Yuri, if you change your mind," he said sadly, glancing back at the omega from the door, "you know where I'll be."
Chapter 13
YURI
Yuri looked around the room, a converted training hall turned into an amateur art gallery. There were paintings everywhere and a few sculptures drying on shelves next to a potter's wheel by the window. Angel was across the room, giving gentle pointers to a young omega who was working on a brightly colored painting of a garden. Yuri watched in fascination as the Mountain Ridge omega moved around the room, guiding, smiling and encouraging the other omegas like a conductor, perfectly coordinated and in his element. Many of the omegas were timid, and Yuri had learned that the Mountain Ridge Rehabilitation Program had been such a resounding success that packs from all over the world had started sending their omegas to stay there. Yuri found himself wondering, had his pack been defeated at a later time, whether he would have been sent to live there rather than sold off as chattel.
Angel came over to him with a tired but glowing smile. "Sorry about that," he said, pressing a hand against his rounded belly. "This is the biggest class I've had all year."
"How do you do so much?" Yuri asked in awe. It wasn't just the art classes. He knew Angel coordinated a team of betas who oversaw all aspects of the wellbeing of the omegas within the Mountain Ridge packs and handled rescue missions on occasion, when the Council or the Tribunal requested it. All of that was on top of raising twins and being the Central Alpha's mate.
"Time blocking," Angel said with a musical laugh, offering Yuri a cup of coffee as he turned to face the glass wall overlooking the Central Unit courtyard below. Uniformed betas and alphas walked in close-stepping groups and dashed from one building to the next. The Central Unit was a strange amalgamation of austere military complexes and small businesses, but the small-town atmosphere seemed to be gaining the upper hand. "I love this pack, so it doesn't really feel like work. I keep the twins with me most of the time, but Mitchell finally convinced me it was time for them to start going to pre-school with the other pups," he said with a heavy sigh.
"You really like him," Yuri murmured.
Angel blinked at him, then laughed. "Well, I should hope so," he said, patting his stomach. "This little one got in here somehow."
Yuri's face grew warm. "I just meant...I don't know. I guess this just isn't what I was expecting."
"Not quite the Mountain Ridge Pack you heard of in the legends, is it?" Angel asked knowingly.
Yuri shook his head.
"It's alright. We're not what most people are expecting. Honestly, things have changed a lot," he said, his tone softening. "We all have. For the most part, I think it's for the better."
"Yeah." Yuri couldn't argue with that, even if those differences reassured him that he really was alone. If he couldn't fit in with the Mountain Ridge wolves, he knew he didn't stand much of a chance at fitting in anywhere else. He belonged to a world it seemed the other wolves were more than eager to leave behind.
"What's wrong?" Angel asked, sweeping a tear off Yuri's cheek. The other omega hadn't even realized he had been crying.
"Nothing," Yuri sniffed, quickly wiping his eyes.
"Now, none of that here," Angel said, his tone firm but gentle. "There's one rule in this room, and it's that omegas speak freely. No matter what's on your mind or in your heart, it's safe to say it here."
Yuri tried to swallow, but his throat was dry. "I don't belong here," he said softly. "I don't think I belong anywhere."
Angel pulled him into his arms and Yuri was humiliated by how quickly he dissolved into tears. If the others in the room noticed, they were at least kind enough to pretend they didn't. Hopefully they were all too focused on their projects to care that a random omega was having a breakdown in the corner. "Shh, it's okay," Angel soothed, rubbing Yuri's back. "It's alright, honey. Let it out."
"I'm sorry," Yuri said, his cheeks burning in humiliation as he pulled away. "I don't know why I'm falling apart like this."
"Why did you leave?" Angel asked after a moment of silent consideration. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to. This pack is a shelter to any omega who needs it, no questions asked. Some packs aren't happy about that, but it's something Mitchell and I believe in fervently. No matter what happened or what your reasons are for coming here, you've already been given sanctuary and there isn't an alpha wolf in power here who wouldn't give his life to protect that right, so don't think your answer is what's keeping you here," he explained. "It's just that if I understand where you came from, I might be able to make your time here more productive."
Yuri hesitated. There was certainty in Angel's words he had never heard before in an omega's voice. Was this what an omega could be at the side of an alpha who truly protected and valued him? He had been so quick to dismiss Benjamin's promises of a mutually beneficial partnership as impossible, but it was playing out before his eyes and, in Angel's case, he couldn't excuse it as a cultural difference. If there was any pack that had a reputation for being more savage than the Arctic wolves, it was Mountain Ridge, yet Angel seemed to have settled into his role with all the comfort and confidence of any other omega.
Yuri took a deep breath and started the only way he knew how. With the beginning. With the way he had been raised and the memories of his family that faded each year, no matter how tightly he clung to them. His mother had been a hard woman, but she had always been soft when it came to Yuri and his sister. Their father had sired pups with multiple omegas, as had been the way of their pack for generations. Yuri confessed that he had never heard of the concept of a bonded mate until he had been taken in by the Gray Haven Pack. From what he had seen of the Alphas and their mates, who seemed to be glorified pawns in their political games, he hadn't been impressed with the supposedly more civilized ways of the Federation wolves. The Council wolves were another matter entirely.
And then there was Benjamin. Angel listened patiently as Yuri explained how he had come to be in the Cold Water Pack. His last chance, according to Wayne, the Ice Canyon beta who had transported him to the Council lands. At first, it had been difficult to get the words out, but as Yuri spoke, he found them flowing more easily. If anyone would understand what it was like to be a stranger in a foreign land, surely it was Angel. Yuri spoke of the culture shock he had been subjected to at a young age, of Tara's kindness and her mate's betrayal. How he had learned he would never be good enough for the packs who took him in on the promise of obtaining a submissive omega only to discover that he was wild and untamable. Of the alphas and betas who had discovered that he couldn't be tamed only after trial and error and all the pain it brought.
Angel's eyes shone with tears as he listened and Yuri realized that what had become a fact of life to him wasn't quite as normal as he had come to believe. "I'm sorry," Yuri said warily. "I shouldn't talk about that."
"Of course you should," Angel said earnestly, taking his hand. "That's why you're here. There are few omegas here who haven't been abused at the hands of an alpha who isn't worth his rank," he said through gritted teeth, his voice growing rough. "That's why we run this program, to make sure that every omega has someplace to go. Somewhere he or she can feel safe. I'm glad you felt safe enough to tell me your story," he said gently.
Yuri looked down at the tile, counting the grains. "That's why I left. Even if Benjamin is different from the others, he still thinks I'm something I'm not. He wouldn't want me if he knew who I really am."
; "What do you mean?"
"He thinks I can be fixed," Yuri murmured. "He thinks I'm innocent, like the omegas he's used to. Maybe he knows I come from a different kind of pack, but he doesn't know the extent of how different we are. He doesn't know how broken I am. He thinks he got a virgin omega who's just a little rough around the edges, who can be trained and molded into what he wants, but I'm not. I can't." His voice cracked as he took the tissue Angel offered him.
"Like I said, I don't know Benjamin very well," Angel began, "but he's an honorable man and I'd be shocked if he felt that way. If he saw you as a pet to be trained. Maybe he doesn't know everything in your past, but if he would hold any of it against you, he's not the man I thought he was."
"I don't want him to find out I'm not who he thinks I am," Yuri admitted, his voice barely a whisper. "Please don't make me go back."
"I won't," Angel said, sweeping a strand of hair behind Yuri's ear. "I told you, no one is going to force you to go anywhere."
Yuri nodded. "Thank you. For everything."
Angel smiled. "You don't need to thank me, Yuri. This is what I do."
Chapter 14
BENJAMIN
The weeks that passed in Yuri's absence were long and colder than Benjamin could remember Fall being in recent years. He couldn't bring himself to go back to that beach where they had shared their first kiss, even though he passed it on a near daily basis. Every couple of days, he would make the journey to Mountain Ridge to check on Yuri. Surely, the Central Unit beta had grown weary of his constant pestering, but he had become a fixture and Toval seemed to know better than to think he would give up anytime soon. There was pity in his eyes as there had been in Angel's when Yuri had affirmed his desire to stay in Mountain Ridge. It seemed like a year ago, but Benjamin knew from driving his father into town every week for his doctor's appointments that it had only been five weeks.
It was Tuesday again and Benjamin found himself paying more attention to the clock than the papers on his desk. His father had insisted on going to that day's appointment with Sue instead of him. The doctor had called him and asked them to come up a few days early, which Benjamin could only hope meant good news, even if he knew better. Delusion was the only thing allowing him to function on a daily basis while his mate was in another Alpha's territory. The fact that the bond that pulled him in Yuri's direction only seemed to go one way did nothing to lessen the tension or the ache deep in his core.