The Omega's Heart (Wilde Creek Four) (12 page)

Having a mate was an amazing thing. She
seemed to be calmer now that he was holding her securely. He didn’t
like her being miserable in her sleep, but he was glad he could
help. Even though he didn’t want to think about his pack, he
couldn’t help himself. The sun would rise and he’d have things to
do. He felt obligated to the pack for his position. He wanted to
say no to requests, to put a stop to the work day at dinnertime
like a normal person. Honey had been right earlier; he was afraid
that Acksel would just send him on his way if he didn’t constantly
help. The sweet woman in his arms made him think twice about his
previous stance. He didn’t want to be an errand-boy forever. He
wanted to be there for Honey in every way. There had to be a happy
medium. He hadn’t been truly ashamed of his place in the pack until
Acksel had given him a to-do list for the wedding a mile long. Then
he really saw himself through her eyes, what he must look like
never being able to say no.

His wolf whined in his head. He didn’t want
to be defined by his inability to shift. He’d spent the better part
of his life hating what he was, but Honey didn’t care. She looked
at him like he was a whole male, perfect in every way. Which he
wasn’t hardly, but he liked how it made him feel. With her by his
side, he felt like he could do anything, even tell his alpha that
he needed to curb his evening responsibilities to the pack because
he had a mate now and she needed him. He needed her, too.

Pressing a kiss to her neck, he closed his
eyes and mentally turned off his rambling thoughts about the
pack.

His nose twitched and his eyes opened as he
sat up. Slowly he inhaled again. Smoke!

Slipping from the bed, he moved to the open
bedroom door and the scent of smoke grew stronger. He could hear
the crackling sounds of something burning. Just as he stepped into
the hallway, a smoke detector began to screech. He could see that
the outside of the front of the house was on fire, the orange
flames licking at the windows. Where were the wolves who were
patrolling?

“Honey!” he shouted, running into the
bedroom, grabbing his jeans from the floor, and throwing her
clothes onto the bed.

She sat up and looked dazed for a moment, but
then she snapped into action and began to dress quickly. “What’s
happening?”

“The house is on fire, we have to go
now!”

He heard the sound of glass shattering and
the crackling noises grew louder. He grabbed her hand and pulled
her out of the bedroom, heading toward the laundry room at the back
of the house, which was the only other exit. His eyes stung from
the smoke, and they were both coughing as he unlocked the back door
and pushed her out onto the small snow-covered concrete patio.

She made a strangled noise and he turned his
head to see a fist come flying at his face and then… nothing.

* * * * *

Brynn pushed Acksel’s arm off her waist and
fanned herself. She was sweating. Who knew having a wolf sleep next
to her would make her so hot? It was like sleeping in an oven
sometimes, although Doc had told her that the baby could also mess
with her body temperature, so she probably shouldn’t blame Acksel
entirely. Even though it was fun.

Getting up, she grabbed her robe off the back
of the door and trudged out into the kitchen to get something cold
to drink. Opening the fridge, she pulled out a pitcher of iced tea;
then her stomach rumbled, so she also grabbed a package of cheese
chunks and an apple, and closed the fridge door with her hip.
Leaving her things on the kitchen table, she found crackers and
peanut butter in the cabinet and was about to turn to the table
when something caught her eye outside the kitchen window. Peering
into the darkness, she saw an orange light flickering in the woods.
It was distant, just a bare dot of light, but something made her
inner warning alarm go off.

Moving to the sliding glass door, she
unlocked and opened it, leaning out into the cold night. She
inhaled slowly as she stared at the orange dot and the faint scent
of smoke confirmed her thought. Something was on fire. It was
possible that someone was in the woods with a campfire and just
having fun, but she doubted it. No one went into the pack woods
without clearing it with Acksel. If it wasn’t a campfire, the only
thing in that direction was Jeremiah’s house.

Closing the door, she raced back to the
bedroom and woke up her mate.

“I think Jeremiah’s house is on fire!”

* * * * *

Honey rubbed her wrists together, hoping to
wiggle out of the thick rope that bound them in front of her, but
it was no use. She squinted in the darkness, but wasn’t able to see
much outside of Jeremiah’s still form next to her. Someone was
sitting a few feet away from her on the floor of what appeared to
be a cargo van, and two men were in the front seats. She knew who
they were because of their scents, not because she could see them
well; her father’s beta, Shred, and two of his goons, Campo and
Van.

She and Jeremiah had run out of the burning
house and right into an ambush. It hadn’t even occurred to her that
something was up; she’d just done what Jeremiah said. Something hit
the back of her head and she’d stumbled into the snow, dazed, and
then a thick arm had wrapped around her throat and squeezed
tightly. The only warning she’d been able to give Jeremiah was a
pathetic squawk, but it hadn’t saved him from being taken out by a
vicious punch from Shred. She’d passed out from lack of oxygen, and
had woken up sometime later tied up on the floor of the van.

The gag in her mouth tasted disgusting. She
didn’t know what it was made of, but the fabric was coarse and made
her want to retch. She looked down at Jeremiah, focusing in the
dark and opening her senses. He was breathing, and his heart was
beating. She didn’t know what they’d done to him outside of
knocking him out and tying him up, but what concerned her most was
that she didn’t know why they’d brought him along. If her father’s
men were bringing her back to the pack so she could meet with
whoever he’d mated her with, Jeremiah didn’t need to be with them.
They could have knocked him out and left him. Tears stung her eyes
as she realized that they were probably going to kill him.

She swallowed hard and blinked the tears
away. She couldn’t fall apart now, it wouldn’t do anyone any
good.

Something buzzed and Campo answered from the
passenger seat. “Yeah? Where? Okay. We’ll be there in about four
hours.”

“What?” Shred asked from the driver’s
seat.

“We’re supposed to bring them to a tract of
woods that skirts along a field in Kenote. The alpha is from there
and it’s his land. Alpha Williams doesn’t want to wait until we get
back to Wyling River to hand her off.”

Shred grunted. “More like he doesn’t want to
wait to take his own prize. After we take care of this mess, we’ll
be going to pick her up. Put it into the GPS.”

Prize? What the hell was he talking about?
She’d never heard of Kenote, either.

Four hours seemed like a really long time.
But they weren’t taking them to Wyling River, so maybe that meant
she had time to get herself and Jeremiah free.

Van moved so quickly she wasn’t aware he’d
done it until he was inches from her face and a foul smelling cloth
was pressed over her mouth and nose. She struggled, and dizziness
swamped her.

“Just in case you get any ideas, little
bitch. If you’re lucky, your dad will let you say goodbye to lover
boy here before he kills him.”

She struggled against the hand pressing the
cloth to her face, until her eyes refused to open and her limbs
went lax as she slipped down into darkness.

* * * * *

Jeremiah woke up under a heavy fog,
disoriented. His first thought was of Honey. Blinking to clear his
vision, he found himself on the floor of a cargo van, bound hand
and foot.

Coarse rope was wrapped around his wrists,
which were tied behind his back. His ankles were tied as well, and
his mouth was gagged. He was alone in the van, and at first panic
filled him as he worried for Honey, but he quickly calmed himself
and focused his senses. He heard voices outside the van. Beyond the
open doors, he couldn’t see anything but darkness, but he could
smell snow and trees. Turning his head, he saw the headlights were
on, illuminating the woods. He couldn’t see anyone through the
windshield.

He was grabbed roughly by his ankles and
dragged out of the van. His head cracked against the bumper as he
landed on the ground, his vision blurring for a moment. Two males
grabbed him under the arms and lifted him, partially dragging him
around the front of the van and dropping him to the ground once
more. He managed to land on his knees and keep himself upright.

As he straightened, a fist flew at his face
and he didn’t have time to duck. It smashed into his mouth and
nose, and he groaned and struggled not to fall backward.

“Dad, please!” Honey begged. Jeremiah shook
his head to clear it and glanced around, finding her on her knees,
bound but not gagged. A large male stood next to her, and when she
spoke, he fisted her hair and jerked hard. She screamed in pain and
Jeremiah growled, struggling with the rope around his wrists.

The male who’d punched him stepped in front
of Jeremiah, blocking his view.

“You’ve caused me a lot of trouble. I was
going to leave you and take her, but she’s covered in your scent
and wearing your marks, and that’s going to cost me with her new
mate. I could have passed her off as a virgin if you hadn’t loaded
her up with your come, you asshole.” He snarled again. Jeremiah
stared up at him, seething. He knew without being told that this
was Honey’s father.

There were only four of them. If Jeremiah
could get free, he might be able to create enough of a distraction
for Honey to escape. He couldn’t shift, but he was damn strong and
a good fighter. Four against one was typical when he was attacked
in high school; he was used to those sorts of odds. He’d never had
a more important reason to fight than he had now, though.

He met Honey’s eyes. She made a soft,
whimpering sound and fresh tears tracked down her cheeks.

The male holding a chunk of her hair in his
fist gave her a shake. “Shut up, bitch.”

She clamped her teeth together with an
audible click. Jeremiah could see that she was afraid – the emotion
was plain on her face.

His wolf howled angrily.

One of the males who had pulled him from the
van turned his head as footsteps neared them.

“About fucking time,” her father said under
his breath. Three males appeared, the van’s headlights illuminating
them. The one in the middle was older, his face lined, and his dark
hair gray at the temples. The males on either side of him were
younger, but still older than Jeremiah. He figured they were
probably in their thirties, maybe even his sons since they shared
similar facial features.

Honey’s father stepped away and greeted the
center male. They shook hands and spoke quietly. Honey stared at
Jeremiah, and he wished he could comfort her. He wished he hadn’t
failed as her protector. He’d sworn to keep her safe, and now he
was pretty sure that he was going to be killed and she was going to
be given away to that old asshole.

His wolf was clawing under his skin, but he
knew that growing some claws and fangs wasn’t going to save Honey.
She needed a real hero to protect her, and the luck of the mating
draw had landed her an incomplete male.

His ears pricked as he heard the newcomer say
to the two males with him, “Strip her. I want to see what I’m
getting in exchange for the only virgin in my pack.”

Jeremiah growled as Honey screamed in fright.
“Dad? Dad! Stop this, please!”

Her father closed the distance between
himself and Honey so fast he was a blur. He grabbed her by the
collar of her shirt and lifted her off the ground, shaking her
hard. “Do not call me that any longer, little girl. I am not your
father. Your mother whored around after I took her and became
pregnant with you.”

Honey’s face was pure shock as she stared at
her father. “What?”

He chuckled in a way that made the hairs on
the back of Jeremiah’s neck stand up. “I warned her when you were
born, but she didn’t listen. Shred caught her and her lover
together, and brought them to me.”

Silence filled the woods for a long moment.
Honey’s voice was a raw whisper. “You killed her? You killed my
mom?”

“Of course I did. I chose her to breed a
child for me, but I wasn’t good enough for her. She spit on my
status as alpha. I had no choice but to punish them both severely.
Enough talking. You’ll say goodbye to that mistake over there, and
you’ll do whatever your new mate tells you to.”

He tugged on the collar of her shirt and
split the front. She was bare from the waist up, because they
hadn’t had time to get fully dressed. The headlights caught the
soft swell of her breasts as her father dropped her to the
snow-covered ground, and the two new males laughed darkly and fell
on her.

Everything inside Jeremiah went quiet as
Honey screamed in fear and struggled. Then white-hot rage boiled
inside him as her father turned to face him and said to the males
standing on either side of Jeremiah, “Kill him and let’s go. I have
a prize to pick up.”

Honey’s scream of pain and fear filled
Jeremiah’s mind, and his wolf went nuts. He felt strength fill him
like never before. His bones snapped, his muscles pulled and
tightened, and his face ached as thick fangs erupted from his gums.
His hands felt different, the claws longer and sharper. Her father
gasped in surprise as Jeremiah twisted his wrists, shredded the
rope binding his wrists and freeing his hands. It took only a swipe
of one claw to destroy the rope holding his ankles bound, and then
he stood and roared.