Breaking the Bonds

  “What’s going on?” Blake asked. “Good business deal?”

  Jax busied himself buttering a slice of toast, trying not to look interested.

  “My good mood this morning has to do with pleasure, not business. I received news last night that a new omega has arrived at the Oasis.”

  Jax worked hard not to falter in his movements as his heart began to beat hard. A new omega? Could it be someone he knew? Sam? Josiah? Sawyer or Briar? The toast turned to dust in his mouth.

  “Oh?” Blake stirred cream into his coffee.

  “Dark-haired with big brown eyes—my favorite.”

  Blake glanced at Jax, who attempted to look no more than mildly curious, even though his brain struggled to think of an omega of that description.

  The senator smiled a smile that was frightening in the salacious evil it conveyed.

  “I am going to have that omega. I’ll make him my personal slave,” the senator said, his words sending chills down Jax’s spine. “He’ll be mine whenever I want to have him. Vik sent me a picture. Do you want to see?” Parker drew a photo from his pocket.

  Jax schooled his expression, just in case, but failed to hide his shock when he saw the bruised face in the photograph.

  Nick.

  Pregnant, the omega had been taken in by River’s pack from the refuge where rogue omegas who had formerly lived in the city sewers had found sanctuary. Nick had remained silent about the identity of the sire, but later it was discovered that Max, the disreputable alpha of the Hashi Valley pack, had bought Nick from an omega-seller, impregnated him, but had failed to bite the omega because Nick had escaped. The last Jax had heard, Nick had gone on the run with his baby when Max had tried to take the infant from the omega. River had sent Austin, one of the alphas in River’s pack, to look for the omega and baby.

  “Perfect cock-sucking lips,” the senator said, displaying the picture proudly for both men to see. “Jax? What do you think? Do you recognize this sweet piece of ass?”

  Unsure if the senator had read his expression, Jax went with the truth.

  “Yes. His name is Nick, and he was a part of Cascade City pack before he disappeared over a year ago with his newborn baby.”

  The senator smiled. “Nick.” He nodded. “The boy refused to give Vik his name.” He took a bite of bacon. “I have big plans for Nick.”

  Jax’s gut roiled.

  “Which brings me to another matter. You’ve been to our Oasis several times now, Jax. It’s time you were initiated in. Initiation goes hand-in-hand with membership, but I admit to having my doubts about your loyalty.” When Blake started to protest, Parker held up a hand. “You know why, Blake. This man lived for months with the enemy. But I feel confident about him now, so his initiation will take place tonight. Perhaps I can get a glimpse of Nick while I’m there and let him know what he’s in for.”

  This was Jax’s opportunity. Pushing away his distaste and trepidation at his upcoming initiation, he casually leaned back in his chair.

  “Sounds hot.” He reached down to adjust his soft cock. He wanted Parker and his son to think the idea of Nick being fucked by Parker turned him on. He hoped Blake wouldn’t reach over and feel his crotch. Concentrating, he conjured a mental picture of the first time David had submitted to him, gorgeous ass in the air on the living room floor. His cock began to fill.

  The arousal in Jax’s eyes must have shown, because Senator Parker smiled wolfishly.

  “Something you’d enjoy seeing, my son-in-law? Me with my cock in an omega’s dripping hole?”

  Jax swallowed and nodded. Blake’s fingers ran over his thigh.

  “A little show can be arranged, seeing as how you’ll be a member by then,” Parker said.

  Jax swallowed a huge gulp of coffee to wash down the bile rising in his throat. God, his life was filled with such vile degradation, Jax didn’t see how he could ever rise above it all, even if he was lucky enough to bring it to an end.

  Parker took a final bite of scrambled eggs. “Arrange it, Blake.” He pushed away from the table and stood. “Enjoy the rest of your breakfast. I’m going to spend a few hours at the office and then work out in the gym this afternoon. You can let me know the details tonight.” He stopped to give Blake a stern look. “Make it as soon as possible, all right? I’m not a patient man.” With a tug to his crotch, the senator turned and walked out the door.

  The words Your father is a disgusting animal, danced on the tip of Jax’s tongue, but instead he said mildly, “Well, that sounds like fun.”

  Blake looked at the screen of his cell phone. “I’d better call Vik and make it happen.”

  While his husband talked on the phone, Jax plotted his next move. As soon as he had the date and time of the senator’s meeting with Nick, he would take the Jag to the car wash—the pre-arranged signal—and give one of the washers there, Paulo, the information to pass on to Agents Oak and Kumar.

  “All set,” Blake said, putting down the phone. “Next Friday at nine P.M.” He leaned forward. “Excited for your initiation tonight? It means you’ll learn where the Oasis is located and have your thumbprint taken so you can get in on your own.” He frowned. “But I’d prefer you go with me.”

  “Of course,” Jax said, leaning over the table to kiss his husband and hoping it would start the countdown to the last he’d ever have to.

  Chapter 17: Josiah

  Josiah dropped the girls at the daycare. Pretty soon, he was going to have to enroll Sadie and Sophie in kindergarten, and he dreaded the fight he was going to have to have with River then. He knew the alpha wouldn’t want their girls in a school with humans even though they were three-fourths human themselves and seemed to have lost what little werewolf traits they’d been born with, but Josiah felt it was important that the girls be with others like them—female and predominately human.

  When he stepped off the elevator on the floor of his office, he was surprised to find Grier waiting by the door bearing his name.

  “Hello, Josiah.” The man smiled. “I’ve been waiting to speak with you. Sid’s here, too. He’s in the restroom.”

  Although Josiah still felt suspicious of Grier, he was happy to be seeing Sid, as he’d been worried about the beta. He opened his office door and ushered Grier inside.

  “What do you need to see me about?” he asked.

  Sid appeared at the door, and Josiah hugged the beta.

  “It’s good to see you! We’ve really missed you at the pack house.”

  “I doubt River’s missed me,” Sid said, taking a seat beside Grier. The two men immediately joined hands.

  “Of course he has. He didn’t want you to leave the pack, that was you. He wanted you there with us.”

  Sid appeared disgruntled, but his face soon cleared as Grier began explaining what they wanted from Josiah.

  “There’s a club that’s formed among the shifters at the university called the human/shifter alliance,” Grier said. “They’d like to hold an event for anyone interested in attending. They have several speakers lined up. The only problem is, the university has no room available to use that evening. Would it be possible for them to have the event here?”

  “I don’t see why not,” Josiah said. “We have several rooms large enough. One has a stage and a podium. When are we talking about?” He slipped his calendar out of his desk drawer.

  Grier gave the date, and Josiah nodded. “The room’s free. I’ll write it down. What time?”

  Grier looked at Sid, who said, “Seven o’clock. We’ll gather, have a speaker, then the buffet and another speaker.” He stood. “Thanks, Josiah. We’ll take care of everything else.”

  “No problem. I’m kind of interested to hear the speakers, anyway,” Josiah said. He stood and walked around his desk to give Sid a hug. “Seriously, we’ve missed you. At least come and see us.”

  “I didn’t want Sam to get hurt,” Sid said, returning the hug briefly before stepping back.

  “I know that. Sam said it from the beginning. Leo
just freaked out because of the circumstances.”

  “I understand. Sam was in heat and that other alpha had been after him.”

  “It must be really hard to deal with heats,” Grier interrupted. “As an omega, how do you do it?”

  Josiah colored. “I just have to stay home during them, that’s all.”

  “But that must wreak havoc with your schedule,” Grier said.

  “You do what you have to do.” Josiah walked to the door and opened it, uncomfortable with the turn the conversation had taken.

  Josiah watched them walk down the hall, then went back in his office and sat down at his desk.

  Josiah could deal with his heats, although he had to admit it would be nice to be more in control of them. He had been more bothered lately by the fact he hadn’t fallen pregnant again since he’d had the girls. It had been four years. Wasn’t he able to have any more children? River hadn’t said anything about it, but as the pack alpha’s only mate, the omega was River’s sole means of progeny, particularly since he’d nixed the idea of his alpha taking more mates.

  Josiah thought about consulting Angela Newman, but she had more than enough on her hands at the moment. Perhaps he should ask her if she could recommend another trusted doctor who knew something about shifters.

  A knock on the door had him swiveling in his seat, wondering if Grier forgot something. When the door opened, and Josiah saw his mate standing there, he couldn’t help but grin.

  “Why, hello, handsome. What are you doing here?”

  “I missed you this morning. Why didn’t you wake me?” River closed the door and locked it, and a rush of desire passed through Josiah’s frame.

  “I thought you might enjoy sleeping in.”

  River strode toward his mate. “I missed more than that.”

  “What do you have in mind?” Josiah’s mouth had gone dry.

  “I think you know.” River unzipped his pants and took out his cock. He stroked it as he walked closer to where Josiah was sitting. Josiah didn’t hesitate—as soon as his alpha was close enough, he slipped his mouth over the flared head and sucked. He’d gotten good at this over the years and was able to take the long alpha cock to the back of his throat and swallow the tip.

  River threw his head back and moaned in such a carnal way, Josiah’s cock jumped. The omega sucked harder before letting go to lick every inch of his mate’s long member. Scooting lower in the seat, he took River’s dangling ball sac into his mouth and laved it with his tongue.

  “Fuck, Josiah!”

  Josiah released his prize with a popping sound and proceeded to lap his tongue over River’s bulging knot until the pack alpha growled and yanked Josiah to his feet by the arms.

  “Bend over the desk,” River ordered.

  Josiah shivered at the demanding tone and obeyed, shaking all over with need. Sex in his office didn’t happen often, but when it did, the experience was always electrifying. River reached around and unbuckled Josiah’s pants and then pushed them along with the omega’s briefs down to the floor. Josiah heard the chair squeak as River lowered himself onto it and yelped when the alpha spread the cheeks of his ass and plunged his tongue inside Josiah’s hole.

  Josiah slapped his hand over his mouth to keep his cries from drifting past the closed door. Holy hell, River’s wiggling his tongue felt amazing. The omega’s heart rate soared, and he began to pant into the papers on his desk. He could hear River devouring him, swallowing his slick with sighs and moans of pleasure, and that made Josiah crazy with need. The alpha’s strong fingers gripped the omega’s thighs while his thumbs kept Josiah pulled open for his questing tongue, dominating, taking what belonged to him. Sometimes Josiah resented the alpha taking charge but never with sex.

  “River…” Josiah moaned and squirmed under the onslaught.

  Abruptly, River stood, sending the chair spiraling across the floor on its wheels, and seconds later, Josiah felt the wide tip of the alpha’s cock against his hole. He eagerly pushed back, relishing how River filled him, stretching him wide and expanding the walls of his rectum to their limit. On the retreating slide, River’s cock brushed Josiah’s prostate, and the omega keened through clenched teeth. River shoved in again, and Josiah cried out. This time River’s hand covered Josiah’s mouth, and the combination of being drilled at one end and silenced at the other sent the omega spiraling, body jerking underneath the alpha’s weight. Coming down from his high, Josiah sank onto the cool wood of the desk, head spinning as he listened to River grunt and growl through what sounded like an explosive climax.

  They lay for a moment, catching their breath, and as Josiah’s eyes came back into focus, he noticed the state of his desk.

  “My papers are ruined.” He slowly pushed himself up on his hands as River pulled out. Gingerly, the omega picked up a paper covered in his spunk. “God, this one was supposed to go to Mark. I’m going to have to reprint it.”

  River chuckled and grabbed a few tissues from the dispenser on the side table, so he could mop up Josiah’s legs. When the two men had righted their clothes, River pulled Josiah to his chest and kissed the omega.

  “Thanks for stopping by,” Josiah said coyly when they’d pulled apart.

  River grinned. “Glad to do it. Don’t ever leave without saying goodbye to me again. I don’t care if I’m asleep.”

  “If you think what we just did was a deterrent, you’re sadly mistaken.” Josiah stepped away and began retrieving papers from the floor.

  “Do you think the girls want to stay at daycare? I can take them to the park.”

  “Stop by and ask them. Text me if you wind up taking them, and no ice cream. They’ve had too much this week.”

  River kissed Josiah again. “Okay. See you at home later.”

  Josiah watched River go, momentarily reliving the last half hour in his head. God, that had been hot.

  “Wipe that horny look off your face.” Mark walked into the room. “I know what you’ve been up to; I saw River leaving.”

  Josiah shook his head and laughed. “It wasn’t planned.”

  “By you, anyway. He strode by my office on the way to yours like a man on a mission.”

  Josiah sat in his chair, limbs still a little weak, and smiled at his friend.

  “How’re things going with Jaime?” Josiah had decided to take Sam’s advice and keep out of it. Mark had evidently decided they could make things work, and Josiah was going to try to be supportive.

  Mark’s smile was wide. “Great.”

  “You look really happy.”

  “I am. I can’t believe it’s not more—well, weird, you know? Being with another guy. Not to mention the fact he’s a shifter. But it’s really natural.”

  Josiah wondered what would happen when Jaime went into heat, but he didn’t say anything.

  Mark seemed to snap out of his musings on his new boyfriend, looked over his shoulder to the shut door, and then sat in the chair across from Josiah’s desk.

  Speaking low, he said, “I’ve heard from the FBI agents working with Jax. It’s happening this Friday night. They’re going to catch Parker red-handed.”

  Excitement and dread fought for dominance in Josiah’s chest. On the one hand, this whole war with the human faction might be on its way to being over by next week, but on the other, Jax was in a tremendous amount of danger.

  “How’s it going to play out?” he asked.

  “The note Jax passed had to be short, but it sounds like Jax is set to video Parker with an omega. The mole they’ve got at the Oasis can’t be in the room, but he’ll be close-by.”

  “The two of them will be sitting ducks if something goes wrong,” Josiah whispered.

  “Which means they can’t let anything go wrong.”

  Josiah jumped when his office door opened. The look on River’s face told him something was wrong, and fear gripped him in its cold hands.

  “What is it? The girls?” Josiah was out of his seat and half-way across the room before his mate could answer.
>
  “The girls are fine. I just got a call from the pack house. Austin has shown up. Alone.”

  Josiah stopped in his tracks.

  “What? But…where are Nick and the baby?”

  “I don’t know any more than that. I thought you might want to come home with me and hear it from Austin.”

  Josiah looked at Mark. “Want to come, too?”

  His friend nodded, and the three men headed for the elevator.

  Chapter 18: River

  Big, blond, and intense, Austin had only been a part of the pack a short time when River had ordered him to go after Nick, who’d run from Max when the Hashi Valley pack leader had tried to take their baby. Not that River didn’t suspect Austin would have gone anyway; there was definitely something between the alpha and omega. Austin cared for Nick, which was probably why they’d been gone so long. River had assumed Austin had holed up somewhere safe with Nick and the baby, Brett. The fact that the alpha had shown up at the pack house alone was alarming.

  When the pack gathered in the large family room the shifters had built onto the pack house, River called for silence. Austin paced the room, barely able to keep himself together.

  “Tell us what happened,” River said to the alpha, who’d been waiting for River’s presence before he explained everything.

  “Someone took them.” Austin’s green-blue eyes looked slightly glassy from what River assumed was lack of sleep. “Nick and the baby are gone. I came back here because I didn’t know where else to go.”

  “Was it Max?” Josiah asked.

  Austin shook his head. “That was the first place I looked. I don’t know who fucking has them, just that they were taken right out from under my nose.”

  “Where have you been the past year?” David’s quiet voice seemed to sooth the other alpha—one of the reasons David made an excellent second-alpha to the pack. His usually calm demeanor directly contrasted with River’s sometimes explosive one in times of stress.

  “Hiding. We found a place near a river. We’d been living in a cave system where no one was ever around. I don’t know what fucking happened.” Austin began pacing again. “Nick wasn’t there when I came back from hunting, and the baby was gone with him.”