A New Beginning

  Max pushed Nick away, and Josiah caught the other omega before he fell to the floor. “I paid good money for you, but you know what? You’re more trouble than you’re worth, and there’re more omegas where you came from. I’ll just get my son and be on my way.”

  Nick threw himself at the alpha only to be slammed into the wall.

  Max moved toward the hallway, nose sniffing the air. He easily found the nursery, and when Josiah hurried into the room after Nick, Max stood at the crib, hands clenched on the rail, intently studying the sleeping baby. “I gotta say, he’s a looker. An alpha, I’ll bet.”

  Nick made a sound like an injured animal.

  Josiah had to speak up. “You can’t just come and take this baby out of our pack. That’s not the way things are done. Obviously, you’re not really a pack alpha.”

  Max stiffened and turned. As Josiah had hoped, he’d hit a nerve.

  “What the fuck did you just say?”

  Josiah swallowed. “You couldn’t be a pack alpha. You aren’t following protocol. You should be talking to River, our pack alpha. Nick’s part of our pack and his baby was born in it.”

  Max scowled. “My baby. Where is this River?”

  Josiah didn’t want to admit his alpha was on a moon run, and where the fuck was Diego? Or Abram? Or whatever alpha had stayed behind? Maybe introducing television to the pack had been a bad idea. They were all probably sitting on the couch eating chips and watching Dancing with the Stars.

  Josiah forced down the hysterical laugh bubbling up his throat and straightened to his full height which was still a good foot shorter than Max. “He’ll be here shortly.”

  “Here alone, then?” Max stepped toward Josiah, cornering him between the crib and the door. He looked the first omega over. “You’re a pretty one.”

  “River’s my mate,” Josiah said, beginning to shake; he couldn’t help it. Testosterone and alpha pheromones poured off the strange alpha.

  “And he ain’t here.” Max wiggled his tongue at Josiah, who moved swiftly past the alpha and out the door. He was glad when Max followed instead of reaching for the sleeping baby. Behind them, the door closed and locked, and Josiah thought, Good for you, Nick.

  “Why you…” Max headed for the door, and Josiah grabbed him by the arm and then immediately let go.

  “The best thing for you to do is to come back later and plead your case to River.”

  “I don’t plead for nobody,” Max said with a growl.

  A long moan came from the bedroom where Sam lay in labor.

  “Look, my friend’s having a baby, and I really need to tend to him. I’m sure all this can be worked out when River returns. Can’t you just come back then? We’re not going anywhere.”

  “Go on in and help your friend. I’ll just have a seat in the living room. Nick’s got to come out sometime.”

  With a sigh, Josiah went to check on Sam.

  “What’s going on?” Briar asked.

  “He’s waiting in the living room. I told him he needs to talk to River.”

  “That could be hours!”

  “Shh, keep your voice down. I know that. I just can’t let him take away the baby.”

  “Do you think it’s really his?”

  “Nick didn’t say it wasn’t.”

  Sam lay sweating and teary-eyed on the bed, and Josiah wiped the other omega’s forehead with a damp cloth Briar had prepared.

  “You doing okay?”

  Sam nodded, but his lower lip trembled.

  “I know it hurts,” Josiah said. “And I know you wish Leo was here. We should have known the full moon might bring this on.”

  “I don’t want to have the baby without him,” Sam said in a small voice.

  “I don’t think you’ll have him any time soon,” Briar said. “You’re only in the beginning stages of labor.” He shook his head. “We omegas are all out of whack. Having babies never used to take this long.”

  “Who’s that guy out there?” Sam turned frightened eyes to the door.

  Max had switched on the TV, and it flickered, casting eerie shadows on the hallway wall. Josiah knew the presence of the strange alpha was making the pregnant omega tense and probably exacerbating his pain. He only hoped Brooks would stay asleep in the main house. They didn’t need another werewolf going into labor that night.

  “Evidently, he’s Nick’s mate,” Josiah said. “Or at least the sire of his baby. Nick said something about having run away from him.”

  “And Max said he’d bought Nick,” Briar whispered. “What did that mean?”

  “I’ve heard of a place,” Sam said. “Remember Elliott talking about it? He’d been taken by an alpha to be sold.”

  Josiah nodded. Who ran this facility where they treated omegas as commodities to be bought and sold?

  A pain took hold of Sam, and he cried out, writhing on the bed.

  “What’s going on here?” A loud voice came from the living room.

  Josiah stood, and a tearful Sam grabbed the first omega’s hand.

  “No, don’t leave me! If Leo can’t be here, I need you! After Foster, you’re my best friend.”

  Josiah’s heart melted. He sat back down.

  “See what’s going on,” he told Briar, and the omega went out into the hallway. When he returned a minute later, he said Mike had come, and he and Max were arguing.

  “Thank goodness. Where the fuck’s he been?” Josiah asked.

  “Abram found a buck in the trap out by the creek, and Mike had gone to help him.”

  Josiah let out a breath. “I guess no one expected something like this to happen.” From the sound of all the yelling, Mike was taking his responsibilities seriously. Josiah was surprised the baby hadn’t awakened at the noise. He closed his eyes and concentrated on River, willing his bonded mate to come to him.

  Sam squeezed Josiah’s hand as a hard contraction took hold of him.

  “Breathe,” Josiah said. “You shouldn’t hold your breath like that.”

  As Sam took a deep breath and let it out, Josiah watched the baby roll inside Sam’s belly.

  Sam smiled through his agony. “I can’t wait to see him.”

  “Have you picked a name?” Josiah asked.

  Sam shook his head. “Leo’s being difficult.”

  “No, not Leo,” Josiah teased.

  Mike stuck his head in the door. “Everything all right in here?”

  “We’re okay. Our guest still out there?”

  “Yep. Won’t leave, but he agrees to wait for River.”

  “Nick’s locked himself in the bedroom with the baby.”

  “That’s probably for the best. Scenting the two of them would only make it worse.”

  The night passed at a snail’s pace. Sam would sleep for small snatches at a time only to be awakened by the pain, and Josiah and Briar stayed by his side, comforting the omega with their presence.

  Josiah continued to reach out to River in his mind, feeling the pack alpha in the distance and willing him to come home. He fell asleep and dreamed of River running fast through the woods only to be awakened to hear the TV in the next room and Sam’s whimpering beside him.

  Josiah rolled out of the bed and went to the window. The first pinkish rays of the sun were just beginning to crawl over the mountains beyond. In the distance the faint sound of a howl followed by one and then another and another rose in the early morning air.

  “Leo,” Sam said from the bed. “I heard him.”

  Josiah nodded. The pack still answered River’s call, one after the other. Josiah guessed they were as close as the far side of the creek. “They’re almost here.” He turned. “Doing okay?”

  “The pains are closer together, but I can wait.”

  The strain of the night showed on Sam’s face, shadows lining the omega’s eyes and lines of stress marring his forehead. He was so pale, his freckles stood out on his cheeks. He cried out as a strong pain gripped him.

  Another howl, much closer this time, then growling and r
ough barks. Josiah tensed, waiting, and then he heard the front door burst open and River’s voice.

  “What the fuck is going on here?”

  Josiah’s knees wobbled.

  Mike’s softer reply was lost in the pounding footsteps heralding Leo’s arrival. The alpha stood naked in the bedroom doorway, strawberry-blond hair floating about him in a gnarled mess. Green eyes sought out Sam and the alpha rushed to the bed, kneeling beside it, face no more than an inch from his omega’s.

  “Are you all right?” The alpha’s words came out hoarse.

  “I am now.” Sam grinned and then moaned as another pain took him.

  “My poor omega. I should never have left so close to your time. I wasn’t thinking.”

  Josiah didn’t hear anymore because he quickly left the room and ran to River.

  Mid-sentence, the pack alpha caught his omega up in his arms. Josiah wrapped his legs around River’s middle and buried his face by the bite mark he’d given his alpha after they’d mated. River’s big hand held the back of Josiah’s head.

  “Everything’s fine. I’m here,” River murmured.

  Josiah could only nod.

  “Can we get to business now?” Max asked from behind them.

  River ignored him, rocking Josiah until the omega’s heart rate slowed, and he lowered his feet to the ground. “Good?” he asked, and Josiah nodded, leaning into River’s side.

  River turned to the obnoxious alpha, who didn’t seem half as scary to Josiah now his mate was there. “You say you’re mated to Nick?” River asked.

  Max nodded. “As good as.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I bought him and fucked him since he was in heat, but before I could bite the little shit, he disappeared. I’ve only now finally found him. I don’t give a damn if he wants to stay here, but the kid is mine.”

  River sighed. “Let’s get Nick out here and talk to him.”

  “Fine by me.”

  River strode into the hallway and knocked softly on the nursery door.

  No answer.

  “Nick? It’s River. You’re perfectly safe. I just want to talk to you.”

  Josiah came up behind River and called to the omega through the door. “We’ll work something out, Nick. Please come out now.”

  When there was still no answer, River kicked open the door.

  The room was empty and the window open.

  “Fucking hell!” Max swore, pushing Josiah aside and running to the window.

  River growled and grabbed Max by the back of the neck. “Don’t you dare touch my omega again, you hear me? If you do, you’ll be dead.” The pack alpha’s voice left no room for doubt.

  Max nodded and swallowed hard. “He’s left. How am I gonna find him now?”

  “He’s a member of my pack and my responsibility,” River said. “Let me worry about that.”

  “But my kid—”

  “Is also a member of my pack. You go back to yours, and I’ll be in touch.”

  Max looked like he wanted to argue, but the expression on River’s face seemed to change his mind. With a nod, he turned and left.

  “Where do you think Nick went?” Josiah asked. He was worried. What would an unprotected omega do on his own? With a baby?

  “I haven’t got a clue,” River said, running his hand through his already disheveled hair. “Right now, I want a hot shower and some clothes, then we’ll have a pack meeting.”

  Chapter 17: River

  River studied David over his cup of coffee. “Something the matter?”

  “Other than Nick and his baby being missing, Jax dumping us, and Brooks about to burst with my child?”

  River smiled ruefully. “I know you have a lot on your plate right now, and I want to help if I can.”

  “Like your plate isn’t full.” David put his cup down and crossed over to the hammock and eased onto it, lying back and staring out the screen at the flowers Brooks and Sawyer had planted. “Austin still hasn’t found Nick, and it’s been a week.”

  “If anyone can find them, it’s Austin. He seems to be personally invested.”

  David shook his head. “Wonder what their story is? If Max bought Nick from some omega-selling place as he said, Nick had to have met Austin there or have known him before.”

  “He could have met him after, on the run,” River said.

  “And they both wound up in Cascade City? Maybe.” David fell silent.

  River had already decided he would press the issue. “I know something’s bothering you. Something besides what you mentioned. You might as well spill it.”

  David was silent for a long time, but River could wait. He’d had long experience with his best friend and knew David probably wanted to talk to him but was just having a hard time opening up.

  “I’m afraid you’ll judge without thinking.”

  River frowned. “Is that what I do?”

  David crossed his arms over his chest and continued gazing outside. Several blue jays attacked a crow trying to get at their nest, making a huge ruckus. River thought David wasn’t going to speak, but then the second alpha did.

  “I heard Jax talking to some guy named Blake that day I went to the Congress with you.”

  Ah. River thought back. He’d scented the other alpha that day and realized David had been in the lobby hiding so Jax wouldn’t see him, but he hadn’t seen anyone with Jax.

  “Are they involved?”

  “Sounded like it.”

  “I’m sorry, David.” And River was. He knew his friend had been happy with Jax. “I think you guys just had too many things stacked against you.”

  “Can’t be helped.”

  Having told River didn’t seem to have relieved the pack alpha’s friend. Perhaps River should have left it alone. He looked up when David spoke again.

  “I left the back way and heard them. They’d stepped around the corner of the building for privacy.”

  What had David heard? The two men kissing? Talking dirty? Something more, there in public? Humans had a lot of hang-ups about sex, but River had heard of those who found it a thrill to take the chance of being seen.

  “Blake said something about being glad Jax had come to his senses. About getting away from the animals he’d been living with.”

  River repeated the other man’s name in his mind. He was sure Kane had mentioned a Blake Parker. River would ask the other alpha about him. Someone who called werewolves animals shouldn’t be working at the Congress. “And what did Jax say?”

  David slowly turned his head to meet River’s eyes. “He agreed with him.”

  Jax had his problems with the pack, but River couldn’t imagine him insulting them this way. He searched for something to say. “Maybe—”

  “He said he was in. On some plan Blake has to torch Spartan Point.”

  River stilled. “What?” A werewolf pack of over fifty lived in the caves of Spartan Point. “When?”

  David’s body relaxed as though depleted of whatever had kept him silent. “End of May.”

  What the—“That’s only three weeks away! Why the fuck didn’t you tell me this before?”

  “I was going to, I swear. I just don’t think Jax…I mean, there’s no way he’s involved.”

  River gripped the arms of the chair he was sitting in. “You just said you heard him agree to it.”

  David shook his head. “But…Jax isn’t a killer. Even if his parents and this Blake guy are brainwashing him against us, he wouldn’t take part in killing fifty people.”

  River stood, fists clenched. “We’re not people to them. We’re animals they want to be rid of. You’d better start thinking like a werewolf again, David.”

  David sat up, bringing his long legs off the hammock. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  River sighed, running his hand over his face. What was the word Josiah used? Oh yeah, clusterfuck. What a clusterfuck this all is.

  “I was wrong to encourage you with Jax. These humans will never ch
ange.”

  David stood. “Whoa. It’s a long road from Jax betrayed us, to all humans are terrible. You know that.”

  River grit his teeth. Why was it every time things started looking up they collapsed again, and it was always the fucking humans behind it? River shouldn’t need to be hit over the head with it so many times for reality to sink in.

  David started for the door.

  “Where’re you going?”

  “To do what I’ve been trying to get my nerve up to do all along. Confront Jax. If I tell him I know, they can’t go through with it.”

  River wanted to punch something. He watched his friend go, telling himself this was David’s fight and to stay out of it.

  For now.

  River went looking for Josiah. Even though the pack alpha still worried his mate didn’t see humans for what they really were, River’s father had always told him to follow his instincts, and River’s instincts told him to get Josiah’s opinion. Because as much as River tried to forget it, his mate was half-human and had some insight into the situation that River didn’t have.

  He found the first omega in the girls’ room cleaning out the toy chest. Kane had taken the twins with him to the Congress that morning, as the children in daycare were having a birthday party for someone that day, and Josiah planned to pick them up later.

  River got straight to the point. “Do you know Blake Parker?”

  Josiah looked at the alpha over his shoulder, two action figures in his hands. “Yeah. Well, I know who he is. Why?”

  River related what David had told him.

  Josiah sat back on his heels, looking perplexed. “That doesn’t sound like Jax.”

  “Maybe we didn’t know him as well as we thought we did.”

  “What did David say?”

  “Once he got over being all butt-hurt about Jax dating Blake, he said he was going to go talk to him. What are you smiling at?”

  Josiah’s grin grew. “I just think it’s funny when you use human expressions like butt-hurt.” He stood. “Admit that you’re the one who’s butt-hurt.”

  River scowled. Josiah didn’t seem to be taking the matter seriously. “What’re you talking about?”

  “David kept this from you, and you don’t like that.”