Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Six Months Prior, Near the End of Dragon’s Fight

He was in the presence of an angel.

His mate had finally shown up, and he was an angel. Adar felt it in every cell of his body, this deep awareness of his mate’s presence. Like a light had been turned on inside him.

The whole pack had been anxiously waiting for the Murphy omegas to arrive, hoping they’d be able to get away. When Fallon, the cute red-haired dragon omega, had popped up out of the blue ten days earlier, Adar hadn’t known what to think. Sweet and innocent as he looked, Fallon was a Murphy, and Adar didn’t trust them further than he could throw them.

Every single Murphy he’d met up till then had been an arrogant, know-it-all asshole and had displayed contempt for omegas and for alphas who were in a relationship with other alphas. Erwan especially had drawn their derision, but so had Jermon since both Doyle brothers were mated to another alpha.

Who the fuck cared about who someone else slept with? If it was consensual and everyone was of age, Adar couldn’t care less about the rest. You liked being fucked? Awesome. You wanted to do the fucking? Brilliant. You liked being spanked, whipped, denigrated, pissed on, or wearing a furry costume while having sex? Knock yourself out. Why did people think they had the moral right to insert themselves into someone else’s sex life?

So, no, he hadn’t trusted Fallon at all based on the simple fact that he was a Murphy. But then the omega had started talking, revealing the horrific abuse he and his fellow omegas were suffering at the hands of the Murphy dragons, and Adar’s blood had boiled. He’d had no doubt the pack would take them in, and he’d never been prouder than when Rhene and Sivney had extended the invitation to Fallon and anyone else he could convince to come.

Fallon had said he needed a few days to get everyone ready and to wait for the right time to slip away unnoticed, and when a week had gone by without them showing up, Adar had gotten worried. Had they been discovered? Had the Murphys caught wind of the omegas’ plans?

He’d been on duty in the west sector when the air had sparkled. In the blink of an eye, a group of omegas appeared. Adar swallowed back a gasp of surprise and did a quick head count. Twelve. Holy crap, twelve omegas. Even more than Fallon had promised.

His eyes fell on a slender blond-haired omega. His porcelain skin was covered in bruises, his right eye was swollen shut, and his lip had clearly been busted. But despite those horrible injuries, he looked like an angel. A beautiful, fragile angel, almost ethereal in appearance. Adar jolted as if he’d touched an electric fence as a deep awareness raced through him. His mate. He’d finally found his mate. His mate was a dragon, the last thing he’d expected, yet it felt right.

“Excuse me?” Fallon said hesitantly, his voice shaky.

Adar gave himself a mental shake. “Yes. Welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. I will alert the others.” He cleared his throat to get rid of that tightness and spoke into his com. “Alpha, the Murphy omegas have arrived. Same spot as last time.”

“On my way,” Rhene announced, and seconds later, Sivney confirmed he was coming as well.

Adar kept silent, taking a few steps back so he wouldn’t scare the poor omegas. They all looked terrified, with wide eyes, pale faces, trembling hands, and quivering muscles. And every single one kept Adar in their sights as if they were prey trying to escape their predator. What had happened to these poor men?

Rhene and Sivney showed up within minutes. “We’re still welcome, right?” Fallon sounded as if he might burst into tears any second.

“Yes. More than welcome,” Rhene assured him.

Fallon gently took the angelic omega by the hand and tugged him forward. “He needs immediate medical attention. His name is Oliver.”

Oliver. Even his name tasted sweet as nectar on Adar’s lips.

“Who did this to him?” Renee asked Fallon while Sivney raised the clinic on his com.

“Dempsey.”

“He’s mated to Dempsey?”

Adar’s heart skipped a beat. It couldn’t be. Oliver was his. He couldn’t belong to another man. Especially not to that asshole. Adar had met him when the Murphys had come to train the dragons, and every word out of the man’s mouth had been an insult. Adar had wanted to wring his neck there and then, and now he wished he had.

“Oliver isn’t mated to anyone, but that doesn’t stop Dempsey from using him whenever he wants. Two days ago, he was pissed off about something and beat the crap out of him.”

Adar barely registered Rhene’s response through the buzz in his head. Dempsey had done this to Oliver? Dempsey was an alpha. Granted, not even close to Adar’s size, but still. He was a trained fighter, and he’d taken on this tiny waif of an omega? What kind of man did that? Even as a kid, Adar had known not to fight kids smaller than him. Not unless he had no other choice. It was dishonorable.

Oliver stood quietly beside Fallon while he talked to Rhene and Sivney, who told him the pack had built new cabins for the dragon omegas. Of course they had. They couldn’t let those poor dragons sleep on the floor, now could they?

“We’ll never be able to repay you,” Fallon said, trembling. What was he scared of?

“We don’t expect anything in return, least of all sexual favors,” Rhene said firmly. “I need you to understand that you’re safe in this pack and no one will touch you against your will. As pack alpha, I give you my solemn vow.”

Ah, Rhene had grasped the source of Fallon’s fear. That was what Fallon and the other omegas had been worried about, that they would have to pay off their supposed debt in sexual favors. Even the thought made Adar sick to his stomach, and his heart ached as a few of the dragons sobbed. What had these omegas been through? What horrors had they experienced at the hands of the Murphy alphas?

Maz arrived, and Sivney pointed at Oliver. “He needs immediate medical attention.”

Without conscious thought, Adar stepped closer to Oliver. He liked Maz, and the guy had never been anything but friendly toward him, but he’d better be careful how he treated Oliver. The last thing the dragon needed was to be further traumatized.

“Oliver doesn’t talk,” Fallon said softly. “He used to, but he stopped about a year ago.”

He didn’t talk. Whatever his angel had suffered through had been so bad that he’d lost the ability to speak. A quiet, cold rage filled Adar, which only abated a little when Enar showed up and, with his calm, sweet demeanor, managed to get Fallon to trust him. Even more miraculous was that Fallon sensed Enar wasn’t an alpha despite looking like one.

“Oliver,” Fallon whispered. “You can trust him. There’s no deceit in him. He’s pure.”

Pure. What a beautiful way to describe Enar. Adar would never have come up with that word himself, but it fit Enar. The man had such a big, kind heart, and his innate goodness radiated from his eyes and every cell of his being.

Enar examined Oliver, explaining everything he was doing in a calm, almost soothing voice. Oliver stood there, letting it all happen, as if he had mentally checked out. Maybe he had. Maybe that had been his way of surviving the hell he’d been trapped in.

“I suspect you might have a bruised or broken rib, and I’d like you to come to the clinic to get some X-rays,” Enar said to Oliver.

Fallon asked for permission to stay with Oliver, which he got, of course. Adar’s heart was heavy as he watched them get into the truck, joined by two pregnant dragons. He had to fight the strong urge to climb in after them, to stay with his angel, to ensure nothing happened to him. But he couldn’t. He didn’t have a reason to, and his job was to protect everyone else.

Once they had left, Rhene and Adar were the only two alphas among all the omegas—whose fear was palpable. Rhene put a hand on Sivney’s shoulder. “Adar and I need to leave. I assume you’ve got this. If you need help, let me know, and I’ll send one of the other omegas.”

Sivney nodded. “Can you ask Finlay and Gael to come to the new cabins so they can help them settle in?”

That was smart, asking the two dragon omegas who were already part of the pack to welcome them. That would hopefully help in making the new dragons feel safe.

“That’s the saddest thing I’ve ever seen,” Adar said as he and Rhene walked away.

“Yeah, no kidding.” Rhene’s eyes sparked with anger, and his whole body was tense. “I want to pay that Dempsey guy a visit and beat the ever-loving shit out of him.”

A new swell of fury thundered through Adar’s veins. “An alpha beating up an omega… It’s despicable. They’re half our size and so much weaker physically. That man had better hope he never runs into me because I swear to the earth and moon it won’t end well for him.”

With a smile, Rhene slapped Adar’s back. “You and me both, my man.”

Adar halted. “No, Dempsey is all mine. Promise me I’ll be the one who gets to teach him how it feels to go up against someone his own size.”

A satisfied smile spread across Rhene’s face. “I promise.”

When he went back to work, Adar’s mind drifted to that angelic face. Even under all the bruises, Oliver’s beauty had been unmistakable. Adar had never seen anyone as pretty as him, and his belly went weak and soft.

So that was what it felt like to recognize your mate, the certainty of knowing that everyone kept talking about without being able to explain how it felt. Adar could understand that problem now because he didn’t have words either. All he knew was that Oliver was his.

He’d have to be patient, though. Very patient. Good thing he wasn’t in any rush. Now that he’d met his mate, he could and would wait as long as needed until Oliver was ready. Hell, maybe Oliver didn’t even recognize the bond between them. Wouldn’t be the first time in the pack. Some triads had taken their sweet time to find each other, so it wouldn’t surprise Adar if that were the case for Oliver and him.

The omega probably wasn’t even interested in anything anytime soon, not after what he’d been through—though Adar suspected the abuse had been far worse than he had realized—and that was fine. Adar would wait. Fate had proven she had her ways of working things out, so all he had to do was be patient.

In the meantime, he would think of a million ways to kill Dempsey. He’d hurt him first. The man didn’t deserve a slow death. No, he had some payback coming, and Adar would be all too happy to let the asshole experience every single thing he’d ever inflicted upon Oliver and others. Give the man a taste of his own medicine. See if he was still so cocky then. Adar would avenge Oliver. His mate.

And once Oliver had healed, physically and emotionally, they could start getting to know each other. They could go out on dates, and Adar could woo him. He’d take his time with that as well, make sure Oliver trusted him before moving on to the next step. One day, they’d be happy together and⁠—

His brain came to a screeching halt.

Wait.

Fuck.

FUCK.

How would this ever work with Adar’s…proclivities? He’d learned that word when he’d done some Googling to find out if he was the only sick bastard who needed pain to function well. Not daily or even weekly, but every few weeks, he needed someone to hurt him in the right way to clear his mind and help him relax and refocus. Without it, he became tense and stressed as hell, and his temper was hair-triggered.

Newsflash: he wasn’t the only one. Discovering there were others out there like him had been a big relief. When he’d told his best friend, Isam had expressed his willingness to give Adar that pain and rough sex he craved, and everything had been perfect.

Until it wasn’t.

Isam had found his mates, and ever since, Adar had been forced to visit a club in the city on the rare occasions he could leave pack land. It was barely sufficient, never matching the intensity he’d found with Isam. Probably because Isam had known him so well, he’d been able to read Adar like a book. Those strangers only did what Adar had asked them to. Their efforts were adequate, but never more than that.

He’d counted on his mate being able to provide that. Fate knew how much Adar needed this, so she would pick someone for him who liked impact play as much as Adar did, only on the giving end instead of the receiving. Right? He’d told himself time and again to be patient, that everything would work out.

But Oliver would never be able to hurt Adar. Adar wasn’t even going to bring it up with him. How could he, after what Oliver had been through? How could he confess to his fragile angel that he craved the very thing that had traumatized Oliver? Fucked up was one way to describe it. Hell, if Oliver found out, he’d want nothing to do with Adar, and he couldn’t blame him.

Fuck.

He took a deep breath. Okay, so he’d have to get over this need. Somehow, he’d have to teach himself how to function without needing pain. He could do that. His parents had always impressed upon him that he could do anything he set his mind to, so he could accomplish this as well. He’d always been disciplined, so he’d apply that trait to this challenge and overcome it. He had no choice.

Oliver was his mate, and he’d do whatever he needed to find his happily ever after with him.

Even denying himself.

In the meantime, he wouldn’t let Oliver out of his sight. Nothing bad would ever happen to him again. Not as long as Adar was alive.