Chapter 16

"Thank you, Thomas, for everything."

I held on to the omega's hand and smiled. His bright blue eyes held more life to them now that he had spent the last few months with us rebuilding his strength—both mentally and physically. This was why Asilo was so important. It was giving omegas like this one a chance to have the life they deserved.

"It's my pleasure. I didn't do much—you put in the real work." It was true. I worked hard. There was no denying that. But the amount of work the omega put in far surpassed anything we did. Many of them came here feeling powerless and weak. It was our job to show them just how strong they were.

Tears pooled in his eyes, and he swiped them away. The man was younger than I was, yet he had seen cruelty in this world that should not exist. I was so proud of how far he'd come in the short time he'd been here.

"And congratulations on your mating. All of you… seeing that you've been able to settle down and find happiness gives me hope—for me and my children."

"You're a great dad. You're doing a great job." I wanted to tell him he didn't need an alpha, that he could do this on his own. And that was true. But I didn't think that was what he meant. He saw us with our true mates, seeing what he could have as opposed to what he'd experienced.

Tomorrow, he'd move on to his permanent home. I was as excited for him as he was nervous. He and his children had opted to move to a pack on the other side of the country, where they could start their new life without feeling like he might run into his past at any moment. It was the right decision for them.

I'd miss the little tykes. The twins had grown considerably since their father had arrived here. The two children had remained huddled together, unable to look upon anyone else out of fear. Now they ran free, playing with the other children in the pride. We could hardly keep them contained.

"Thank you again," he said, and he hugged me tightly.

I hugged him back. This was the rewarding part of my job—seeing that their journey had reached another milestone and a new journey could begin. Their pain and their healing would still continue, but they had the tools they needed to move past it.

Once I was finished speaking with him, I went to my cabin. Instead of finding Beckett there, someone else was at the kitchen table. It was a snake shifter I recognized from Steelwick.

"Everything all right?" I asked. Beckett hadn't told me he was expecting company, but we didn't always know ahead of time when people were going to stop by. This didn't feel like a random visit, though. "You're Saunders right?"

He nodded. "Beckett had an errand to run, and he asked me to hang out here."

Something about that didn't sit right with me. I had no distrust in what Saunders told me. That was what he'd been asked to do, but I had no idea why Beckett would go on an errand without telling me where or why he was going.

"When will he be back?" I sounded like a dick. "I mean, I didn't know he was leaving and was hoping he'd be home soon."

The man's jaw tensed. "In a little bit."

"Do you know where he went?" Because it was beginning to feel like need-to-know information.

"I do, but I think he didn't want me to tell you."

A growl built in my chest. His answer irritated me. My cat protested as well. We didn't like being in the dark. And we sure didn't want a practical stranger sitting in our house keeping secrets about our mate from us.

"Does this have to do with our old Alpha?" If it did, I was going to be livid with my mate.

He shook his head. "No. Unfortunately, that investigation is still cold."

"Where would he have...?" I trailed off. My mind raced with possibilities. "Did he go back to our old pack lands?"

Since our conversation the other day about the items still left in my house, Beckett had asked me a few times about them. He'd asked a lot about our old territory. At the time I thought maybe it was pertinent to his investigation, like he had a lead he was following up on.

Now it was looking more and more like perhaps he wanted to get the items I spoke about. I shouldn't have mentioned them. Having him this far away from me had me on edge, and at the end of the day it was just stuff. Stuff that probably wasn't even there.

I couldn't be upset with Beckett for wanting to do something nice for me. It was incredibly sweet that he wanted to go get them, but we could have gotten them together. And he didn't need to leave me a babysitter.

"Yes, that's where he went." Saunders's shoulders relaxed. Apparently, he'd liked keeping the information as much as I liked him doing so.

I groaned. "Well, that's very nice of him, but he didn't have to keep it from me." And I'd be telling him that the second he came back. We were mates, partners, friends. Keeping something like this from each other felt eww.

"I'm sure he wanted it to be a surprise when he came back."

"When will he be home?" He still hadn't answered my simple question.

There was that tense jaw again.

"Tell me." I wasn't letting this go.

Saunders let out a hiss, sounding too much like his animal in that moment.

"He arrived there two hours ago. He let me know that he got there safely. I didn't anticipate him staying so long. I texted him about twenty minutes ago asking when he would be home or at least be on his way."

"And you haven't gotten a response?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

He shook his head, and my stomach twisted.

"Easton." I wasn't sure how I knew it, but I did.

"What about him?" Saunders asked.

"He said he was hiding in plain sight."

He'd bold-faced told us, and neither of us had listened the way we should have.

"I assumed that meant he was with humans in the city or something. But what if he stayed at our old pack? We all knew that no one went there anymore. It was abandoned."

The more I thought about it, the more perfect it would be as a hideout. There were plenty of homes, he knew the area, hunting was great, and it was close to stores if he needed them. That and no one went there anymore. It was an entire village all to himself. At least, I assumed he was alone. There was a very real possibility that he wasn't and that my mate was in even bigger trouble than I thought.

Or he was digging in the attic and his phone needed charging. Please let it be the latter. Saunders didn't seem to think so, though. He bolted to his feet and pulled out his phone.

"Shit," he said. "You're right. Beckett could have walked right into a trap without even realizing it."

"We have to go there."

I wasn't going to wait to have meetings or whatever bullshit the Steelwick did when it came to missions. I didn't need to follow any protocol. This was my mate, and I was Asilo. Saunders could either come with me or stay. I didn't care. But one thing was for sure, I wasn't going to stay put and wait for someone else to rescue my mate.

"It's a several-hour drive," he said, as if that would deter me.

"Then we should have left already."

He groaned. "I can't take you—his pregnant mate—on this trip."

"The fuck you can't, I'm going," I said. "You can come with me or not. That's your choice. But I'm going."

He growled in frustration. "At least let me take Cooper and Gideon." I wasn't going to refuse help from my packmates, but I also wasn't going to force them to come.

"Take whoever's willing—I'm leaving in ten minutes with or without you all."

Saunders must've believed me because he was out the door and tracking down help in seconds. I had to give him credit. He gave up trying to convince me to stay home quickly and put his energy toward better tasks.

Within ten minutes, we were on the road. Cooper, Jasper, and Gideon were in the car with us. Saunders wasn't too excited about bringing Jasper. He thought it was best to leave the omegas here. He quickly learned that Jasper was one of the strongest among us when it came to fighting. It would be good to have him on our side if things went south.

"Have you heard anything from Beckett?" I asked, already knowing and hating the answer.

Saunders shook his head. "Nothing. I tried his phone, both texting and calling. Nothing."

I picked up my own phone and hit the call button. For a split second I thought I'd been worrying for nothing. He picked up. Only it wasn't him. It was Easton. Fucking Easton. My blood ran cold when I heard his voice on the other line.

"Thomas, so great to hear from you." He was enjoying this, which somehow managed to make it even worse. "I wondered when you'd finally call. Beckett is just fine."

"You better not hurt him," I hissed. My beast was so close to the surface I felt the fur sprouting on my arms.

"I don't think you're in the position to be making demands." He laughed as if he had said the funniest thing in the world. "We'll see you soon. I assume you're on your way. I can't wait to see you."

The line went dead.

"Son of a bitch," I said. "Now we're driving into a trap."

"He doesn't know how many of us are with you, and he's alone." That was a big assumption on Jasper's part, but I had a feeling he was right.

"He has Beckett."

Jasper held my hand. "It's gone be fine. We'll get him back."

I took a deep breath and tried to squash down the fear that gripped me. I had to be strong for Beckett and for my child. We would get through this. I refused to believe otherwise.

"Can we call anyone from Steelwick as backup?" I wasn't sure how that all worked, but I was willing to ask for any and all help I could get. This wasn't a time to be brave and ride in on a white horse, alone, with an eye on saving the day and being the hero. This was time to save my mate.

Gideon had his phone to his ear. "Already on it. We can see who's in the area. We'll have backup for sure. Or we'll wait until they arrive. Easton has no way of knowing how far away we are."

I wanted to argue with him that we couldn't wait. That it was no or never. But instead, I conceded. It wasn't as if I had another choice.

"Okay. Okay." Internally I was screaming, begging for the car to go faster, for us to have an army of shifters to help free my mate. Externally, I forced myself to both sound and look calm. I didn't need them thinking I was a loose cannon. If they did, they'd turn around and drop me off somewhere for "my own safety." Beckett couldn't afford that. Every second mattered.

The two-hour drive was absolute agony. Every mile felt like five. And the few times we hit traffic, all I wanted to do was get out, shift, and run the rest of the way on all four paws. When we finally pulled into the place, something felt off. I knew it was a trap, but…