Searching the Woods

Dassy

“ I ’ve got her!” Hutch’s voice calls out in the dark. I stop running and listen.

I recognize Izan’s feet pounding somewhere to the right of me, and Hutch is on the left. Both of them sound like they’re going straight for the house. I join in, running as fast as my legs will allow. I duck and swerve, navigating my way through the thick forest. A few thinner branches whip out, slapping against my bare chest, but I ignore the sting, letting it fuel my desire to get home faster.

I break the treeline a fraction of a second after Izan. My pack alpha looks like he feels better, running like his life depends on it. His feet are bare and he’s wearing nothing but a pair of black gym shorts.

One minute later, Hutch appears from out of the shadows. Mari clings to him, legs wrapped tightly around his torso and her arms around his neck. I want to cut a line directly to them, but there’s no point. I know he won’t let me examine our precious omega until we’re safely inside.

The race across the garden feels like forever, my heart breaking with every second I don’t get to hold Mari, but we finally make it inside. Izan immediately yells for Everly. The beta yells back, her voice incredibly distant, in some far-off part of the house. But Hutch doesn’t stop. He keeps running through the house, racing up the back staircase, down one hall then another. Izan and I share a look as we come to a stop right outside Mari’s room.

Hutch stands next to Mari’s alcove, still holding our omega. She looks so pale and slack in his arms. There’s blood on the collar of her oversized dress shirt, but her mating bite doesn’t appear to be bleeding. It looks good. I assume Hutch cleaned it since Izan didn’t get a chance, and I can’t help but feel proud of my brother. He did an excellent job.

“We have a problem,” Hutch says as Izan and I step into the center room.

“What is it?” Izan stops in his tracks and I do the same, scanning the room for threats.

Hutch’s voice drops to an urgent growl. “Mari is about to start her heat. She’s pouring slick all over me.” It’s then that I notice the tremble in my brother’s hands as he holds her small body to his. “But you can’t touch her,” Hutch says. “Not yet.”

Confused, Izan and I both growl at the same time. Izan takes another step, and Hutch angles his body away from us, making it clear we’re not allowed any closer. I’m so stunned, I don’t even know how to process it. He’s never pulled rank on me before, and definitely never defied Izan.

“What the fuck are you doing, alpha?” Izan’s tone is a vicious warning.

I don’t know what Hutch is thinking, but it’s not smart. Mari is Izan’s mate. They’re bound, and she’s on the verge of falling into her first heat with him. This is a very dangerous time to be playing games.

“Izan, please.” Hutch’s throat works as he swallows, and a bead of sweat drips down the side of his face. Mari shivers, then lifts her head off of my brother’s shoulder. There’s so much pain in her soft brown eyes.

“Answer me!” Izan barks in his commanding pack alpha tone. My back instantly straightens, but Hutch seems to buckle slightly from the force of his order.

Then, as if gathering all the strength in his body, my brother snarls, before sucking in a sharp breath. “She needs answers, Izan,” he grits out. “No one touches her until she gets her fucking answers.” Then he tosses Mari into her nest.

Our precious omega yelps as she flies through the air. Thankfully, the bedding is soft and plush and she sinks when she lands. Safe and sound. Where none of us can go without her permission. What the fuck is wrong with him?

Izan stares at both of them, examining the alpha and omega carefully. I have no idea what he’s looking for.

“Where is she?” Everly bursts into the room, her eyes darting all over the place. The beta looks beyond frantic. Her usually smooth brown hair is a frizzy mess, there's sweat on her brow, and her glasses sit low on her nose. “Mari!” Everly runs to the alcove, dropping to her knees right next to Hutch. “Are you okay?” She leans as far forward as she can without entering Mari’s nest. “Your neck looks awful!” she gasps. “You need to be tended to. Izan!” Everly turns and yells as her panic bubbles over.

“Everly.” Hutch circles an arm around the beta’s middle, pulling her body flush with his chest. “Mari needs answers.” He closes his eyes, dropping his head against her shoulder. “She needs to talk. I promised her we’d talk.” His voice is far off like he’s in a trance. There’s something wrong with him. I take a step toward my brother, but Izan slaps his hand out on my chest, stopping me.

“She might already be in heat.” Izan’s eye cut to Hutch’s pants. I squint, finally seeing a small dark patch on his jeans. Slick .

I glance at the ceiling, wondering how potent the room would be without the air purifier. Mari’s perfect peppermint scent is everywhere despite the device humming away, but it’s not overpowering. It’s just tempting. Delicious. Exciting. While we don’t know how far into her heat, Mari is, she’s got to be in at least the first stages, and even that is hell for an alpha to ignore. But my poor brother is sitting right next to the omega, torturing himself by not letting himself indulge in any of his desires. But that’s Hutch. He was forged out of fucking steel.

“What did you promise her, Hutch?” Izan speaks a little louder, making it clear that we’re not coming any closer. “What does our omega need right now?”

“She needs…” His voice drops to a growl as he paws at Everly’s hips, bringing the beta impossibly close. He’s officially useless, practically rutting the poor beta, humping her through their jeans.

“Alpha?” I look at Izan, not sure what to do. My pack alpha nods once, letting me know he’s going to handle this.

“Talk to me, Mari.” Izan moves around the edge of the room, keeping his distance from her potent aroma. I follow him, deciding it’s better than standing in the doorway. “What do you want to talk about?”

“I need…” Mari lifts her head, forcing herself to sit. Her cheeks are bright red and her hair sticks to the sweat on her forehead. “I need to know why.” Her dark eyes land on me, and the hair rises on the back of my neck. I can’t tell if I’m being challenged or scolded, but either way, I don’t like it.

“What do you mean?” My body instinctively moves to take a step toward her, but Izan grunts, telling me to stay next to the wall.

Mari says loud and clear, “I need to know why you’d mate a pack that rapes omegas.”

Confusion grips me, and my gaze flicks to Izan. His baffled expression mirrors mine.

“Is she delirious?” Everly asks no one in particular.

“No!” Hutch barks as he rolls his hips against Everly’s ass, seeking any friction he can get. I can’t believe his pants are still on. It’s an impressive amount of self-control given the amount of omega slick that must be saturating that side of the room. “She’s asking about Don!”

This time my confusion twists with shock, followed by deep shame. “We were never mated,” I say as calmly as I can, but my mind is a fucking storm of horrors. All I can think about is Mari’s reaction when she saw the picture of my old tattoo. Did it knock an old memory loose? Had she seen that tattoo before? And if she had, why did it scare her?

“Did he hurt you?” I ask through clenched teeth. “Did he make the scars on your thighs?” My fists curl tight as rage pounds in my skull. “Tell me what he did to you.” A vicious growl rips through me, and Izan places his hand on my shoulder. “I’ll rip him to fucking pieces!” I roar at my pack alpha.

“It’s okay,” Izan says softly, giving me the most tender look. “Let’s take care of our girl first.” His dark green eyes hold me, waiting for me to agree. It takes everything in me, but I finally do it. I nod, slowly lowering my fists. Then Izan turns his attention back to Mari. “Please, omega. Tell us what happened.”

Slowly, Mari pulls in a deep breath and she closes her eyes. Then she begins to talk.

She tells us a story of how she and her brother were being chased through the woods. Of how Cardis and Andros threatened them and attacked them. How she fought but was thrown over the cliff. We’re all quiet while she speaks.

Izan’s rage is so thick it's almost suffocating, but I’m so deeply ashamed throughout the whole thing, I can’t even look the omega in the eyes. Those were my packmates.

While it’s true that when that happened to Mari, I was already with Izan, it doesn’t make up for the fact that there was a time when I happily called those alphas my friends. I even considered Andros and Don to be family.

Mari finishes her story with a needy whine, curling in on herself. Another wave of pheromones hits the air, and this time it's so strong the purifier can’t catch it all. My cock springs to life. I’m suddenly rock hard and stuffed in my waistband, but I don’t feel any desire to fuck right now. I’m too devastated by the trauma my omega endured.

“I’m so sorry,” I say, hanging my head. “You have to know that I would never do anything like that.” I force myself to stare deep into Mari’s soft brown eyes, pleading with her to believe me. “If I had known they did that to you…” I trail off, fantasizing about all the ways I’m going to kill Don and his pack.

Then, as if pulled by a magnet, my eyes meet Hutch’s, and he nods, knowing exactly what I’m thinking. They’ll pay. We’ll both make sure of it.

“Omega.” Izan inches forward, being very mindful of the purifier overhead. “Let us tend to you. We can sort all of this out in a few days.”

“No!” she hisses. Her pretty face is twisted with so much anger and pain. “I want to talk now .” She sucks a sharp breath in between her teeth.

“Okay. Um.” Everly speaks first. Hutch still holds her tight, pressing her against his groin, but he’s not humping the beta anymore. He’s staring at Mari, clearly as gutted as I am. “Can I ask you a question?” Everly asks softly.

Mari is so pale, panting through her cramps. “Yeah.” I can’t believe she’s still conscious.

“Why weren’t you in an academy?”

And that’s the million-dollar question. Havenfield couldn’t tell us, and Mari claimed she couldn’t remember. But right now, I have a feeling our sweet omega remembers way more than she has let on. In fact, it’s clear she remembers everything.

Licking her lips, Mari lifts her head a little higher as her cramps ease for the moment. “About six years ago, two of my alpha fathers died in a car accident,” she says simply, before sharing the rest of the horrific timeline of events with zero emotion. “Then my omega mother slowly wilted away from a broken heart. After she passed, my last remaining father killed himself. I won’t say how, so don’t ask.” She narrows her eyes at Izan, waiting for him to accept her terms. He nods once, silently pledging that none of us will ever ask. “Before my only parent killed himself, he slipped into a pretty deep depression. He kept ignoring the letters from the government saying I had to be enrolled. I think he was too grief-stricken. Right before he died, I saw a letter that said if I wasn’t turned over by a certain date, I was going to be ‘ collected,’ ” she says the last word with a bitter snarl. “A few days later, he killed himself. I grabbed Stefan and ran.”

Everly’s mouth hangs open, clearly too shocked to speak. Hell, we all are.

“Did you say Stefan ?” Izan asks, leaning in as if that name means something to him.

“Yeah.” Mari pushes her wild blonde hair out of her face. Her hand is trembling, the pain slowly returning. “Why?”

“No reason,” Izan says, but I see the brief look he shares with Hutch. Do we know a Stefan? We don’t really know any omegas. We are technically acquaintances of a few of them through their mates, but I rarely remember their names. There’s no point. Alphas and omegas aren’t friends.

“I’m so sorry,” Hutch says, his voice gruff. Strained. “What you went through was horrible. Horrible.”

Mari shrugs, then rubs her stomach. “Lots of bad things happen to lots of people.” Her gaze drifts over her nest and the corners of her eyes droop. “All I wanted was to protect Stefan from those bad things. I wanted him to be happy.” Her chin quivers, and my heart breaks. “We ran for so long. For so, so long.” She hiccups and tears drip down her flushed cheeks. “We were so tired all the time, and scared and hungry. I just wanted him to be okay.” She hangs her head, her golden hair swinging forward into her face.

“Omega,” Izan whispers, taking one step away from the wall, but before he can get another word out, Mari snaps her head up, glaring right at me.

“And then you. ” She looks possessed. Like a switch has been flipped, and a completely different person has taken over. “I invited you into my nest,” she snarls. “I kissed you and asked you to touch me. I have never asked an alpha to touch me before.” Her nose scrunches as her upper lip curls with anger. “And you ended up being one of them !” she screams at me.

In any other situation, I’d be enraged at being spoken to like that. Especially by an omega, but I deserve this. I’ve made too many shit choices in my life. I’ve let down Hutch, Izan, and Everly. Even myself. And there’s nothing I can do to fix it… almost nothing .

I look deep into her brown eyes. There’s so much pain there. “I hate myself for everything that has happened to you, but I promise on my life,” I place my hand over my heart, “I will make Cardis and Andros pay for what they’ve done to you and your brother. Neither one of them will live to see another sunrise.”

“No!” Desperation makes Mari’s voice crack, and my hand falls from my chest. “I need to find Stefan first!” Her voice scrapes across her throat. “Make them tell you where he is before you kill them!”

The gutted silence that follows is almost more than I can bear. But thankfully Izan speaks up, saving the rest of us the heartache. “Omega,” His tone is tender, but clearly apprehensive, not wanting to upset her further. “It’s been over two years. The black market doesn’t keep records of the omegas they sell. There’s no way?—”

“I’m not stupid!” Mari snarls then groans, rocking back and forth as another cramp grips her. Hutch moans then growls, but I don’t look at him. I’m too busy staring at my pained omega. “I know that Stefan isn’t alive,” Mari whines and her chin quivers. “I want his body. I need his remains.”

Izan slowly lowers himself to his knees. “What makes you think they killed him?”

Some of the fire in Mari’s eyes dims and her shoulders fall. Her cramps are coming on faster and lasting longer each time. It’s only a matter of time. Minutes. Maybe even seconds until she’s begging to be filled.

“Stefan was very weak and small,” she says softly. “He had asthma.” She wipes her face, pulling in a deep, calming breath. “I want to give him a proper burial. He deserves to be put to rest.”

Izan agrees, giving her soft words of comfort. He tells her what a good sister she is for wanting that for her brother, and how strong she is for protecting him for so long, but all I can think about is making this right.

I know it’s impossible to find a body lost on the side of a mountain, but I want to promise my omega the world. I want to tell her I’ll find her brother’s body if it’s the last thing I do.

I owe it to her.

Because the fact is, if I had sought revenge against Tenus for what they did to me five years ago, then Cardis and Andros wouldn’t have been alive to attack Mari and her brother. They would have never been in those mountains, hunting and hurting precious creatures so much weaker than them.

“Mari,” I speak up, unable to hold it in any longer. It could be my wounded pride or the fucking pheromones growing stronger by the minute, but I don’t care what I have to do, I’ll fix this. “I will search every inch of those fucking mountain tops,” I pledge to my precious omega. “And I won’t stop until I find Stefan’s body.”

“Really?” Mari perks.

“Really.”

She still sits curled inward, like the weight of the world is pressing on her shoulders, but there’s hope in those gorgeous eyes. “You’ll help me find Stefan?” She looks at Izan, needing our pack alpha to pledge it too.

“We will,” Izan says firmly. “I’ll deploy my men to every cliff and crevice and creek and pond. We’ll drain the fucking river if we have to.”

“I have friends out near the northern boundary,” Hutch says with a shocking amount of clarity. “They can pull records on any remains found in the last two years.”

Mari’s chin quivers once again, but this time her tears aren’t filled with pain. They’re filled with love. Even if she can’t say it, our precious girl feels loved.

“Please, Mari.” Everly reaches her hand out, resting it against the carpet right in front of the alcove. “Let us help you.”

But before Mari can answer, a horrible cramp rips through her. This time, instead of riding it out, Mari lets out a vicious scream, clawing at the blanket beneath her. When she finally lifts her head, we can all see it—our girl is in need. The time for conversation is over, and now we must tend to our new mate.