4. Troy

Chapter four

Troy

M y back stiffens when I hear a cry for help.

Save me…

I look at my pack, hoping they heard it too, but nothing about their postures gives it away.

Even Rian seems none the wiser as he stands beside Jeremy, waiting at the door outside the Alpha Governor's big white house.

"Remember not to look at either of their Omegas too much," Jeremy warns, looking around at us all next. "Lachlan, in particular, can be quite protective."

"Roger," I reply, gazing down at my bandaged hand absentmindedly.

When Jeremy said his cousin's pack could help us get Belle back, I dared to let myself hope.

I never thought that I could possibly find happiness again.

I don't think that I deserve it.

Just maybe the governor can help us.

I have felt sick to my stomach ever since I learned that Belle had gone in the dead of night.

And I'd slept like a rock through the whole goddamn thing, and I swear, I will not drink another drop of alcohol again once she is back in our lives.

If she comes back into our lives, that is.

The only thing we can hope for now is a miracle.

Alcohol had been my poison of choice after Rian had kicked me out of the nest, choosing Belle over me instead.

But I never realized that it was possible that he could choose us both. I never realized I could choose them both in return, but I was just too blind to see it before.

I promise when we see her again, I will do everything I can to make it up to her and Rian.

I owe it to both Omegas.

I brush my thumb over my bandages again, and I can still feel her soft fingers when the door to the house finally opens, and there we all meet the green eyes of a pretty female Omega.

Beautiful, but I feel no attraction whatsoever.

Which I suppose is lucky for me because the Omega in question is Mila Stone, and she's already taken.

I guess she would be Mila Hart now.

Her gaze widens when it settles on my Omega, and then she laughs, throwing her arms around him.

"Rian! Long time no see!"

Rian and Mila trained together as Beta soldiers, and did their superior officers have any idea?

I know how Rian hid his secret, but Mila is a complete mystery to me because there is no denying what she is.

There's no missing the big doe eyes as they take us all in.

She's small and doll-like, yet she's as skilled a soldier as Rian is.

"Jeremy!"

She wraps her arms around him now, and he ruffles her head. "How's it going, Daisy ?"

Mila grumbles, whacking him playfully, while the rest of us just look on in confusion.

Who the hell is Daisy?

I peer at Leo to see if he's any the wiser, but my question dies in my throat when an Alpha steps outside behind Mila.

His iceberg eyes fall straight on me and Leo, and there's no missing the suspicion and the overprotective nature.

This must be Lachlan.

He already knows Jeremy. But he is not familiar with us, so his guard goes up immediately.

Jeremy was right. He's a complete psychopath.

I can always tell.

His smile becomes comical next, and then he spreads his arms wide. "Jeremy!"

And now he swallows up our pack mate in his arms, and the two Alphas laugh like old friends.

It seems Jeremy has a whole life outside of us, and I hope he just remembers that we're here too.

Not that I want to change my name to chopped liver.

Finally, an Alpha I am pretty familiar with appears next, and Barret smiles at me and Leo.

"Hey, Troy, Leo…"

"Hey," Leo replies, but I continue to skulk at the back of our party, too ashamed to meet anyone's eye.

My pack still won't talk to me, but I was adamant to come today to prove that I care about getting Belle back just as much as they do.

I just want Rian to look at me again.

Barret lets us inside the house, and now he, Mila, and Lachlan welcome us into their home.

We even meet Oliver, and he's a bit of a legend in our society.

The first male to present as an Omega, but I heed Jeremy's advice, trying not to get too close.

Lachlan keeps giving me those crazy eyes…

Mila and Rian catch up and talk about an old instructor they used to know called Horace while I linger by the window, taking note of all the green and blue décor in the house.

Pack Hart seems to have a theme going on here.

Everywhere I look, I spy ocean and woodland paraphernalia.

I'm just gazing at an old burnt patch of rubble near the treeline, wondering if it used to be some kind of tool shed, when I catch wind of that honeycomb scent.

"You okay?"

I tense when Oliver stops beside me, and now I compose myself, feeling Lachlan's gaze boring into my back.

Oliver looks behind him with a warning, and now the psycho's eyes fall back on Mila.

Lachlan doesn't even deem my own Omega a threat.

In fact, he laughs along with their stories as if he trained at the Beta Academy with them, and it looks like the Alpha is suffering from some serious FOMO.

Leo talks with Barret and Jeremy, so that leaves me all alone.

"It's fine. You have permission to look at me," Oliver says.

Finally, I meet those ocean-blue eyes, doing a double take.

I know those ocean-blue eyes, and it takes me a moment to realize.

Belle.

Oliver is a perfect male version of her. The same Cupid bow lips, and I shake my head, getting a hold of myself.

It's like I'm seeing her everywhere, and it seems as if my guilt is making me lose my mind.

Oliver narrows his eyes at me. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."

I swallow. "I'm… fine… just… a little light-headed."

He nods knowingly. "I get it. We've all been there. You've lost someone close to you and you want to get her back. Gryphon can help, I'm sure."

Oliver has a distant light in his eyes when he mentions Gryphon.

Sure, he has everything he could ever want here. A full pack, but I detect that there's still something missing in his life.

But I don't pry. It's not my place.

He's the mate of the Alpha governor, and that is one Alpha I want on our side.

Besides, I feel no attraction to Oliver any more than I do Mila.

My heart belongs to Rian and Belle.

I can't deny it anymore, but I have developed feelings for the dark-haired, blue-eyed Omega.

I see her everywhere I go.

Even when Oliver wrinkles his nose, he reminds me of Belle, and it really is uncanny.

But it's probably just in my head.

He looks down at my bandaged hand when I rub it with my thumb for the millionth time.

"What happened there?"

I sigh, hiding my hand in my pocket.

I sense Rian's gaze on my back now. I never told him how I got the wound or that Belle helped me dress it.

She had been as delicate as a mouse when she removed the cut glass, even after I had been a prick to her and threatened to kill her.

"Well, whoever dressed your hand did a brilliant job," Oliver notes, and I guess she did.

I have a feeling he sort of knows who dressed my injured hand as Jeremy has already filled Pack Hart in.

They know we are looking for an Omega and they are going to help us get her back.

Jeremy has a history with this pack, and they owe him big time.

Mila wouldn't be chatting away with our own Omega now if it weren't for his influence, and I try to curb my excitement as everything continues around me.

Oliver offers me a knowing smile. "He'll forgive you, you know…"

I meet the Omega's ocean-blue eyes.

They really are like Belle's.

Maybe I'm not imagining things.

Shame trickles down my back, and I hope Jeremy didn't tell Pack Hart too much about my involvement in Belle's disappearance.

Oliver continues, "If you're anything like my own pig-headed Alpha, then you've got a long journey before you. But you'll get there one day… just as he did."

I don't say anything as the Omega's words float through my mind.

None of them took to Mila at first. That much I know of.

We didn't attend the Selection at the beginning of the Beta Trials.

The Beta government just sent Rian straight to our doorstep. No formal ceremony for us, and the moment I looked into his bright green eyes, I knew that he was my mate.

My scent match.

Jeremy hasn't told Barret's pack that Rian is an Omega, but they can already suspect as much.

He's had his first heat, and now his scent is almost as strong as Oliver's.

They won't tell a soul, so I know we can trust them.

Finally, Jeremy breaks the silence once he announces, "So, where is Gryphon?"

Oliver answers. "He's still at work, but he should be back soon."

Jeremy chuckles. "What else do you expect from the Alpha Governor? I bet he's busy all the time now."

Oliver sighs sadly. "Yeah, he is…"

I watch Oliver closely, and he meets my gaze again. "You keep looking at me strangely. You sure you're good?"

Even his voice is similar to hers, and I shake my head, trying to come back to my senses again.

"No, no. I'm fine."

Oliver smiles, looking at Lachlan. "Lachlan, get Troy a drink."

The Alpha obliges his Omega at once, and now he vanishes to get me a drink.

Oliver offers me a seat, and now he hands me the drink that Lachlan fetched.

I must have looked really sick if they are being this nice to me.

My own pack won't even talk to me, but it will only be a matter of time until Pack Hart regards me with the same disdain.

It's as Oliver said; I have a long journey ahead of me.

I just hope I can make it to the end of that perilous road.