18. Jeremy

While Rian plays host to our pretty new guest, I have to go back to work.

Someone has to put the bread on the table, but it"s fine.

Besides, his services are needed elsewhere now, and it looks as if our Beta finally found his purpose.

I only invited him on my missions because I wanted to give him something to do.

Often, he was left alone in the house for days at a time while the guys and I worked, and I guess I felt sorry for him.

But now look at him, getting to spend all his time with Belle, and the lucky bastard.

At first, I thought he was crazy when he insisted that we bring her home, but the more time I spend with her, the more I understand his motivations.

Belle is precious, and we must do everything in our power to keep her safe.

It"s funny. I never cared before about the fates of the Omegas that I came across in my work, but all that changed when I met Belle.

When I saw her trying to run away earlier, I had this overwhelming need to stop her, and it wasn"t just for Rian"s or Leo"s sake.

I didn"t want her to leave…

My feelings may not be as strong as Rian"s or Leo"s, but I still feel I need to keep her safe.

Call it instinct, but I couldn"t let her go out there alone.

Who knows where she came from, but whatever it was, it couldn"t have been good.

Still, I take it upon myself to search the Omega database when I get to the office.

Of course, my search ended up fruitless, but it couldn"t hurt to try.

It only confirmed my fears.

She is an unregistered Omega who came from beyond the city.

My heart pounds when I think of the horrors she must have gone through.

Omegas have no protection out there.

Betas are free to do as they please…

I shiver, folding my laptop as I lean back on my chair, rubbing between my eyes.

Just who are you, Belle?

There comes a knock at my door, and I sit up, wiping down my coat. "Come in."

It"s Miles—a member of my search team.

Something is wrong.

"What is it?" I ask.

The Beta sighs, running a hand through his hair.

That"s when I notice the bitemarks on his hands.

"You best come to the compound, sir…"

The compound.

We don"t use that facility unless it"s a real emergency, but I rise from my chair, following him to the parking lot. We get in the company car, driving in silence.

It"s only a few miles from the office. Just on the edges of the Beta City.

It"s where we keep our more troublesome runaways.

Not all Omegas are so willing at first, and it takes more than a little coaxing to convince them to stay and train at a government-approved school.

Some can get quite feisty.

It"s probably where I would have taken Belle if not for Rian"s meddling.

She attacked us, albeit clumsily, but she showed some spirit.

As a hunter, it"s my job to stomp out that spirit, and I swallow back a lump when I try to imagine someone extinguishing the fire in Belle"s beautiful blue eyes.

She"s timid, but there"s no missing that little spitfire when I look at her, and it does things to my body.

It makes me hard.

Yet, most Alphas want their Omegas obedient, so that"s where my team and I come in.

The compound breaks them until they are begging to go to the Academy.

It"s not something I am proud of. But it puts the bread on the table…

Miles looks at me warily when we get to the reinforced door of the compound.

Restricted access only.

My team and I are the only ones who have access to this building.

"You ready, boss?"

My heart thumps.

I have seen some unsightly things over the years, but the tremor in his voice has me falling naturally into a battle stance.

What the hell did they find?

With a deep breath, Miles inputs the code and opens the door.

The screams reach me first, and for a moment I"m convinced they found a banshee on their latest mission.

I have never heard a more inhuman sound, and my stomach hollows out.

Not much unnerves me in this life, but that banshee sure as hell does.

Goosebumps run up and down my arms, even with my long coat.

"We responded to a distress call at 3 am this morning. A member of the public found her in the woods just outside the city."

Shit.

He leads the way to the cell at the back of the compound, and I feel the ghost leaving my body instantly when I spy that writhing, blonde Omega.

My team has strapped her to a table, but her eyes…

They"re full of murder.

She is covered in blood.

"Is… is that?"

Miles heaves a sigh. "Yeah. Pretty, right?"

No. It"s fucking horrifying.

I have seen plenty of blood in my life, just not on such a delicate little creature as an Omega.

And this one is very delicate. A babydoll face with soft blue eyes, and that"s just what makes this all the more horrifying.

She is completely naked, and I turn to Miles.

"That was exactly how we found her. Naked and covered in blood…"

His face blanches.

"And what else?" I ask.

He meets my eyes, wondering how best to break the news to me. "She… was hunched over a body…"

"And? Did you get the identity of the corpse?"

Miles swallows, and I follow the movement down his throat. "Yeah. It was an Alpha…"

The room spins, yet for some reason, I remain on my feet.

An Omega killed… an Alpha?

How is that possible?

I palm my face. "How?"

Miles looks at the other members of our team. They nod, and he goes on. "She is in heat."

Heat?

Now the writhing and screaming make sense.

However, I have stumbled across several Omegas in the throes of heat when out on a mission, yet they were never like this.

That Alpha must have sensed her heat and chased her down, and it looks as if he paid the price.

I feel my balls receding the more the Omega screams, and I never thought I would see the day I would cringe in the presence of an Omega.

The Omega shrieks over and over, and I shudder, resisting the urge to run.

Alphas are apex predators. Nothing disturbs us, but that screaming Omega makes me want to run and build a bunker in the backyard of our pack house.

Omegas are natural prey.

Well, so the government wants us to think.

They have also led us to believe that Omegas die if they don"t receive a knot during heat, but I never believed that bullshit.

Not in my line of work, anyway.

I"ve found plenty of Omegas deep in heat, and all they needed was some fluids and anaesthetics to put them at ease.

Sure, some were a little crazy, but never to this extent.

This is almost primeval.

That Omega doesn"t even sound human.

The government has me sign a shit ton of paperwork.

I am by no means to disclose what I find to members of the public on any of my missions.

Only once I have broken the rules, and that was for my dear cousin and his pack a few months ago.

But it looks like I am about to break the rules again.

No one can know about this.

Especially the bigwigs in government.

This will be our secret.

Somehow… I feel that this Omega has something to do with Belle.

She has been tight-lipped about her origins, and I will learn her story, eventually.

"Someone put her to sleep."

I feel for the brave soul who has to enter the cell of that Omega, but it has to be one of them.

As an Alpha, I don"t feel safe.

Especially as I catch the Omega staring at me with more than want and desire…

She licks her lips, looking as if she wants to bite the head straight off my cock, and I squirm.

No, thank you.

"Alpha…"

It"s a demand, not a request.

Nor is she pleading with me either.

She demands my knot like it is her God-given right.

"Alpha!"

I don"t watch as my team member sticks a syringe in her arm, and soon her screams die as she passes out on the table.

I don"t move for a while, even when her screams have died.

My heart won"t stop pounding.

I look at Miles. "This doesn"t leave the compound."

He nods at my order.

No one can know.

Not until I find answers.

Finally, I brave a glance at the Omega, and she really is beautiful.

Now that she is asleep, she looks serene, almost sweet.

Like she couldn"t harm a fly.

No wonder she managed to corner that Alpha.

I step toward the cell to get a better look at her, ignoring her nakedness.

Instead, I peer at her wrist.

The number twenty two has been tattooed in black, and I narrow my eyes.

That"s the first time I have come across a tattoo like that.

Omegas are forbidden from getting tattoos or piercings.

Something strange is going on here, and I am going to get to the bottom of it.

I take my leave, ordering Miles to get the Omega some clothes.

I have seen enough, and it"s time I headed home.

There"s a certain Omega I want to see.

Maybe I will seek my answers there.