Chapter Twenty

King

I reached for my omega, but instead of in my embrace, he was crouched in front of the fucker who took him and was shielding him. Shielding him!

"Omega?" I heaved breaths, reaching for calm.

"King, you can't kill him. You want to. I know that. He did wrong. There's no question about it."

"Then, why?" I tried to speak gently. I reached out to the side, stopping Aziz's hyena from making a meal from the man in the corner.

"He's a victim, too. He's an omega. His alpha forced a bond. It wasn't his choice. It's not his fault."

"How could it not be his fault?" I questioned my mate. "It's a simple choice. Don't kidnap people. There. Simple as fuck."

"Do you remember how crazed we both were before our bond was formed? It's like that for him, but ten times worse."

"Where is your alpha?" I asked the man, in direct opposition to what my lion wanted to do.

"He's dead. He…he controlled me. When he died, they took me, made me work for them. I didn't have a choice."

"Who?" I barked.

Ryan gave me a look, cocking his head to the side. He wanted me to be gentler, I could feel it, but how could I be gentle with this man? How?

"I don't know their names. They tell me what to do. They told me to take Ryan. I don't have a choice. They…look." He jutted his dirty arm out for me to look at. There was a tiny red scar on his forearm. So tiny, with human eyes, I probably wouldn't have been able to see it.

"What is that?"

"A chip. They took me after my alpha died. They put it in me and said they owned me now. I can't have babies like the other omegas, but they promised me they would find me another alpha if I just… I'm sorry. I had to. I'm dying without the bond."

"But, when he died, the bond with your alpha should have broken."

"It didn't. I'm in constant limbo, wanting an alpha I can't have. They promised to break it for me, this half bond."

"Can we remove it?" I asked Ryan. He shook his head. "Come on, omega. I'm not going to hurt him." Ryan stood, eyeing Aziz. "He won't hurt him either. Go on, Aziz. It's fine."

Aziz yipped and then walked off, checking several times before going out of sight.

I asked the omega, "Can we remove your chip?"

He sighed. "You don't know how many times I've tried. The more I dig, the deeper it embeds itself."

"We can't take him with us, mate. They might track us and find out all the omegas we have. Find our family." I tried to console him.

Hammer had been smart when he set up the warehouse as our base camp. The bosses knew we had a base but didn't have the location.

"What do we do?" Ryan asked, hope in his eyes.

My lion still wanted to end the omega who stole my mate, a little bit.

"The only thing I can do is let him go. If he swears not to go after us again."

"I can't swear," the omega said. "They make me…"

"Then run. Run before my lion or the hyena can change their minds and chew you up. You're going through hell and we get that, but I won't have you hurting my mate. Ever."

The omega looked at Ryan. Ryan yelled in his direction, "Go. Run. Go."

He took off, shifting to a jackal with one leap. Aziz tracked his movements and then looked to me. "Let him go. We can't help him now."