Chapter Twenty-One

Ryan

We were home and King and I alone for the first time since they rescued me. He'd been eerily silent the entire trip back and during our initial meeting here. At first, I thought he was angry with me, but now, I was leaning more to him being angry with himself, as if he could've controlled any of this.

"Don't be mad, King, but I want to help him." I didn't bother easing into the idea. He was going to hate it no matter how it was presented, but I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I didn't try.

"I know you do, love. You're a good man, but also…he's not."

"You don't believe that any more than I do." At least I hoped he didn't.

"He kidnapped my mate!" Fair point.

"Yeah, he did. And sometimes good people do bad things because they have no choice." I cupped his cheek, and he watched my face carefully, not letting go of my eyes, just staring into them like he was trying to decipher something deep within my soul.

"We can't help him," he finally asserted. "I promised we wouldn't chase after him."

"I know we did, but his life…his life will never be okay. He didn't go into his mating the way we did. He didn't scent his one true love. He was kidnapped and forced, kept in a half bond so that he was under the alpha's full control."

Understanding crossed his eyes.

"He's always going to that have that partial bond, and now he's got a chip, too. You killed that fucker, though, so at least there's one less piece of shit out there." Unlike with the omega, I didn't see him being alive as any better than what he was experiencing now. That bastard wasn't going to one day wake up and decided to fully bond with him. No, he was going to torture him until his last breath, and I was thrilled that last breath had come and gone.

"What?"

"Yeah, he said you tore him to shreds. That's how he got your scent. And, in a way, he was glad for it. It's just that the partial bond is still there, and it's going to torture him forever. And then there are those assholes with the chip. They're going to hunt him down."

"We promised we wouldn't hunt him down," he said again.

"And maybe we won't…not hunting him, but we could track him. Maybe bring a healer. There has to be a way to get that chip out. Heck, amputating would be better than dealing with that. We have to try."

"You'd have us risk everything for the man who kidnapped you?" He pulled me onto his lap and hugged me tight. "You're a much better man than I am."

"No, actually, I'm not."

He pulled back and looked down at me. "Don't ever put yourself down."

"Oh, silly alpha." I cupped his cheek. "I'm not the one putting myself down. You're a good man, a great alpha. And yes, sometimes we all have to do things that are unsavory, but when we do them for the right reasons, sometimes that makes it okay. No, okay isn't the right word, but you know what I mean."

He pressed a kiss to my forehead. "You really want us to go help him?"

"I do."

"We'll call a meeting. Agreed?"

An hour later, everybody was sitting at the long table in the dining hall. The kids were long asleep, making it a safe place for the uncomfortable conversation we were about to have.

I told them what I wanted to do. At first, everyone gave me a thousand reasons why it was a horrible idea. But then Jack spoke up. "I know a little more about what it's like than you guys do."

He had been impregnated with his son, Bryant, on a breeding farm. I hated how true his words were, that he truly did understand.

I placed my hand on his.

"I think we should save him. I think a team of us and a healer should go find him, get rid of the microchip. It's technology. We know about technology. There's got to be a way."

We brought it to a vote, and it was decided. A small team, including King, set out a half hour later to track him, to save him. Waiting for them to return was one of the most difficult things I had ever done. I wasn't worried the omega would hurt us—he wasn't going to—but the people who forced him to work for them might. And unlike us, they weren't going to need to track him with their sense of smell or by finding tracks in the woods. No, they could hone in on him, find his exact location within inches, from miles away.

The risk was real, but I wasn't sure I could live with myself if we didn't even try.

Morning came, and they were still gone. I allowed myself to get lost in the routine of helping the kids get up and ready for their academics. They asked for Papa King, and I told them the truth, sort of—that he was at work and would be back later. They didn't need the gory details or any details at all.

I had a list of activities and things I needed to do today, but I ignored them all, instead losing myself in busy work: scrubbing bathrooms, cleaning walls, anything to keep my hands busy.

When the crew came back, long after dinner, my mate was exhausted. He pulled me into a hug and said, "You were right. We needed to do that. Raven is free. His chip is gone, and we put it in a truck that carries cola from one store to the next." He kissed the top of my head. "It'll take them a while to figure out he's not with them. That should be enough time for him to get away."

"Raven. That's his name?"

"Yeah, Raven. The healer wasn't able to take away the half-marking, but he was able to help, to weaken it enough so that it is manageable. He also said if his true mate comes along, that bond could break this completely."

"That's good." And so much better than I thought possible. "I got the kids in bed. Now, let's go upstairs."

"Raven tells me we have something to celebrate." Raven was all about spreading the news.

In all the commotion, talk of our baby had been pushed aside. Now that it was front and center, all the excitement that came with the news flooded me.

"We're having a baby," I said, nipping at his bottom lip.

"Or maybe five."

I growled.

"Four?" he growled back.

I shook my head.

"Three?"

"Just stop. Remember, every baby I grow in here, I do so at one time." That wasn't how pregnancy worked, but I was going with it. "We're not gonna have five kids at once."

"Let's have them one after another, then."

I smacked him playfully. "Come on. Take me to bed, alpha. I need you."

And off to bed we went.