Chapter Twenty

Seth

Nathan got a hit on the huge rogue compound in the Northern territory. The team he sent up there to get an idea of the size of the thing was able to record significantly more than just the size and layout from their position.

We knew the facility would be big, but this thing is an absolutely massive structure closed in by triple-layer fencing and electric gates. One large building and five smaller buildings. Two of them appear to be barracks. For rogues from the look of them, not omegas.

Based on the footage we have, the omegas are housed in the larger main building. They are brought out in groups once a day and to walk around the track running along the interior of the perimeter, then they"re marched right back inside.

They"re thin and dull. The information provided to us by most of the omegas that have been recovered doesn"t point to malnutrition. Every omega has been very transparent about the fact that the rogues provided adequate food and water, some even mentioned that the food was good. The rogues are careful to keep them functionally healthy. They are thin and dull, gaunt in some cases, because of stress, sadness, and probably straight-up terror.

They have been taken, separated from their families and everything they know. Some have been stolen from their rightful packs and ripped away from their alphas. Some have possibly left children behind when they were taken. It makes me nauseous. That"s what I was almost involved in. That"s what my father was pushing me to become, one of those rogue alphas who just takes and takes and takes.

And then redistributes.

For money.

"Hey," Desie says, stepping in front of me and wrapping my arms around her.

I bend down to bury my nose against the side of her neck, grateful for her distraction. "Thank you."

"What"s the plan?" Michael asks. "Suit us up. We know how these mother fuckers fight. Send us in."

Nathan goes back to the aerial view of the compound and zooms in on the back corner. "That"s the important entrance, not the big gate. That"s where the important trucks go. The supplies and things go in through the big gate, but the omegas go in through the smaller one. We need someone on the inside."

"Send us," Ben says. "Think about that shit that happened on the way here. Those rogues thought we were with them and trusted us. Send me and Michael in. We"ll get them out."

Nathan turns in his chair and considers Ben then Michael, but he looks at Seth. "We could."

"No."

Ben and Michael both whip their heads around, outrage clear on their faces.

"We"d be the perfect choice and you know it. We know how they work. We know who they are. We know how to speak to them," Michael argues very diplomatically.

Ben isn"t diplomatic. "Fuck you, Seth. They were going to take Desie. They did take her. We can go. We"ll fuck them up and get the omegas out."

My shoulders raise with a deep breath. "That"s one of the reasons it can"t be you and Michael. You"re too angry, understandably angry, but anger doesn"t make missions like this go smoothly. It has to be a COT. One who hasn"t been personally affected by anything. We need spies right now, not berserkers."

"What are the other reasons?" Michael asks, crossing his arms.

"Selfishness. I"m too selfish to let you walk into that. I can"t go. Too many of them know who I am at this point; and if you and Ben went in there, I would need to stay here with Desir"ee. I just got you. I"m unwilling to risk losing you. I"m sorry."

"We can"t do nothing, Seth," Ben argues, but I can feel the fire in him receding in the face of reason. "We can"t just sit here."

"You won"t," Devon says. "If we send the right COT and get the information we need in time, then we can get the omegas out by the end of summer. Elizabet and Claire are almost finished with The Omega House, but they"re working with small teams and that"s making everything take longer. We"ve been spending as much time as we can over there helping, but between everything else going on we"re not able to be there as much as we need to be."

Ben"s eyes narrow. "You want us to, what, paint walls? Arrange furniture?"

"Yes." Devon raises a brow. "I want you to use what you know about caring for omegas to help turn the interior of that place into a sanctuary. These omegas are traumatized. They are going to need every comfort and drop of peace and stability we can provide for them. You and your brother have been providing for and caring for an omega since you were boys. You"re practically experts in the field."

"You know how to do all that, too," Ben argues. "Talia and Jasper are well taken care of."

Devon nods. "They are. Now. There are many more differences between East Coast packs and West Coast packs than I imagined. There are training schools here, depending on location, for alphas. Omegas have their own training centers and betas bounce between the two until they find their niche. I didn"t notice much of that when we were on the West Coast."

"Yeah," Ben nods. "It"s weird that you do that here. The separation is weird."

Devon shrugs. "It"s how it"s always been, but we"re changing it. It will take time but it will be changed. Up until recently, the education alphas received regarding omegas was lacking at best. It has been a painful experience to learn exactly how much I don"t know. You and Michael already know all of it. You can help Elizabet and Claire. You will see things in a way they won"t and you can fill in the spaces they miss. It seems small, but it"s important."

Ben sighs and rolls his neck. "Fine. It"s important. But I still think we could be better utilized than expert interior decorators."

"You"ll also need to help vet the security teams." Devon does a bad job of not smiling.

"That"s more like it," Ben grumbles, and turns back to the monitor. Nathan has switched to a different view and he"s enlarging various points.

"Go back," Ben says. "You see that?" He points at the building in the back right corner of the screen. "Why is that one different?"

"Huh," Nathan says. "It is. More exits. More ventilation. Trent."

Trent pushes between Michael and Devon to lean over Nathan"s shoulder. "Yeah. They"ve got something going in there. Think it"s related?"

"Oh," Desie gasps.

Every eye snaps to her.

"Owens," she says, shaking her head. "I overheard Flores talking about Owens."

Devon tilts his head. "We know about Owens."

"Flores was talking about findings and chemicals and alterations. I couldn"t hear everything, they were downstairs, but Elijah was angry. Then the omegas we met on the way here called him Doctor Owens. Do you think Owens is there? What if..." she trails off.

I don"t want to think about omegas being chemically altered.

Desie

Seth"s arms tighten around me. "Could you call Mallory? She might have heard something. She may have even been at that same compound at some point."

I nod.

"I"m calling Minos, too," Seth adds. "And Lopez."

After a few positively awful phone calls, it is decided that Nathan will get a COT to the compound by the end of the week and they"ll report back immediately. The bones of the rescue mission will be planned simultaneously and as soon as the spy team reports back with the specifics that Nathan needs they"ll put it on a timeline. Minos is livid. He was sitting beside Mallory when she told me the things she"d forgotten until I reminded her.

Mallory didn"t remember very many details, but she did remember many, many blood draws. She remembered how they were always on the lookout for twin omegas or other multiples. And she told me some horrific accounts of what happened to the few male omegas that were at the facilities she was held at. She was okay with me recording the conversation and I"m glad. I don"t think I could have looked into the faces of Jasper"s alphas and told them the things that happened to those male omegas.

Seth almost couldn"t stay with me while I listened to her talk. I"ve got him in the bathtub now. He hasn"t said a word since we got back home. The original plan was for us to have dinner at Talia"s house. It was going to be such a fun night. There was even going to be a movie or three. But then Nathan got that call and everything changed.

I like knowing that my pack will have a part in saving the omegas and dismantling the rogue organization. I do. But sometimes, like right now, I think the cost is too much. Ben and Michael are so angry. They have accepted that the best thing they can do right now is to make sure the omegas will be safe and okay once they get here, but there is a deep rage constantly simmering in the background of my bonds with them. I can feel it and it makes me want to grind my own teeth.

Desolation and regret have taken over Seth"s bond. He hasn"t really been okay since Nathan pulled up the surveillance footage. The twins and I have been trying to pull him out of it all night. The tub is an unexpected solution that I"m grateful for. Our tub back home was just a basic, small tub. The tub in the upstairs bathroom is big enough for at least two people comfortably.

"I"m okay," Seth says quietly, almost whispering. His knees aren"t drawn up as tightly as they were when I first urged him into the water but he"s far from relaxed.

"Lean your head back," I tell him. "Close your eyes."

He tips his head back and I pour more water over his hair. He seems to relax more with every pitcher of water. I grab my shampoo and start massaging it into his scalp and he relaxes even more. By the time I finish rinsing out his hair his knees are resting against the sides of the tub. He keeps his eyes closed when I start gently scrubbing his chest. I didn"t intend to give him a full bath, but he"s enjoying it so much that I"m going to finish it.

He apologizes again when I"m finishing up with his feet. "I"m sorry that I"m so... broken. I don"t mean to be. I"m okay most of the time, but it was really hard to hear about the male omegas. I kept thinking about Jasper and then Talia. The loop started and I was trying so hard to shut it down. You shouldn"t have done all this. It"s too hard on you. You should be the one in the tub."

"I don"t think I"d enjoy hauling myself up and out of it. Maybe we can have a bath together after I have this baby. Are you feeling better now?"

He nods and sits up to give me a damp kiss. "Thank you for taking care of me."

"I like taking care of you. We take care of each other."