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I carried her through the door into the house, stopping when I got to the bedroom we would keep her in. We’d have to monitor her vitals just in case she woke up, but as long as we kept her sedated and hydrated she would be fine. Maddox followed me in, rolling up his sleeves as he procured the medical kit. He was our swiss army knife of talent - and one of his many talents was medical care. I watched him yank off his hat to reveal his ruffled chocolate brown hair, pushing it back out of his dark eyes. It constantly surprised me that someone with his level of attractiveness could slip around unnoticed when he felt like it. He set an iv into her arm to keep her hydrated and a monitor for her heart rate and temperature. As a precaution, we cuffed her to the bed. It was a shame, really. She was so small and delicate. It wasn’t like she could escape us even if she woke, but we didn't need the added complication of her getting out of the room. Once he made sure she was healthy and all set, we locked the door and went to the living room. There was a live feed to keep an eye on her, but the sedative should keep her out the whole time.
Cy came out of his office, stretching as he greeted us. “So, I heard we have a bit of a fighter on our hands?” He chuckled and went to grab a drink from the kitchen. Cy had hacked into the cameras and radio at the castle, able to monitor the entire mission from the safe-house. He stretched again, and I realized it was likely this was his first time relaxing from being glued to his desk since we started the mission.
“She wasn’t what I thought. I’d expect that kind of reaction from one of the wild omegas, not from Celeste Harringday.” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. The wild omegas of the Eastern Province were always a sad case. Usually they had escaped from a forced bite, keeping a low profile to stay hidden. The law wouldn't help them, as our archaic rules sided with the alpha unless the omega had enough power and influence to pay off the authorities. Often the pack would turn the whole country upside down trying to find their runaway omega.
“Either way, she’s here. Now all we need to do is sit back and wait.” Cy sat back on the couch, sprawling out as he downed a beer.
“When will Kian get here?” Maddox asked, antsy after the last minute change in plans after our abduction. He liked it when our plans went meticulously, but there was always a wild card thrown in. We had planned out for any possible issues, and the omega screaming for help was one of our potential hiccups we had anticipated. He had set the guards off to take care of an emergency he created and watched the omega wing himself, messaging me after Celeste had come back with her entourage. She never let anyone stay in her room, and had sent them all away at the entrance of the omega wing. Maddox had waited until they all left the wing before messaging me to look for Celeste in her room. Cy had cut the feed to the cameras ten minutes before, making sure no evidence of an abduction could be traced back to the omega wing. Everything had gone according to plan. Except, of course, the omega. She was the wild card in this mission. And the more I thought about it, the more I couldn’t get her out of my mind. What was it about her that had me feeling so drawn by her presence? I tried to focus on anything else, but it was like my soul was pulling on my chest to make sure she was alright. I shook my head, trying to let it go. I was not the type of man who could afford to be soft. The risks were too high. Leaning back, I turned on the tv and tried my best not to let my thoughts wander to the look of wonder in her eyes when she had seen my face for the first time.
Chapter 13
Maddox
I was horny as hell, and my anxiety was only amplifying my need for Kian to get here and take care of me. Something was setting my nerves off, and I couldn't figure out what it was. Taking the omega was a fairly easy task, even if she scuffled with Jameson. The thought of it was funny - a small omega, who lived a life of luxury and had probably never fought a day in her life, standing up to one of the Eastern Province’s most deadly mercenaries for hire. Jameson was one of the scariest alphas I’d ever met, and I was in his pack. I still marveled when I saw him in action - he could tear even the most feral alpha apart, take down a target with razor sharp precision, and easily subdue even the largest adversaries. He was large even for an alpha, and I imagine he had to exercise restraint to prevent injury to our target, but that was what made him so good at his job. He knew just the right amount of force to apply to get results. When I heard the girl screaming, I knew something went wrong. But he had her almost knocked out when I finally arrived, and now she was peacefully sleeping in her room. I watched the camera feed like a hawk, trying to figure out why my senses were on alert.
Her face was sweet, innocent, and peaceful as she lay there. Her scent was at least contained to the room, which should help all of us relax a bit. I was a beta, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t insanely attracted to the sweet smell of omega. It wasn’t her real perfume and had no real pheromones in it, which made things much easier. Although even if it was her actual scent, our pack had excellent restraint. We’d taken suppressants every day for a month before the mission, knowing that a castle full of omegas was likely to be a distraction to even the most diligent person. But now we could breathe easily and relax. It was only a matter of time before we dropped her off, received our other half of the payment and could move on to the next assignment. I watched the omega sleep, trying to fit together any missing pieces. So far, it was hours since she’d been taken and no one was wiser. Once someone realized she was gone, it would be easy for anyone looking for her to track her cell, which we had procured earlier in the night. Cy had already planted gps embedded photos, photoshopped and blurry, of Celeste out drinking and partying. We would slowly upload them onto her device as her handlers would see a mess of a room and figure out she’d left on a whim. They’d wait for her to turn up as she always did, and by the time she was found, the board meeting would have come and gone. The individual who hired us let us know her schedule and that her drinking binges were a regular occurrence for her, but we did our research regardless. We looked up articles, social media posts, and any past stories that we could replicate to make her disappearance look like a regular night out. I pulled out a folder and reviewed the articles we’d studied. It was strange - she looked confident, alight with power, and a force to be reckoned with in every photo we had of her. The Celeste we took didn’t have that same energy - she was frightened, but there was something in her that seemed guarded, depleted and filled with the fight that only someone with nothing left to lose fought with. Her face was different in person, too.
I tried not to worry as I phoned Kian, waiting to hear his voice. He answered on the first ring. “Heard it went well.” His nonchalant and businesslike voice was both calming and aggravating.
“It was fine. She noticed Jameson and managed to peel back his mask before he sedated her. But she’s here and she’s out cold.” Kian chuckled at my report.
“She managed to get her hands near Jameson? If we weren’t kidnapping her, I'd hire her.” No one managed to get close to Jameson. It was one of the reasons he was so successful, and so feared.
“Are you stopping by the safe-house?” I was sure he could hear the need in my voice.
“Probably not. I have a few meetings that I need to attend. Can you hold out for me?” I ground my teeth at his response. He was the only one who could really give me what I needed.
“I’ll try.”
“Be good for me. I know you can.” Kian always knew how to make me putty in his hands. He was all business, our clean cut and high society alpha who was outwardly a successful business owner in our city of Roebri. Those who knew him would be aware that he was the son of Ansdaldo Genovese, one of the largest crime lords in the Eastern Province. But Kian was reformed, at least that’s what it looked like from the outside. He’d been shunned by his father after one of the firstborn alphas from his father’s harem made a power play, and Kian had decided to go clean and make an honest living. And he did - at least partially. It was hard to run a clean business anywhere in the Eastern Province, but Roebri had allowed our pack a fresh start. We had started our real estate business from the ground up, but we’d dealt with territorial packs wanting bribes to allow our business to function. We quickly made it known that we were not to be trifled with, and seeing as how our pack was also well equipped to take on less than legal tasks, we began offering our services as competition to some of the more ruthless packs out there. We were known for only doing dirty work on people who deserved it - traffickers, murderers, and the other dregs of society. But we also did more routine assignments. Cy would hack into sites or secure servers for a fee, and we did our fair share of other less extreme jobs. This kidnapping one should have been a breeze. Set up a staged binge, take the omega, deliver her safely to another location once a few days passed. No harm, no foul. But something still wasn’t right. I had an instinct for these things.
While the rest of our pack rested, I paced through the room, my eyes on the screen watching the omega. Something was up with her. I just had to figure out what it was before anything bad happened.
Chapter 14
Kian
The Roebri Chamber of Commerce had their annual meeting at the same hotel every year. The event usually hosted a lunch at noon, but all of the important people showed up at around three and mingled a bit before cocktail hour. I had it on my schedule to stop by and play nice with the local politicians and business owners. It was a routine meeting, quite boring actually, but necessary to keep current with the local updates and solidify my alliances in Roebri. I pulled up, handing the valet my keys as I adjusted the cufflinks on my suit. I was greeted at the entrance by Gil, a jolly older man who owned one of the largest fuel companies in the Eastern Province. Nodding at him, I made my way in and scanned the crowd. Although on the outside it looked like a regular meeting full of government and business leaders, underneath the surface was a murkier side of Roebri. At least ten people that I could see here had contacted me for services in the past five years. Although I ran an upstanding commercial real estate firm, my side gigs were far more lucrative, at least in the past. Anyone in the know was aware that my pack could get things taken care of in ways that avoided the legal route.
Our latest assignment would net us a quick half million once it was completed. It was the perfect assignment - easy, no physical harm and over within just a few days. My pack had taken care of things while I kept up the public side of business. They hadn’t needed me for this mission, and anyway, my other goal for today was to keep alliances running smoothly so that our legitimate business didn’t have any issues in the next year. Of course, if anyone here needed anything else handled in a delicate manner, they knew to contact me directly.
My reputation preceded me, even before our pack had relocated to Roebri. I was one of Ansdaldo Genovese’s sons, and that both elevated me and put a target on my back. My father was one of the most successful crime lords in the Eastern Province. He was also the deadliest. He made his way up the ranks by leaving no witnesses, and his cruelty was legendary. His name was infamous throughout the province, and no one dared touch him unless they were absolutely insane. The thing is, the Eastern Province is just the place for insanity. My own family was known to take each other out in an effort to consolidate power. My father was an alpha, and not a good one. Instead of forming a pack in the usual manner, he’d formed a harem of omegas and soon had plenty of children bearing his surname. Most of us presented as alphas, and that was a problem. There could only be one head of the organization. When some of my brothers got close to adulthood, they would mysteriously find themselves the victim of an accident. But everyone knew it was just Ansaldo’s sons fighting for dominance. My father encouraged it. He wanted the strongest, the smartest and the most sociopathic of us to win. I was lucky to get out when I did - I had seen the pattern and knew I would soon have to play the game to stay alive. Instead, I took my pack and gave up my claim to the Genovese crime family business. It meant giving up my inheritance and all my connections in my old city, but it was worth it to start fresh and have a real life.
I’d had to crawl my way up from nothing, but with a pack like mine, it didn’t take us long to start securing jobs to tide us over until we had real money to invest. Now, our real estate business was taking off. We could soon spend all our energy running a legitimate business, at least as much as one could in the Eastern Province.
Nathaniel Morgan, one of our past clients and currently the owner of the largest hotel chain in Roebri, clapped me on the back. “Good to see you, Kian! How’s business?” I raised my glass to him, smiling as he nodded and waved at someone from across the room.
“On the upswing! How’s your wife?” Nathaniel was a beta and one of the richest men in town. He was married to another beta, and was one of the less corrupt people in this room.
“She’s great. We’re planning on taking a vacation soon, I can’t spend enough on her! Hey, I might have some side business I need you to take care of, your pack available soon?” He lowered his voice on the last part. Nathaniel was less corrupt, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t committing fraud on the down low.
“Reach out to me. We’ll talk.” He smiled again and clapped me on the shoulder, taking off to greet someone else he’d spotted. I looked at my watch. I’d have to schmooze like this for another hour, then take care of some paperwork. Thankfully the time passed quickly, and I had a few potential new deals in the works by the time I was ready to go. Cocktail hour was starting, and that made everyone a little more relaxed and also more open to telling me their secrets. I gave everyone my regards and headed down the hall.
As I was leaving, the television in the lobby was showing breaking news. I normally cared little for watching anything as the news in the Eastern Province was as fake as the smiles on the faces of the people I had just mingled with. You never knew who had paid off who to get the news buried. But the headline caught my eye.
“BREAKING: HARRINGDAY HEIRESS STOPS MERGE BY ONE VOTE”
I stopped in the hall, not believing what I was reading on the screen in front of me. This was impossible. I watched as a reporter spoke while a video ran on a dual screen.
