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“Act normal. Don’t talk about this with anyone, and I’ll find you tomorrow.”
He nodded and I let him duck inside the tent and lay down on his blanket, but I couldn’t seem to make my feet start moving away until Brandon touched my arm. “Come on, we should go. I came to find you to tell you something important.”
“Tell me what?”
“Asher’s here, with a message from Harrison. He arrived about thirty minutes ago and wants to talk to both of us.”
Chapter Five
Wyatt
Though I felt torn about leaving Darcy unguarded in his tent, I consoled myself with the idea that no one would bother him until morning, and I’d be back by then. As curious as I was about why our cousin and pack brother Asher was here, I still felt uneasy leaving my omega. I was still irritated and angry at Darcy for putting himself in this ridiculous situation in the first place. I was aware of the irony, in that if he hadn’t come to join the king’s army, I would never have met him, but rational thought often took a big step back when it came to an Alpha’s interactions with his omega. My fate was now irrevocably tied to his. His happiness and well-being depended on me. I didn’t have to like it to know it was true.
I was surprised by Asher’s presence here. He had refused to allow himself to be talked into training the betas, and he had stayed behind at the lodge. Why was he here now? I followed Brandon to a tent that had just been put up near the edge of the encampment. It was small, but still much nicer than just the dog tent setup we’d just left Darcy in. Asher was sitting outside by a small campfire, drinking coffee as we arrived. He rose to greet us.
“Good to see you,” I told him, giving him a brief shoulder bump. He wrinkled his nose a little as he pulled away, so I knew I must still reek of my omega. So much for not mentioning anything to him about Darcy yet.
“What is that?” he asked, his eyes glowing a little too much for my liking. “Why do you smell like an omega?”
“It’s a long story, but everything’s under control for now, so he’s not anything for you to worry about.”
He grinned at me. “In other words, back the hell off, huh? All right, I won’t get in your way, though I want a full report later. Sit down and I’ll tell you my news, and then you’re going to tell me how you managed to find an omega out here in the middle of nowhere.”
“We’ll see about that,” I muttered, and he laughed again good-naturedly.
“Tell us why you’re here, Asher,” Brandon said, squatting down beside the fire. “Is something wrong?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so, or at least there might be. I got a message from Harrison that the Vicountess has been spotted at the baron’s castle. Baron Dargan, the one from Lameda.”
“You mean the Viscountess Rozamond is up in arms about. Her relative that went missing on the way to a mysterious bridegroom.”
“Yes,” Asher said, his face grim. “Harrison asked to see me urgently and when I arrived at his court, he told me all about it.”
“Tell it to us, then. I only know the gist of it.”
“Over six months ago this young Viscountess Camilla was set to marry a baron named Dargan. He has a wealthy estate in Crillia, and he was shopping for a foreign wife, because he said all the Crillian females were all disobedient and cared only for parties and fashion. He wanted a noblewoman, but one who would be biddable and do just as she was told.”
“Why not get himself an omega?”
“He’s not an Alpha, though he often tries to act like one, and most omegas will only mate with an Alpha. Anyway, he courted this viscountess and sent a huge bride price for her to marry him. But she suddenly went missing before she ever arrived—or so he said. He claimed she never got near his estate, yet no trace of her could be found along the way. Her father sent some of his footmen with orders to find out what had happened to her and to either bring her home or bring back answers from this baron. But a sudden storm came up as they journeyed up the mountain road. In a terrible accident, the men and horses were swept away and fell to their deaths from the cliffsides.”
“Good Lord.”
Asher nodded. “I know. There was only one survivor, who told a story of a torrent of mud sweeping down the road toward them, washing the ground out from under their feet. The survivor was found clinging to outcroppings on the cliffside, and he was rescued by the villagers below. They all said the storm came out of nowhere—black clouds suddenly roiling up out of a clear, blue sky. One minute, they said, the sun was shining and the next, they were in the middle of a terrible storm of wind and rain lashing against them. The lone survivor swore he saw a big, dark figure on a black horse that appeared on the cliffside and looked down at them, as the mud flowed over the side of the cliff, parting when it reached the horse and its rider. Some discounted the story and attributed it to the man’s head injuries, but others weren’t as sure.
“As for this Baron Dargan, he maintained in his letters that the viscountess had never arrived, and he’d seen nothing of the footmen her father had sent to search for her. The storm, he said, was an act of nature that he had no control over.”
Asher looked at both of us in turn. “I think we can agree this is way beyond coincidence. This Dargan decides he wants a wife and then the young woman sent to marry him goes mysteriously missing, and those sent after her are killed. What the hell do you think could be going on?”
“Nothing good, that’s for sure,” I said. “What does Harrison want you to do?”
“He suspects something really terrible has happened to her. He asked if we would investigate this Viscountess Camilla’s disappearance. He’s offered a large reward to pay for our time and effort.”
“All right, I’m in,” I said. “This training exercise will be over soon, and then my omega can go back to our lodge while we investigate this.”
“Wait. You’re that serious about this omega?” Asher asked.
“Yes, I’m serious. I don’t seem to have any choice. Now can we please change the subject?”
