Billy

My baby bump was swelling and impossible to hide now – not that I’d want to of course.

Watching my body change had been the most amazing part of my life up until now, not counting the mind-blowing sex I’d been having with Aiden every night…at least every night.

Once I had started to show, I’d started to get a little nervous about how Aiden would feel about me. My abs weren’t visible anymore and I knew how much he liked my body. Part of me thought he might not be as turned on by me, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.

“You’re so curvy now,” he’d said with a smile after a night of especially intense lovemaking. “I just can’t get enough of you.”

“Really?” I’d said. “You’re not just saying that?”

“I’d never lie to you, Billy,” he’d told me with a kiss that made everything better.

And that was it. I hadn’t thought about it again. In fact, I’d embraced it and had started to wear shirts that were a little too tight, that would accentuate my bump. One day after breakfast, even though we’d had sex before coming downstairs, I saw Aiden looking at me and knew he was going to take me again.

We’d slipped off to our room again for a quickie, but it had been so mind-blowing that I’d had to take a nap, despite having just gotten out of bed an hour earlier.

I felt bad at just how much I was eating now, but it couldn’t be helped. I was ravenous, and if I didn’t fuel up every couple of hours, I’d be exhausted. I’d experienced a little morning sickness, but nothing too awful. It was a small price to pay for the life we were building together.

We’d settled right in at the lodge. It was a bustling place now, filled to the brim. Tate had joked about needing to expand soon.

Everything had been going well, but something had happened this morning that had changed everything.

Tate was called into The Love Knot to cover a shift at the door, which he still did occasionally, and heard a conversation at the bar. Two men, obviously wealthy and seemingly out of place, were talking about an auction where you could buy omegas.

Of course he understood instantly what they were talking about, and called up Martin to come in. They’d eavesdropped, trying to pick up specific information on where and when the auction was held, but the men were careful and didn’t get into specifics. So when the night was over, they tracked them.

Surprisingly, one of the men lived only one town over in Greenville, where he had a large house on a thirty-acre spread. They’d ambushed him when he went inside and questioned him about the auction. He’d given up the information immediately, saying he’d never actually bought anyone there, he’d only heard of it.

They’d scoured the place for any captive omegas, in case he was lying, but found nothing. Seth and Carlos were there now, watching over him to make sure he didn’t try to alert anyone to the fact that he’d spilled the beans. And now, the rest of the pack was getting ready, because tonight was the night of the auction, and we were going to make sure it was never held again.

“Security is going to be tight,” Kitchi growled as we sat in the living room. All the alphas were here. The omegas were in the kitchen – all of them except me. There wasn’t much I could add, but I felt like I should be here while they went over the plan, just in case. “They may even have men with guns. In fact, I’d bet on it. Anyone who deals in slaves is a coward.”

“Did you get the pheromone blockers?” Tate asked Martin.

“Got ‘em,” he replied, setting the bottles on the coffee table.

“Kitchi and I can go in first,” Red suggested. “Our speed could cause a distraction, allowing the wolves to attack amidst the confusion.”

“No,” Bryce said, shaking his head. “We should hit them hard immediately, and take down as many as we can without alerting the rest of them.”

The air was tense. It felt like a scene out of a movie, with the crew getting ready to head out on some dangerous mission that not everyone would return from.

“That sounds good to me,” Aiden said, his voice low. I could see the concentration in his eyes. This mission meant one thing to the rest of the pack, but something more personal to him.

It was amazing how good the members of this pack really were. They cared about the omegas in this auction, omegas they didn’t even know, because they knew it was wrong. And that was enough to call them into action.

I grasped Aiden’s hand tightly and thought about the possibilities of tonight. He might not come back to me, and I didn’t want him to go, but when I thought back to how I felt in that cell, and then standing beneath the spotlight as faceless men bid on me, I understood why I had to let him go.

“Billy. Is there anything you can tell us about the layout of this place?” Tate asked me.

“Not much,” I said with a sigh. “They have rooms there…like cells, with no windows. The auction itself is a dark room with booths all around it where the men sit. I don’t know how many exactly.”

“Are we killing the buyers?” Kitchi asked. It was obvious from the threatening tone in his voice what his opinion was on the matter.

“Of course we are!” Aiden roared. “Those sick bastards don’t deserve to live!”

“I’d like to avoid as much bloodshed as possible,” Tate said slowly. “But I don’t see any other way. If we leave them alive, they’ll simply take the auction elsewhere. More omegas will be made into sex slaves.”

“Then we kill them,” Kitchi said flatly.

A chill went through my bones as I looked at him. He was a warrior, and I could see that fighting was a way of life for him, and it was then that I understood just how different we were.

The reality of tonight was that I would be here, safe at the lodge, while the others risked their lives. I’d be terrified for Aiden, my mate, but that’s how this had to go. Not only was I unfit to go up against an entire group of alphas, but I was carrying his baby and we couldn’t risk that.

“Okay,” Tate said, taking a bottle of pheromone blocker from the table. “Let’s get going. The auction starts in a half hour.”

Everyone stood and started spraying themselves down. I turned to Aiden and wrapped my arms around his waist.

“Come back to me,” I told him, feeling his heartbeat against my cheek.

“Of course,” he told me. “I’m going to be a father. You think there’s any way I’d miss out on that?”

His arms squeezed tightly around me before releasing me and I clenched my eyes shut as I burned that moment into my brain.

This could be the last time I feel his touch. The hideous thought invaded my mind and I pushed it aside. I needed to be strong now for him. He couldn’t be distracted if this was going to succeed.

“How does the baby feel?” he asked me.

“A few kicks,” I said with a smile. “I think he’s ready to meet us.”

“I can’t wait,” Aiden said with a deep breath that rocked my head like a gentle ocean swell. I pulled back and looked at him with determination.

“You’ll be back and we will both see you soon,” I told him.

“Of course you will,” he said with a smile. “I will never leave you, Billy.”