Chapter Three
It took a brave omega to lie to someone like Ronan but lie Noah had. And he’d done it with barely a rise in his heart rate. Probably because the damn thing had gone sky high the moment he’d heard Ronan’s bike. What had Preston told him? Likely some lie that painted himself as the victim and Ronan as the bad guy. Not that he objected much to being painted the bad guy. As Griffin liked to say, they straddled the line between good and evil, doing their best not to stray too far either way.
Poor guy, though. Ronan hadn’t seen scars like that since… well, since times better left forgotten. Which meant that a guy like ‘Preston’ had an easy and probably desperate mark to manipulate. It also meant the alpha wouldn’t be going anywhere right away. And certainly not without his car. Ronan hadn’t even needed to look inside the garage to know it was there. There was no mistaking the scent of engine oil.
The best thing for him to do was head out, get some distance, wait for Preston to return, and catch him unawares. He’d have the fool back to Frederick before the weekend was out, and he’d be home by dinnertime on Monday.
Getting back on his bike, he drove out, heading back to the highway. He was sure he’d seen a rest stop not too far away. Somewhere to dump his bike while he took care of things.
Noah watched Ronan wander around outside, on tenterhooks the whole time. What if he found Preston’s car? He could say it was his but how to explain why Preston’s scent and not his was all over it? Thankfully, the alpha didn’t go near the garage and headed back to his bike after only a few minutes.
Noah was relieved to see him go but too wound up to go back to his baking, his dough a hard, forgotten ball on the counter. Instead, he paced up and down the hallway waiting for Preston to return. The alpha did, almost an hour later, looking pleased with himself.
“There you are,” he said as he came in the door before frowning, his nose twitching. “Someone was here.”
He stepped forward, grabbing Noah by the upper arms, and pushing him against the wall. “Who? Where are they?”
Noah’s heart thudded in his chest on hearing the anger in Preston’s tone.
“He’s gone. It was an alpha, looking for you. I told him you left this morning. He had a look around, but he didn’t find your car. And then he left.”
“What was his name? Why was he looking for me?”
“He didn’t say. But he left me his number in case I remembered where you’d said you were going.”
Noah gestured to the piece of notepaper on the table. Preston strode toward it, grabbed it in his hands and tore it in two, tossing it in the trash. He stood there for a moment, his hands balled into fists, and Noah felt a curl of fear in his stomach. The alpha’s reaction was so different to how he’d been up until then.
Preston took a breath, his hands loosening. When he turned to Noah, there was a soft smile on his face.
“You did great, Noah. So brave to protect me like that. Just the way I’ll protect you, if you let me.”
Noah managed to return the smile and nod, even though his stomach was still twisting viciously inside, the feeling of wrongness from before intensifying.
“I’d like that.”
He’d craved that, for the longest time. Someone to protect him, fight for him, care for him. Shield him from the barbs and blows that the world dealt to omega like him. And yet, Preston’s offer was hollow, it didn’t ring true.
Noah made Preston lunch, watching as the alpha moved restlessly about the house. He’d checked the grounds himself first, concerned the other alpha was lying in wait, but once he realized he really was gone, he seemed more at ease.
For Noah, though, every moment Preston was there his unease wavered. As the alpha talked about making contact with Noah’s pack, and Noah leaving with him, he began to feel he’d been wrong to have misgivings. Whoever this other alpha was, he was gone. Preston was still here, was still smiling at him, sending a thrill of pleasure through him. Preston was offering him something no one else had or would probably ever offer. He was one in a million. Why should Noah rebuff that over a moment of stress and anger?
After lunch, Preston went to make another phone call. It was then Noah remembered that he’d told the other alpha that Preston was heading to Rivertown. He followed him out to tell him, in case it made a difference to his plans. It was easy to follow Preston’s scent trail, down along the path towards a small wood of fir trees. On the other side of the wood was the highway.
As Noah walked, he could hear Preston’s voice. At first, it was too far away to make out any of the words. But as he neared, quieting his steps automatically, he started to make bits and pieces out.
“I know, gorgeous. I hate being apart from you, too.”
Noah stalled, then tiptoed closer, using a tree to shield himself from view and peeking around it until he could just make out Preston standing with his back to him, partially obscured by another tree.
“It’s one guy, Danny. One guy who’s already off on a wild goose chase thanks to my little omega friend.”
The person on the other end said something, and Preston laughed.
“Oh, don’t you worry about him. I have him eating out of my hand. That fool is so starved for affection that he can’t even tell real alpha pheromones from synthetic. Seriously, two dabs of that stuff on my neck and he was swooning. He doesn’t hold a card to you, sweetheart. He’s just some scarred reject that someone should have put down a long time ago. Right now, he’s useful. I’ll lead him along a little while longer, then leave him high and dry. I guarantee, he’ll be so crushed, he won’t tell a soul.”
Preston kept talking, but Noah had heard enough. Pushing away from the tree, he backtracked to the house, keeping his footsteps light so as not to be heard. Synthetic pheromones? He hadn’t even known that was a thing. Well, now he did, and he felt like a fool. How could he have thought any alpha would look twice at him? He was scarred, he was an automatic reject, just like Preston had said. He couldn’t do the one thing, the only thing, that made an omega worth having.
Taking the long way back to the house, he struggled to decide what to do. He guessed he’d have to play along until Preston left. But how far would the alpha take it? What if he wanted Noah to come with him? What if he dumped Noah into whatever trouble he was running from?
As he reached the kitchen, his eyes fell on the notepad and pen, and he turned to the trash, reaching in for the scraps of paper the other alpha had thrown in there. Then he went to his bedroom, pulling out the cell phone he kept under his mattress for emergencies. Pocketing it, he headed outside, going the opposite direction from where Preston was, out past the garage until he knew he’d have enough signal to make a call. With shaking hands, he pressed the numbers into the phone, staring at it for a long moment before pressing the call button.
“Noah?”
The voice startled him, and he jerked around to see Preston only a few feet behind him.
“What are you doing?” the alpha asked, his eyes narrowed.
“Calling… calling my pack. I wanted to talk to my brother, tell him about you.”
Preston turned his head to the side, looking down at Noah’s hand and the torn pieces of paper clutched there.
The alpha stalked toward him. “Give me the phone.”
Noah handed it over, his hands shaking. Preston snorted and ended the call, tossing the phone to the ground before smashing it with his foot. His hands curled into fists again, anger flashing in his eyes. Noah didn’t wait around for his reaction, making a dash for the house. He knew every nook and cranny of this place. He knew how to hide.
“Noah!”
The alpha followed after him, roaring his name. It spurred him to run faster, slowing only when he reached the door, fumbling with the handle. But those seconds were all Preston needed to catch up with him. As the door opened, they both sprawled forward, Noah knocked face down onto the floor. He turned onto his back and tried to get up, but Preston was on top of him. The alpha grabbed his shirt, hauling his upper body off the floor while pulling back his arm to strike. Noah tensed, waiting for the blow.
A hand grabbed Preston’s arm, yanking him backward and off Noah. Noah scrambled back toward the table, crouching to hide underneath it as the dark-haired alpha from before tackled Preston to the ground. Preston managed to get to his knees, swinging a fist at the other alpha. He was neatly rebuffed, like someone swatting a fly. When he tried again, the other alpha grabbed him with both hands, picked him up, and threw him out the door and into the yard.
Cowering under the table, Noah was too scared to move, his hands covering his ears as the sound of punches and yells carried through from outside. And then, abruptly, there was silence. The next few minutes felt like an eternity as Noah’s heartbeat drowned out any other noise. Heavy footsteps returned, stomping inside before coming to a stop near him.
The alpha rapped a hand on the table.
“Come on, out of there.”