DONOVAN

 

When I woke up the next morning, there was no sign of Lucas except for his faint scent lingering in my room. I expected as much, considering the story he told me. It explained why he was so stand-offish.

He was a Primal. It was only a matter of time until they came to Dirge to take him back to their pack. The clock was ticking for Lucas. That meant the clock was ticking for me just the same…

 

* * *

 

“Master Donovan, are you sure you want to do this?”

“Yes, I do.”

“This is three days in a row you’ve been to Pandora. I imagine the locals will be getting quite sick of seeing you.”

I chuckled softly at Dirk’s sarcasm.

“If things go my way, they’re going to be seeing a lot more of me. Besides, what would you have me do? I have more money than I know what to do with. The resources and mining are proceeding as scheduled. I have the time.”

“Perhaps you should relax and enjoy your fortune, just as your family intended.”

“I come from a proud line of jaguars, true. They’re responsible for making me the man I am today. But it wouldn’t be right for me to sit around and lounge in excess while they worked so hard.”

“Working hard is one thing, sir. What you’re about to do…”

Dirk looked at me through the rearview mirror of the driver’s seat and cut himself off. Even though my assistant could speak freely with me, he hesitated.

“It’s all right,” I said with a smirk. “I know what I’m doing.”

“I suppose there’s no talking you out of your ways once your set.”

“Good. Then there will be no more discussion.”

I looked out the window of my car. We drove by the same dilapidated and abandoned buildings I’d seen before. I could never get quite used to it. To think that there were people living here in Pandora just struggling to get by would never sit well with me.

“Up here,” I said. “Park right in front. This will only take a moment.”

“Are you sure about that, sir?”

“Yes, I’m sure. If anybody gives you trouble, feel free to leave me behind.”

“Sir, I don’t think—”

“Dirk. I’ll be fine.”

I gave my assistant one last bit of reassurance before stepping out of the car. There were fewer eyes on me than I was used to. It was remarkable what replacing a suit with a pair of jeans and a plain t-shirt could do.

It was the middle of the day, so Sawyer’s Bar wasn’t as crowded or rowdy as it was the night before. There were still some packs sitting around, wearing vests to indicate they were in a motorcycle club, and I had to be wary of them. For the time being, they didn’t pay any attention to me outside of an occasional glance.

I walked up to the bar where the bartender stood. He was a frustrated old man. From the way Lucas described him, I assumed it was Sawyer.

He was organizing some bottles of alcohol on his shelf before he finally noticed me standing there.

“What do you want?” he said.

I assumed he gave me an attitude because I wasn’t a regular.

“I need to speak to someone,” I said. “Is Lucas here?”

“Lucas?”

He reared his head back and shifted his eyes up and down my body.

“What do you want with him?”

“I need to speak to him.”

“What’s this about?”

“Look,” I sighed. “This is business between me and him. Is he here or not?”

“No, you look. Lucas is my employee. I tell him what to do. Now you’re gonna tell me what you want with him or else—”

Before he finished, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a gold piece. I dropped the coin down on the counter and Sawyer immediately quieted when he saw it. He swiped it up and squeezed it in his hand, examining it close like he was doing with me a few seconds ago.

“Where is Lucas?” I said.

Sawyer shifted his gaze toward me before begrudgingly muttering to me.

“Down the back hallway,” he said. “Last door.”

“Last door. Thank you.”

I started to walk toward the back. Sawyer called out to me.

“Don’t try anything funny,” he said. “Just because he’s not in heat doesn’t mean I want you doing any business in my bar.”

“I won’t try a thing…” I sighed to myself.

I got down to the last door quickly and knocked on it. There was no response. I knew someone was inside because I could hear voices.

I pushed the door open and saw Lucas sitting on the ground with his back turned to me. Sitting next to him was a golden-blond haired girl who couldn’t have been older than 10.

“Megan,” I whispered.

The little girl looked up at me with a smile on her lips. Her eyes lit-up as she stared at me.

“Hi!” she said. “Who are you?”

Lucas turned around and stared up at me. The smile he had quickly disappeared as he jumped to his feet.

“What are you doing here?” he said.

“My name is Donovan,” I said to Megan, ignoring Lucas completely. “What are you up to, Megan?”

“Lucas and I were just coloring some books. Do you wanna join us?”

“Sure. That sounds like fun. But first I need to talk to your friend Lucas, if that’s all right.”

“Okay,” she sighed. “Don’t take too long.”

“I promise.”

I winked at her with a smile. The little girl had an infectious grin. She turned her head back down and went back to her coloring book as Lucas pushed me on the chest out of the room.

He closed the door behind him and whispered to me like he was straining to keep his voice down.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he said.

“I needed to talk to you.”

“If you want to see me again tonight, then come see me tonight. Can’t you see I’m busy?”

“I know. But I don’t want to see you tonight. Not in the usual manner, anyway.”

“What do you mean?”

Lucas narrowed his gaze at me. He was an Omega but at the moment, he was defiant. I should have been used to it at this point.

“I was thinking about what you said last night,” I said. “How it’s inevitable that the Primals will come looking for you once you’re in heat.”

“What about it?”

“I think I figured out a solution to your problem.”

“A solution?”

The frustration on his face was replaced with surprise.

“What kind of a solution?” he said as he raised his eyebrows at me.

“You said the Primals are coming to Dirge,” I said. “Nothing will stop them short of killing yourself.”

“I’ve prepared myself for the inevitable.”

“Then there’s only one way to stop them.”

“And what’s that?”

I knew I was crazy for even considering it. I’d heard stories about the Primals. But looking into Lucas’s eyes right now, I convinced myself that this was the solution.

“We’ll go to the Timberlands,” I said. “We’ll confront the Primals ourselves.”

Lucas blinked his eyes at me. He didn’t say anything. His face wasn’t moving.

“Lucas?”

Suddenly, a smile formed on his lips. Then he started to laugh. He was laughing so hard that I couldn’t tell if he were serious or not.

“You wanna go to the Timberlands?” he said. “You wanna confront the Primals?”

“Yes.”

“Why don’t you just save both of us the time and kill me right now? That would be a better fate than whatever they would do to me—”

“Listen. You said that they’re coming no matter what. It’s inevitable. Once you’re in heat, they’ll be no way to reason with them. I figure if we can talk to them now, there might be some way to convince them not to do what you think they’re going to do.”

Lucas paused for a second. I was trying to be as rational as I could and it was enough for him to take me seriously.

“Why are you doing this?” he said, his eyes narrowed. “Is it because you care about me? You fuck me twice and you want to save my life? Saving me won’t save Pandora.”

“It’s not about saving you or Pandora. It’s about doing what’s right.”

“Right… You want to satisfy your massive ego. You sure are an Alpha, through and through…”

“Listen to me… You said that you wanted me to watch over Megan. Dirk has orders. If anything happens to me, Megan will be taken care of. So the way I see it, you want me to risk my life.”

The smile disappeared from his face quickly. Even he knew that I wasn’t about to use Megan as a bartering chip. I was only using her to get through to him.

“Promise me—”

“I keep my promises. If all you care about is Megan, then you’ll do this. If the Primals come to Dirge, they’ll hurt her. You know that better than anybody else.”

He looked down at the ground. He put his hands on his hips in frustration. I knew he couldn’t refuse.

“We go to the Timberlands,” I said. “We convince the Primals to let you leave the pack and not come for you. If anything happens to you, it would have happened anyway. If anything happens to me, Megan will be well taken care of. Either way, you have nothing else to lose.”

I could see him finally beginning to see reason.

“Do we have a deal?” I asked.

“You’re insane,” he said. “You know even you can’t do this.”

“I spent my whole life looking for a challenge. I think I’ve finally found it.”

Lucas clenched his jaw and sighed a deep breath through his nose. He gave me a nod of approval then put his hand up.

“When do we leave?” he asked.

“Tonight.”

“Good. Give me one last chance to spend some time with Megan. If this is the last time I see her, I want to say goodbye.”

“Are you sure that’s such a wise idea? I can’t imagine she’ll be happy about having to say goodbye to you.”

“You have a point. I won’t tell her anything. Hopefully, she’ll have forgotten about me and once she’s taken care of, she’ll move on quickly.”

“My fortune has been sustained for generations. Megan will be well taken care of.”

There was still some reservation on his face but Lucas stopped refusing. He shook his head as he spoke.

“Two people heading out into the Timberlands,” he sighed. “All by ourselves.”

“Oh, we’re not going alone.”

“We’re not?”

He raised an eyebrow at me. I couldn’t help but smile as I responded to him.

“I’m a very rich man. It wouldn’t make any sense if I didn’t put some of that money to use on such a dangerous journey.”