Chapter Twenty-Three
The Alphas were in Seb’s study, going over the plan for taking control of Gray Valley. Ro had taken Xander and Chloe over to play with Alicia’s kids, leaving Adam and Luke to keep an eye on Casey. The young Omega was up in his room with Luke, flicking through the picture books Ro had got for him. The shrill ring of a phone jolted Adam from his daydream and he tracked down the errant device and answered it.
“Hello?”
“Sebastian?”
“No, it’s Adam.”
“Hi, Adam. This is Byron, from Raventree.”
“Hey, Byron.”
“Is Sebastian there?”
“He is but—” There were raised voices coming from the study “—he’s talking with James and Ben right now. I can interrupt them—”
“No, no, that’s okay. I’m afraid I’ve no news. We’ve hit a dead-end here. We found Jay’s family but they’ve no information on Tobias. The people around here aren’t the most forthcoming. We did find a woman, Lacie, who seemed to know something, but she was too scared to talk to us. She did help us find Jay’s parents, though, so I guess that’s something. I’m really sorry we haven’t been of more help.”
Adam felt the heavy weight of disappointment settle in his stomach. How would they ever find Tobias if no one would— “The woman, did you say her name was Lacie?”
“That’s right.”
“What… what did she look like?”
He listened with rapt attention as Byron described the blond woman in her twenties.
“Do you have an address or anything for her?”
“Uh, sure. Address and a phone number. I’ll text them to you. She asked us not to call though. Her mate wasn’t the friendliest sort, I don’t think he’d appreciate the call.”
“Thanks, Byron. I’m happy Jay has found his family.”
“We’ll keep our eyes and ears peeled here. If there’s anything else we can do, don’t hesitate to let us know.”
“We’ll do that, thanks. Stay safe, Byron. And look after Jay.”
“I always do, Adam. I always do.”
His heart thumping, he sat down heavily at the table. Could that Lacie be his Lacie? The Lacie that Casey remembered? Other than Tobias, she was the only person they had in common. The only person they had both met. If this was her, then she knew where Adam and Luke had been kept. She knew where Casey had been kept. It was likely she knew where Duncan and Noah were being held even now. Byron’s text came through a moment later, an address and a phone number.
Adam went in search of Ben. This was a lead they had to follow-up. A real chance that someone might lead them to Tobias.
He knocked on the study door before stepping inside. Three heads turned towards him as James paused mid-sentence.
“Ben, could I talk to you for a minute?”
His Alpha blinked, looking irritated at the interruption, but stepped away from the desk and crossed the room towards him. They stepped outside and Ben shut the door.
“What is it?”
“It’s about Tobias. Byron rang…”
“He had something? He knows where to find Tobias?”
“Well, no. But he found someone, they wouldn’t talk to him but they might know something.”
Ben shook his head. “We’ve been through this already, Adam. Chasing Tobias is like chasing a ghost. The people close to him are loyal, they won’t give him up. And he covers a lot of ground. Waiting for him to turn up somewhere is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Gray Valley are our best bet.”
“But Ben…”
“No. I’m not having this argument with you again. This is the best chance we have, especially now the Pack Council are on board. Anything else is just wasting time.”
Ben turned and headed back into the study, shutting the door behind him. The conversation inside resumed as if there hadn’t been any interruption.
Adam stood outside, trying to hold back the tears. He’d never felt so distant from Ben as he did in that moment. His Alpha seemed so blinded by the prospect of winning back his Pack. Noah was an afterthought. Omegas were always an afterthought.
He looked down at Seb’s phone, held tightly in his hand, and the message from Byron. It was something. A connection to Noah. And he had to try.
Ro returned with Xander and decided to watch a movie with him and Casey. The Alphas were still in the study, hashing out the details of their plan. It was easy for Adam to tell Ro he was popping back to their house to pick up some stuff. It would be a while before anyone missed him.
He grabbed the keys and went out to the car. He found Luke waiting for him.
“Where are you going?”
“Just back to the house. We need clothes and stuff.”
“I’ll come with you,” Luke offered.
“There’s no need. I won’t be long.”
Luke folded his arms.
“Where are you really going?”
“I told you.”
“And I’m your brother. I know when you’re lying.”
Adam didn’t have time to deal with Luke. He got into the car, but Luke climbed in next to him.
“You can’t go alone,” his brother said.
“You can’t come. You shouldn’t be leaving the Pack, not in your condition,” Adam said, keeping his voice hushed so they wouldn’t be overheard.
“What’s going on, Adam?”
“Please, Luke. Just let me go.”
“Not this time. We stick together.”
Adam started the engine and put the car into drive. He waited until they were on the road before he spoke again.
“Do you remember Lacie?”
“Lacie who taught us to read?”
“Yeah, that Lacie. Byron found her by accident when he was looking for Jay’s family. Casey know her too, I guess from around the same time Tobias figured out she’d been teaching us.”
“Then they know where Tobias is. We need to tell Ben and James.”
Adam shook his head. “She wouldn’t talk to them. I tried to speak to Ben, but he’s set on going after Gray Valley. He didn’t even hear me out.”
“Then what are we doing?”
“I called her. She agreed to meet with me.”
“That’s where we’re going?” He could see Luke’s doubt, his uncertainty.
“She knows, Luke. She knows where Tobias was keeping Casey. Which means she knows where Noah is. She’s our best chance to find him. Maybe our only chance.”
He slowed the car down and pulled in. “I can let you out here. It’s a short walk back to the Pack house. It’s too risky for you to come with me.”
Luke pressed a hand on his where it gripped the steering wheel. “I’m not leaving you to do this alone. But I think we should call James and Ben.”
He shook his head harder. “Ben didn’t want to listen. He won’t want to do this. And Lacie might not talk with them there. She knows us, she’ll talk to us.”
“Then drive. Before they realize we’re gone.”
Adam nodded, setting off again.
It was late evening when they pulled into the service station. Adam’s phone had rang a handful of times before he’d shut it off.
“She said there’s a coffee shop inside and she’ll meet us there,” Adam said. They got out and he reached in the back for a coat, throwing it to Luke.
“Put that on. We don’t want to attract attention.” And Luke’s pregnant belly would certainly do that.
Luke made a face but put on the coat and they walked across to the entrance. There were a handful of people in the coffee shop, mostly people by themselves, with one couple.
Adam scanned the tables until he caught sight of a blond-haired woman sitting beside the window. She turned as he watched, catching his eye. Lacie.
“It’s her,” he said and Luke followed his gaze. She was alone and looked nervous as they approached, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.
They took seats opposite her and she just stared at them for a moment.
“Adam?” she said. “And Luke? I can’t believe how much you’ve changed. Are you both mated now?”
“We are,” Adam replied.
“Good, I’m glad Tobias took care of you.”
Adam laughed hollowly at that.
“Tobias didn’t take care of us, Lacie. He gave me to a wolf who murdered humans for fun. He used me as practice for his kills. The Enforcers killed him and I was rescued. And Luke was sold to an Alpha who gifted him to his son. A cruel man, who would have made his life a misery. He ran away and Fenrir’s Warriors found him.”
“Tobias raised you right.”
“He abused us. Starved us, beat us, kept us ignorant. Set us up to take any abuse our Alphas doled out and sold us to the highest bidders.”
Lacie was silent at that, her eyes on her cup of coffee. A waitress arrived at their table and Adam ordered some drinks. Coffee for him, tea for Luke.
“Why am I here? Why did you want to see me?”
“You taught us to read. That was the one thing we had, Lacie. The light in the darkness of our lives. It helped me make a connection to my Alpha, Ben. It’s helping Luke learn about the world that he still coming to terms with being a part of. You did that for a reason.”
There were tears in her eyes as she watched them. “You were really good kids, you know. I felt sorry for you, stuck in that room all the time. When I was a kid, books were my escape. I thought they could be yours, too.”
Adam nodded, reaching across the table to take her hand, relieved when she let him.
“I need your help, Lacie.”
“I… I’m not sure…”
“I have children, twins. Two boys. An Alpha, called Xander, and an Omega, called Noah. Tobias stole Noah, Lacie. Another Pack helped him, they traded him for Casey.”
She started, her hand tensing beneath him.
“Casey is years too young for mating.”
“Tobias didn’t care. They paid him well, and he got another Omega into the bargain.”
He took a deep breath, struggling to keep his emotions in check. “Noah’s just a baby, Lacey. Just a little boy. He won’t understand why we’re not coming to get him. He’s never gone hungry or been left in pain or been forced to hold his form.”
“What can I do?” she asked. “I can’t go against Tobias. After he caught me teaching you to read, he was furious. His punishment was terrible.” Her hand went to her shoulder and, idly, Adam wondered if she had scars. It was hard to scar a shifter, but still possible. “He wouldn’t let me come back to look after you or the others. But I still had to work for him. I only got away after I mated.”
“We think he’s taken Noah to where he’s keeping Duncan now that Casey’s gone. He seems to like to keep us in twos.”
She nodded. “It’s another way to control you. He thought you might get defiant if you were alone but with two he could punish one for the transgressions of the other.”
“Can you tell us where he’s keeping Duncan? And the other places he’s kept Omegas?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know if I can do that. If he finds out… I have a child of my own now.”
“Then you can imagine what it would be like if someone took them from you and you knew firsthand the terrible things they were going to do to them. All we need are the locations. We won’t mention your name to anyone, I give you my word.”
She was silent for so long that Adam was sure she wasn’t going to tell them. Luke, who’d been quiet next to him, broke his silence.
“What if it was your child? What if you were sitting over on our side of the table? Wouldn’t you do anything to get them back?”
She looked between them, raw emotion in her expression. With a sigh, she pulled a napkin out, took a pen from her pocket and began to write.
“There are three places I know of that he kept Omegas. The first is where he kept Duncan and Casey. The second was you and Luke. The third… I never saw any Omegas there, but he had the places kitted out the same as yours. It might just have been a back-up location if ever he had to move you.”
She handed the napkin over and Adam studied it. He heard her speak to Luke and Luke’s soft reply.
“When are you due?” she asked.
“Not for another few months.”
“And your Alpha, what’s he like?”
“He’s very good to me. Kind, gentle. And he got Kelly to come see me. She helps me use art to talk about the difficult stuff. The stuff that makes me sad or angry or scared.”
“That’s… that’s good,” she said lamely. “I need to get going. My mate’s already wondering where I am. I’ve never not been there to tell my daughter a bedtime story.”
“I tell Noah stories too.” She had given him that. Could she give him back Noah, too?
She stood. “I hope you find him, Adam. I really do. But it would be best if you didn’t contact me again.”
Stepping away from the table, she didn’t look back as she left. The waitress returned with their drinks and Adam turned his phone on to get directions to the addresses she had given them.
“How far away is it?” Luke asked, adding more sugar to his tea.
“About half a day’s drive. Maybe longer.”
His phone rang again, but he cut it off rather than answer.
“Adam, I think we need Ben and James now.”
“They’re six hours away. If we wait for them, that’s almost a full day before we get there. Tobias could have moved them by then. We could be too late.”
He opened his wallet and pulled out enough money to cover their beverages.
“Let’s go, Luke.”
He stopped for gas before they left. As they pulled out, he handed Luke his phone and the napkin.
“Call James. Tell him we’re going to the first address and give him the others. Maybe he can send the Warriors to check them out, if they’re not too busy with Gray Valley.”
He focused on driving as Luke made the call. His brother grew emotional as he spoke to his Alpha.
“Adam, James wants you to stop. He says to wait for them.”
“No. I’m going to find my son.”
Luke relayed that.
“Ben wants to talk to you.”
“I have nothing to say to him. He didn’t want to listen when I needed him. Well, I don’t need him now. Hang up the phone, Luke. They have the information they need.”
“I have to go now, James. I know. I love you too, but Adam is my brother. I can’t let him do this alone.”
He set the phone down.
“What did he say?”
“He told me to get you to drop me off somewhere, and they’d come and pick me up.”
“Do you want me to do that?”
“No, you’re my brother. I won’t abandon you.”
The words cut at him.
“But I abandoned you. I left you with Tobias, for years. I never came back for you, even though I knew you were waiting for me.”
Luke shook his head. “You looked for me. You got James and his people to look for me. He told me all about it. You couldn’t find me, that’s not the same thing.”
“I should have tried harder. I should have looked, instead of leaving it to other people. Maybe if I’d gotten there sooner you wouldn’t be so…”
“So what?”
“Damaged. Broken.”
There was silence between them in the car, street lights flashing in the windows as they passed them.
“I know you think that. That I’m broken. That I can’t be fixed. But I’m not. I’m hurting but I’m healing. It’s just… it doesn’t happen overnight, Adam. James says it takes time. I can’t just be okay because you want me to be or because you feel guilty for not coming back. That wasn’t your fault. Or mine. We were just kids, we didn’t have any power.”
“That’s what being an Omega is,” Adam replied, barely holding back a sob. “Being hurt. Being at the mercy of others. Being powerless.”
“It shouldn’t be that way,” Luke agreed. “Things that are rare, people say that they’re precious, they look after them. I feel like that when I’m with James. I feel safe.”
“I feel like that with Ben, most of the time. But ever since this stuff with Gray Valley, even before Noah was taken, it has just been eating away at the bond between us. He never asked me if it was what I wanted, if I thought it was the right thing for us as a family. It was like he got tunnel vision and all he could think about was him and his past and his family. He forgot about me.”
“Ben loves you.”
“Loving someone doesn’t mean you can’t hurt them. It just means that it hurts deeper when you do.”