Chapter Five
“He didn’t want us to go.” Adam’s voice broke the stillness. They’d finally got Xander settled in bed just after dawn and they were sitting at the kitchen table, cups of untouched coffee sitting in front of them.
“Who?” Ben asked.
“Noah. He didn’t want us to leave him. He cried and screamed. He’s never done that before. We shouldn’t have left him. He knew and he tried to tell us and we just walked away and let them take him.”
There were tears flowing freely from his mate’s eyes. Ben reached over, laying his hand on top of Adam’s.
“We couldn’t have known. Noah has always been the clingier of the two, since they were tiny. It just looked like another phase of that.”
“No, I knew it wasn’t. He usually loves going to stay with Lianna and Sam. He’s never been like he was yesterday.”
“He couldn’t have known what was going to happen, Adam. No one could.”
“Someone did, someone planned this. Someone who knew he was an Omega.”
“Or they guessed. You’ve said it yourself a thousand times. He and Xander are so different. I think Xander’s Alpha-ness just serves to highlight Noah’s Omega nature.”
They contemplated that for a few moments, lost in their grief.
“What do we do?” Adam asked, wiping the tears from his cheeks.
“We wait to hear back from James and Fenrir’s Warriors. Seb is talking to as many packs as he can. We’re going to get as many eyes and ears on this as possible, then as many boots on the ground as we can muster. Someone knows who did this. All we have to do is work out who and find out where they’ve taken him.”
“Do you think they’ve hurt him?”
Adam voiced words Ben couldn’t even bear to contemplate.
“No. He’s worth a lot to them and they took too many risks abducting him. They’ll be taking very good care of him.”
“No one took good care of me, or Luke, or Jay or Ro for that matter.”
“That was different.” But was it really? Ben had to shut down that line of thinking. Right then, they were helpless. As much as every bone in his body itched to be up and doing something, there was nothing to do but wait.
“Maybe there’ll be some sort of ransom demand for his return?” Joel suggested from his spot by the door. Seb had left him with them while he made arrangements and Ro took care of Chloe and Alicia’s children.
They could only hope it was something that straightforward.
Ben’s phone beeped, and he glanced at the screen.
“Seb wants us to bring Xander to the Pack house. Ro has the other kids there. Safety in numbers, I guess.”
“He’s right. We need to be free to leave if there's news.”
“I’ll go get Xander out to the car, hopefully he won’t wake up,” Ben said, getting to his feet. He was outside the bedroom when his phone rang. Expecting Seb, he answered without looking at the screen.
“Hey.”
“Hello, Benjamin.”
It took a few seconds to place the voice.
“Terrance.”
“I’m glad to see you haven’t forgotten who I am. I certainly haven’t forgotten who you are. The man who stole my Omega, who killed my son. Who helped steal a second Omega out from under my nose and whose friends have cost me many allies.”
“What do you want, Terrance?”
To gloat, Ben guessed, if the news of Noah’s abduction had reached Gray Valley.
“To tell you of a very good deal I just closed. The Migones were kind enough to put me in touch with their supplier of Omegas. Unfortunately, he was very reluctant to part with any given the scarce supplies. So, we made him a very good offer. An Omega for an Omega. He gives up one he has, ripe for mating, and we give him another to add to his collection. In sixteen, seventeen years, when they’re grown, we’ll buy them off him too, presuming we don’t have enough of our own by that stage.”
The meaning of Terrance's words was clear and anger and fear warred within Ben at the knowledge that this was the revenge he'd always feared was coming.
“You took Noah.”
“Consider it reparation for the wrong you’ve done to me.”
“Where is he?”
“On his way to his new home, of course. Don’t worry, he’ll be raised under the strictest of discipline. I’m sure Adam and Luke can tell you all about it.”
That could only mean one thing.
“Tobias?”
“Temperamental gentlemen, isn’t he? Well, you wouldn’t know I suppose, your little warrior friends never did manage to find him, did they?”
“Tell me where Noah is, right now or…”
“Or what? Even if you came at me now, overran Gray Valley, that wouldn’t get you anywhere. We've already handed Noah off to Tobias in exchange for quite a beautiful specimen. And Tobias seems to be good at disappearing. I know what it’s like to lose a son, Benjamin. And now, so do you.”
The call cut off. A sound had him turning to see Adam a few steps behind him, pale as a sheet and shaking his head.
“No. Not Tobias.”
Ben took a step towards him but Adam backed away.
“He could be lying.” Ben knew he was grasping at straws.
“You know Terrance. Was he lying?”
Ben looked down, shaking his head. “No. He was ringing to taunt us.”
Adam clapped a hand over his mouth, a sob escaping. “He’s just a baby. He doesn’t deserve this.”
His knees buckled and Ben dived and caught him, lowering him to the floor and kneeling next to him.
“I know, but we’ll find him, I promise.”
“James looked for Tobias for years and never got close. What if it takes us years? What if we never find him?”
Ben didn’t have any answer for that, rocking Adam gently back and forth.
“We know who now Adam, we know why. It might seem like terrible news but we know more now than we have since it happened and that brings us one step closer to finding him.”
Adam’s hands clung to his shirt, twisting the material in their grasp.
“I know what Tobias will do to him, to our sweet baby boy. We can’t let that happen.”
“And we won’t. I promise you. We will find him and bring him safely home.”
It was a long morning waiting in vain to hear news. Seb and Martin spent most of the time on the phone, updating everyone on what they'd learned and alerting every Pack between them and Gray Valley to keep an eye out for Gray Valley’s people traveling through their territory. Once that was done, they focused on trying to drum up support to act against the rogue Pack. Ben made a few calls of his own, but no-one in Gray Valley was picking up the phone. Terrance's influence, he guessed.
Seb came to find them just before midday, both Ben and Adam growing ever conscious of how the time was slipping away.
“I just heard from Alicia. Lianna is okay and they’re on the way home. I’ve also heard from the Pack Council. They want to try the diplomatic approach first. They’re sending a group to talk to Terrance this afternoon.”
Ben snorted at that, rubbing a hand across his face.
“Could that work?” Adam asked, and Ben struggled with how naïve and hopeful his mate sounded.
“It may do,” Seb replied, even as Ben shook his head.
“Words aren’t going to solve this. We’ve been fighting this battle since he had my parents killed. He knows his days are numbered.”
Adam threw an indecipherable look his way but Ben shrugged away his discomfort. He was saved from having to deal with it by his phone ringing.
“It’s James,” he said and took the call outside.
When he returned to the room a few minutes later, Adam’s eyes immediately sought him out. He hated the expectation laid on his shoulders, that somehow, he would fix all this. He feared, with every beat of his heart, that he would fail. Noah was suffering for his mistakes and no one else’s. That must have been clear to everyone, Adam most of all.
“James has been speaking to the Pack Council. He wants us to join them. If they’re talking to Gray Valley, if they’re making some sort of deal in exchange for Noah’s safe return, we’re going to want to be there.”
Adam sat up straight. “When do we leave?”
“As soon as possible.”
“We’ll look after Xander,” Seb promised. “He’s in good hands.” It went without saying but Ben was still glad he’d said it.
“Adam, if you want to stay here, with Xan-”
“No. I’m coming with you.”
“Alright. Then let’s go.”