Chapter Ten
Dalton
The moment the car pulled away with Toby inside, my stomach started to clench. I just felt…uneasy. I tried to blame it on the uncertainty that came with one omega being dead and another missing. But it was more than that. It was from not having Toby close by. I didn’t want him to stay and risk getting hurt…or worse. But I hated the idea of him being two states away. Every time I heard a phone buzz, I expected to see Toby’s face on my screen. And every time a new car parked outside, I held my breath, hoping it was bringing Toby back to me. But it never was him. He was on a plane to California.
Nothing made sense anymore. We’d talk daily, but it wasn’t the same.
I followed orders and tried to be a valuable member of the security detail, but it was hard to focus my mind on anything other than Toby. It could be weeks or months before I saw him again.
To distract myself after a quick text to Toby, I went on a routine patrol with Ryker, the other owner of Truly Yours. He wasn’t usually involved in pack issues, but his livelihood depended on matching up alphas and omegas. If there was a murderous alpha among us, we needed to work together to catch him.
Of course, once rumors started flying about missing and dead omegas, the bar turned into a madhouse. By the time we circled back to let Levi know all was looking good, the whole place was in an uproar.
Levi had already assigned an older alpha the responsibility of answering phone calls about the security situation. Most of the calls were from worried parents or overly possessive alphas concerned about their mates. Levi did his best to placate them, but he only partly succeeded.
If it was a rogue alpha running around killing omegas, then we really had a problem. If it was a pack killing our omegas, then we had an even larger problem. None of the enforcers had managed to catch a scent from the dead omega. There were just too many other scents in the air.
If it was a pack, we had some sense of when they’d strike. The elders had additional abilities during the full moon, and that would be the most likely time. That’s when they were strongest. And that’s when they would attack.
If it wasn’t a rogue alpha…
Fuck it. I ran a hand through my hair, looking at Ryker. He stood next to me, his worried expression matching mine and that of every other alpha in the room. Some of the men had brought their mates and kids since they didn’t want to leave them unprotected. Unfortunately, they turned the bar into more of a playground than a sanctuary. The kids didn’t understand the danger surrounding them. Therefore, they played hide and seek among the other members of the pack. The omegas and betas stood in groups, talking quietly to soothe each other’s concerns.
And my own partner wasn’t there. Fuck it to hell.
At least we were less than a week away from the full moon. Less than a week away from a potential attack.
But any worry I had for myself and my pack was quickly diminished when I thought about seeing Toby. When I was honest with myself, I was itching for a fight. Especially if it brought Toby back home and into my arms.
Levi and his closest guards worked on strategies to ensure the community was all together during the full moon. Everyone was required to show up, despite any excuses they tried to make. The only way we could guarantee the safety of our people was to keep everyone together when the enemy would most likely strike. Teams were put in place to allow everyone to safely shift in hourly cycles. It wouldn’t be comfortable or easy, but it was the best way to allow each animal to take a short run while the rest of us stayed on high alert. I sat in on some of the planning meetings, but trying to sit still was too much. I was restless, anxiously waiting for something to happen.
All I could think about was Toby. When Ryker pulled me aside and asked what was wrong with me, I was too embarrassed to tell him the truth. Not only that, I didn’t really understand what the truth was. The only way I could describe my feeling was uncomfortable. And when I took a few moments to reflect on what was making me uncomfortable, the only real answer was that Toby wasn’t with me. I texted him as often as I could, but reception was weak where he was staying, so hours went by between responses. Every minute I waited for him to confirm that he was okay dragged like an eternity.
By the end of the second day, I was ready to tear off my skin. I just wanted to hold Toby and know he was okay. The pull to him kept getting stronger. I’d never felt anything like it before. Something in the back of my mind was trying to break through to the forefront, but I couldn’t quite grasp it. It was right on the fringe, waiting for me to latch on to the obvious and embrace it. But no matter how hard I concentrated on what my subconscious was trying to tell me, I just couldn’t figure it out. All I knew was that Toby was far away from me, and I desperately needed to get him back.
During my short break for sleep, I couldn’t relax. My whole body felt like tiny pins were poking me from every angle. It wasn’t until the steady rhythm of a rainstorm overhead lulled me to sleep that I was finally able to quiet the voices in my head that wanted me to leave the compound and go find Toby immediately. Unfortunately, what they didn’t do was ease the deep need to bury my knot inside Toby until he was begging me to breed him.
***
Despite the gnawing in my gut growing more and more persistent, I kept busy with the preparations. On the morning of the full moon, pack members within a hundred-mile radius began arriving at the compound behind the bar. Not everyone knew why they were called in, but everyone could sense the tension as soon as they stepped foot on the property. There was almost a fog in the air that you could feel covering you at all times. I was desperate to end this nightmare. Even though no one was really sure if something would happen, we all felt the foreboding.
By late afternoon, something changed. The pit of despair in my belly started to shrink. Not noticeably at first, but as Levi and I ate a quick dinner, I realized I finally had an appetite again. My instinct was to call Toby to make sure everything was okay, but something held me back. It was almost as if I knew he was okay and everything would be fine. I’d never believed in the hokum that many of the elders liked to spew whenever they had a captive audience. But something told me Toby was coming back to me, and that settled most of my nerves. At least, those related to him. My nerves about the potential attack were still quite jittery as the moments leading up to the full moon seemed to dwindle away.